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...

[FlJoePa]

Speaking of cartoons, the Cartoon Network will air the forgotten episode of "Family Guy" on Sunday night @11:30pm

This episode apparently offended so many people that not even FOX would air it!

While I like the Simpsons, nothing ever made me laugh like Family Guy - talk about equal opportunity offenders! I thought that cartoon was brilliant. What other show had a martini drinking dog?!

[jmc813]

Now South Park is a full blow, libertarian/conservative cartoon who spares nothing in going after the left. Sure, the right winger gets mocked as well, but most often, at the end of the day our side wins out. Their absolute assault on the left is great. From Easter Bunny Reno, to Sexual Harrassment Panda. And let us not forget the classic Mecha-Striesand episodes or the "Crips" episode on stem cell research, which nuked Christopher Reeves. And the new classic, Crab People!

Remember when we were discussing South Park the other day? I'm telling you, you should watch it. You'll like it.

[jmc813]

While I like the Simpsons, nothing ever made me laugh like Family Guy - talk about equal opportunity offenders! I thought that cartoon was brilliant. What other show had a martini drinking dog?!

Family Guy is without question the most brilliant cartoon ever produced.

[jocon307]

"They are equal opportunity offenders"

Yes, they are that, but the really great thing about The Simpsons is that every dog gets to have his day. Every one is shown to have reason (as they say in Spanish & French too, I think) at some point or another.

And if that Kennedy-esque mayor isn't enough to win them bona-fides out here in VRWC-land, then nothing is.

Oh, yeah, and Kelsey Grammer as the Murderous Side-show Bob singing Pinafore, that was pretty good too.

And then there was the Thanksgiving episode I saw on the re-runs the other day, that actually made me cry, which the Simpsons had never done before. That was really great.

[giotto]

Simpsons is so intelligently written that, like Dr. Seuss, Pee Wee's Playhouse, MST3K, Dr. Who, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and A Christmas Story, it is capable of being enjoyed by people of all ages.

[xm177e2]

I saw very similar parallells with how guns were portrayed in The Simpsons, with how it was handled in "All in the FAmily". We all know that the producer, writers, and the actors and actresses on All In The Family were all liberal anti-gun.

What about the Halloween episode in which Lisa wishes away all of the weapons in the world, and then the aliens come to invade?

The same goes for the Halloween episode in which Homer takes down zombies with a repeating rifle.

Also: when Maggie goes thru the supermarket scanner (in the intro to every episode) the cash register reads "NRA4EVER."

[Tabi Katz]

I'm with you. For fourteen years, the only two episodes I ever caught were one in which Homer was browbeaten by Marge and made to apologize to a belly dancer for - gasp! - joining her on the floor, thus helping her to make a living; and one that shows Lisa excelling at an all-boys' military academy despite the hoots and jeers of her classmates.

Needless to say, I thought there was some heavy-handed feminism at work, until a friend urged me to give it another shot. At that point, I was introduced to some serious Clinton bashing, and realized how skewed my previous sample had been.

[Tabi Katz]

I'm with you. For fourteen years, the only two episodes I ever caught were one in which Homer was browbeaten by Marge and made to apologize to a belly dancer for - gasp! - joining her on the floor, thus helping her to make a living; and one that shows Lisa excelling at an all-boys' military academy despite the hoots and jeers of her classmates.

Needless to say, I thought there was some heavy-handed feminism at work, until a friend urged me to give it another shot. At that point, I was introduced to some serious Clinton bashing, and realized how skewed my previous sample had been.

[Tabi Katz]

I'm with you. For fourteen years, the only two episodes I ever caught were one in which Homer was browbeaten by Marge and made to apologize to a belly dancer for - gasp! - joining her on the floor, thus helping her to make a living; and one that shows Lisa excelling at an all-boys' military academy despite the hoots and jeers of her classmates.

Needless to say, I thought there was some heavy-handed feminism at work, until a friend urged me to give it another shot. At that point, I was introduced to some serious Clinton bashing, and realized how skewed my previous sample had been.

[Tabi Katz]

OOPS! Sorry about the multiple sends. I kept getting error messages, and thought my posts weren't going through.

[RoarkMan]

That was too funny and - typical of the Simpsons - it flow buy at warp speed. That show has more laughs a minute than any other. Favorite episode is when Homer gets fat to go on disability and work at home.

Favorite line is when the kids ask their old grandpa Abe why he thought he was getting large checks in the mail for doing absolutly nothing: "I just thought the Democrats were in power again"

[Qwinn]

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!

They do push the feminist agenda a little bit with her, but then again, Marge is very much the conservative mother (most of the time), so overall I think it balances out.

Qwinn

[stands2reason]

"Crips" episode

I saw that a week or so ago. I loved Tim-may! and "handi-capable" Jimmy "mowing down" Bloods---man, that was hilarious.
The "metrosexual" episode was good, too---Mr. Garrison and his slave trying to "get some" at the gay bar---LOL!!!

[Qwinn]

Mr. Slave crashing through the window at the network was too bloody funny. I died when he gave his tag line.

South Park -can- get pretty offensive to religion... some of the songs Cartman was singing in the "Christian Rock" episode were rather over the top! Not recommended for those who take religion very seriously and can't handle sacrilege - cause South Park -thrives- on it. But yes, it's true, they roast -everybody- and everything, and in that way they are very balanced with a slight rightward tilt on a lot of social issues.

I'm a cultural paleocon, but as much as South Park drags the pits of bad taste sometimes, they often do make certain points that don't seem to be able to be made any other way (the Christopher Reeve way of showing what's wrong with stem cell research was a great example!)

Qwinn

[stands2reason]

Favorite line is when the kids ask their old grandpa Abe why he thought he was getting large checks in the mail for doing absolutly nothing: "I just thought the Democrats were in power again"

ROFL!!! One of my faves, too.

[stands2reason]

Mr. Slave crashing through the window at the network was too bloody funny. I died when he gave his tag line.

LOL!!!

I'm a cultural paleocon, but as much as South Park drags the pits of bad taste sometimes, they often do make certain points that don't seem to be able to be made any other way

Every once in a while I'll have to take a break from it---usually after a Chistmas Poo episode---but you're right, you won't see their targets get taken on anywhere else on TV. I'm glad Kenny's back, but I did like Butters. Especially Professor Chaos.

[sully777]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I recall an episode that was a Behind The Scenes Best Of episode. The viewer is introduced the the creator of the Simpsons and somewhere it says "Lifetime Member of NRA."

[L.N. Smithee]

Liberal. IMHO, it's not even close.

The show's co-creator, Matt Groening, was a Bush-basher in his syndicated strip Life In Hell before the Simpsons were created for The Tracey Ullman Show. Granted, sitcom veteran James L. Brooks, the producer, brings a bit more balance, but his presence just brings things back down to the level of typical Hollyweird leftism.

I have watched the show a few times over the decade-plus run, but what keeps me away from it is the constant bird flipped at Christianity and the Bible, be it making fun of super-square neighbor Ned Flanders or that Lovejoy character who sleepwalks through his job as a man of the cloth.

[L.N. Smithee]

Speaking of cartoons, the Cartoon Network will air the forgotten episode of "Family Guy" on Sunday night @11:30pm This episode apparently offended so many people that not even FOX would air it!

And that's saying something, considering that they aired an episode in which the porky father, obsessed with the fact his teenage son's penis was so much larger than his, stuffed his infant son into his pants to simulate a bulge.

While I like the Simpsons, nothing ever made me laugh like Family Guy - talk about equal opportunity offenders! I thought that cartoon was brilliant. What other show had a martini drinking dog?!

What other show was constantly among the lowest rated on the major television networks?

Offensive is easy. Humor is hard.

[Qwinn]

"I did like Butters. Especially Professor Chaos."

Bah - he'd be nothing without General Disarray (lololol).

Qwinn