MARTIN O'MALLEY:
The theology of The Simpsons
CBC News Viewpoint | February 25, 2005 | More from Martin O'Malley
At least one generation of Canadians knows the line, "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation." Pierre Elliott Trudeau made it famous, but the line belongs to Martin O'Malley, who wrote it when he was with The Globe and Mail. He's written eight books, on topics such as the Canadian North, medicine, murder, media literacy and baseball. He wrote it with John Pungente, a world authority on media literacy.
In the early days of The Simpsons I took guilty pleasure watching what I thought was a new animated kids cartoon on prime-time TV. It had excellent animation, and the stories had nuance, irony and savvy, making me think, "Jeez, kids really are smart these days."
Little did I realize that within five years I'd have co-authored a book that would use a quotation from The Simpsons to get the ol' ball rolling. The book was More than Meets the Eye: Watching Television Watching Us, which I wrote with John Pungente, a Jesuit who is a world authority on media literacy.
Above the opening chapter we had Bart Simpson telling his dad Homer: "It's just hard not to listen to TV – it's spent so much more time raising us than you have."
Soon enough I realized that The Simpsons never was intended to be a kids show. Newspaper cartoonist Matt Groening created the show in 1990 describing it as a celebration of life and the family. "I think we're able to get away with some fairly dark comments about our culture by leavening it with lightness," he told TV Guide.
Groening never intended it as a kids show. And it wasn't the first animated sitcom for adults. The first was The Flinstones on ABC, which ran from 1960 to 1966. ABC next tried The Jetsons, which lasted only one season.
A recent episode of The Simpsons created a furor by depicting Marge Simpson's sister, the chain-smoking Patty Bouvier, as a lesbian who wants to marry a woman tennis player. The Christian right predictably got its shorts in a knot, with a spokesperson for Concerned Women for America complaining: "I think television is becoming obsessed with homosexuality. I wouldn't put it past people to dig up reruns of Happy Days and have the Fonz come out as gay."
As luck would have it, that night I watched an episode of Happy Days and there was the Fonz in his tight jeans, black T-shirt and black leather jacket, looking – not talking – like a young man who has been out of the closet for years. If I were writing an episode I'd have the Fonz in a group singing YMCA.
The Simpsons has been in trouble before. Once Barbara Bush, wife of U.S. President George H.W. Bush, called the show "the dumbest thing I have ever seen."
In a masterstroke of spin, Marge wrote to the first lady, saying, "I always believed in my heart that we had a great deal in common. Each of us living our lives to serve an exceptional man." Barbara Bush apologized to Marge, though the president later said America should be more like the Waltons than the Simpsons.
This led Bart ("I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?") to write the president to say the Waltons and Simpsons have much in common. "Both families spend a lot of time praying for the end of the Depression," Bart told Bush.
In 1998, Time magazine ran a list of 20 artists and entertainers who most influenced life in the 20th century. Frank Sinatra defined pop music, James Joyce fiction, Pablo Picasso art, and Bart Simpson embodied popular culture – "Don't have a cow, man."
Not all of the Christian right disliked the show. A theology professor writing in the Christian fundamentalist right-wing magazine Alberta Report called The Simpsons one of the most religious shows on television. In our book we cited an instance of Homer praying:
"Dear Lord," Homer says after Marge announces she is pregnant, "the gods have been good to me and I am thankful. For the first time in my life everything is absolutely perfect the way it is and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. (Pause.)
"OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you with this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, please give me no sign. (Pause.)
"Thy will be done."
Most of the Christian right under the regime of Bush the Younger believe The Simpsons is a kids show. During the fuss over Marge's sister declaring herself gay, L. Brent Bozell III, president of the conservative Parents Television Council, said the same-sex episode promotes gay marriage.
"Do children need to have gay marriage thrust in their faces as an issue?" Bozell III asked.
Pungente and I believe a show such as The Simpsons is ideal for teaching values. The theme of our book is that television merely is a medium and it's how we use it that matters, which is the central issue of media literacy.
Watching a show like The Simpsons with your children is an excellent way to discuss issues such as same-sex marriage. On one hand, it's about two people who love each other so much they want to formalize it in a public ceremony.
On the other hand, it's about challenging existing precepts of morality.
It can also be about oral and anal sex, but the kids already know this, as they know that these sexual practices are also indulged in and enjoyed by their moms and dads and other heterosexual couples.
The kids might even have joined their parents singing and dancing along to YMCA.
^TOP
|
|
 |
 MENU |
|
|
| ABOUT VIEWPOINT: |
Viewpoint is CBC.ca's place for informed opinion and commentary. Our goal is to provide a range of informed perspectives from around the world and here at home on issues of interest to Canadians. All material published in the Viewpoint section is subject to CBC’s journalistic policy, standards and practices.
Writing for Viewpoint
We accept queries from people with significant expertise in their field and previous writing experience. We are interested in domestic and international contributions. We do not accept unsolicited finished pieces.
If you want to contribute to Viewpoint, please send your query to letters@cbc.ca with VIEWPOINT in the subject line and please include three samples of your published work. Columns are typically 800 words in length and focus on timely issues, events or personal stories with wide appeal. Please familiarize yourself with our content before submitting your ideas. Only those accepted will be contacted.
|
|
| FEEDBACK: |
|
|
| MORE: |
|
|
|
