Are the Simpsons Conservative or Liberal

THE KMC BLOG ^ | 11.4.2003

[KMC1]

Ok, I know that I am extremely late to the party...but I have to admit it...I have become a hardened fan of (bite lip and hope for the best) - "The Simpsons". I had never watched on a regular basis for the majority of the time that they had been on the air. Then I interviewed the author of "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" last year. The interview was ok as interviews go but in the author's telling of HOW the episode is put together each week fascinated me. Each epsiode take possibly up to 3 years to put together. Most episodes utilize more than 100 writers and the writing pool is equally divided up: 1/3 Jewish, 1/3 Christian, and 1/3 fill in the blank. The Simpsons, unlike many other TV families do seem to have a profound ability to endure the hardships of life and even underscore some of the most decent of human virtues and values. All that being said, it got me thinking, watching, and now I'm hooked...

[nutmeg]

read later bump

[jocon307]

"Side Show Bob and I share the same last name."

That is truly cryptic, but I bet Jonah Goldberg has the decoder ring!

[Phantom Lord]

That is truly cryptic, but I bet Jonah Goldberg has the decoder ring!

He has "a" decoder ring. But his tells him to drink more ovaltine.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

bttt

[baseballmom]

"I'll keep it short. Family, Religion, Friendship....These are the 3 demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business. When opportunity knocks, you don't want to be caught driving to the maternity hospital or sitting in some phoney-baloney church.........or synaGOGUE!"

[Richard Kimball]

My favorite Simpsons line was when Ned Flanders was knocked unconscious, and woke up looking at Homer, who had a circular flourescent light above him. He shouted, "Homer Simpson! Heaven must be easier to get into than Arizona State!"

[Skywalk]

A Bob Terwilliger just won(at least he was up by a lot when I checked) a local office here in Washington. Tell me people aren't going to be constantly referring to him as Sideshow Bob?

[L.N. Smithee]

I think you are overly sensitive about and lack a sense of humor about religion. Just my opinion.

Yeah, I knew if I kept on hitting "View Replies" enough, I would run into the old reliable sniff, "You don't have a sense of humor..." I have heard that before, when it comes to deliberately offensive "entertainment" like South Park, Family Guy, Married...With Children, and anything churned out by producer David E. Kelley.

You know what? I DON'T have a sense of humor when it comes to some things. I think that people who have a "sense of humor" about everything -- and will not say that some things are off limits for making quasi-humorous remarks -- don't take some things seriously enough.

[jocon307]

"Heaven must be easier to get into than Arizona State!"

LOL, we can only hope!

[L.N. Smithee]

First of all, there isn't a single character or position in the show that isn't lampooned constantly. Is Ned Flanders presented as square? Yes. Is he also presented as the epitomy of Christian patience and love, with children who are far happier and better adjusted than, say, the Simpson kids? Also yes. Given the show's nature, I can't see it being more "fair" to Christians than it already is.

This song came from last season's Simpsons show, "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" and was nominated for an Emmy Award.

---

Everyone Hates Ned Flanders

Homer: Everybody in the USA,
Hates their stupid neighbor,
He's Flanders and he's really, really lame...
Flanders tried to wreck my song,
His views on birth control are wrong,
I hate his guts and Flanders is his name.

Lenny/Carl/Homer: F-L-A-N-R-D-S,
Homer: He's the man that I hate best,
I'd like to see his house go up in flames.


Lenny/Carl: F-L-A,
Homer: His name is Ned!
Lenny/Carl: E-R-S,
Homer: That's a stupid name!
He's worse than Frankenstein or Dr. No.


Byrne: You can't upset him even slightly,
He just smiles and nods politely,
Then goes home and worships nightly,
His Leftorium, is an emporium, of woe!


Lenny/Carl: F-L-A,
Homer: Don't yell at Ned!
Lenny/Carl: D-E-R,
Homer: His wife is dead!
Everybody hates that stupid jerk!


Byrne: Springfield rocks with Homer's joyous loathing,
Filling clubs with angry Valentinos,
You don't have to move your feet,
Just hate Flanders to the disco beat.
Homer/Byrne: He's your perky, peppy, nightmare neighborino!
If you despise polite left-handers,
Homer/Byrne/Flanders: Then I doubt you'll like Ned Flanders
Or his creepy little offspring, Rod and Todd.
Todd: That's us!
Rod: Hooray!


Audience: F-L-A,
Apu: His name is Ned,
Audience: E-R-S,
Apu: He is so white bread,
Choir: A smiley, moustache geek who walks with God!

---

Now, I am sure that after this song was sung, there was some sort of epiphany that led people to view Flanders in a more positive light at the end of the half hour. However, the choice is mine as to whether I think the show is good enough to stick around long enough to find out if that's the case, or if, as in the episode in which seems brothels were lauded as vital to every community, the moral would turn out to be murky, or even amoral.

[PoorMuttly]

If I answer "Yes and No", I promise to share my winning 1/2 Donut with Santa's Little Helper.

[jwh_Denver]

Absolut-Tee-Diddly!

Oakily dokeilly!

[jwh_Denver]

Name something they don't make fun of.

Uh, uh, sex?

[iconoclast]

Perhaps they are merely iconoclasts?

DOH!

[iconoclast]

Which is funny only if you've read your Ayn Rand.

It's been fifty years since I read Ayn Rand.

Kindly 'splain the joke if its not too involved.

[exile]

"Lisa's liberal, but not overwhelmingly so. Not -today's- brand of liberal. For example, one of her big causes is still Tibet, which I don't consider a liberal position - I'd very much like to see Tibet free as well!"

Reminds me of an episode of Family Guy. Peter is walking around and sees a protester holding a "Free Tibet" sign. He says "I'll take it." He then goes to a payphone and makes a call..."Hey China, I've got something you want...thats right All the tea."

I was laughing so hard, Mrs. Exile thought I was going to hurt myself.