Watching Simpsons

Self deprecating humor can be an x-factor when it comes to politics, especially when it comes to television comedy. Basically, by showing that one’s able to take a joke, a politician can demonstrate a good natured bit of humility while, at the same time, demonstrating a bit currency with popular culture.

In this regard, figures from Janet Reno to John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Al Gore have appeared on Saturday Night Live, usually with humorous results. The most surprising, of the four just mentioned, was former Attorney General Janet Reno. McCain, Giuliani, and Gore were billed as guest hosts. Nobody knew, or expected Janet Reno, right after she left her job at the Justice Department, to barge onto the set of a Will Ferrell sketch, entitled “Janet Reno’s Dance Party.” Ferrell was done up in drag, impersonating Reno. Naturally, the real Reno confronted Ferrell, before the two ended the sketch by dancing. Of course, all of it was finely scripted and planned, and Reno managed to keep her planned appearance quiet, which is amazing, given how Washington DC, during the Clinton era, was known for press leaks and nothing staying too secret for too long.

Of course, the Simpsons is not only an American phenomena, as Al Jean’s honorary “Irishness” or Groundskeeper Willie’s appearance in a Scottish poll shows. This fits into politics too. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared on The Simpsons while he was an occupant of 10 Downing Street. This sense of humor, however, doesn’t seem to have carried over to the current PM, Gordon Brown, according to the AFP:

LONDON (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruled out Wednesday making a cameo appearance in the hit US television cartoon series “The Simpsons”.
Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair voiced a yellow cartoon version of himself in a 2003 episode of the show entitled “The Regina Monologues”.
But Brown vowed there would be no repeat.
“I think Tony Blair did that, I don’t think that is for me,” he told GMTV television, insisting he would also not appear on music talent contest or ballroom dancing shows.
In “The Regina Monologues”, the Simpson family traveled to London and were greeted by Blair, though dim-witted dad Homer Simpson mistook him for the fictional bumbling eccentric Mr Bean.

For the record, I thought that some of the Geico caveman commercials were funny, but then again, I thought even in the commercial format, some of the later ones got a little lame. The most effective one, in my mind, was the airport stop, where the caveman is standing on a the flat escalator. There’s a bit of music in the background, and the caveman is looking at his plane ticket. For some reason, there’s a tennis racket stuffed into his carry-on luggage. He sees the Geico ad and a look of exhausted exasperation comes over his face. Contrast that with the ad where a bunch of caveman are at a party, talking about their troubles, and “selling out’ to Geico.com. Not as sophisticated or funny, but then again, the Cavemen television series was borne out of that. And the result, if we read watchingsitcoms.com, is not that good and not that funny.

In a way, it would be interesting to comparatively think of Cavemen and The Simpsons. On the surface, both do not have very much in common, but deeper, there’s a little bit there that’s interesting. Both shows were adapted from much shorter, successful mediums. The Cavemen were based upon those somewhat successful Geico commercials. The Simpsons, on the other hand, was originally based upon shorts Matt Groening had done for The Tracy Ullman Show. Cavemen sought to expand on funny concept, and The Simpsons not only did that, but did something else. Cavemen, as a show, wears thin quickly because the concept wears thin quickly. The Simpsons, however, while having funny characters, actually speaks to everyday life and American Culture through non-stop satire. Hence, The Simpsons has lasted an absurdly long (TV-wise) time. And as for the Cavemen, if that show hasn’t been cancelled yet, it likely won’t last the rest of the season.

To some, The Simpsons are filled with stereotypes, and some of them are not that constructive. For example, a recent poll found that, when asked, most people associated Scotland with Groundskeeper Willie. To the Scottish, that’s alarming, partly because their regional government has spent a lot of money advertising and hyping the country, trying to stoke up the tourist trade. In America, at least, those efforts haven’t produced any fruit, so to speak. Plus, on the India, there’s always a number of people outraged at Apu, charging that the Kwik-E Mart operator is a collection of ethnic cliches. That said, it’s hard to argue that the stereotypes have hindered The Simpsons overseas. If one were to log onto YouTube, one would likely find a number of voice over translations, with Homer talking in everything from Spanish to Slavic languages. True, parts of the show’s humor might not translate, but then again, the family dynamic featured in the Simpsons is nearly universal. No matter what the culture, people are going to likely know an idiot like Homer, and enabler like Marge, a brat like Bart, and a nerd like Lisa. Plus, that doesn’t take into account all the minor characters and guest spots. To put it basically, The Simpsons have enjoyed an international success most other American television programs do not. Sometimes, the cultural impact of the show crops up in interesting ways.

Recently, this would include Ireland. There, like the United Kingdom, the show is shown in it’s original state, without the confusion of dubbed translation. This has become readily apparent with Oscar Wilde: Honoring the Irish in Film, an event that seeks to reward Irish contributions to culture. Ironically, the event was held in Los Angeles, not Ireland, and recently, the organizes sought to bestow honors on Simpsons producer James Brooks:

Trina Vargo, president and founder of the alliance, said: “To say the Simpsons has a cult-like following in Ireland is an under-statement.

“After last year’s event we decided that we would think outside the box in terms of this event and honour all things Irish in film.

” Given how strongly the Irish feel about The Simpsons, we thought there would be no-one more deserving of being made an honorary Irishman than Jim Brooks. And it’s been said that there are two kinds of people - the Irish and those who lack imagination - so Jim is Irish as far as we’re concerned.”

By now, the whole world knows that, within the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore is gay. JK Rowling admitted so in public, and as such, it’s hit the news programs and the blogosphere with quite a force. Truthfully, it really doesn’t change anything within the series of novels, as Dumbledore’s sexual orientation never really figured into the plight that Harry, as Rowling’s heroic character has to face, especially at the end of the series. What’s fascinating, however, it how much of stir Rowling has caused with this interesting background tidbit. Of course, had Rowling’s books been a run of the mill, mid-list level fantasy series, nobody would really care as much.
But, then again, there was another high level outing of a character. The Simpsons has hinted at possible gay characters for years, and by this, I don’t mean the guest stars. I mean the usual suspects. Smithers was always an obvious choice, partly because of his not-so-secret affection for Mr. Burns, and for the longest time, it seemed that the writers strongly hinted at Lenny and Carl – the two are, after all, inseparable on the show. It turned out that Patty was a lesbian, in a show that took on the controversy of same sex marriage.

The point, basically, is thus: many people weren’t nearly as surprised when The Simpsons decided to incorporate a gay character. The show is, after all, a work of social satire, and part of the show’s continued success is that, in order to remain relevant, it has to address the main issues of the day. J.K. Rowling’s wizard world, however, is a little more detached. In the surface, it’s more of a fantasy, lacking the in-your-face quality that has made Groening’s cartoon so funny.

If Nancy Cartwright were to walk into a crowded deli and order a sandwhich, she’d likely not be noticed by the staff or the hungry patrons. Cartwright is a voice-over actor, and the nature of the work usually keeps the audience from seeing her face. When she’s in character, she’s also likely talking in a voice that doesn’t sound like her own. After all, Nancy Cartwrights longest running job has her giving life to a cartoon character, one that’s widely known to many. She is the voice and the soul of Bart Simpson.

However, Cartwright has not been type-casted. Bart is just one of the stellar high points in her long career. To say that she’s only “Bart Simpson” would be grossly unfair, as even though she, and her cast mates, have had a lengthy run, she’s far from typecasted herself. In fact, Cartwright has many other projects to attend to when she’s involved with The Simpsons. She produces for two companies: SportsBlast and Cartwright entertainment. SportsBlast produces sports related content, much like the The Kellys, an online animated feature, which is produced in association with Turner Sports Interactive and NASCAR. Cartwright Entertainment covers most of everything else. In addition to all of that, Cartwright also frequently writes for Animation World Magazine. It’s in that capacity that she recently interviewed Al Jean, one of the creative forces behind The Simpsons.

The interview, though specialized for the business of animation and voice-over acting, is general enough that any admirer could understand and comprehend. In the interview, Jean has some interesting things to say about his experience:

I never dreamed The Simpsons would became an international hit lasting more than 19 years, but I always thought it would be a high-quality show, thanks to the involvement of Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon. I was one of the first staff writers hired for The Simpsons, and the show then basically worked the same as today, with a writer’s first draft being constantly rewritten by the whole staff — except today the staff is about twice as large (20 writers).

As for recent success, Jean rates the Simpsons Movie pretty high:

My proudest career accomplishment was releasing The Simpsons Movie this year, two months after we aired our 400th episode. My proudest accomplishments in general are my daughters Monica and Violet.

Perhaps, more than anything, the comercial success of a pop-culture enterprise can be measured by the amount of merchandising that takes place. For the Simpsons, this has become a vast, cash generating empire for Matt Groening. After all, there’s the new EA Sports Game about to hit shelves, and not to mention the Alf Clausen inspired soundtrack from more than a decade and a half of the show. There’s been countless other products floating out there, from comic books to toy figures and even temporarily themed 7-11 stores. At the soul of all of this has been the art of satire and parody, of course. But then again, a show like the Simpsons has been around long enough to stoke the imaginations of many people. This is uniquely evident in D.I.Y. Qee Project: BART, a traveling pop-art exhibit that features on wild variations on Bart Simpsons. According to Wired.com, even creator Matt Groening has a piece in the show:

The exhibit will feature a collection of 10-inch Bart Simpson vinyl figures painted, sculpted, and customized by Ron English, Buff Monster, Filth, Tristan Eaton, Adidas, and 100 more who’s who artists.

The show debuted at Comic Con in late July and has been touring the world ever since. Matt Groening, who has his own customized Bart in the show, has been popping up at some of the exhibits, so this may be your chance to rub elbows with Father Simpson.

Basically, the show allows artists to move beyond the confines of the Springfield universe and take what ever license they wish with the iconic image of Bart. This allows a lot of artists to fully explore themselves through the form of Bart Simpsons. As one can see on the Toysrevil blog (where the photo has been “borrowed” from), the results have been wild and unpredictable. There’s versions Bart’s shape is recognizable, but the paint job is a series of jagged black and white lines. There’s also stranger interpretations, like the above picture of Yunicorn’s Bart entitled “The Heart Replacer.” In this case, the artists life outside the show came into collision with the project itself. Yunicorn says, via a toysrevil interview:

I wanted to try to get away from the Bart character as much as possible with this sculpt, while still keeping it recognizable. So, the first thing I did was chop his face off and cut a hole in his chest. I had recently split up with my girlfriend of 7 years and this was sort of a reaction to how I was feeling about it. Like some creature had climbed into my chest and set up shop where my heart used to be. Lately my characters have been a little more autobiographical in a roundabout way.

Comedian Al Franken once wrote a book called “Lies and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” The cover of the book featured Vice President Cheney, President Bush, Ann Coulter, and very splotchy looking Bill O’Reilly. Fox News’ legal department took grave offense, and they responded to Franken with a lawsuit, which was subsequently laughed out of court. Satire, you see, is a protected part of free speech. But, that doesn’t change one fundamental dynamic. People either laugh at the satire, or they get really, really mad. In this regard, the new Simpson’s Game has made some people in the gaming industry livid. The purpose of the game, while giving a player of their Springfield fix, is to poke fun at other successful games, like Everquest,Guitar Hero, and Medal of Honor.

According to Computerandvideogames.com, somebody at Rockstar Games took offense at an ad meant to hype one of the levels in the new game:

At this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, someone took offence at a poster for ‘Grand Theft Scratchy’, one of the levels in the game, and asked that it be taken down.

To be fair to Rockstar, the article doesn’t mention who exactly got angry. But then again, sometimes satire is taken as flattery:

Although Rizzer admits it’s been a challenge parodying videogame properties, on the flip-side of the coin there are companies that have fully embraced it.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen Sitar Hero? We did Apu playing this 60-button controller and songs like Pour Some Curry On Me - we made this wonderful parody poster and the guys from Harmonix loved it and we sent them 20 copies of the poster. They just loved it so much.”

The man who’s quoted here is Greg Rizza, who worked as lead designer on The Simpson’s game. To him, parody and satire is not meant as something hurtful. The CVG article goes on to quote:

“I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it’s a sign of respect… If we make fun of Grand Theft Auto, we’re not going to hurt the sales of Grand Theft Auto… But yeah, we’ve definitely had some reactions - we’ve had to pull stuff from the game”…

Of course, all this has done, just like the Fox News Vs. Al Franken scrap, has given EA Sports and The Simpsons game a bit of free publicity. Nothing commands lots of attention like controversy does. But then again, it also shows how the medium of computer games has had it easy all of these years. There are not many other games out there poking fun at other games. The movie industry, for example, is a little different, as farce has become an institution from Mel Brooks to the Wayans family and their “Scary Movie” spoof.

As noted weeks ago, the parody and satire have been the soul of the Simpsons and most of the products the show has inspired. In a way, the show can be taken as a measurement of cultural relevance, just the same way that some people view the topical humor featured on Saturday Night Live, through it’s various casts and long history. For the Simpsons, The exception, however, has been in video games. Before, Groening inspired games just featured the characters driving cars or riding skateboards, but that’s about it. The forthcoming Simpsons Game, however, will change that. The Electronic Arts title, basically, will turn it’s satirical eye on other games, mocking bestsellers like Medal of Honor, and now, Everquest.

This definitely come to light with a new, recently released trailer showcasing one of the game’s levels. Homer and Marge have been given elf ears, but one of the funniest touches, however, is that the programmers put the heads of Patty and Selma on a two headed dragon. Of course, it’s funny because it fits their gravel voiced, established characters — for example, it wouldn’t make as much sense if it were Bart, Lisa, or Maggie. But then again, if it were Moe, on the account of being a pessimistic loser, or Professor Frink (as a result of being a crazy scientist), it would make sense too. And that’s the important thing. The Simpsons is a universe of characters, and how they are used are important. One just can’t cut and paste for satirical purposes, and for the longest time, console games featuring the those characters have seemed — story wise — underdeveloped.

The Simpsons Game Neverquest Trailer