The opening shot of the credits is of the family name emerging from white fluffy clouds in blues skies, accompanied by a choir singing the words aloud. Combined, these devices create a feeling of the Simpsons being heavenly or angelic. This is immediate irony as the audience will soon be aware that they are far from that.
The rest of the credits are used to introduce the characters traits and attributes, as sharply and clearly as possible with quick cutting between the shots. For instance, in only a couple of seconds, ‘Homer’ is shown being careless at work, thus showing the audience his character is clumsy, lazy and eager to finish work. This is satirises the ideal within the American dream of hard work.
The whole sequence also tells the audience about the Simpson family as a whole, they are all hurrying home to watch television with such eagerness, that they very nearly kill each other on two occasions. This raises the question of how seriously ‘The Simpsons’ takes itself as a television show as in the first minute is satirises the ideal of television.
These short clips in the credits, introduce the themes of the show, satire and irony.
‘There’s No Disgrace Like Home’ is just one of hundreds of Simpsons episodes. This episode focuses on family values, an important issue in America, and through many different devices satirises these traditional ideals.
The scene in Moe’s bar is typically ironic. The breadwinner of the family, upset by his family’s lack of normality, is drowning his sorrows in the bar. The local police force enters the bar searching for the Simpson family who have been peeping in neighboring families. The police dog instinctively recognises the scent of Homer, but he claims he has hot dogs in his pockets so the police, who have just received free beer from the barman, leave the bar. This is ‘The Simpsons’ laughing directly at police corruption and stupidity, again a major issue in America. It shows that nothing is safe from this show.
While boxing goes on in the background, a fight brakes out between Homer and his drinking buddy Barney. On a basic level, the show is highlighting the stupidity and drunkenness of these characters but when looking further it can be seen that the scene is making a very real point about a violent culture, which again is a major American issue.
Homer regains from consciousness, to see Dr Marvin Monroe, the town’s therapist advertising for family counseling. The advert comes directly after the bloody fight in the All-Star boxing ring. The advert for the therapy shows the average, dysfunctional American family in an extremely typical, humorous manor that once again shows the show’s makers poking fun at traditional American values. The advert on its own is hilarious and with the added irony of a therapy clinic advertised on professional boxing, the show has a joke on two very different levels.
Having watched the advert, Homer finishes the scene with a line that is also susceptible to different interpretations. ‘When will I Learn? The answers to life’s problems aren’t at the bottom of a bottle of a bottle. They’re on TV!’. Whilst the whole audience can work out this is obviously an incorrect, stupid statement, the script writers recognise that both these are serious problems in American Society. Once again, this can be interpreted on different intellectual levels.
The episode ends with the Simpsons strolling off into the sunset and a traditional happy ending after earning money at the therapy clinic. Several devices are used to portray the Simpson family as being normal and functional, the tune ‘Yankee Doodle’ is played to encourage a false, ironic sense of pride for traditional American ideals. However viewers on a higher intellectual level can clearly recognise that the family is no better off than they originally were. The American dream of working hard to reach happiness is satirised by the fact the family earned the money through their dysfunctional behavior.
The creators of ‘The Simpons’, since they were commissioned by the Fox Network to create 30 shows with a budget of $11 million, have become household names worldwide. The skill and adaptability of the 15 script writers who write each episode give the show the ability to be broadcast in over 30 different languages.
The creative processes involved in the show, go to unimaginable lengths. When the script writers have produced an acceptable script, the dialogue recorded, and the lengthy process of drafting the animations complete, the final animation is completed by an army of animators in Korea. With the show nearly complete, the last addition is the soundtrack produced by a 35 piece orchestra and written especially for ‘The Simpsons’. All of these jobs are worked on by professionals on the highest possible level. These aspects show that the make up of the show is extremely innovative and sophisticated.
The Fox Network, in 1990, was struggling to find original new programs that could attract viewers and was on the verge of bankruptcy before ‘The Simpsons’ came to the rescue. By finding a gap in the television market, the show was able to form a whole new genre, the cartoon sitcom. Many other shows such as ‘Southpark’ and ‘Beavis and Butthead’ have joined the genre. The cartoon sitcom has the potential to use animation with cartoon effects in a way that can not be paralleled with real sitcoms. ‘The Simpsons’ can easily and clearly skip from the present to the past, future or a dream. The ability to have such a diverse and complicated plot is fantastic for the script writers and the show becomes as, if not more sophisticated than a real sitcom.
The world of ‘The Simpsons’ is slightly different physically to the real one. The differences between ‘Springfield’ characters and real actors, apart from obviously being animated, are the trademark yellow skin and everybody having just four fingers. The yellow skin color adds to the cartoons viability to other cultures and increases the possibility profit from global marketing of spin off products.
As a cartoon, it is astonishing how many issues ‘The Simpsons’ is able to address with such a well thought through and humorous way. It’s ability to incorporate parodies, flashbacks and dreams into episodes only increase the level of sophistication. The degree to which ‘The Simpsons’ is complex is fantastically high, however, this level is equaled by its simplicity, which is why it draws an audience of all ages, nationalities, class and genders.
