A pioneer of animated sitcoms, The Simpsons have been exploring the common issues faced by the American society through the medium of animation since 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show and from 1989 as a full series. Of a similar nature shows like Family Guy, South Park and King of the Hill are prime-time shows that also reflect this similar satirical nature through animation; that could be seen as adult humor.
Over the years The Simpsons have received great praise as well as criticism and controversy. " U.S. President George Bush and former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett publicly criticized the program for its subversive and anti-authority nature.”
I will be discussing my findings of The Simpsons aired during Fox prime-time on Sunday 24th April 2011, from 7pm -10pm. Between these hours two episodes of the program was shown as well as The Simpsons Movie.
Homer and Marge are parents of this nuclear family, they reflect an unusual relationship that simply would not survive the real world. With a husband who often causes trouble for the family, Homer is a lazy, thoughtless individual who some how gets away with the unthinkable. Influenced by characters such as Bullwinkle J. Moose and Fred Flintstone, Homer Simpson is an example of the extended adolescent male who often fails to take full responsibility for his actions. In The Simpsons Movie, Lisa holds a conference expressing the dangers of Springfield’s pollution level. This is perhaps the first time that the young and wise Lisa is been heard and listened to by the Springfield community. In agreement with Lisa the Mayor confirms that Lake Springfield will be cleansed and protected. In this clip Homer has clearly been disposing of the pigs’ waste in a container in their garden.
Shortly after this Homer follows Marge’s instructions and precedes to dispose of the waste when all of a sudden Lenny calls Homer and informs him of free donuts being giving out for free. Ignoring all the signs, Homer results to disposing the pigs crap in the lake, which of course cause a major problem.
Here is another example of where Homer fails to take full responsibility for his actions:
Immediately after this scene Chief asks Homer if he dared his son Bart to skateboard naked, Homer completely denies this and therefore Bart is forced to take the full blame. These are just a few examples of Homer’s immature behavior along with his poor parenting skills that result to his family members having to pay for his faults. Homer embodies the stereotype of a working class American man, who is ignorant and overweight but is a somewhat caring father and husband. Quite often Homer doesn’t deserve a wife like Marge but in the end he often proves his love for her.
As well as checking out The Simpsons I also looked at the commercial shown during its airing. Many of the commercials spoke to it male audience this suggests that the demographics for the show is a male dominated audience.
In this Schick-hydro commercial the men are portrayed as masculine men who are in control of their game and dominating over their woman. In addition these men are portrayed as active, aggressive, strong and competitive men. This male aggression is reflected both the boxing and the bed scene where the theme of fighting takes place as a serious act and a play act. Does this send confused ideas to its audience?
In this commercial for Axe, female angels are falling out of the sky, this suggesting that the Axe man is powerful enough to make angels fall to sin. “Even angels will fall!” This advert also connotes this idea of male dominion and power. The power that causes these angels to sin is obviously very strong. What is also shown here is a man’s desires becoming reality simply because he used a certain deodorant. In this clip also a woman complains when one of the angels causes the woman’s clothing to fall to the ground. In frustration the woman begins to quarrels but as soon as the angel glares at her she is immediately silenced. In our society it can often appear as though the sexier woman is heard or seen more than the other woman.
These adverts imply that this is a man’s world, male domination is what takes place in these commercials. Men’s wants and needs are fulfilled; the kind of men reflected in these adverts is the ideal hyper masculine man.
In The Simpsons the women are the smart ones but men are the right ones. A patient and caring Marge fits the stereotype of a TV mum who cooks, cleans and saves her family (often Homer) from times of distress. She is also portrayed as a worrier and sometimes even bizarre.
In the second episode I watched part of the focus is on hoarders, partially women hoarders. Marge helps out the Cat Lady by getting rid of her stuff but then ends up taking the Cat Lady’s things for herself so she then becomes a hoarder. 
The portal of the women in The Simpsons are limited a part from Marge and Lisa the other women in the series are portrayed as grumpy single, middle-aged women. For example Patty and Selma, Edna Krabappel and Agnes Skinner all have these characteristics.
To conclude The Simpsons is a controversial show of a nuclear family that faces daily struggles as well as abnormal struggles. Gender stereotypes are challenged through the use of humor but these challenged stereotypes often return back to its type nature by the end of the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment