The Simpsons as Reflection of our Disintegrating Society

The Simpsons as Reflection of our Disintegrating Society

In recent years, a certain animated sitcom has caught the public's attention, evoking reactions that are both favorable and unfavorable, but hardly ever apathetic. As a brilliant, socially aware satire, Matt Groening's The Simpsons has effectively stirred different emotions from different factions of the culturally deadened American populace, and for this alone, it should be recognized 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 humor.

Often, The Simpsons is truly brutal parody, hurling barbs of hostile commentary at our materialistic and gluttonous American life-style. Many in the audience might be offended by this bullying, except that it seems like harmless fun. For example, when father Homer Simpson decides he would rather sleep in on a Sunday than attend church, Groening is obviously pointing out a corruption of traditional values within the family structure. But recognizing that people don't like to be preached to, the show takes a comic approach, having God come to talk to Homer, telling him to start his own religious sect. The hedonism that Homer extols in the name of the Lord is both ludicrous and hilariously funny, and viewers who might be offended are disarmed, so that even the most conservative Republican grandmother is receptive to the comic message.

Because it is a cartoon, some might scoff at The Simpsons and call it a children's show. But this cartoon is clearly meant for a mass audience, including adults: it is shown during prime time rather than on Satur...

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... incompetence and corruption of contemporary education, industry, government, religion, and, ironically, even television. Yet in spite of all the disheartening social problems it portrays, The Simpsons nevertheless remains funny. Whenever a scene threatens to turn melodramatic or raise an inescapably deep issue, the moment is saved by some piece of nonsense, often an absurdly gratuitous act of violence.

At a time when it seems that society is being destroyed by its own designs, it is good to be able to hold up a mirror that shows us the extent of our problems. Neither escapist nor preachy, The Simpsons provides such a satiric mirror, a metaphoric reflection of our dissolving social foundation. More than that, The Simpsons is therapeutic: to be able to laugh in the face of such problems is the ultimate catharsis.