Planet Simpson: “Early Days” (1987-1991)

Planet Simpson: “Early Days” (1987-1991) • Season 2- “Simpsons” moved air times to compete with “Cosby Show” • Proved popularity during competition with very well acclaimed “Cosby Show” • Became Top Rated Show in 1992 after “Cosby Show” went off air • Birth of the “mass cult” “Simpsonian Golden Age” (1992-1997) • Seasons 4-8 Continued to be popular • Entered syndication in the Fall of 1994 • Became popular on booming internet • Feb. 97’ aired 167th episode passing “Flintstones” and becoming longest running primetime cartoon in history • Won “Peabody Award” “Long Plateau” (1997- ?) • Show declined in popularity after hitting it’s peak • Won 20 Emmy Awards by mid 2003 • Received Hollywood Star in 2000 • Received first ever Golden Globe nomination for best comedy series in 2003 Ancestors of the “Simpsons” •1) Anthropomorphic Animals, Late Night Talk Shows and Such and Such…… Wide Range of Comedic Forms made show successful through use of minor characters •2) Boomer Humor Begets Egghead Humor Sick and deranged humor meets smarter, social, and political humor Ancestors… (Continued) • For Ironic Humor, Blame Canada Canadian references made throughout the show bring a different tone to the “Simpsons” comedy style and the ability to laugh more openly at American satires Reality TV: The Satirical Universe of the Simpsons • “Satire is defined as intellectual judo, in which the writer or performer take on the ideas and character of his target, and then takes both to absurd lengths to destroy them.” Tony Hendra • Satire only works if it is realistic • The Simpsons is based on reality; on the notion that they are realistic. This makes satire possible. • The Simpsons satirizes all types of life. • Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, is famous for his quote, “Entertain and subvert.” (Pg 56). • He wants to entertain people, yes, but he also wants to make people think about what The Simpsons says about the world. Satirical Anatomy (I): What Is & What Should Be • The Simpsons attempts to show the difference between what is, and what should be. • “There is only what is. The what-should-be never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is only what is.” Lenny Bruce in “How to Talk Dirty and Influence People”. • Showing the gap between reality and what should be attempts to get rid of the image and substitute it with the truth. Satirical Anatomy (II): A Partial Taxonomy of Simpsonian Humor • The definition of the term “funny” differs from person to person. • “Funny” can include any kind of humor, from banana peel slips to Monty Python wordplay. • The Simpsons manages to use almost all kinds of humor. Satirical Anatomy (II): 1) Surface Gags • Surface Gags are reminiscent of classic Warner Bros. cartoons. • The Simpsons never lets the more intellectual jokes take over completely from the more base forms of humor. • Sight gags are a prime example. • The Simpsons constantly twist sight gags to be an escalated form of them. • The catchphrase is another surface gag. • It can become tedious if overused. Thankfully, The Simpsons doesn’t do that, rather it relies on elaborate set-ups of good timing for the use of catchphrases. • The one-off gag is another form of surface gag. It is also called the non-sequitur. Satirical Anatomy (II): 2) Referential Humor • Pop culture is very vague and constantly changing. • The Simpsons uses references to all time periods. • Referential humor is an important ingredient in The Simpsons humor. • Many enjoy hunting for the references hidden in each show. Satirical Anatomy (II): 3) The Good Joke, Better Joke Principle • Why humans laugh: Disproportion between what one expects and what one sees. (Pascal) • “Getting” the joke gives people pleasure. • Ironic juxtaposition is a key component in The Simpsons. • Format of the Good Joke, Better Joke: first joke is obvious and expected, quickly followed by second joke that is unexpected. • It depends on built momentum. Satirical Anatomy (II): 4) Symphonic Humor • Symphonic humor is humor that is perfection, with “true aesthetic genius” (67). • Also depends on momentum, can have build up over many episodes. • Layering is key. Leaving Springfield: We can learn about ourselves… • While we watch the Simpson’s watch their TV • For example, in “Marge on the Lam” when Homer is watching a public TV fund-drive he gets upset that it isn’t funny. But when Marge gives 30 dollars and tells him they got tickets to the ballet he gets excited. • Homer believes he understands the high culture of ballet—but in fact his views on the subject relate back to a circus. • This scene raises questions about the perceived differences between high and low brow culture. Homer’s concept of the ballet shows the Simpson’s family’s relationship with culture. To them it is a value. • For the family (with the possible exception of Lisa) culture functions at a low level. They’re culture basically comes from their TV (among other things). Side Show Bob • --is a second-string TV clown with an Ivy-League education and a passionate (murderous) desire to elevate the culture of Springfield. • He stands in direct opposition to Bart who is the proud underachiever. • For most of the show we can label Bob as a bad guy—but he could be seen as a crusader for high culture. We have been warned… • …by Mass Culture Theorists. • Matthew Arnold (Culture and Anarchy) defined culture as a process of distillation and education. He wanted cultural hierarchy so that England would not suffer what he calls “Americanization” “the multitude being in power with no adequate ideal to elevate or guide the multitude. • By the early 20th century, what Arnold thought was a mild problem soon became a high-culture hysteria as people like literary critics and culture theorists fought against the ‘deadening’ of culture by industrialism and urbanization. • F.R. Leavis envisions an ‘organic society run by a natural oligarchy’ as a cure. He believes in elitism—that the elite in society have to save and keep culture. But he argued that ‘elitism’ was a product of ignorance because their must always be elites. • Q. D. Leavis takes the same sort of stand. He believes a resistance of a few that would stem the tide of ignorance and preserve high culture. • With the rise of urban industrialism and mass media a new social class was taking shape. A mass culture between high and low culture was born. We have been warned…(Continued) • Dwight MacDonald suggests that “Mass Culture” breaks down the “old barriers of class, tradition, taste” and dissolves all culture distinctions to form homogenized culture. • To MacDonald this was a threat, that contemporary society might lose sight of the highest cultural distinctions. • Bernard Rosenburg says that there “can be no doubt that mass media present a major threat to man’s autonomy”. He believed culture was being ‘vulgarized.’ He emphasizes the power of mass media to influence and the society’s inability to resist it. • Raymond Williams portrays mass society as a victim of the elites trying to hierarchize society. He focuses on society’s definition of vigorous sense of culture and to resist the manipulations of the elite. • Richard Hoggart insists on the potential for a vital mass culture—but he is still suspicious of the influence of mass media. He wanted more literary appreciation in popular entertainment. To examine the artifacts of mass culture. • John Hartley believed in the uses of television to teach and persuade the watchers. He believed it would let him mediate the “expansion of difference” in contemporary culture. Leaving Springfield, Pages 11-17 By: Chris, Tasha, and Tommy • Robert Onderdonk Terwilliger, or Sideshow Bob, plays second fiddle to Krusty the Klown. • This is the same Sideshow Bob that once framed Krusty for robbing the Kwik-E-Mart so he could take over the TV show. • Sideshow Bob’s own conscience and morality go unaffected by the higher culture he standardizes himself with. • For example, he turned Krusty’s TV show, once full of funny clown entertainment, into a classical reading program about literature. • Bob has a grudge against Bart, where a full episode “Cape Feare” showed him trying to murder Bart. • Bob wrote a “Things to Do List” and “Threaten Bart” was first, followed by do laundry. After checking off both of these items, he proceeds to add “get corn holders.” All of this was written in his own blood! • Later writes a memoir, showing his impact in Springfield’s community. (He was writing to Reader’s Digest all along) • Bob cannot communicate well with the average member of society, because of his high culture. • In the episode “Sideshow Bob Roberts”, Bob serves the Republican party and is later a candidate for mayor. The episode depicted society’s laziness about the election process. (Homer thinks voters are “kind of fruity”) Dominance of Culture on Television • The authority of Springfielders’ lives is the television • The TV holds higher importance than learning more about their own culture. • The Simpson family goes against almost every value that a higher culture would have. Simpsons & Philosophy: Why do the Simpson’s relate better to adults? • “Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the beautiful and the pleasing, and includes the philosophical study of art” (Irwin and Lombardo 2001, 84). • Each audience member interprets the Simpson’s in their own way. You must be able to think outside of the box to understand certain one liners. • To be able to be successful in comprehension and communication, cultural literacy is important. In addition to the aesthetic values throughout the Simpson’s, there is also a practical value. • Many of the episode ideas come from outside sources, i.e.

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