Homer Vs Lisa And The 8th Commandment Essay

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When you sit down to watch Television after a long day you never give a thought to the possible message or real world comparisons within the episode. After watching and analysing an original episode of The Simpsons my eyes were opened to the message that was buried within the cartoon. In Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment, the writer Matt Groening uses the Simpson family to display a natural struggle between the Id, Ego, and Superego. The episode features the internal conflict between pleasure and reality while expanding it to the world around the characters as well. Sigmund Freud describes the ultimate internal conflict as a struggle between pleasure and reality. He systematically divided our minds into three parts which balance desired …show more content…

This idea seems to hold true within the Simpsons. Homer shows some remorse about stealing the cable, but when the community caught wind of Homer's new service, everyone wanted to be his friend in order to watch a boxing match. All of these people served as wood to fuel the raging flame of the ID. Lisa continued to pressure her father into getting rid of the cable. As the episode progresses you can see her words starting to get into Homer's head. In order to combat this and satisfy the desire of him and his friends, Homer kicks Lisa out of the home. If Freud were to watch this episode he would most likely classify this act as the pleasure principle. Within the pleasure principle, the Id does whatever it takes to reduce tension and gain satisfaction. Homer identified Lisa as the tension and kicks her out of the house to increase his pleasure. This pleasure although is not permanent. Once everyone has left, Homer decides to cut the cable. Lisa acting as the superego was able to get her message across and Homer returned to a psychic balance. He was able to get his pleasure but no longer faced the guilt of

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