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Are The Simpsons Elicit Any Negative Response?

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The Simpsons is a popular Fox program that has been airing for almost 30 years, and this indicates its massive popularity and impact both domestically and globally. It has delivered a great amount of direct and implied messages throughout the years. These messages have received different responses from heterogeneous audiences. So, does The Simpsons elicit any negative response? Yes. According to Joseph Allen (2017), The Simpsons is one of the most controversial TV shows of all times. Most of its controversy lies in either the messages implemented in the opening scene or the plot. Therefore, exploring the negative responses held by individuals is crucial for analyzing the theory. Stereotyping is one of the issues that has stimulated a negative …show more content…

In 1992, American President George W. Bush said, “we need to make our families more like the Waltons and less like The Simpsons” (Bath, 2015). So, who are the Waltons? The Waltons is a 70’s show that illustrated a family who lived in harmony during the Great Depression. President Bush negative response indicates the extent of how much The Simpsons is misshaping opinions on the United States. The President does not want the rest of the world to think that the ideal American family is similar to The Simpsons’ family. Eliezer Van Allen (2000) described the latter to be “couch potato,” which was one of the destructive responses that were stimulated by the show. Criticism was mostly associated with the parents who are Homer and Marge Simpson. Homer Simpson is an icon for irresponsibility and procrastination, and Marge Simpson represented women who gave up their dreams and submitted to their duty of merely being a housewife (Allen, 2000). The episode, “That 90’s Show” (Season 19, Episode 11), that explains how Homer and Marge met have received negative response since it shows that neither of them obtained a college degree (Bath, 2015). This episode was broadcasted 16 years after President Bush speech, which shows that criticizing the representation of the American family

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Stereotyping is a general idea that someone uses to view someone before they actually get to know them. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, Jem, and Dill stereotype people until Scout’s father tells her to stop stereotyping. Harper Lee suggests that in order to fully understand someone, you must learn to see the world from their point of view. Mrs. Dubose is an example of Harper Lee’s idea because at first she acts mean towards the Finch family which cause Jem to destroy her camellia flowers. When Mrs. Dubose dies, Atticus tells the kids that the reason she was so mean was because she had a morphine addiction.

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