Satire In The Simpsons

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Since a poll in 2003, The Simpsons sitcom has been the longest running prime time animated series with fourteen seasons and counting. Not only does The Simpsons have just about fifteen million fans in America, but the sitcom is watched by nearly sixty million people across the world. The sitcom has generated a billion dollar industry through sales of toys, books, fashion apparel, video games, and videos. The Nielsen Media Research (NMR) has relentlessly respected every season of The Simpsons within the top thirty amongst prime time television programs of all types. NMR has also illustrated that males between the ages of 18-49 are the sitcom’s major targeted audience. The New York Times millennium edition foretold that the sitcom would still …show more content…
As a result of The Simpsons sitcom, the minister of Willow Creek Community Church of Illinois fashioned a sermon titled "What Jesus Would Say to Bart Simpson," voicing his dislike for the sitcom. Furthermore, Dan Burnell, through many of his own Baptist sermons, intended to direct children away from what he alleged was an unholy message. Irrefutably for many church goers, the sitcom was considered disrespectful and considered to have no reliable value. However, religious endorsement by writers and some academic professors started to ascend during this time, and many of the enthusiasts started to make known the sitcom’s positive message to many Christian observers. Professor, Gerry Bowler, of Canadian Nazarene College in Calgary declared that "If this is a show where good usually triumphs, where the family virtues are always affirmed in the end, why are Christians put off by it? ...if you're a mature Christian you could watch it" (Bowler). Furthermore, William Romanowski, a professor at Calvin College alleged a lot of the episodes "leave God and religion open to multiple interpretations, perhaps so as not to potentially alienate audience members, but also as a reflection of American attitudes" (Romanowski). Likewise, Bob von Sternberg provides confirmation to Romanowski's statement when referring to the administrative producer of the series, Mike Scully, who said that "the writers try to represent people's honest attitudes about religion" (Sternberg). Also David Dark, a writer for PRISM, a Christian magazine, bear witness that the sitcom is "the most pro-family, God-preoccupied, home-based program on television. Statistically speaking, there is more prayer on The Simpsons than on any sitcom in broadcast history" (Dark). Also David Landry, scholar of Catholic college, University of St. Thomas, give emphasis to Dark's belief and detailed in a newspaper editorial that "the most