The National CollegePossible Worlds
Analysing The Simpsons
Ronan McDonnell
THE SIMPSONS has broken the mould for television production.When we first saw it on our screens, it stood out from everything else as an exciting and dynamic programme. It showed that primetime television could be witty and incisive. The Simpsons is intelligent entertainment. As social satire, it makes us laugh at ourselves, using humour intelligently to undermine our beliefs. Apart from all that, it is simply good fun. In order to describe the success of the series fully, this article will attempt to identify the different elements that, put together, compose each episode.
Analysing the Elements of The Simpsons
The Simpsons is a complex series brought about by the interplay of various elements. It is essential for a better understanding of how the programme works for one to recognise the separate parts that go to make up this body of work. As a series that has seen more than eleven seasons, it has had - and has taken - the chance to explore vast variations in subject matter, programme content and composition.
Characterisation
The humour in The Simpsons works in a variety of ways. Essentially, it is the characterisation that forms the base upon which all other elements are built. As a character driven programme, it operates on a fine line between being familiar and overly formulaic. All audience members must be able to recognise the specific character traits. This allows the audience to connect with the characters on a familiar basis. The characters are also somewhat stereotypical to aid this process of recognition. The five central characters are to be seen in every episode. Although they may not be the most dynamic or humorous within the large character register, they are certainly the most familiar. Anyone who has seen the programme before will have no problem ascertaining from one episode the essential qualities of each family member. The central family have very mapped-out, standardised reactions to each other, which aid viewing. They are symptomatic of the delicate relationships presented in this character driven series. The family members are stereotyped to conform to an audience's expectations of a dysfunctional family. All the other incidental and constant characters who have made appearances in Springfield have been equally stereotyped from Apu, the programme's illegal immigrant, to Chief Wiggum, the incompetent Police chief. We are all familiar with these stereotypes and it is this familiarity that aids us in laughing at these characters.
All characters have human characteristics and as such they allow us to identify with them. This is a common thread through all animation. The audience must be able to identify with the characters and yet their animated state allows us to watch things happen to them, which would possibly be exploitative with live-action actors. These animated characters can live their lives to extremes. Violence, pain and other unpleasantries abound in the exaggerated life of a cartoon. Animation serves as the catalyst here where everyone from the youngest viewer to the oldest can recognise that this is not real life and as such anything goes.
Slapstick
As with most forms of comedy, slapstick and body humour are used heavily throughout The Simpsons' history. This is due to exaggerated experiences of characters' in animation as mentioned above. Slapstick is innocent humour in many ways. A child will find enough humour in seeing a drawing of a funny-coloured family doing things that no one would ever do. Sophistication in The Simpsons' humour is the preserve of the adult viewer. However, one does not need a complex world-view or educated tastes to see the comic aspects of an animated man falling down a cliff.
Reference
Over the years, The Simpsons has built up an enormous repertoire of cultural references. Every episode is filled with them. Indeed, reference is essential to the canon of humour in The Simpsons. Whereas even the youngest child would understand how Itchy and Scratchy allude to Tom and Jerry only adults would understand some of the other references. An obvious example of adult-oriented referencing can be seen in the episode entitled Lady Bouvier's Lover (Episode IF21). Along with the literary reference in the title, there is another adults-only reference. It is only adults who could receive the full impact of the closing sequence, which is openly a parody of The Graduate. As Marge's mother is being married to Mr. Burns, Grandpa Simpson is seen in the glass-enclosed organist's cubicle banging on the window and screaming. The episode ends with Marge's mother and Grandpa Simpson driving off on a school bus to the tune (complete with modified words) of The Sound of Silence. In The Simpsons' repertoire this is one of the most extended cinematic 'tributes'.
In this manner, references accumulate. They are not inherently detrimental to a naive reading of the show. It is, of course, carefully engineered to be this way. Anybody who has not seen The Graduate will still follow the episode that references it. In terms of the narrative structure it is an essential part as it contains the episode's conclusion. Yet it functions as a post-modern reference and is changed just enough to function as a perfectly viable ending.
The Simpsons are symptomatic of post-modernism. Centred on an entirely fabricated world, the programme delights in the cross-reference of real world culture. It is impossible that a child could appreciate the context within which the programme sets itself and then operates. With adults it never fails to elicit a response. The adult viewer may not understand the complexities of the show's operation but the response is still triggered; when such a fictitious world so closely resembles the real world, one intuitively recognises at least some of the various elements.
A Mixture of Subtle Complexity and the Obvious
The Simpsons functions in the delicate and precise interplay of its main elements. The subtlety of great adult humour is placed beside the directness of children's comedy. It is a delicate balancing act, with which The Simpsons' formula has been proven to cope.
In creating a series that has a universal appeal, it is obligatory that even the youngest viewer can easily follow each episode. It would be detrimental to audience ratings if the show became too complex. The narrative is always structured so that it retains interest for the viewer without being exclusionist. It is worth remembering, however, that with more exposure to television, today's young audiences are more aware than ever of the medium's traditions and conventions. It is a very sophisticated audience, which can follow adult programming, but perhaps without fully grasping the subtleties.
Several methods are employed in scripting the show to these constraints. The producers and writers have learned a lot from other television productions and cinema releases. There is no lack of information as to what is successful and to whom it appeals.
Narrative structure
Narrative structure has been learned from many television sit-coms and successfully adapted to suit the needs of this programme. Most episodes arrange themselves to create considerable changes in the lifestyles of the central characters and yet without fail these changes have been righted by the end of episode. This return to the status quo in relation to the main characters is the only narrative constraint placed on the writers.
We can see cinematic play in the writing of episodes where the action can become so far fetched and surreal that it far surpasses the boundaries and the limitations presented by the average sit-com. This is easily facilitated by animation, which has its lack of sets as a major advantage. This has enabled the earth to be blown up (Episode BABF or Treehouse of Horror Ten), a visit to New York (Episode 4F22 The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson) and a major shipping accident to take place, involving a cargo of hot-pants (Episode 3F24 El Viaje Misterioso De Nuestro Jomer).
The Everyday/Social Satire
The Simpsons, as a programme, has dealt with issues from everyday experience to the most bizarre and surreal. Homer has dealt with his desire and lack of ability to cheat on Marge, who has gone through a similar experience (episodes IF07 and 7GII The Last Temptation of Homer and Life on The Fast Lane). The horror of war was tackled in The Principal and the Pauper (Episode 4F23). This episode also deals with the shame that follows the exposure after living a lie. The Simpsons have also addressed religion, greed and xenophobia. Complex social satire has always been an important element by which The Simpsons has tackled serious problems. The problems are not dealt with reverently; rather the humour undermines the world's everyday attitude to these problems. These topics may seem far removed from the lives of child viewers who, making up a third of The Simpsons' audience, can enjoy the show regardless. The reason for this will now be discussed.
Active Audience Participation
For the show to be a success it is imperative that all viewers become engrossed in the story. As we could see, this does not need to regard the central plot, but it can be incidental to that. However integral this emphasis is to the show, it can work to different degrees for different audience members.
In his writings on media, Andrew Hart (Hart, 1991, p. 62) introduces a theory put forward by John fiske, the 'Uses and Gratifications' theory. This is of particular use to anyone deciphering The Simpsons. At its most basic level this theory proposes that with television viewing there is a considerable difference between a passive and an active audience. McLuhan argues, and I agree, that there is not often such a thing as a passive audience. Rarely are we handed a complete package. Programming, as with most other spectator-based entertainment, is open to interpretation. As long as we bring our prejudices and our experiences to our viewing, we are participating in our own understanding of what is being presented. It is very rare that an audience can appreciate anything in its own right. By our very nature we cannot stop ourselves comparing and referring to our previous knowledge.
With the constant referencing in The Simpsons, taking its cues from different eras it is guaranteed that the audience can feel that it is 'in' on the joke. From historical references to up-to-the-minute pop references we are guaranteed that every age group can find something to which its members can relate specifically. By this measure, an audience member can take or leave any part of The Simpsons. As there are so many elements to any particular episode, this is generally not to the detriment of the show. As I found in my own viewing, the use of references is central in this regard.
References can be seen to aid the show's appeal on a variety of levels with different readings available accordingly. A full and complete understanding of all issues raised and a reference made is therefore not a crucial aspect of understanding the story. Logically, therefore, a child with limited experience would have a different interpretation of the same episode as viewed by an adult.The level to which a viewer can extract a meaning is therefore subjective. The writers therefore must ensure that no demographic section of the viewing public is left uncatered for. They do this successfully in every episode, thereby ensuring that the programme communicates to each of us individually and on our own level.
Conclusion
As we have seen, the popularity of The Simpsons stems from two of its most fundamental characteristics. firstly, it is essentially familiar to us in format; it is after all a sitcom about an animated family. Secondly, it presents us the choice of our own viewing to the depths that we wish to go. Television has never been better.
Bibliography
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FISKE, John, Television Culture, London: Methuen 1987.
GIMPLE, Scott M. (ed.), The Simpsons Forever, London: Harper Collins 1999.
GOLDBERG, Gary, The Simpsons Archive, www.snpp.com, November 2000, February 2001.
HART, Andrew, Understanding The Media, London: Routledge 1991.
HENDON, L. Kristin, 'Mainstream Culture is in Trouble and Superman's not Gonna Save it ... But The Simpsons Might', Art Papers, Vol 21, No. 6, November 1997.
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