Blog Post #8 - Option 1

I haven’t watched the Simpsons since middle school so about 10 years. I don’t remember an episode to its fullest, but I do remember the Simpsons Movie and can recall everything that happened in that film since I watch it time to time. While not an episode, the movie is portrayed as a looooong Simpsons episode and captures the same characteristics and theme as the show.

                From a Feminist analysis standpoint, there is A LOT to pick from. One of the biggest plot moments in the movie was when Marge takes the children and leaves Homer because of the jeopardy he put them through. This kind of goes against the whole patriarchy thing. Marge abandons her husband and takes control as the new head of the family. But this transfer of power as head of the family is soon under jeopardy when marge is trying to return back to Springfield with the kids and get captured by the villain. Making marge powerless to save her family. Later the balance returns to Homer as the true leader of the family as he is the only one that can save his family and Springfield from the villain.

                The movie also has many sexist jokes towards women, and men but this is about women because this is from a feminist standpoint. The movie uses boobs as a prop for comedy. During the opening of the movie when the band Green Day is performing for Springfield, Mrs. Krabappel is on top of Principal Skinner and she then opens her blouse revealing her jiggly fun bags, that are enlarged compared to the rest of the times they were in the show, and wearing a shirt that says, “not my boyfriend”, pointing at Skinner.

Another use of boobs as a prop is when Homer has had a vision by the help of a Native American women hermit. Homer tries to return back to his family but asks for direction from the hermit. Instead using words or just simply pointing, the old women just twists left and right gaining momentum, so she could point using her gigantic knockers, which are already comically enormous. They magically stay afloat pointing to the direction that homer needs to go. The saving grace of this moment is the awkward pause homer gives before giving his thanks knowing how unnecessary this gesture was. Even after when the hermit helps Homer and sets him on a path to save his family, he thanks her as “boob lady.”

We can also analyze this hermit as an example of cultural appropriation. This character could’ve been any ethnicity or from any culture but was chosen as a Native American who uses “ancient magic,”

drugs, to give Homer a vision in order to set him on track to save his family and save Springfield. The hermit talks in a heavy Native American accent and speaks in a pace that that resembles how Native Americans spoke in 50s Western films.

                 Overall despite being a trigger fest of jokes, the Simpsons is still a satire show and shouldn’t taken seriously.