The Simpsons – American Culture ?

Essay

-The Simpsons-American Culture ?- The Simpsons is an animated sitcom created in 1989 by Matt
Groening for FOX. The Simpsons can be described as a series which is about a middle-class family of five
and their daily life. I want to give a short information about this family. Homer Simpson is the father of
the family, works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and we can say that he is not the sharpest knife
in the drawer. Marge Simpson is the mother of the family and she is a housewife who always has to deal
with Homer’s stupidity. Bart Simpson is their son who is also known as the prank king of the town. Lisa
Simpson is the daughter who is exceptionally smart but not so social. At last but not least there is
Maggie the baby who only communicates by sucking on a pacifier.

Of course, when we are watching The Simpsons, we see a critic of current events. In other words, The
Simpsons does not only show us the life of a middle-class family, but also gain a new perspective over
current events that can be defined as controversial. The Simpsons reflect American culture by shaping a
city that can defined as a regular American town. Even in that small town, we can see every type of
person.

It Is about the multiculturalism of United States of America. We see the market owner Apu
Nahasapeemapetilon who is a Middle Eastern. It is also reference to the habit of Middle Easterners who
mostly has a market. To give an example, in Shameless which is another good TV show, we see another
Middle Eastern family who own a market. In addition, Shameless is a show also about a middle-low class
family and their lives. We also see Mexican Bee Guy who is actually an actor and represents Latino
Community at the show. Multiculturalism is not the only thing about American culture that is
represented at The Simpsons.

Alongside multiculturalism, gender is a topic that people who writes the script love. There are several
women on the show and they play their gender roles perfectly. Marge, Wife of the Reverend Lovejoy
and Maude Flanders are the first three women characters that come to my mind. These three women go
to PTA events, take care of their children and concern about the image of themselves in the eyes of
other women. Government is also represented and criticized at The Simpsons. We see the meeting of
both Democrats and Republicans.