The theme tune of the Simpson’s straight away tells us that it’s going to be violent because of the words “fight, fight, fight” also the tune is very bold and piercing.
“The Simpson’s” episode is connected to that of the Psycho film. When Maggie watches “The Itchy And Scratchy” show she decides to follow her father into the garage where he had been making a spice rack. The music starts piercing the same as the Psycho theme tune. Maggie lifts up the mallet like the figure lifts up the dagger. Homer/ the girl sees, they both scream giving a big close up of the mouth wide open. The girl grabs onto the shower curtain while Homer clings onto the table clothe. They both fall to the floor blood/paint trickling down a plug giving a mid-shot, and a close up, both show the plug fading into Homer/ the girl’s eye.
The maker of “The Simpson’s” decided to duplicate The Psycho because of how well known it is they thought it would be a good idea to attract viewers maybe from a different age group say the elders.
When the Psycho film was shown in the fifties it came across as very shocking because it was one of the first of its kind. There’s one scene in particular that is shocking, the shower scene. The reason it’s shocking is because of the camera shots, the music and the action. The girl is in the shower and then this shadow appears. The music starts its very definite and recognisable, its still very well known today. It gets louder and there’s a low angle close up of the dark figure. The girl starts to scream the music is now screeching and a large close up is brought up to her mouth. It makes the girl look more vulnerable because she has her back to the figure, there is a low angle shot of the figure which makes him look more threatening. The girl grabs on to the shower curtain a big close up is shown of this, the hooks of the shower curtain are given a close up of them ripping off while water running. The girl falls to the floor and blood treacle’s down her legs the water sound gets louder, the camera zooms into the plugs of the blood gurgling down the hole the plug fades into her eye.
When Marge realises the effects of “The Itchy And Scratchy Show” on her children she turns the television off and bans them from watching them. Though the children don’t really mind because they can just go round their friend’s houses to watch them. Marge starts campaigning and says the violent cartoons are influencing children to copy them. Marge writes a letter to the creator of “The Itchy And Scratchy Show” complaining though her complaints are rejected and she gets called a “screw”. Marge then appeals on a chat show, this attracts all the mothers to join her campaign and they go to the gates of the plant where “The Itchy And Scratchy Show” is made and start to protest. The main man rings up Marge not very eagerly asking how they could make the show more appropriate for children. The “new and improved” “Itchy And Scratchy Show” comes on air. Its called “Porch Pals”, its very polite and happy mainly about sharing, you can also tell a definite change in the music it was bold and violent but now its cheerful with high spirits. The new show doesn’t go down very well at all though Bart says, “it sucks” and turns the television off.
After the children switch off the television things start to change. The children go outside, and play traditional games instead of sitting in at home and watching television, also Instead of watching television at dinner the family talk, and they start sharing. When the children come outside to play Beethoven’s music is played. This is played to show happiness and everyone getting along and this piece of music reflects this.
Showing children play traditional games like marbles and maypole dancing uses exaggeration. This is to reflect peacefulness instead of violence and the writers exaggerate this to make the point come across clearly, to give the message that television does influence children.
When women start protesting about “Michael Angelo’s David”, Marge thinks its wrong. Marge goes on a television show and sees that she is wrong. This makes her drop her protest and cartoons become violent again. This draws the children to go back inside and watch television again. The same music changes to being sad and slow.
Maggie once again reacts violently to cartoons. Marge realises that people should have ‘freedom of expression’. She understands this when she finds out that not everybody admires the statue, “Michael Angelo’s David” is apart of her, she loves the statue and thinks of it as art, but other people interoperate it differently. People can watch what they want and enjoy what they want, and a lot of children like watching violence, too much of it will be bad for them, so perhaps its ok for children to watch violence in moderation. The creators are getting across this message to us through Marge as long as we do things in moderation it is ok.
In conclusion, this episode of “The Simpsons” proves that too much TV is bad for children. The episode is about showing Maggie’s reactions to “The Itchy and Scratchy show” cartoons. After watching the shows she copies what they do. For example the parody of “Psycho”, Maggie hits Homer with a mallet. This is meant to be funny because “The Simpsons” is a comedy. When “Itchy and Scratchy” is turned from being violent to caring the creator proves that television does not have to be violent to influence children, though children seem to prefer to watch violent television. This means it is down to the parents to monitor their children, to see what they are being influenced by, though everything is ok in moderation.
