During the years The Simpsons were part of The Tracey Ullman Show on FOX, I hated the yellow gang from middle America. I enjoyed watching Ullman's show, but not the cartoon segments that showed up around the commercial breaks. The animation was crude and grotesque; but then, would become tame in later years when compared with shows such as Beavis & Butt-Head. When The Simpsons got their own series in 1990, the yellow menace with the grocery bag head had his image and catchphrases on all kinds of merchandise. It sickened me to death. When WSBT News Director Bill Crafton asked me if I had ever seen The Simpsons, I mumbled as if to say it's just another fad that will pass away. Crafton shrugged his shoulders as if I didn't know what I was talking about.
When I attended my final semester at Ball State in 1990, my roommate and I watched our very first Simpsons episode to see what the fuss was all about. We watched the Season 2 opener, "Bart Gets an 'F'". Both my roommate and I could relate to Bart, since we performed miserably in school; and we got hooked on the series. My roommate is still an occasional Simpsons fan to this day and has a son who is going to grade school.
Before graduation, I got a Ball State Bart Simpson t-shirt. Afterward, I began taping Simpsons episodes off the TV, often dying of laughter at the sight gags that often appeared onscreen. More often than not, I have had to hit the "pause" button because there was a sight gag that I found profoundly funny. When the pre-recorded VHS tapes hit the local K-Mart, I was there to buy them. In 2001, when the first DVDs were available, I immediately bought the Season 1 set at Sears, a retailer not known for selling such material.
In later years, I amassed a huge Simpsons DVD collection, buying most of the discs at Sam Goody, Target and Best Buy. When I lost my job as radio data specialist in 2005, I had to sell my collection at Half-Price Books, which was unfortunate. Once again, I was left to watch America's cartoon family on free TV--with commercial interruptions. I missed all the extras, such as the audio commentaries; deleted scenes; commercials; documentaries and other special features that were included on the DVDs.
I especially enjoyed listening to the commentary on how Season 1's "Some Enchanted Evening" nearly got The Simpsons cancelled. It was the first episode to feature a celebrity guest star--Penny Marshall of Laverne & Shirley, who launched me into puberty with those hot shorts back in 1978 during that series' "Dance Studio" installment. Penny provided the voice of the evil babysitter Ms. Botz, who tried kidnapping the Simpson children in their own home, but to no avail.
One of the creators of The Simpsons, James L. Brooks, strongly castigated the initial production of "Some Enchanted Evening". Gracie Films and Klasky-Csupo, the original animators, threatened to shut down production if the next episode, "Bart The Genius", turned out to be crap like "Evening". Fortunately for Simpsons fans everywhere, that didn't happen, for "Genius" became the first regular episode while "Evening" became the first season finale. The plot for "Bart The Genius" later got stolen for the live-action Flintstones movie, which was penned by some 36 writers, but there will be a discussion on that in another blog.
Years ago, I read an article in The Plain Truth, one of the most religious and conservative magazines published--and they endorsed America's blue-collar cartoon family. Barbara Curtis, who wrote a 2001 article for the magazine, succinctly quoted Homer, "Everybody's a sinner...except this guy"--referring to God. Curtis acknowledged Marge applying Scripture to daily dilemmas, like whether to take in homeless bus driver Otto or persuading Homer to go to church. And I don't even need to mention Ned Flanders.
Like countless other Americans, I collected tons of memorabilia devoted to The Simpsons, such as audio CDs; wastebaskets; framed pictures; a Moe's Tavern dartboard; Homer slippers; and at least three t-shirts that are now discarded because of wear and tear. The only souvenir I have from another cartoon series is a Lois Griffin shirt from Family Guy, which I haven't worn in years.
Over the years, The Simpsons got me through some of the bleakest times in my life, from when I lived in the Franklin, Indiana group home until this year. Even when the rest of television was getting putrid, I could always count on belly laughs from creator Matt Groening to get me out of the doldrums. The worst Simpsons episode always outranked the best one of 2 Broke Girls, for instance.
I enjoyed watching the 2007 Simpsons Movie, which generated a half-million dollars at the box office. However, the plot for the movie later got stolen by CBS' hit summer series Under The Dome, which has been a ratings smash for three seasons. Did Bart really have to show his wiener to the general audience?
Then events happened that caused me to have as much, if not more, disrespect for The Simpsons as I did in my college years. To start off, FOX had launched the fellowship program called Inkubation, which allowed prospective screenwriters the same flexibility to submit spec scripts within deadlines as the other TV networks. Unfortunately, Scott Grogin, who is Senior Vice President for FOX, decided to shut down Inkubation after only a few years and change it to FOX Audience Strategy, in which only experienced writers submit entries via referral. This made me furious, since I wanted to be the first Aspie to write for The Simpsons.
Next, FOX Home Video announced they would discontinue sales of the Simpsons DVD sets; and that Season 17, issued Christmas 2014, would be the last volume distributed. That really cooked my goose, as I and millions of other Simpsons fans have been asking FOX to issue at least two DVD box sets every year. I always get sick of buying decade-old episodes that come in new packaging. I have also looked forward for the producers of The Simpsons to create new direct-to-DVD episodes that will be aired in the future that most of us won't get to see because most of us will likely be dead when the series is still on the air. That won't happen, either.
Then FOX decided to let Harry Shearer, who provided the voice for many of the Simpsons characters--such as Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders--walk. The network and actor could not come to a pay agreement just as the series had been given a two-year renewal. A new actor is going to replace Shearer; and hearing the voice of Seymour Skinner just won't be the same.
The last straw is data I collected for a spec script I was going to write in which minister John Hagee would make an appearance at the Springfield Church, substituting for Reverend Lovejoy. It turns out that many of the fallacies of the Simpson family Pastor Hagee would have preached in his sermon from my episode are, indeed, the living end, as Bart would say.
For starters, the Simpsons dishonor and mock God. They blaspheme the Lord every chance they get. They blatantly mock those such as Ned Flanders who serve God. In many episodes, the Simpsons portray disrespect toward authority figures and generate laughs. The Simpsons paint the picture of being stupid and uneducated as funny while virtually ignoring the subject of Asperger's Syndrome and autism spectrum disorders.
The Simpsons make light of homosexuality and promiscuity, which Scripture is clearly against. It is especially evident in installments such as "Homer's Phobia", "Three Gays of the Condo" and "Blame It On Lisa". The writers of the series also poke fun of the Smithers/Burns relationship as well as telling countless Batman-and-Robin-are-gay jokes that get tiring after the umpteenth hear.
Additionally, the Simpsons teach that having children is just a roll of the dice you are given and that life is but a game of chance. Que sera sera. They would also like you to believe that vulgarity, vandalism and cigarette smoking are all acceptable behavior--often it is children that act this way! The writers portray most of the male characters on The Simpsons as selfish; lazy; sloppy; uncooperative; ignorant; cruel; doltish; foolish; irresponsible; womanizing; beer guzzling; TV watching; ungodly morons. And that is supposed to be funny?
The female characters are sexpots. In an Internet photo, Marge is wearing a Madonna corset. Ruth Powers, Marge's neighbor, is flexing muscles while wearing a bikini in another episode. In the famed "Flaming Moe's" episode, Bart's teacher, Edna, wears bike shorts and a halter top while seducing Joey, the drummer of Aerosmith. Are young children supposed to watch this?
Homer Simpson gets laughs for being a child molester by constantly strangling Bart. He also falls asleep at work while the nuclear plant is suffering meltdown. He should have been in prison many times over and been fired from his job as safety inspector at the power plant. He probably also cheated on his exams from "The Front" episode to get his high school diploma. In all cases, Homer Simpson is no role model for any Christian to follow.
The Simpsons make inappropriate jokes about various cultural and ethnic groups; use excessive foul language, as evidenced by Homer having to use a swear jar; and portray materialism as funny. Which leads me to wonder--Why do Christians partake in the making merry of such uncouth actions? Why is a show like The Simpsons humorous to Christians, as was evidenced in that Plain Truth article I mentioned earlier? Why is it funny to mock God, who is the ordained leader, protector, priest and provider of the family who gave his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins?
I have always found The Simpsons to be a witty commentary on American life as well as a parody of all of our human foibles. Unfortunately, I now find myself wondering why I wasted nearly 30 years of my life having watched the misfortunes of a fictional American family that mostly watches TV; produces an annual Halloween episode (usually about the occult, which is also against Scripture); goes on the occasional escapade and amasses a colossal fortune in merchandising crap.
The last witty Simpsons remark I made was when Jimbo Jones of the Cleveland Cavaliers raided the Kwik-E-Mart with a barrage of three-pointers to help his team win Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals at Oakland against the Golden State Warriors. With that, I have retired as a Simpsons fan, never again to watch an episode of the yellow family. As MAD Magazine says, "Garbage in, garbage out". Slowly but surely, I am tuning out the tube. What little TV I do end up watching will influence who I am and what I do. I choose not to fill my head with trash for fear of becoming a fool.