The Success of The Simpsons
In recent years, a certain animated sitcom has caught the public’s attention, evoking reactions that are both favourable and unfavourable, but hardly ever apathetic.
As a brilliant, socially aware satire, Matt Groening’s ‘The Simpson’s’ has effectively stirred different emotions from different factions of the culturally deadened American populace and for this alone, it should be recognised as quality programming. The Simpsons is a brutal satire of our society and our family structures yet it offers several redeeming qualities such as feminism, endurance and most of all humour.
The American animation was created by Matt Groening as shorts for the Tracy Ullman
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The fact that the show works on several levels at once draws a generational diverse fan base. The adults are attracted by the surprisingly sophisticated dialogue, while the children enjoy the clumsy antics of Homer and the traditionally “cartoonish” aspects of the programme.
The Simpson’s themselves are a simple family in a small town in Middle America called Springfield. They are: Homer (loyal but stupid father), Marge (dissatisfied, trapped housewife/ mother), Bart (rebellious son), Lisa (unappreciated genius daughter), and Maggie (silent baby). The show also revolves around a number of other characters.
The members of the family have their own quirks and are constantly feuding amongst themselves. The hilarious show portrays the ups and downs of the Simpson’s which real families are said to relate with, to a certain to degree. The highly provocative sitcom has revolutionised cartoons and has bought humour and mixed feelings to a new audience than previously brought before.
The fact that all the characters in The Simpsons have four fingers shows that they are all unique and unified community despite age and race, this also makes a good statement. The skin colour is attractive to young viewers but also has meaning to older viewers, and different parts of the show are aimed at different audiences.
When we first encounter Lisa, she is playing the saxophone in
Sunday nights on Cartoon Network has become fertile ground for some of the most side-spitting, razor-sharp humor on this side of a cable box. The show concepts that constitute the "Adult Swim" block of programming on CN has drawn its fair share of rave reviews and harsh criticism from anybody willing to offer an opinion. For Afro-American viewers, no show represents that aforementioned razor's edge quite like Aaron McGruder's comic strip creation, "The Boondocks". The first season of the weekly series found every way possible to poke humor at many of the events, individuals, and situations we see around ourselves on a daily basis. In some cases, the biting satire that's
The television shows from 1950 to the present are connected in many ways. The characters showed in the 1950s television show called Leave It To Beaver all have white coloured skin and portrayed as a happy, perfect family. As the decades increased, the nuclear families turned into blended families, and the television shows started to have coloured characters. The families started to have problems and social situations. The viewer sees the conflicts inside the family begin as the years progress. For example, in the 2000's we examined a television show called Arrested Development. The show portrays the characters as if they are troubled and have problems. The children do not listen to their parents but instead have
Introduction: As long as there have been civilizations, there have been stories, myths that are told to children. These stories are usually the basis of the cartoons characters except some which are from creator’s imagination. This story telling is a means of not only comforting and amusing a child, but of teaching the child the societal norms of their nation. These are memorized by children and remembered forever. Children idolize their favourite character, the character they have most in common with and are best able to identify with, and try to emulate that character’s
In fact, according to those behind the scenes, these forays into politics mark more than just material for the next laugh; rather, they are deliberate efforts to shape American society. "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening says that, under its facade of humor, the show is trying "to nudge people, jostle them a little, wake them up to some of the ways in which we're being manipulated and exploited." He adds, "'The Simpsons'' message over and over again is that your moral authorities don't always have your best interests in mind" (Doherty).
Religion is Funny.” This line once said by co-creator of South Park Matt Stone has caused so much controversy over the years about how we treat other cultures and religions that it has emerged to become a number one topic. Even though religion has been around for many year’s people still take their beliefs very seriously. Media has even start making fun of religions by making jokes about the systems of beliefs of a religion and the people that follow those religions based on the negative stereotypes. Examples that are seen on shows are like Family Guy, South Park, and The Simpsons. South Park continuously makes fun of religions and the followers of these certain religions. The major religions that are prime targets on the shows are Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Scientology. Even though it is successful for the show, the creators of the show often face criticism from the people that support these religions through threating to kill them for portraying them on the show or by sending death letters. In this paper I’ll explain the show South Park and how its relates to the social issue that relates to religion.
The Simpsons episode is considered comical to it’s viewers. It is not supposed to be a serious tone like Lord of the Flies. This is why the groups of kids both have different ways of handling things and keeping things in order. In the episode “Das Bus”, Nelson portrays Jack, Lisa portrays Simon, the two twins portray Sam and Eric, and Milhouse portrays Piggy. When Milhouse is charged for getting them stuck on this island, it is proposed that they have a court session to
The media creates television shows that appear to be reality however they are not and when looked at, it is easy to see. I will be discussing the relationships between reality and reality TV, satire, and documentary.
Today I received a referral from a family who is seeking help regarding their dysfunctional family structure. The Simpson’s are a nuclear family that is having difficulties living as a family. I have already spoken to Marge Simpson and agreed to find a way to get her husband and children to therapy. She has very high aspirations of attending therapy with her family because she has longed for a “normal” functioning family in which her husband and children interact in a much healthier manner than they do now. She described her husband of being careless, her son uncontrollable ate times, and her daughters disconnected from the family. We have set up the meeting for next week, Wednesday at six, when she believed her family
Various television shows have pushed boundaries to create positive differences in social perception of minorities, but only few have had the power and influence to make a noteworthy impact on American culture. Television Comedy has been able to cleverly impact acceptance of American Culture boundaries for years on end. From the show “Good Times” all the way to “The Office”, comedy has been an effective way of creating positive perceptions and acceptance of all different kinds of views on our society. An easily countable number of academic texts give evidence to Black-watched, Black-targeted television narratives. (Marc, 1997). Racially directed comedy television shows have, in my opinion, have been one of the most prevalent types of television
Why ‘The Simpsons’ Episode Bart versus Australia is Offensive To Australians Everywhere The Simpsons has a pull on everyone. I’ve watched the show since I was older enough to understand what half the jokes mean. Every episode has a habit of sucking you in and not letting go until the episode has ended. Well, one episode in particular rattles my bones in an angry sort of way.
This episode of the Simpsons describes deviance in a different way. This episode was a great example because you can distinguish any kind of movement that’s going on or if it has a meaning. This episode was made to entertain the audience because we are used to seeing cartoons for entertainment. The Simpson’s deviance was described in two ways, shoplifting and how Bart wanted a video game desperately.
Ever since 1997, South Park has revolutionized the cable TV scene as a profane and obscene program that isn’t afraid to mock religious, political, and cultural topics and not get away with at least offending somebody. Throughout its twelve seasons, some of the most prominent events in pop culture have suffered the wrath of ridicule from the show’s creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and succeeded in making millions of Americans laugh until they cry. The creative genius behind these cultural and controversial statements has exalted the series to iconic status in our entertainment industry for its satirical voice in each episode. Throughout its ten years on air, South Park has broken multiple political,
Family sitcoms have been the most popular and positively influenced television shows watched since the 1900s to today. Many of these shows have consisted of African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic families who all play a role that we as watchers look up to or perceive as the right way to run our household. Over time there has been an addition to biracial shows and family role changes throughout these sitcoms. For example, now observing single parent homes, homosexual guardians and even the changing of social interaction has both positively and negatively impacted real families who are watching.
Homer Simpson is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the TV show The Simpsons. Dan Castellanta voices him. He lives in a fictional town called Springfield, Oregon, United States. He is married to Marge Simpson with three children named Bart, Lisa and Maggie. He has a pet dog named Santa’s Little Helper and cat called Snowball. Homer currently works in the show at a Nuclear Power Plant as a Safety inspector but has worked at previous jobs before. Homer is known to be crude, overweight, clumsy, lazy, heavy drinker and ignorant. (Simpsons Wiki, n.d)
Among currently running animated sitcoms, there are a few that have current connections to people and events. Most famous of this genre of shows are South Park and Family Guy. Unlike South Park, which follows a group of friends at school, Family Guy is about a family. The Griffin family consists of parents Peter and Lois, their children Chris, Meg, Stewie, and the family dog, Brian. Instead of showcasing the adventures of an individual struggling to balance impulses and responsibilities, Family Guy focuses on the dynamics created by family members who are extreme in their personality traits and very different from each other. Peter, the father, is impulsive, incompetent, and easily excitable. Lois is the stereotypical responsible mother and wife. Meg is a classic case of a teenage girl struggling to fit in at high school. Chris is your average awkward and immature teenage boy. Stewie, the precocious baby, is by far the smartest and most cunning of the cast. Interestingly, the screenwriters often drop hints that he is gay. He is eager to assume adult responsibilities and motivated to have