The Simpsons
Matt Groening's 'The Simpsons' is a multiple award-winning series. The dysfunctional Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie were recently voted Britain's favorite TV family in a Radio Times survey. Ben Jeapes reviews the series from a Christian standpoint:
'The Simpsons' is never going to be to everyone's taste. Its humor is anarchic, surreal and often vulgar, and it is steeped in references to popular culture. Just watching it as a 'funny cartoon show' is never going to work. There can never be agreement on matters of taste, and if your taste is not for popular culture then the show probably will not work for you.
But was it just taste that, for example, led George Bush Snr to denounce the show? That leads many Christian parents to bar their children from watching it? Or is it something deeper?
Many Christians are simply offended by the characters: Homer is lazy, grotesque, a slave to his stomach, and rarely engages his brain before speaking. Bart is a proud academic underachiever (though clearly very intelligent). He has every intention of living a life of crime when he is older, and is disrespectful to any kind of authority, parental or otherwise. They are hardly role models. Anyone who tries to follow Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 can find this family the opposite of what is pure and right. And as for the show's portrayal of Christians ...
The Devil and Homer Simpson
Springfield's Reverend Lovejoy is every church goer's nightmare: his sermons are long and tedious, his voice is nasal and droning, and his choice of Bible readings is hugely inappropriate for any given occasion, often based on one of the lists of begats, or the obscurer laws of Leviticus. Ned Flanders, Homer's bête noir and neighbor, is the archetypal drip, and takes his honesty to ridiculous extremes: he eats kosher food 'just in case', and will not classify the ink for his till receipts as a business expense because he enjoys the smell. His wife Maude took a course on judgementalism at church camp, and his sugar-sweet children play games like 'Clothe the Leper'.
Homer describes his religion as:
Bart's idea of saying grace is:
- and he believes that:
God himself has appeared to Homer, making friends with the family cat and agreeing with Homer that Lovejoy's church really is pretty tedious.
However, it is not just Christians who come in for this kind of knocking. The show's other targets include ... well, everyone. It has been running for ten years, so there is not room to notch up every example of the show's digging. No one emerges unscathed.
All change
To a great extent, 'The Simpsons' pushes the reset button at the end of each episode. There are occasional ongoing storylines -- for example, in one episode Apu gets married, and thereafter has a wife -- but otherwise it is best simply to forget what has happened previously and to take each episode as it comes. After all, Springfield has been inundated by floods at least twice and has even moved to a new location; the world has ended; aliens have landed; Homer has changed jobs more times than I can count, joined the navy, gone into space, fled as a tax exile to Cuba... and for over a decade, Bart has been ten, Lisa eight and Maggie about one. When reference is made to previous episodes (for example Lisa clearly remembering that Bart once owned a pet elephant which Bart has completely forgotten) it is just to highlight the comedy. No one scene or utterance should be taken as delivering the message of the show: it has to be judged in the context of the most recent five seconds of that particular episode.
Given this deliberate internal inconsistency, what (if any) is the take-home message of 'The Simpsons'? Fortunately we do not have to guess, because Matt Groening has stated it bluntly in interviews. It is, be wary of authority: you cannot rely on anyone to have your best interests at heart. This is the one constant theme in every episode. Groening was born in 1954, making him one of the generation that sent its brightest and best teenagers off to die in Vietnam. Perhaps a little cynicism on his part can be excused.
'The Simpsons' is satirical, and like any satire it exaggerates particular effects to make its point. Groening is not saying that all politicians are corrupt; that all teachers are lazy; that all preachers are boring; that all Christians are out of touch. He is saying that all these groups should be held up to scrutiny. They are human and they are capable of failing. In the real world, if a Christian fails then there is clear Biblical advice on how to cope with it (Matthew chapter 18 verses 15-17; 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 2-13); if a politician fails, it is up to the electorate to do something about it; if teachers or lawyers or doctors fail, there are professional bodies to take the case to. But just to turn a blind eye to people's faults does not help anyone (1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6).
Think positive
So consider the show's positive images: The Simpsons constantly bicker, but they always stay together. They fight, but they love each other, and when push comes to shove they will always back each other up. Marge and Homer have a healthy sexual relationship; and though attitudes to religion vary, they generally go to church on Sunday.
Whenever Homer or Bart, against all the odds, manage to do something noble and self-sacrificial, they succeed to everyone's benefit. Giving in to the demands of their weaker natures never pays off. Both Homer and Marge have been tempted towards infidelity on occasions, but they have never given in, and the result of the temptation has been to open their eyes to problem areas in their marriage, which they then address. The irritatingly Christian Flanders is, like Homer, a loving father and provider for his family. He is also the best possible example of turning the other cheek: Homer regularly insults him, takes advantage of his generosity, dumps garbage on his lawn, covets every possession he has, and occasionally steals from him when Simpson funds are running low. Ned knows all this, yet he is always there with a helping hand and a cheerful wave. He has risked his life to save Homer on more than one occasion. His faith has been tested and battered from all sides, with the destruction of his house, the loss of his business and, most recently, the death of his wife. Yet Ned soldiers on. Sometimes in sheer bafflement he asks God why all this is happening to him ... but he keeps going. Is there a Christian reading this who cannot sympathize?
It might not be to your taste, but taste is not a universal factor and it is not a basis for deciding right or wrong. If popular culture is not your thing then perhaps you should leave 'The Simpsons' alone. Alternatively, it might help you follow the wishes of Jesus all the better. After all, we are to be in the world, but not of it, and if we are to be in it then perhaps we should understand it better.
As with so much else on TV and film, the way to tackle 'The Simpsons' is to look past what is immediately apparent, and ask questions about what it's saying:
- What worldview is it presenting? What is it saying about the way things are? What values is it encouraging?
- Is there anything in this worldview that I as a Christian can agree with? Is there anything in it that I must disagree with?
- The Simpsons presents many negative role models as inspiration for positive models. Is it more likely that people will simply copy the negative examples?
- Homer has visited Hell at least twice; the Devil and God have been portrayed as characters in the show. Is this within the acceptable limits of satire for a Christian?