The Simpsons Essay, Research Paper

The Simpsons

This cartoon for grown-ups takes place in a fictional town called Springfield in the 1990?s. The main character in the show is Homer Simpsons, a father of three and a husband. Homer works at the Springfield nuclear power plant. He is portrayed as a slacker who is completely unqualified for his job. He?s also shown as a lazy couch potato and a little bit of an alcoholic. He?s also shown as a “pig” when it comes to food. His wife, Marge, is a good parent who has to keep an eye on Homer and the rest of the family most of the time. Bart, their oldest son, is a poor student who enjoys comic books and television and hates girls. Lisa, the middle child of the family, is an excellent student and a nice person. She is almost the complete opposite of Bart except they both enjoy the violent cartoons of “Itchy and Scratchy”. Maggie, the baby of the family, is known for constantly smacking her pacifier. She is portrayed as being smarter than Homer. Almost every little thing in the show is intended to be humorous.

In general the show is very funny but has some bad language and other offensive material. The fact that the show is a cartoon may be what has kept some people from watching. The cartoon though is what helps achieve many of the humorous aspects. For example a spill of nuclear waste would not be very amusing in a show with real people.

The show has the assumption that it is OK if your family argues all the time. It shows this by the little arguments that the family constantly gets into. It also shows that it?s pointless to try to be good all the time. One example is when they?re eating at home they use no table manners whatsoever and when they go to church they try to be like normal families. There are times in the show when they step away from comedy and give a meaningful message about family values, or friendship, etc..

In conclusion The Simpsons is a very funny show with a unique cartoon aspect.