Is The Simpsons television show conservative or liberal?

I think both conservatives and liberals have "emotional" issues that they support that aren't always backed with commen sense. Offhand--and yes, I'm generalizing--the two that immediately come to (my) mind are:

conservatives--agendas that use religion as the underlying argument

liberals--agendas that "help" people, but only on the surface and while ignoring the deeper ramifications

I don't think the simpsons adheres to one particular philosophy. I think they look at issues that have "common sense" answers (be it left or right), identify that answer, strip away any arguments against that answer, add some humor, and present it to us in a blunt manner.



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stop posting my damn signature

 

DOH!

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I have to agree with Pole. It seems to me the show doesn't really support one side or the other, but really enjoys poking fun at what the writers (I'm guessing) see as problems with the reasoning of liberals and conservatives.

Lord Tree

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There was a time when the Simpsons was a pretty conservative show; there was a time when they were portrayed as regular church-goers. However, it seems somewhere later down the line, Fox decided that the Simpsons should be some sort of dysfunctional family. At this point, the show swung to the left. (I think they probably changed out quite a few writers as well). There was, in this period, an episode where the parents 'save' the kids from getting baptized. Not only was it a lot more anti-Christian, it made no sense: the early-episode Simpsons would have had baptized children (unless they were Baptists). I think this switch also coincides with a real letdown in the quality of the show -- not because I don't like liberalism but just because they weren't written as well. I remember for the 10th anniversary, the NYT had an article describing the Simpsons as the original dysfunctional family and the next day, the letters to the editor had all these objections to the description.

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I don't think the Simpson's is either conservative or liberal. Rather I see it as America, distilled to its essence. Look at it, every character is a huge stereotype. It pokes fun at America with all its foibles.

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Ummm...are you guys watching the same show I am? "The Simpsons" is one of the most consistantly liberal shows on television. I'm often amazed (but pleased) with the stuff they can slip in under the radar simply because they are a cartoon.

I think the true liberal conscience of the show is Lisa Simpson. Anyone see the episode where she decided to become a vegetarian? If I hadn't already been one, that episode's portrayal of meat-eaters might have been enough to convince me.

Other liberal leanings: the portrayal of evil capitalist Montgomery Burns and his polluting, broken-down nuclear power plant. Burn's homosexual assistant Waylan Smithers who lives perpetually in the closet afraid to give voice to his true feelings. The Jesus-obsessed Rev. Lovejoy and his gossipy wife Helen, both of whom would rather look down on people than spread the word of God. And how can we forget the Simpsons' neighbor Ned Flanders? Poor Ned is such a devout Christian he does EVERYTHING the Bible says, "even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff."

Anyone who knows background on the show's creator, Matt Groening, would be hard-pressed to ever call this show conservative. Cynical, maybe. But not conservative.

 

I've seen the show as more anti-establishment (whatever that establishment is-coservative or liberal). There have been digs at just about everything possible. The overall tone is far more liberal than conservative, but that's what being anti-establishment has been all aobut (traditionally)

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no way!

Simpsons is liberal.

Remember the show where sideshow Bob ran for President and they made fun of a lot of the conservative goons?

One of my favorites was one of the Halloween episodes when those aliens had their election.

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Spectator: "I'm voting for a third party."
Kang: "Sure! Throw your vote away."

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Homer: "Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."

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Kang: "Abortions for all!"
Crowd: "Booo!"
Kang: "OK. Abortions for no one!"
Crowd: "Booo!"
Kang: "OK. Abortions for some. Minature American flags for others!"
Crowd (waving miniature American flags): "Yeah!!!!"

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I could find other times when they've poked fun at Democrats, too. They've certainly made fun of Al Gore ("Mr. Vice President, someone finally bought a copy of your book!") and other Democrats ("Didn't you wonder why you were getting paid for doing nothing?" "I figured it was because the Democrats were back in power.") and other more liberal-leaning people or groups.

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Hmm... well, when Maggie gets scanned at the grocery store during the opening credits, the readout says "NRA 4 Life".

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I got nothin'.

 

they devoted an entire episode to ridculing Bush Sr. But they've also had Clinton say he has had sex with pigs. They are an equal-opportunity offender.

Does anyone else think Mark Burnett is stealing his TV show ideas from the Simpsons?

"Survivor" had a lot of aspects from the Simpsons episode "Das Bus" from 1998 where the kids of Springfield get stranded on an island and have to find food and there was even a tribal council thing.

Now Burnett is working on "Destination:Mir" where he wants to send an ordinary person into outer space, which is exactly the plot of the Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" from 1994.

By the way, I have to disagree with JuanValdez and say a lot of the early Simpsons episodes were terrible. In particular, the Michael Jackson episode. The show really hit its stride when David Mirkin took over as executive producer around 1994.

[This message has been edited by outlaw (edited September 27, 2000).]

 

just some other political quotes,
in the obesity episode, homer is talking about being early to work for the first time, "except for all those stupid daylight savings days... stupid farmers"
and then i dont remember when he said it but homer said in reference to some action "stupid liberals"
i need to goto sleep before now

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Not to get off topic, but possibly the best line of the Simpsons is from the episode where Sideshow Bob tries to kill Bart and he's trying to make paroll. It's kind of politically oriented, depending on which way you look at it...

Paroll board member: "Is it true you have a tatoo on your chest that says 'Die Bart, Die'"

Sideshow Bob: "No! That's German for 'The Bart, The'"

Second paroll board member: "Oh! No one who speaks German can possibly be evil!"

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If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!!

 

Hate to get off this interesting topic, but does anyone know of any good website(s) that contain Simpsons funny lines.

 

Outlaw:
"Does anyone else think Mark Burnett is stealing his TV show ideas from the Simpsons?

"Survivor" had a lot of aspects from the Simpsons episode "Das Bus" from 1998 where the kids of
Springfield get stranded on an island and have to find food and there was even a tribal council thing"

I think that episode was made after that book "Lord of the Flies". Each character resembled a character out of that book and the characters were also kids. The kids also had some sort of government which resembles the tribe in the Simpsons. If you read the book you know what I'am talking about.


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Rascal, and everyone else: I think if you look at what year each episode is made in, you'll find that the later episodes are liberal and the earlier ones are more conservative. Lisa doesn't get annoying -- I mean liberal -- until many seasons in. Do you remember the early episode when she fears hell over stealing cable? Also, Waylan wasn't originally gay, at least openly. He started out with a questionable orientation and an undue affection for his employer. Later, they made it less subtle, and he became gay (and less funny). Ned started as a foil to Homer because he was 'perfect in every way.' And now, it seems he's just the Christian guy. Also, and this is harder to quantify, the writers seem to have less of an idea of what Christianity is about than they used to.

Outlaw: The first couple of seasons were not terribly good. Then they got better ('94 sounds about right) and were really great while I was in college. But a couple of seasons ago, they just started to suck. I only watch the syndicated stuff now.

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Classic episode, Jeff...Then, Homer is explaining what happened to Moe, and Moe comes back with, "Where have YOU been, Homer? The entire steel industry is gay"

It will certainly be a sad day when the Simpsons goes off the air



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If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!!

 

The new episodes are getting better.
Last season they had a VHI Behind The Music spoof episode that was a classic. (it just won an emmy). And they had a Bart's future episode that was good, though not as funny as Lisa's future episode from 1995. The Halloween episodes are still pretty cool.

Also, I don't see how fearing hell for stealing cable is strictly a conservative ideal.