The episode in question, entitled Homer the Heretic, is one that I had previously watched. However, there were many elements which I originally didn't pick up on, seeing that I was only trying to get a good laugh out of it. I found it particularly interesting to see the way in which The Simpsons' creators depicted God - friendly, understanding, light-hearted - not what you would expect from a show that satirizes the whole of popular culture in general, especially race and religion. Originally I would have envisioned God's portrayal as a wrathful, powerful and omnipotent figure, a representation he often takes on in satyric cartoons. What's more, as someone mentioned today, everybody in Springfield is religious! Again, something I had never took note of. This really got me thinking about the portrayal of religion in this popular T.V show, and how contrarily to what I may have initially assumed, it really does address religion in a relatively accepting way. A perfect example of this was seen at the end of the episode when Apu the Hindu, Krusty being Jewish, and Flanders the overly enthusiastic Christian all played a part in rescuing their community member, Homer the 'Heretic' (at least in this episode), from a blazing fire. Although primarily humorous this episode also underlined the strong sense of community formed by the ethnically and religiously diverse characters, although partly a satyrical take on the 'cookie-cutter' American town that is highly dysfunctional, and yet, very typical.
What's more, I also got to thinking about someone's comment on The Simpsons being one of the most religious shows on television. It suddenly reminded me of all of those childhood years that my parents (well, mostly my mother, who is a Catholic elementary school principal) didn't allow my sister and I to watch this particular show. Why do so many parents ban The Simpsons from their household T.V set? It really doesn't portray religion as badly as you would assume! Naturally, I 'googled' parents ban The Simpsons in the hopes of finding something relevant and interesting on the topic, and alas (somewhat expectedly I might ad, since ridiculous things are easy to find on the internet) I came across a short note in the Orlando Sentinel, a local newspaper in Florida, on this exact topic. This short news report testifies to the ridiculousness that is America, at least in my eyes:
Parents Protest Naming School After 'Simpsons'
GREENWOOD, S.C. — Springfield Elementary seemed like a nice name for a new school. But wait a minute: Isn't that the name of Bart and Lisa Simpson's school on The Simpsons? Don't have a cow, man! Given 10 choices, students at the school voted overwhelmingly to name the school after the Simpsons'. School officials said they didn't realize the connection with the television show. ''Quite frankly, none of us look at The Simpsons, said Furman Miller, spokesman for Greenwood County School District 50. But then parents caught on, and they say Bart is a bad role model. The school's parent-teacher association has voted to ask the district board to drop the name.
I mean, it this really that important? I suppose this is just one of those issues parents see as paramount to the 'protection' of their children - as if the naming their school after an 'inappropriate' T.V show affects their learning skills, or better yet, lack thereof.
I was never a frequent watcher of The Simpsons but I did watch enough episodes to be familiar with the characters and the concept of it. I must admit, that as a practising Catholic, The Simpsons is not the first television show I’d recommend to my children despite the fact that it was considered to be one of the most religious shows on television. I guess it is considered to be “religious” because every character on the show belongs to a faith. I would argue, however, that it is not a show which stresses the importance of religious rituals such as going to Church or praying, which is why some parents may feel the need to ban it from their children.
ReplyDeleteWithin this particular episode, the Church is portrayed as boring and as a place where most people wouldn’t want to go. For example, even God is able to emphasize with Homer after he complains that the reason why he doesn’t want to go to Church is because he doesn’t see a point in hearing about how he is going to end up in hell. Furthermore, Bart praises his father for his decision to not go hinting to the audience that he would rather not go to Church either.
It is worth noting that Homer is the only character in the show that God appears to and has a friendly conversation with, despite the fact that he was the only Christian who did not go to Church. This could possibly be a demonstration to stress the fact that one does not have to follow religious rules in order to be a believer or spiritual. With that being said, I can emphasize with parents who decide to ban the television despite the fact that it is considered to be one of the most religious shows because it depicts religious rituals negatively.
Sandra