Excited to hear Homer Simpson’s legendary disgruntled ‘D’oh!’ on the air waves yet again? Well, the Simpsons season 23 has kickstarted on Star World India from this week, and its characters Homer Simpson, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and others are back to entertain viewers.
The sitcom was created in 1987 by cartoonist Matt Groening. It had its debut in 1989 and has become one of the longest-running cartoon shows to be aired on prime time TV in many parts of the world. The show portrays the satiric adventures of an dysfunctional American middle-class family, called ‘The Simpsons’. It was made into a movie in 2007 and the film was a box-office success. The show pokes fun at itself and everything in its wake. After its TV debut, religious groups decried its effect on young minds, the crudeness that came along, suffused with the realism of the times. However, the narrative centres around the institution of family, and as a critic says there are “utilities like gas, electricity, water, and The Simpsons”. "Humour and pathos have never been so beautifully captured," says Melody, Kochi-based home-maker and mother of three. “We may loathe Homer Simpson’s unintentional self-centeredness, and his incompetence, but he is quick to accept his shortcomings and in the end he is a caring father and husband. There is utter chaos, but, still, in the end they stay as a single unit. Marge is the moral, grounding force. It makes you understand the importance of a family,”
For IBMer Santhosh Sushil, ten-year-old Bart Simpson was his idol for as long as he can remember. “Bart’s freewheeling spirit and a ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude and the tendency to frown upon authority makes him a favorite,” he says.
"Bart lacks a strong male figure to look up to and you cannot really say Homer has been much of a role model for his kids. Bart can be seen as a personification of the instincts and impulses unleashed. In fact, like Bart, I would have loved to get away with the many pranks directed at my teachers (and now bosses), but (sigh) we don’t live in a perfect world.”
The show is vibrant with allusions to popular culture, movies, art and music. Anuge Francis, a B. Tech student at the Federal Institute of Science and Technology, says, “Whenever I come across a good piece of music from the show, I google it up and listen to the tracks on Youtube.” Two such finds for her have been ‘If Ever I would Leave You’, sung by Robert Goulet and ‘At Seventeen’ by Janis Ian.
The ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore’ episode in Season 17 miffed some of the show's loyal fans in India. In the segment, the nuclear plant where Homer works is shut down and is outsourced to India. Homer incorporates a special firing clause to the worker’s contracts. The episode ends with Kishore Kumar’s ‘Pal Bhar Ke Liye’ from the 1970 Hindi film, ‘Johnny Mera Naam’. Sometimes, the best way to reach out is through humour. “The Simpsons 'uses this concept to bring out how the common man construes the political and social events through Krusty the sad clown and Itchy and Scratchy. The show always ensures that sanity prevails in the end,” says Affan who works at Tata Consultancy Services.
A few Simpsons loyalists also felt that sometimes the plot was thin and repetitive, but they watch the show anyway. Few also said that they have almost all the seasons on their hard disks as they found it difficult to watch the prime-time show as their family preferred watching reality shows being aired at the same time. Incidentally, the 23rd season also has Lady Gaga as a voice cast in the episode, ‘Lisa Goes Gaga’, and references to the 2012 London Olympics. In the episode, Homer has what seems to be an 'Olympic breakfast' , one with his toast 'torched',eggs 'running' and bacon 'swimming' in grease !! 'D'oh!'
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