Twenty-five years later, the Simpsons still dysfunctional. And … – Express

“I am usually not one to pray, but if you’re up there, please save me, Superman” – Bart Simpson.

“The Simpsons” is today 25 years, which is almost a miracle. There are few comedies that go beyond the second season on TV channels of open sign in the US, and in the case of animation is even rarer. But the main miracle, one that still is not fully explained, just happened to start. As a series that abounds in cynicism was possible (two phrases Homer, the father of the Simpson family, “it takes two to lie – one that mind and what you hear,” “We can steal when we do not like the person”) and black humor (another phrase: “Marriage is like a coffin, and each child is another nail”) and allusions to all kinds of social controversies, have been installed in prime time a large “network” American?

On top of a “network” dedicated to promoting conservative values, with opinion leaders every day criticize the moral relativism that threatens to destroy the country?

Two factors contributed. A, Fox appeared recently and still had not managed to generate the success that would put next to its three major competitors (ABC, NBC, CBS). There was room for risk, and need to do so. The second factor had to do with the historical moment. In the late 80′s, the world was changing in a way that seemed positive. The Cold War was over. Even those who appreciate the gains of a decade of Thatcherism and Reaganism felt it was time to try a different air.

The materialism of the 80s was the object of much criticism and satire was in high – think the ferocity of Spitting Image, the program that was later imitated extremely moderate by our Counter-Information. Not being a comedy specifically political, the Simpsons did social satire, exposing the hypocrisy of institutions such as the church and certain industries. At the same time, when referencing a cornucopia of cultural products (in movies, television, etc.) produced the purposes of recognition that invited viewers to feel smart

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In short, in the language of media scholars, there were many bonuses in the series. The intellectual added up to the visual and emotional, as the outcome of the episodes he always went back to confirm the unity of the family, however dysfunctional they were behaviors. The Simpsons were never really black. The series creator Matt Groening, was a middle-class young aspiring writer who had gone to Los Angeles to try his luck. Known the taste of failure, but not for long. In the mid-80s, already sindicava in the newspapers a humorous strip whose protagonist was a rabbit. When you asked for a cartoon for use in small animated sequences in the varieties of a comedian program, quickly sketched the family that would become the Simpsons. To a large extent, drawing on his own family (whose name gave the characters, only its name was replaced by Bart, a pun on “brat”, brat).

“sitcom” more durable ever in American TV
The series began as small sketches. Was so successful that two years later, in 1989, it was decided to turn it into a weekly comedy half hour. It is the format that continues to this day, 27 seasons and 561 episodes later. With 31 Emmys on the shelf and billions of dollars in revenue – of which no small part comes from merchandising – is the most durable sitcom ever on American television, and the “Time” already considered the best series of the twentieth century.

The Simpsons live in Springfield, a sufficiently generic American land not to be located in a particular state. Homer works as an inspector in a nuclear installation, which gives rise to fárcicas danger. His wife, Marge, who wears a hairstyle tower, is domestic and the moral center of the family. Of the three children, Bart (“Ay, caramba!”) Is the irreverent and Lisa prodigy, an environmentalist who plays the saxophone. There is still a baby, Maggie. Other key characters include Homer’s boss, Mr.. Burns, as rich as bad, the owner of the local bar, Moe, and Krusty the Clown (baptismal name: Herschel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski).

The stories are varied, often taking the form of parody, for example to a classic film . Although Groening insist on physical realism (only allowing levitation and other such phenomena clearly dream sequence), imagination is overflowing and fast-paced. This being a legacy of the original sketches in, when it was necessary to compress a lot of material in a few seconds is also what enables us to always come back to see every episode with advantage. There are always new jokes and allusions to catch.

Among the dozens of celebrities there appeared in the Simpsons – usually as voice, but sometimes also as design – come up Glenn Close, Joe Mantegna, Don Vito, Ricky Gervais and Magic Johnson. No less illustrious is the list of refusals, which contains Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Quentin Tarantino … and all recent US presidents. In the early days, the program was criticized by President George Bush (father), and responded in kind. But lest we be accused of bias, years later also engaged in Clinton, whose cartoon was trying to seduce Marge and confessed that when he was young violating animals.

Now there’s something that neither Homer – whose own brain one day protested against the stupidity of your owner – never remembered.