The Simpsons How Do They Affect Kids

The Simpsons: How Do They Affect Kids Essay, Research Paper

Birth and Success of an ‘Alternative’ Cartoon “The Simpsons” is one of North America’s most popular television shows, ranking as the number one television program for viewers under eighteen years of age. However, the ideals that “The Simpsons” portrays are not always beneficial and sometimes not even in good taste. Thus, it seems inevitable that “The Simpsons” affects children. Matt Groening, the creator, took up drawing in 1977 to escape from his troubles. At the time, Groening was working for the L.A. Reader, a free weekly newspaper. He began working on Life in Hell, a humorous comic strip consisting of people with rabbit ears. The L.A. Reader picked up a copy of his comic strip and liked what they saw. Life in Hell gradually became a common cartoon in many free weeklies and college newspapers all over the country; it developed a cult status. Life in Hell drew the attention of James L. Brooks, producer of works such as “Taxi”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and “Terms of Endearment”. Brooks originally wanted Groening to make an animated pilot of Life in Hell, but Groening chose not to do this because he was afraid of loosing royalties from those papers that printed the strip. Therefore, Groening presented Brooks with an overweight, bald father; a mother with a blue unique haircut; and three annoying, spiky-haired children. Groening intended for them to represent the typical American family “who love each other and drive each other crazy”. Groening named the characters after his own family. His parents were named Homer and Margaret and he had two younger sisters named Lisa and Maggie. Bart, instead, was an anagram for “brat”. Groening chose the last name “Simpson” to sound like the typical American family name. Brooks decided to put the 30 or 60 second animations on between sketches on “The Tracy Ullman Show”, which aired on the Fox network. The cast members, Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner, did the voices of Homer and Marge; Yeardley Smith did the voice of Lisa; and in the end, Nancy Cartwright did the voice of Bart. Sam Simon, Tracy Ullman’s producer, along with Brooks and Groening wanted to make the Simpson family their own show. However, the Fox network was looking for material to appeal to a younger audience and the only show they had that drew a young audience was “Married With Children”. To Fox’s pleasure, “The Simpsons” saved the network from a predictable failure. On December 17, 1989, “The Simpsons” got its break. The Christmas special, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” was aired. In the episode, Bart got a tattoo, much to Marge’s dislike. She quickly spent all of the family’s Christmas money to remove Bart’s tattoo with a laser. At the same time, Homer, still on his morning coffee break at 4:00 in the afternoon, learned that he would not receive a Christmas bonus. When he learns that Marge is relying on the money for Christmas, he decides that he will do the Christmas shopping for the year. He quickly buys Marge panty hose, Bart paper, Lisa crayons, and Maggie a dog toy. When Homer realizes that he is not doing very well, he gets a second job as a mall Santa to earn extra money. On the way home from work, he steals a Christmas tree. The next day at the mall, Bart sits on Homer’s lap and pulls down his beard. Homer responds by choking Bart and making him help make Christmas better. On Christmas Eve, Homer receives his check, $13.70 for over 40 hours of work. Homer takes Bart to the dog track as a final chance for Christmas money. They discovered a gem in the third race, Santa’s Little Helper. How could this dog lose on Christmas Eve. The odds were 99 to 1, they were going to be rich. Homer put all of his money on Santa’s Little Helper, and to his horror, he never even finished the race. As Homer and Bart were scouring the parking lot for winning tickets into the night, they saw the track manager throw out a dog. It was not just any dog, it was Santa’s Little Helper. When Bart and Homer came home to their worried family, they had a good Christmas after all. Now they had a dog. “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” was not the typical Christmas story. It dealt with body art, sleeping in the work place, sibling rivalry, stealing a Christmas tree, a misbehaved son, and gambling. Although it was unorthodox, it was very successful. The Fox network decided to broadcast it again on Christmas Eve. Nevertheless, this is an example of an episode that portrays ideals, such as gambling and stealing, which may not be beneficial to a younger audience. In about a month, “The Simpsons” made its debut as a weekly show; “Bart the Genius” was the first regular episode. In the middle of a feared assessment test, Bart switches his test with the completed one of Nelson Prince, the class nerd. Bart and his parents are called into Principal Seymour Skinner’s office where they are told that Bart has a 216 IQ. (Homer thought is was 912.) Skinner requests that Bart attends The Enriched Learning Center for Children. Suddenly, Homer takes a liking to his son. They joke together, play ball together, and embarrass Marge at an opera together as Bart sang along with the opera Carmen yelling, “Toreador, oh don’t spit on the floor. Use the cuspidor. That’s what it’s for.” Soon, at Springfield Elementary School, Bart’s old school, Bart’s graffiti is roped off and labelled, “The Principal. By Bart Simpson. IQ 216.” Bart’s friends no longer liked him, t