As of 2003, The Simpsons is the longest running prime time animated series with fourteen seasons and counting. Not only does The Simpsons have almost fifteen million fans in America, but the show is watched by almost sixty million people across the globe. The show has created a billion dollar industry through sales of toys, books, clothing, and videos. Nielsen Media Research (NMR) has consistently rated every season of The Simpsons within the top thirty among prime time television programs of all genres. NMR also noted that males between the ages of 18-49 are the show's primary target audience. The New York Times millennium edition predicted that the show would still be highly rated in 2025. Although a large portion of the general public have been avid spectators, it has taken several years of programming for many political, religious, and academic authorities to approve or even take notice of the series. Today many of the powers that be believe that there is a moral and even religious lesson to be learned within each episode.
During the show's first year, in 1990, it was ridiculed and condemned all over the country. In April 1990, Bart Simpson T-shirts were banned in Cambridge Elementary School in Orange County, California. Two months later Mayor Sharpe James of Newark, New Jersey demanded that retail stores and street vendors stop selling these crude shirts. James was quoted by the Associate Press stating, "just at a time when [the nation's leaders] are trying to get our young people to develop their abilities to the fullest, we get a t-shirt with a popular cartoon character saying he is proud to be an underachiever" (James). JC-Penny department stores nationwide stopped selling the shirts. Leaders of the country began to join this bandwagon during a time where they considered the morality and values of Western Civilization were beginning to deteriorate because of violent video games and sinister rock music from groups such as Marilyn Manson. President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara were disgusted by the series in 1992. Because of this original hatred by many of the rightwing officials and public voices many parents prohibited their children from watching as well as not taking an interest themselves.
The upheaval was also prominent in American churches. The minister of Willow Creek Community Church of Illinois created a sermon titled "What Jesus Would Say to Bart Simpson," expressing his distaste for the show.
Whether people stood for or against the Reverend William A. Sunday, they all agreed that it was difficult to be indifferent toward him. The religious leader was so extraordinarily popular, opinionated, and vocal that indifference was the last thing that he would get from people. His most loyal admirers were confident that this rural-breed preacher was God’s mouthpiece, calling Americans to repentance. Sunday’s critics said that at best he was a well-meaning buffoon whose sermons vulgarized and trivialized the Christian message and at worst he was a disgrace to the name of Christ (Dorsett 2).
However, both groups consciously reshaped the organizing framework of religion to diminish its ordering of their lives within the public and private sphere. Prothero posits that while “The Bible remained authoritative [. . .] Americans insisted on interpreting it for themselves” (47), especially women who lived under its patriarchal construction. “In that effort,” Prothero continues “they were assisted by a new culture hero: the populist preacher, who combined evangelicalism and egalitarianism in daring new ways” (47). Prothero maintains that it was “the rise of pulpit storytelling” (51) that allowed such reimagining of religious ideology. Prothero goes on to argue that the “story sermon” (51) as a rhetorical style “did not catch on as fast in New England as it did in the South and the West (51),” a point ...
"Seinfeld" was always present in my home during its nine-year run on Thursday nights as "Must See TV," and the social commentary was welcome humor. However, not everyone was thrilled by Seinfeld's prominence in American society and the subject matter with which Seinfeld dealt. Many Christians, Jews and other minorities had problems with the show's portrayal of their respective groups. Despite criticism from ethnic and religious groups, Jerry Seinfeld and his show were possibly the best sources of social commentary that America's mainstream had to offer. The show is missed in today's current television line-up and no post-"Seinfeld" sitcom has come to the same level of cultural criticism.
Jonathan Edwards was a man who could petrify any eighteenth century Puritan. He was born in East Windsor, Connecticut and was raised in a household with strict religious beliefs. In 1727 he began his preaching career as an assistant to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, the pastor at the church at Northampton, Massachusetts. When his grandfather died two years later, Edwards became the pastor of the Church at Northampton and began preaching all over New England. He then emerged as one of the leaders of the Great Awakening with his determination to return to the orthodoxy of the Puritan faith. That is when he adopted his “fire and brimstone” emotional style of sermon. Although people often ran out of the church in hysterics, most stayed in the church captivated by his speeches. He had always purposely chose to address his congregation with a sermon, using all of the elements of an oratory. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards displays all elements of an oratory by appealing to emotions, including expressive and rhythmic language, addressing the needs and concerns of his audience, and inspiring others to take action.
The data compiled by the Nielsen Media Research is essential to TV programming across the United States and in Canada. It monitors television ratings and estimates audience sizes by providing the highest quality of accuracy, allowing the television marketplace to function effectively. This information provides programmers and commercial advertisers with the awareness of people’s viewing habits. Depending on air times and the popularity of certain shows, the station calculates the advertising fees that generate a majority of its revenue.
Today I received a referral from a family who is seeking help regarding their dysfunctional family structure. The Simpson’s are a nuclear family that is having difficulties living as a family. I have already spoken to Marge Simpson and agreed to find a way to get her husband and children to therapy. She has very high aspirations of attending therapy with her family because she has longed for a “normal” functioning family in which her husband and children interact in a much healthier manner than they do now. She described her husband of being careless, her son uncontrollable ate times, and her daughters disconnected from the family. We have set up the meeting for next week, Wednesday at six, when she believed her family would be more willing to attend and actually participate in the therapy session.
Our lesson starts off with this statement that say’s if we know something about the Pastor delivering our Sunday sermon; we will enjoy the sermon that much more.
Watching an episode of The Simpsons relates back to the humor used in Rabelais. Gragantua and the character Bart share somewhat the same similarities when it comes to humor they are brave, entertaining, curious and humorous characters. Both authors bring a sense to of humor to their audience by including degradation, exaggeration and a sense of humor. This contemporary cultural of The Simpsons is more upto date and humorous due to the generation we live in and a lot of the humor brought within the show is based off of degradation from other entertainment such as movies, TV shows, books and celebrities, whereas Rabelais is based off more modern day humor and degradation that when readers read the story of “How Gargantua’s wonderful understanding
Great Indian authors have written grand epics that depict heroic characters performing virtuous deeds. Many of these epic tales feature fearsome and godly battles, while others highlight the soft side of human emotions. Despite seemingly unrealistic characters such as talking hawks and ten-headed monsters, and unlikely conflicts that feature bloody battles, many of these grand epics display many traditional values that Americans value in modern society. When construing three particular celebrated Indian epics (“the Mahabharata,” “the Bhagavad-Gita,” and “the Ramayana”), readers would easily glean the values and belief system that Ancient Indian society held in high esteem many thousands of years ago. Moreover, by comparing and contrasting respective ideals and principles, similarities between Ancient Indians and Americans would come to surface.
uite a number of individuals have asserted that The Sopranos is the best television series ever produced, and one is led to question the statement in view of the controversies the show has created. By what decisive factor is such a conclusion made? Is it because of the commercial success? Could it be the cultural value of the show? Is it due to creative cinematic value or because the number of subscription of the audience? What is so good about The Sopranos?
Imagine living in a world where the public believed everything the government said, or a world where people did not question the authority. It would suck, right? Well believe it or not today’s society is faced with problems similar to those, and often people cannot see these problems while others do not realize that they are serious issues. Thankfully thanks to technology, we are able to bring awareness of these issues by placing emphasis on them.
When the FOX network aired "The Simpsons" in 1989, the show brought the yellow-skinned and four-fingered cartoon characters named Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson into millions of American living rooms. This bent archetype of the American family, as well as the hundreds of zany characters that populate their all-American hometown of Springfield, fast became the targets of enormous criticism. Elementary schools banned T-shirts bearing the images of the Simpson family and their slogans. Former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett and even President George Bush berated the show as subversive and demeaning (McAllister 1494). However, a more careful investigation of the show reveals far more than nose-thumbing gutter humor--enveloped in sarcasm and comedy, "The Simpsons" offers a thought-provoking critique of American politics, faith, and the American family.
The Simpsons Since its first episode in January 1990, 'The Simpsons' has become a worldwide phenomenon. For the first time a show existed as an animated television sitcom, it addresses and satirises important issues through the fictional town of Springfield, (aka a typical American town). The show starts with 2 minutes of introductory credits, accompanied by boisterous music, through which the audience is shown around the town of Springfield and briefly glimpse the members of the community. As everybody in the town is a stereotyped member of American society, this is a fast and clever way of satirising American life. In fact, the credits are so speedy that most would not be able to notice the school bullies picking on the nerdy looking geek or
After twenty five seasons, The Simpsons continues to be an influential show. With animation as a medium, the writers use satire to point out the stereotypes the media generates. In some instances, they take a stereotype and push it to the extreme, like Apu and his eight children, and other times they go against the social norms, like Lisa being a strong independent woman. Through this the viewers are reminded just how much say the media has in their perception of others and how they are constantly making judgments of any entire group of people based on the characteristics of some. I do not think that stereotypes will ever cease to exist, but I do believe that it is important we, at the very least, are aware of what they are.
In a country as culturally and ethnically diverse as the United States of America it may be difficult to believe so many people from so many different backgrounds could share the same basic set of values. Even if one were to ask any number of random Americans, they would receive varying responses on what their values are. Some may not be able to give a definitive answer. Others could continuously list values without stopping. Although it may appear that there is a broad range of values, taking a closer look one will find that these ideas can be condensed into four major categories. These highly important American values are individualism, equality, competition, and advancement.