Textual Analysis of the Episode from The Simpsons - Essay Example

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE EPISODE “ITCHY AND SCRATCHY AND MARGE” FROM “THE SIMPSONS” ANALYSIS OF THE TEXTUAL FEATURES Issue Being Addressed “Itchy and Scratchy and Marge” was aired on December 20, 1990 and is the ninth episode from the second season of “The Simpsons” (Wikipedia 2006). The episode spoofed efforts made by Marge and the others to protest immoral television programming. In the said episode, Marge wages a campaign against “The Itchy and Scratchy Show”, which she deems a bad influence on her children. She eventually forces the show’s creator, Roger Meyers, Jr., to limit the violence in favor of less aggressive, albeit blander, plots. As a result, the show’s new format flops and the ratings drop. The kids lose interest in the show and are then drawn towards more wholesome child-friendly activities like fishing and bird-watching. Meanwhile, Michelangelo’s “David” is taken on a “coast-to-coast tour of the United States” (Swartzwelder 1994), with Springfield as one of the cities included in the itinerary. Marge, who by now has acquired a reputation as a staunch defender of censorship, is asked to make a commentary on The Springfield Art Museum’s exhibition of “David”. However, Marge does not find it disagreeable and in failing to rally against “David” she loses her footing with the “anti-free speech brigade” that once backed her campaign (thesimpsons.com 2004). The episode addresses the issue of censorship and our society’s conflicting views regarding it and its application. After seeing Itchy knock Scratchy unconscious with a mallet, Maggie does the same to her father. Marge blames “The Itchy and Scratchy Show”, which she deems overly violent. After seeing the effects of the program’s violence on her children and Homer, she sets out to campaign for the censoring of the show. She is successful, and the show tones down the cartoon violence in favor of the portrayal of moral values (Wong 2004). But when the local museum stages an exhibition of Michelangelo’s “David,” and Marge’s former cohorts rally for its censorship, conflict arises because Marge sees the statue as a work of art and refuses to support the demonstrators (Wong 2004). Position Taken By the Writer In the end, the writer concludes that when addressing the issue of censorship, one cannot be hypocritical. There must be no gray areas when speaking of what materials should be, or should not be, censored. Whether or not a material is considered a work of art should not be a factor in judging whether or not censorship should be applied. Even though Marge fights for the censorship of the program which she has labeled as being too violent for her kids and defends the exhibition of “David,” the episode ends with “David” on display and the censorship on Itchy and Scratchy gone. Marge realizes that it is not right “to censor one form of art but not another” (Wikipedia 2006) and gives up her protest against “The Itchy and Scratchy Show”. She is left to admit defeat and things go back to the way they were before. "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" appears on The Simpsons with great regularity, offering up its doses of extremely violent and bloody images for the sheer entertainment of its viewers, meaning both the Simpson children and us, the viewers of The Simpsons (Henry, 2004). According to Henry (2004), this was always without any overt commentary at the sitcom's diegetic level--the satire was allowed to speak for itself. But in one episode, the show finally addressed its own complicity in the controversial issue of cartoon violence, likely in response to the controversy over censorship raging at that time in the media. Henry (2004) also said that in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge," Marge is disturbed by the amount of time her children spend indoors watching television, especially "Itchy & Scratchy," and the amount of violence to which they are thus exposed. She organizes a moral watchdog group that campaigns to ban the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon (Henry, 2004). They win the case, and the kids lose their show. We are then given a scene wherein the children emerge from their homes into the sun-filled outdoors to the sounds of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. It appears to be the first time their stunted existences have been freed of consumer society's traps. But this traditional happy ending is quickly subverted; it is an ironic and mock-glorious ending, for a new problem arises: Marge's watchdog group now wants to ban the appearance of Michelangelo's "David." Marge is opposed to this idea and thus realizes that if "great art" is to be protected from censorship, popular art must be as well. At the end of the episode, Bart and Lisa are again watching "The Itchy & Scratchy Show," and Marge helplessly looks on, wondering if she has done the right thing. Gerard Jones states that the effectiveness of the point about censorship is "undercut by the deep, queasy ambivalence it evokes about the value of television, the impoverishment of life, and the effectiveness of social action" (268). I find no such ambivalence. "Itchy & Scratchy" is back on the Simpsons' television and The Simpsons is still on ours: It is the triumph of popular culture (Henry, 2004). The Author's Major Claim or Thesis The author’s major claim or thesis is that it is difficult to draw the line between materials that ought to be censored and those that do not need to be censored. Nevertheless, censorship should not be relative or dependent on the material upon which it will be applied. People have different views regarding different forms of art, and so it is only natural that they will have conflicting views on censorship and on what forms it should be applied. This creates chaos, hence, society should be impartial when addressing censorship. The Manner by Which the Claim is Qualified / Hedged by the Author The claim is qualified and the author provides sufficient evidence to prove his point. However, he does hedge a bit in the beginning of the episode. At the start, the story focuses on the Itchy and Scratchy controversy, and the motivation behind Marge and company’s protest is such that the viewer will feel strongly about censorship, more specifically the sensitive issue of censorship of violence in children’s programming. However, a question of cause-and-effect arises. Is the cartoon itself the primary cause of the children’s violent behavior? Is the program preventing the children from doing more wholesome, productive activities? After “The Itchy and Scratchy Show” is censored, the children no longer find the “kinder, gentler cartoon” interesting and instead of watching television, they proceed to engage in more “wholesome childlike things” (Chen 1991). The episode implies a direct link between the children’s behavior and violence on television. It showed that when the violence was removed from the program, the children’s behavior improved. Nevertheless, it may be argued that children’s behavior may be influenced not only by the shows they watch. They may also learn violence from other forms aside from having seen it on television or in a particular show. The reality is that when kids lose interest in their favorite show, they simply switch to another one. This creates a problematic situation. Was Marge’s protest against the cartoon wholly appropriate? In this case, some may argue that censorship may not have been the answer to Marge’s dilemma. There is, as well, the statement made by Meyers on the program “Smartline”. He mentioned that “There was violence in the past, long before cartoons were invented” (Chen 1991). It is as though the statement was made to show the viewers another viewpoint, perhaps to dissuade them. Dr. Marvin Monroe, the famous psychologist, adds: “…the hijinks of a few comic characters absolutely pale in comparison to the crippling emotional problems a psychiatrist runs into everyday…” (Chen 1991). There is an air of indifference to this statement, as though cartoons are but insignificant entities and any issue regarding them is a non-issue. Evidences / Reasons Supplied by the Author to Support the Claim The author supplies several reasons and evidence to support his claim. To show that impartiality should be applied when considering censorship, there is the ending. Marge concedes and gives up her protest of “The Itchy and Scratchy Show.” The program continues uncensored and the exhibition of “David” goes on, as well. On another “Smartline” episode, Dr. Marvin Monroe “points out the inconsistency in Marge’s logic, since she supports one freedom of expression, but not another” (Chen 1991). With this, Marge realizes her mistake and accepts defeat. How Good are These Reasons or Evidence? In the end, Marge admits that her protestation of disapproval at cartoon violence has had serious, albeit unintentional, consequences involving haphazard censorship. She says, “I guess one person can make a difference, but most of the time, they probably shouldn’t” (Chen 1991). By this statement she means that it is just better to give up each one’s own prejudices than sacrifice the entire system of censorship. Reason for Trust or Distrust of the Claims and Evidence Some of the claims and evidences can be trusted. However, there are some distrust on some claims and evidence. "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" takes the violence associated with contemporary cartoons to the extreme, thus confrontationally exposing the powerful appeal of violence, its ubiquity today, the crass manner in which it is marketed to children, and the blaze attitude towards it that parents adopt. Refutations Offered by the Author The refutation is against the objection that the “Itchy and Scratchy and Marge” episode from the second season of “The Simpsons” serves no purpose beyond its entertainment value. Two different refutations of this contention are possible. The first involves a variation of the Aristotelian ideas about tragedy. Aristotle proposed that the tragedy was a tool designed by the artist to accomplish its catharsis of emotion. The audience is said to identify with the characters and action so that the characters are either better, worse, or about the same as the viewer. Despite the fact that the Aristotle's ideas were about tragedy, they can still be altered to apply equally well to comedy. Effectiveness of the Refutations / What Makes the Persuasiveness Jones (1992) states that the effectiveness of the point about censorship is "undercut by the deep, queasy ambivalence it evokes about the value of television, the impoverishment of life, and the effectiveness of social action" (Jones, 1992). "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" shows the exploits of a cat and mouse comedy team modeled on Tom and Jerry. But this cartoon goes its model one better. The viewers are shown every gruesome detail of the ways in which this cat and mouse team seek to destroy each other. They are forever being sliced, beheaded, impaled, diced, disemboweled, de-skinned, and exploded, all with gratuitous amounts of blood. Of the violence in cartoons and live-action shows, Matt Groening has said: "My problem ... is that there's an anticipation of cruelty which I find really repugnant" (Elder 30). Groening exemplifies the United States of America's desire for cruelty by offering it up in spades (Jones, 1992). PLACING THE TEXT IN A NEW CONTEXT The Relation of This Text to Other Texts That This Author Have Been Reading This text relates to the other text that the author has been reading in that situation comedies have become the preferred mode of television lately. Television has been the most pervasive, powerful and cherished form of media output" (Friend 114). And a look at the statistics affirms this. In terms of viewership, of the top-rated television shows have been sitcoms (Friend 115). The reason for this is that sitcoms imbue the banal with "potent allegorical force" (Marc [1989] 161). They offer viewers the myth that all problems can be resolved with wit and humor within a short period of time (Triumph of Popular Culture, 2006). How might another writer (or you) use this text? Another writer or viewer may use this text by imparting on the viewers the fact that sometimes when you try to do good, it comes back to haunt you. It is really hard to draw the line of where censorship should end. Work Cited Chen, R. (1991). "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge Written by John Swartzwelder Directed by Jim Reardon " Retrieved August 15, 2006, from http://www.skepticfiles.org/en001/s7f09.htm. Elder, Sean. "Is TV the Coolest Invention Ever Invented?" MotherJones Dec. (1989): 28-31. Friend, Tad. "Sitcoms, Seriously." Esquire March (1993): 112-24. Henry, Matthew. (2004). Studies in Popular Culture. Jones, Gerard. Honey, I'm Home! Sitcoms: Sellingthe American Dream. New York: Grove, 1992. Swartzwelder, J. (1994). "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge." Retrieved August 15, 2006, from www.snpp.com/episodes/7F09.html The Simpsons. Created by Matt Groening. FOX Television Network. WUHF, New York. 1989-1994. Personal video collection. thesimpsons.com. (2004). "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge." The Simpsons Episode Guide Retrieved August 15, 2006, from http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/index.htm. Wikipedia. (2006). "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge." Retrieved August 15, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itchy_&_Scratchy_&_Marge. Wong, F. (2004). "Re: Itchy & Scratchy & Marge." Index of /~critical/classes/daley/eng240_fall_2004/discussion/tv Retrieved August 15, 2006, from http://www.albany.edu/~critical/classes/daley/eng240_fall_2004/discussion/tv/messages/1096755336.html. Read More