Monday, September 1, 2014

The Simpsons, an American household stereotype.

The Simpsons is an animated TV show that has been on the air since the 1980's.  They originally were shown on the Tracey Ullman Show as a short 15 minute cartoon.  Their first episode was on April 5, 1987.  The stereotype that is present is the Simpsons is that in most American households you will find a stay-at-home mom and a dad who works.  The dad is lazy and drinks and never helps around the house.  Also the Simpsons have a rambunctious older boy who doesn't perform well in school where his younger sister excels.  The Simpsons have been shown on television for a long time, yet there stereotype stays true, showing that since the 1980's American households hasn't really changed.

The Simpsons will always have their classic funny show, but will the American stereotype always be true?  I believe, as a fan of the show, the stereotype that the Simpsons portray is no longer true.  Statistically in current American households nearly 50% of kids grow up with only one parent.  Also 70% of moms in the U.S. work outside of their home so clearly the stereotype cannot be very true.  There are still many households where the dad works and mom does all of the chores, but every year, less and less family's perspire to become that.

Even though the I do not believe the stereotype the Simpsons portray, there is still some truth to it.  There are still households where the stereotype does fit.  In the Simpsons Marge, the mom, is always shown nagging and Homer, the dad, is very lenient towards everything.  In American households I believe that the mom is the person who would the restrict their kids of doing something dangerous and the dad pushes his kids to do dangerous and fun activities.

The Simpsons is a classic American cartoon, and always will be, but in the changing times their stereotypes may no longer be true.  They will still always be known for their opening couch gag sequence. Click on sequence to watch a few, enjoy.

4 comments:

  1. I really liked your article. The Simpsons will always be a classic show but the stereotypes don't match up to society. I liked how you didn't attack the show and used statistics good job!

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  2. You make a good point. The stereotypes in the show are not entirely relevant to society anymore. Nice analysis!

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  3. I really agree that in the Simpsons much of the ideology is out of date, and even taken to the extremes. This was a good analysis that showed how relevant, or not relevant some of the ideology within the Simpsons truly is. Good job!

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  4. I can see where your coming from and I agree with your analysis. As time goes on, a lot of stereotypes and things in old TV shows can change and this is a good example of that. I like how you back it up with numbers.

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