Analyze two examples of postmodern style in the Simpsons episode "The Front" (April 15, 1993; available on Paley) using terms from John Caldwell's essay. (Responses of 200 words will count as one blog post, 400 words as two blog posts; due 11/25):
https://www-paleyicollection-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/Library.aspx#/Details/T:45330
In the Simpsons episode “The Front,” there are many examples of Caldwell’s definitions for postmodernism. The most immediately obvious representation of postmodernism lies in the spectacle of the Simpsons and what Caldwell refers to as Reality into images. A major character within the Simpsons show and specifically this episode is their television. We are constantly watching them watch other media and are made aware of the events built for us, the audience. The entire plot of the episode involves watching Bart and Lisa watch their own TV show. Even the opening sequence is played out with the viewer in mind, either present in the breaking of the fourth wall or moving with the camera such as chasing Homer as if a character of our own.
ReplyDeleteThere are also many instances of self-reflexivity in which the show makes the audience aware of its own awareness. For example, at the beginning of the episode Bart asks Lisa, “Cartoons have writers?” The show becomes a mockery of itself in that it comments on its own production style. This happens a second time in the episode when Bart and Lisa are at the Itchy and Scratchy studio and the producer remarks “Sometimes the writers will use the same background to save money,” at which point the same background reappears behind him. The production of the Simpsons therefore becomes a spectacle, where the audience is not immersed in a new reality but rather observing the images created for them. Furthermore, during the Emmy nominations within the episode, one of the nominations is an episode of Action Man entitled “How to Buy Action Man.” This is clearly a play on the commodification of franchises and how self-reflexivity paired with this idea of Reality into Images is often associated with self-promotion of a company.
A second example of postmodern technique is displayed in The Simpsons use of pastiche. Caldwell’s term here alludes to the use of parody or quoted works without regard for its original purpose or significance. This style is apparent in many instances during the episode. A major recurring event is that of Elvis shooting his television during the end of Bart and Lisa’s episode-within-the-episode. However, Elvis’ appearance is in no way connected to his actual persona or historical context. Similarly, this occurs with references to Happy Days and the Fonz, “Little [Barber] Shop of Horrors”, and Ed Sullivan. All of these references are dropped into the episode without meaning or context, simply put there for viewers to recognize.
"The Simpsons" provides several excellent examples of postmodern techniques in its opening sequence. It turns reality into images using excessive visuality and artifice in a manner similar to the opening sequence of "Pee-Wee’s Playhouse." Both openings offer a sweeping view of the show’s world. In "The Simpsons," the opening focuses on the main characters, the members of the Simpsons family. However, viewers see many minor characters and locations in the background. A very rapid camera pan gives a fly over of Springfield, presenting the rather large and densely populated fictional world of "The Simpsons" as a visual spectacle. The final extravagant circus display ups the visual spectacle quotient even further. Its disruption of the normal opening routine where the Simpsons family sits down to watch television also draws attention to the shows artifice, breaking the fourth wall and disrupting the illusion of the show’s fictional world. Much like "PeeWee’s Playhouse," "The Simpsons" constantly reminds viewers that they are viewing a television show. The opening’s circus act finale also provides an excellent example of pastiche. A random assortment of showmen and entertainers pack a 1930s Broadway musical style stage. Perhaps the chorus line belongs there. However, the acrobats, fire swallowers, elephants, and jugglers belong at a circus and since when do musicals incorporate synchronized magic acts? "The Simpsons" complies this random assortment of entertainers “without any regard for the original intent, logic, or significance” (Caldwell, “Trash TV” 208). Again, the depiction of the Simpson family performing with these varied entertainers draws attention to their own status as entertainers and the show’s artifice.
ReplyDeleteBart and Lisa’s favorite cartoon, The Itchy & Scratchy Show, provides more great examples of postmodern techniques. Firstly, this segment of "The Simpsons" also uses excessive visuality and artifice in a manner similar to "PeeWee’s Playhouse." Like "PeeWee’s Playhouse," The Itchy & Scratchy Show emphasizes two-dimensional surfaces. The yellow sky in the episode’s first cartoon looks like a flat backdrop, providing no clues for depth. Also like "PeeWee’s Playhouse," the mini cartoon uses “bright pastels or primary colors” (Caldwell, “Trash TV” 206). In The Itchy & Scratchy Show for example, the mouse is pastel blue, the clouds are pastel pink, and the ground is pastel violet. This "Tom and Jerry" parody also shows several of the qualities of pastiche. The same Itchy & Scratchy Show juxtaposes the empty-headed violence of old ACNE cartoons with a halfhearted attempt at the moral instruction of tamer and more educational children’s shows. Then "The Simpsons" actually subverts the original intents of these messages. While Tom and Jerry’s cartoonish battles provide entertainment, the exaggerated violence and extended degradation seen in Bart and Lisa’a episodes of The Itchy & Scratchy Show draw attention to its mindlessness, making it difficult to actually enjoy. Also, Itchy and Scratchy’s message to not take drugs gets immediately undermined by a cut to a shot of Krusty the clown smoking a cigarette.
The Simpsons episode “The Front” utilizes many postmodernist techniques that are common and to be expected when watching other episodes of the show. The Simpsons is known for being a satire of popular culture, often referring to pop culture icons via pastiche. For example in this episode, the writers have Elvis shooting his television with a pistol when he’s displeased with the show. In order to get the joke, the audience must be familiar with how Elvis looked, spoke, and behaved otherwise the pastiche reference would go over their head. The show is also known for its many famous guest stars who usually voice act themselves. In these cases the character is introduced as the star they actually are but the character is just that, a hyper satirical portrayal of themself. In this episode the actress Brooke Shields guests stars as herself presenting an award at an award ceremony, but in this episode the portrayal isn’t as satirical as it is with other guests.
ReplyDeleteThe episode’s most blatant use of postmodernist technique is in reference to the production of the diegetic “The Itchy and Scratchy Show”. After watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy Bart asks Lisa “Cartoons have writers?” to which Lisa replies “Eh, sort of”. The humor in this is that The Simpsons is a cartoon show that most definitely has a crew of hardworking writers. As the audience gets an inside look at the Itchy and Scratchy studio, the show refers to its Ivy League writers by writing in a hoity-toity Harvard grad writer, and how cartoon shows cut corners to save money by using the same background by using the same background. These self-referential digs call upon the audience to break down the wall between the show and reality. The most satirical dig at itself as a show appears when Grandpa Abe wins an award for the Itchy and Scratchy episode that he supposedly wrote. After he is announced the winner, they play the episode depicting Scratchy getting eaten alive by fire ants that Itchy pours over him. After seeing this for the first time (because Bart and Lisa really wrote the episode) Grandpa Abe denounces the show and all shows like it as garbage. The humor in this is that “The Itchy and Scratchy Show” may be seen as a stand-in for “The Simpsons” itself. The writers of “The Simpsons” don’t really believe their show or that shows like it are garbage, quite the opposite really.
The Simpsons incorporate numerous postmodern elements as defined by Caldwell, but especially the practice of turning reality into images and pastiche. Caldwell explains that pastiche is a part of a more general characteristic of intertextuality and the show uses this concept of pastiche partly through its references to the Itchy and Scracthy Show within the text. (Caldwell, 218) The cartoon itself is a reference to the Tom and Jerry cartoons and it outrageously parodies its violence. Furthermore, the Itchy and scratchy Show even contains a reference within itself through the title of the show, Dazed and Confused. Itchy and scratchy mock the high school party movie by beating each other on the head and then addressing the audience exclaiming, “don’t do drugs kids.” There are numerous cultural references throughout the show including references to Elvis, Billy Crystal, Happy Days, Good Times, (Dyn-o-mite!) and Nixon. Similar to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, this allows for multiple readings of the show. It could be argued that children would miss the references to the older shows and figures such as Nixon, yet I personally enjoyed the show as a child and still find it humorous as a young adult (although maybe not to the same extent). Pastiche carried out in the form of varied cultural references allows the show to appeal to diverse demographics and permits different interpretations of the text.
ReplyDeleteThe Simpsons create a world of images not only by their reference to television within the text but also aesthetically. The show is done in simple two-dimensional animation and the colors and composition often accentuate this two-dimensionality, further enhancing the sense of artifice. The itchy and scratchy show often features the characters on a monochromatic background, creating an absence of depth and the impression of a sketched image. Furthermore, the use of color is a continual indicator of artifice. The diegesis possesses irrational applications of color- hair is blue, skin is yellow, and almost everything else is a vibrant neon color. This show is not aiming for an impression of reality but a world as pictures. (Cladwell, 206)
The show also employs many of the modernist characteristics outlined by Caldwell, which illustrates how the two disciplines are not mutually exclusive. In the opening sequence a different skit within the sequence emerges when the family sits at the couch. This skit within the sequence not only typifies textual fragmentation since it nonsensically develops out of the sequence, but it is different for each show and has no obvious correlation to the content of the following show. This exemplifies the foregrounding of form, which is a pure spectacle in this instance and it lacks logic placement in the narrative.
The Simpson’s episode “The Front” uses a few postmodern examples established by Caldwell’s essay, “ Trash TV”. The consistent use of turning “pastiche”, through the use of old cliché one-liners that are parodies of old shows. Example being, during the award ceremony for Homer’s High School Reunion the MC uses one-liners from the sitcom “Good Times”(Dyno-mite) and Cheech and Chong dialogue from one of their movies. The second use of Caldwell’s definition of PoMo would be the use of “Perpetual Presents” this to me was a little tricky as I would see this being more apparent over time, basically starting from 1993 to now, although extreme would show that little to actual facts change and although the technology appears to get better, Marge, Homer and the kids constantly stay the same throughout the years, which becomes a reflexive joke for the family later on in the series. In closing, this episode of the Simpsons, constantly uses pastiche and perpetual presents to continue the plot of the show and make culturally grounded jokes to enhance the hilarity of the show. Schizophrenic only in Itchy and Scratchy shorts that are played throughout, as I was unsure if the way pastiche parody could be placed under Schizophrenia as the jokes for the show are introduced out of nowhere similarly to how Pee Wee could pick up a dinosaur for no reason only to move on to the short of the dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteThe opening sequence of The Simpsons is similar to that of Pee Wee’s Playhouse as far as the idea of style above substance goes. The numerous characters and settings featured in the opening is extremely high for how short the introduction is. The colors are also bright (most of the characters have bright yellow skin) and are very fast-paced. Every episode, the characters do something different before sitting down on their couch as their show begins; in this episode, they form a chorus line before the sequence is over. The style here is extremely important and reflects postmodernism. Whatever the characters do in this part of the opening often has nothing at all to do with the episode or its substance- it’s all about what silly thing they can write to entertain the viewer for 3 seconds.
ReplyDeleteThere are several cases of pastiche in this episode, as there are in most episodes. From Itchy and Scratchy being an obvious reference to Tom and Jerry (but extremely more violent), to the skit on Itchy and Scratchy being titled “Little Barbershop of Horrors” as a reference to “Little Shop of Horrors”, The Simpsons makes references that are subtle, yet very obvious to some viewers.
The show is also constantly trying to keep our attention by making a spectacle of itself. While in this episode, it’s clear that the story line is about Bart and Lisa getting their episodes of Itchy and Scratchy produced, the story doesn’t really go anywhere significant. Yes, they figure out a way to have it air and it is given an award, but most of the episode is just jokes revolving around this storyline. The show goes off on constant tangents to keep the viewer’s attention, whether it’s with thought bubbles creating random scenario’s in Homers brain, or even the little clip of Ned Flanders at the end of the episode. Having a weak or not quite central storyline and jumping around from scene to scene at a rapid pace is very postmodern.
One last thing that they do on this show is reinforce consumerism. Caldwell talks of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and how it emphasized the idea of overconsumerism. He says that viewers are “trained and encouraged to anticipate the acquisition and accumulation of more goods.” This is present in The Simpsons’ consumption of television within the show. The theme song ends with the characters surrounding a television, and many scenes on the show have the characters consuming constant TV. Heck, Homer lives on the couch half the time. This postmodernist, consumerist attitude is displayed on The Simpsons and reinforces the idea that humans need to be constantly entertained.