University of Kentucky UKnowledge American Popular Culture American Studies 4-23-2013 Homer Simpson Ponders Politics: Popular Culture as Political Theory Joseph J. Foy University of Wisconsin, Waukesha Timothy M. Dale University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Foy, Joseph J. and Dale, Timothy M., "Homer Simpson Ponders Politics: Popular Culture as Political Theory" (2013). American Popular Culture. 14. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/14 Homer Simpson Ponders Politics HOMER SIMPSON PONDERS POLITICS Popular Culture as Political Theory Edited by JOSEPH J. FOY and TIMOTHY M. DALE Foreword by MARGARET WEIS Copyright © 2013 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com 17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1 Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-0-8131-4147-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN: 978-0-8131-4150-3 (epub) ISBN: 978-0-8131-4151-0 (pdf) This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses This book is dedicated to our parents. CONTENTS Foreword by Margaret Weis ix Introduction: Popular Culture as Political Theory: Plato, Aristotle, and Homer 1 Joseph J. Foy Part 1. Classical Insights and Civic Virtue 1. A Tale of Two Republics: Plato, Palpatine, and Politics 13 Dean A. Kowalski 2. Aristotle’s Politics and the Virtues of Springfield: Community, Education, and Friendship in The Simpsons 29 Timothy M. Dale 3. “Keep Your Friends Close but Your Enemies Closer”: Machiavelli and Michael Corleone 45 Eric T. Kasper Part 2. The State, the Individual, and Political Morality 4. Social Contract: Rebellion and Dissent aboard Serenity 63 Susanne E. Foster and James B. South 5. Dwight Schrute and Servile Ambition: Tacitus and Rousseau on the Lackey Politics of The Office 75 Matthew D. Mendham 6. Who Watches the Watchmen? Kant, Mill, and Political Morality in the Shadow of Manhattan 97 S. Evan Kreider Part 3. The Limitations and Possibilities of Political Life 7. Avatar, Marx, and the Alienation of Labor 115 Mark C. E. Peterson 8. Nietzschean Narratives of Hero and Herd in Walt Disney / Pixar’s The Incredibles 131 C. Heike Schotten 9. Muggles, Magic, and Misfits: Michel Foucault at Harry Potter’s Hogwarts 147 Jamie Warner 10. Feminism, Sexism, and the Small Screen: Television’s Complicated Relationship with Women 163 Denise Du Vernay Part 4: The Promises and Problems of Liberal Democracy 11. From John Wayne to John McClane: The Hollywood Action Hero and the Critique of the Liberal State 183 Carl Bergetz 12. J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again: Recovering a Platonic-Aristotelian Politics of Friendship in Liberal Democracy 203 Mary M. Keys 13. “Just Give Them the Internet”: Social Media and the Promise of Liberal Democracy 233 Joseph J. Foy Acknowledgments 251 List of Contributors 253 Index 257 FORE WORD In describing what it means to be an author, Gary Paulsen once told me something I always remember: “We are the guy in the tribe who puts on the wolfskin and dances around the fire.” That ancient storyteller was an entertainer. He made the members of his tribe forget that they were shivering with cold or wondering where they might find the next meal. But he was doing more than entertaining. Through his tales, the storyteller was passing on tribal traditions, maintaining an oral history of his people, and instilling values that would enable them to survive. He used the thrilling story of an exciting hunt to show the members of the tribe working together to bring down game. His description of a warrior’s heroic death that ended up saving his people taught the value of self-sacrifice. The storyteller learned how to embellish the story in ways that stirred the emotions of those hearing it, so that they would remember it. If Homer had never told his tale, how many of us today would know about the fall of Troy? As storytellers, we want our readers to enjoy our work, but we also want them to think about it. In fantasy fiction, the presence of different races such as elves and humans and dwarves gives the author the perfect opportunity to talk about racial discrimination. Not only is racial tension a good storytelling element; reading about the hurt and anguish and indignation suffered by an elf who is thrown out of the humans-only tavern can encourage readers to think about race relations in their own lives. Since many adventurers often frequent taverns, my coauthor, Tracy Hickman, and I decided to make one of our characters an alcoholic. We did research on the subject and attempted to make our portrayal as accurate as possible. In writing about his struggles and the problems the other characters encounter trying to deal with him, we hoped to reach those readers who might find themselves in the same situation. We also wanted to encourage other readers to give serious thought to the issue. Not only do human prejudices and fears, flaws and failings make for good ix x Foreword storytelling; they serve to ground the fantastic in what the reader knows to be real, helping the reader suspend disbelief. One reason the Harry Potter novels are so successful is that they are about children in school. Never mind that in this school the children fly on broomsticks. The idea of being a kid in a classroom, having to deal with classmates and teachers, is something to which we all can relate. Readers of books and those who write them will find much to think about in this interesting and entertaining book. I feel very privileged to have been invited to write the foreword. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find my wolfskin. It’s time to tell a story. Margaret Weis Introduction POPULAR CULTURE AS POLITICAL THEORY Plato, Aristotle, and Homer Joseph J. Foy When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold their future with stories; the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller. —The Storyteller (opening sequence) In 1987 Jim Henson, most famous, of course, for his Muppets, created and produced the first installment of The Storyteller. Combining live acting and puppetry, Henson used this award-winning television series to recreate myth narratives from around the world and, in the process, remind audiences of all ages of the importance and power of the stories a society chooses to tell. In each episode, the Storyteller (in the first season played by John Hurt and in the second season by Michael Gambon) magically brought to life tales of German, Russian, Celtic, Norwegian, and Greek traditions, each one offering humanistic insights into questions of power, ethics, religious belief, tradition, social hierarchy, the individual, and the “other.” These tales, which had been told throughout time and across cultures, served as a means for dealing with the big questions that have long plagued communities of people: questions about truth, justice, freedom, equality, and ethics. And underneath the stories lay expressions of cultural values and frameworks for understanding the world and our place within it. 1 2 Joseph J. Foy American mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) describes myths like those presented in The Storyteller as “living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind,” argu- ing that “religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms . boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.”1 Campbell and other mythologists and folklorists, who ultimately address the common themes and symbols found through a cross-cultural comparison, use the popular stories shared within societies to reveal deeper insights into the messages they convey about the common philosophies contained in those societies. It will likely come as no surprise to students of political theory, then, that myths—shared through stories, music, poetry, art, and sermon—have always been a way to communicate the principles and ideals of a society, as well as to frame and present insights regarding liberty, property, justice, rights, power, and community. Philosophers dating back to Confucius (551–479 BCE) praised poetic works like those contained in the Chinese Book of Songs (many of which were also, or later became, popular songs), noting that such poems are invaluable to moral education. Italian philosopher Machiavelli (1469–1527) turned to dramatization to present a philosophical allegory about virtue ethics and community: his play La Mandragola. More recently, Ayn Rand (1905–1982), a screenwriter-playwright turned novelist and philoso- pher, influenced countless conservative, libertarian, and Objectivist thinkers with her popular fiction novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and democratic socialist thinker and writer George Orwell (1903–1950) penned compelling critiques of Stalinism and the totalitarian state in 1984 and Animal Farm.