Wednesday 4 January 2012
The Simpsons as a Post Modern Text
The Simpsons is the well known comedy series and was first created in 1989 by the creator Matt Groening. The television series is a about a working class family in the city of springfield. The family includes Homer who is seen as the breadwinner in the family, Marge; the typical house wife and the three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Throughout the 25 series of the show we see the family go through daily life. The creators make the life of the Simpsons into parody.
The Simpsons show many features which make the television series post modern, one feature being Intertextuaility. In the show we see all five characters stay the same age for example Lisa and Bart are the ages of 11 and 8 and throughout the 17 years of the show; the characters do not age. The show was made in the post modern era and has no sense of time and place.
The second point which makes the sitcom a post modern text is the fact the show does not follow the typical linear narrative. Every episode has a start and finish and all disruptions are resolved at the end of the episode. This is very common in many sitcoms like Family Guy and Futurama.
Another feature of post modernism is the decline of the meta narrative meaning the show parodies’, religion, government and other social issues. For example one episode includes Homer attempting to vote for the current President Obama. Other presidents have been referenced like the former President George W Bush. The creators of the shows make light of religion for example in the episode where Homer gives his soul to the devil. They also make humour of issues like obesity.
The typical American family is portrayed in the show. At the beginning of every episode we see the family all join on the sofa. You see that the television is important and brings the family all together. Lisa and Bart are shown as binary opposites because they are both very different characters but the television show Itchy and Scratchy always bring the pair together.
Jean Bauldrilards theory of hyperreality is referenced in The Simpsons. The show uses pop culture a lot in the show. The shows references other shows, actors etc. This makes it difficult because we are shown copies of copies and no longer the original references.
Overall I think that the television show The Simpsons is a Post modern text. It uses. Intextuality, hyperreality and meta narrative and other features. The sitcom was made in the post modern era and uses a lot of today’s pop culture.
The Simpsons show many features which make the television series post modern, one feature being Intertextuaility. In the show we see all five characters stay the same age for example Lisa and Bart are the ages of 11 and 8 and throughout the 17 years of the show; the characters do not age. The show was made in the post modern era and has no sense of time and place.
The second point which makes the sitcom a post modern text is the fact the show does not follow the typical linear narrative. Every episode has a start and finish and all disruptions are resolved at the end of the episode. This is very common in many sitcoms like Family Guy and Futurama.
Another feature of post modernism is the decline of the meta narrative meaning the show parodies’, religion, government and other social issues. For example one episode includes Homer attempting to vote for the current President Obama. Other presidents have been referenced like the former President George W Bush. The creators of the shows make light of religion for example in the episode where Homer gives his soul to the devil. They also make humour of issues like obesity.
The typical American family is portrayed in the show. At the beginning of every episode we see the family all join on the sofa. You see that the television is important and brings the family all together. Lisa and Bart are shown as binary opposites because they are both very different characters but the television show Itchy and Scratchy always bring the pair together.
Jean Bauldrilards theory of hyperreality is referenced in The Simpsons. The show uses pop culture a lot in the show. The shows references other shows, actors etc. This makes it difficult because we are shown copies of copies and no longer the original references.
Overall I think that the television show The Simpsons is a Post modern text. It uses. Intextuality, hyperreality and meta narrative and other features. The sitcom was made in the post modern era and uses a lot of today’s pop culture.
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