Are the Simpsons Conservative or Liberal

THE KMC BLOG ^ | 11.4.2003

[Xenalyte]

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

Wow - I may even be home by then!

[Xenalyte]

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

Not true - that's a story promulgated during "Not Another Simpsons Clip Show." If you slow-frame during the intro, you'll see that it actually displays a price for Maggie - eight thousand and change.

[Xenalyte]

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."

You're wrong. The show in question is "Not Another Simpsons Clip Show," and it promulgates several funny lies about the show - including the one that Matt Groening is a reclusive militia member, and that after scanning Maggie, the grocery scanner displays "NRA4EVER."

Not true, either one of 'em, but hilarious!

[Xenalyte]

Y'all's last name is Terwilliger?

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Or the talking homer bottle openers? (MMMMMMmmmmmmm Beeeerrrrrrr)

Got one of those last Christmas... it's the best.

And that reminds me of a great (old) episode when Homer sneaks out of work to go to a Duff Brewery tour with Barney. Too much funny stuff to mention, but to make a long story short...

Homer gets a DUI (Barney to the police, "Give 'em the breath-a-lizer.") He goes to AA meetings ("My name is Otto, and I like to get blotto") and Marge convinces him to quit beer for a month (Marge to Homer, "Did you say 'beer' or 'deer'?").

He makes it through the month and excitedly heads to the bar to get a beer. But as he sits with the beer in front of him at Moe's, and sees all the drunks sitting around the bar, he leaves... Then we see the final scene with him riding a bicycle into the sunset with Marge on the handle bars while singing "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."

It's enough to bring a tear to your eye...

[Cuttnhorse]

I love the "subtle" detail of the Simpsons...I can't remember the episode but there was a scene involving the local church and the sign out front of the church said:

TODAY'S SERMON
EVIL WOMEN, FROM
JESIBEL TO JANET RENO

I rolled on the floor...I thought my wife was going to lose it.

[Xenalyte]

Okay, do you have the Simpson's Chess set? Or the talking homer bottle openers? (MMMMMMmmmmmmm Beeeerrrrrrr)Or the video games?

Yes, yes and yes! What do I win?

[Petronski]

Yeah but Ned, Rod, and Todd are asking for it.

I seem to remember when they had 'wintergreen' ice milk, but then Mrs. Flanders said she wanted 'unflavored.'

[Scenic Sounds]

Are the Simpsons Conservative or Liberal?

LOL. I think that this is the kind of thing to which all these labels lead us. ;-)

[Xenalyte]

Y'all are missing the point . . . Bart is TEN YEARS OLD. What he writes on the board is always specific to his crime. That means Bart tried to buy a gun and complained about the waiting period.

I can't believe I have to dissect jokes like this!

[Xenalyte]

I just love the scene where Apu is making the straight syrup Squishy, the kids get a serious sugar buzz and later Barney takes a sip and says something about pixies. Cracks me up.

"I don't know where you magic pixies came from, but I sure like your pixie drink!"

[Sideshow Bob]

Y'all's last name is Terwilliger?

My truly evil brother Cecil & I share that surname.

[radiohead]

the most liberal character is an eight-year-old girl

I don't know what it says about me and my lack of a life, but I too have been wondering whether the Simpsons were liberal or conservative.

They are the only family that goes to church, both parents are still in the home, and despite their ups and downs, the parents take efforts to stay with each other, and, in the end, Marge got her mind right about guns.

But what about Lisa? No doubt she's a granola crunching, vegetarian, liberal who can be counted on to say something negative about a lot of things that she knows nothing about.

So, after much cogitation, it dawned on me that Homer was a conservative (he listens to a Limbaugh-like radio show), and Lisa a liberal. Homer is the adult - working, paying taxes, understanding what it takes to get by in the world. Lisa is literally and figuratively a child, like most liberals, who wants to live in an unrealistic fantasy land funded by an increasing tax burden that would be impossible to maintain because those societal institutions that generate tax revenue would be long gone - either moved out or regulated out.

Perhaps I've done too much thinking about this...

[Petronski]

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

VCR Time! Thanks for the heads-up.

[Buggman]

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.

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.

As for Lovejoy, frankly, I've known too many pastors who fit his model not to laugh sadly when he's on the screen.

The Simpsons present religious faith as good, organized religion as not so much. As I've tried to find a church to settle in, I've found myself agreeing with that model more and more.

(Note: I did finally find a suitable church a few weeks ago, but it only has about 30 people, so I'm not sure that disproves my point.)

[CollegeRepublican]

I was just checking credientials. But you win a pat on the back.

[Petronski]

My favorite episode: Homer's new buddy at work, Frank "Grimy" Grimes. LOL

I also will never forget what I think is the single funniest line in the entire series, uttered by Apu, and directed to Homer:

Please do not give my god a peanut.

[yarddog]

I may have to start watching the Simpsons again. I do agree that it is basically liberal but we are so used to current tv being totally leftist that when one does poke fun at liberals we have a tendency to overlook it's basic point of view.

For years the Simpsons was my favorite show. It was often really funny and also clever and I, like many on this thread noticed how they skewered liberals too. In the last few years I just somehow quit watching without really knowing why. I think mainly because it quit being funny.

There is a lot of subtle leftist bias tho. The really stupid or evil people are usually portrayed as conservative, as are their supporters on the show.

The liberal characters, are supported by the smart ones such as Lisa. Men are much more often portrayed as idiots. In one show they even went so far as to say the Simpson men are genetically programmed to be idiots while the women brilliant.

In the few times where they really go over the line it is attacking Christianity. A good example is where the Simpsons rescue their children from (or the horror) from being baptised by Ned.