The Simpsons: a Parody of the Working Class Culture
The Simpsons: A Parody of the Working Class Culture
D’oh Pronunciation: Brit. /dəʊ/ , U.S. /doʊ/
Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish.
Oxford English Dictionary
The hit sit-com The Simpsons was first aired in 1989, and it revolved around the adventures of the Simpson family, and all the other characters who live in Springfield, an undetermined American town. The Simpsons, as a family, are satirical versions of the quintessential idealised American working class family. The show satirizes ‘the basic elements of the American dream’; the mayor is corrupt, the police officers are good for nothing, lazy, donut and junk food eaters, the teachers at Springfield Elementary school are faced with a sea of blank faces everyday and therefore are unmotivated in their jobs, and Krusty the Clown, the smoking, drug addict clown/ TV personality who is made miserable by his job in show business but continues on anyway, just to name a few of the characters in the series.
Homer Simpson, one of the central characters, is a father of three, and is portrayed as a lazy, stupid thirty six year old. He is a nuclear power plant safety inspector, who fails as a parent and husband but deep down has his family’s happiness at heart and would go through great lengths to make them happy. He has a beer belly, a permanent 5 o’clock shadow which reappears immediately after he shaves, and is bald. The reason he is bald is because every time he learns that his wife Marge is pregnant he tears out clumps of hair. Homer is also a thief, he steals, or ‘borrows’ without ever returning, all sorts of tools and items from his neighbour Ned Flanders, once even ‘stole’ a whole room from him. When not at work, he spends his day either at Moe’s Tavern drinking beer, or in front of the television, where he even left his butt imprint on the couch due to the long stretches of time he spends sitting
D’oh Pronunciation: Brit. /dəʊ/ , U.S. /doʊ/
Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish.
Oxford English Dictionary
The hit sit-com The Simpsons was first aired in 1989, and it revolved around the adventures of the Simpson family, and all the other characters who live in Springfield, an undetermined American town. The Simpsons, as a family, are satirical versions of the quintessential idealised American working class family. The show satirizes ‘the basic elements of the American dream’; the mayor is corrupt, the police officers are good for nothing, lazy, donut and junk food eaters, the teachers at Springfield Elementary school are faced with a sea of blank faces everyday and therefore are unmotivated in their jobs, and Krusty the Clown, the smoking, drug addict clown/ TV personality who is made miserable by his job in show business but continues on anyway, just to name a few of the characters in the series.
Homer Simpson, one of the central characters, is a father of three, and is portrayed as a lazy, stupid thirty six year old. He is a nuclear power plant safety inspector, who fails as a parent and husband but deep down has his family’s happiness at heart and would go through great lengths to make them happy. He has a beer belly, a permanent 5 o’clock shadow which reappears immediately after he shaves, and is bald. The reason he is bald is because every time he learns that his wife Marge is pregnant he tears out clumps of hair. Homer is also a thief, he steals, or ‘borrows’ without ever returning, all sorts of tools and items from his neighbour Ned Flanders, once even ‘stole’ a whole room from him. When not at work, he spends his day either at Moe’s Tavern drinking beer, or in front of the television, where he even left his butt imprint on the couch due to the long stretches of time he spends sitting
Cited: Bart the Genius, 7G02, writ. by John Vitti, dir. by David Silverman (Fox Broadcasting, 14 January 1990) Homer’s Enemy, 4F19, writ Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, 1F12, writ. by Bill Oakley & Josh, dir. by Jeff Lynch (Fox Broadcasting, 17 February 1994) Lisa’s Date with Destiny, 4F01, writ Lisa’s Sax, 3G02, writ. by Al Jean & Mike Reiss, dir. by Dominic Polcino (Fox Broadcasting, 19 October 1997) -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Jessamyn Neuhaus, ‘Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons’, The Journal of Popular Culture, 43.4 (2010), 761-781 (p. 763) [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Sam Tingleff, ‘The Simpsons as a Critique of Consumer Culture’, The Simpsons Archive, (1998) < http://www.snpp.com/other/papers/st.paper.html > [accessed 9 February 2012] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]. Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, 1F12, writ. by Bill Oakley & Josh, dir. by Jeff Lynch (Fox Broadcasting, 17 February 1994). [ 8 ]. Mark I. Pinsky, ‘The Gospel According to The Simpsons: Bigger and possibly even better’ (Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), p. 6. [ 9 ]. Lisa’s Sax, 3G02, writ. by Al Jean & Mike Reiss, dir. by Dominic Polcino (Fox Broadcasting, 19 October 1997). [ 10 ]. T.W Adorno, ‘How to look at television’, The Quarterly of film radio and television, 8.3 (1954), 213-235 (p. 221) [ 11 ]