“The Simpsons as a Critique of Consumer Culture”

Summary
Sam Tingleff’s article entitled, “The Simpsons as a Critique of Consumer Culture” explains how the television program, The Simpsons evaluated materialistic society with satire. Tingleff states that the show examined the “hypocrisy within the education system, religious beliefs, American political structures, and even capitalism.” The author also discusses how the characters in The Simpsons are not based on personalities. Instead, they are based on characteristics. For instance, Lisa is rationality. Some of the characters are simply representations of a concept or idea. For instance, the character Mr. Burns is a representation of capitalism. With his corrupt, nasty persona, Mr. Burns’ character criticizes American consumer lifestyles.

Reaction
Tingleff effectively conveyed his ideas paralleling the Simpsons with many of society’s conflicts. The article was both interesting and well-written. The author related all of his ideas back to specific episodes, which added to the authenticity of his claims. His writing style also added to the readability of the article. His descriptions were brief and to the point. Therefore, he conveyed his ideas effectively without becoming wordy or difficult to follow. Overall, I enjoyed reading the article, because I could relate to its content. Also, reading his work was a nice break from reading another section of Vogler’s book.

Reflection
I enjoyed reading Tingleff’s article, because I used to watch The Simpsons when I was growing up. Although I did not understand all of the shows content at age 10, I can still appreciate the references. I remember each character on the program and can identify the traits and ideas that Tingleff emphasizes in his piece. Whenever I think about The Simpsons, I am reminded of how my grandfather would always say that I was like Lisa. He based this mainly on the fact that I played the saxophone. (However, I play the alto saxophone, and Lisa cartoon instrument resembles a tenor saxophone.) I was interested to read that Tingleff identifies Lisa with rationality. I suppose that I am rational as well. However, I would rather not be compared to Lisa, because I found her character to lack a sense of imagination.

Questions
Would you compare yourself to any of the characters?
Why would the characters in the Simpsons be considered undeveloped if they were performed with actually actors?
Do you think that Tingleff accomplishes all of his claims with his evidence? Why or why not?