For my 2nd blog, the cultural artifact I chose was The Simpsons “The Great Wife Hope.” This episode begins with Marge and her friends bowling. They wonder where all the men are because they are nowhere to be found. All the men are at an arena watching the Ultimate Punching Kicking and Choking Championship. This upsets Marge because Bart experiments what he sees at school. Marge then goes to the arena and accepts a challenge from the owner. If Marge beats up the owner, then he will tear the arena down and stop the violence. Marge begins to train for the fight. Marge ends up beating the owner, but none of the guys learn the lesson that she is trying to teach.
Bits of the empire can be seen throughout this episode of The Simpsons. Because Homer took Bart to the wrestling arena, Bart then thinks this stuff is ok to do. So Bart experiments with it at school and starts to beat up kids and take their lunch money. Marge is angry at this type of wrestling and is also angry at the arena for influencing this to children so they can try it on their own. This is like the empire because it is deceptive. It is giving examples of things that are wrong and saying that it is ok to do. Another way the empire can be seen through this episode is through the owner of the arena. He is reinforcing his power through violence by challenging Marge to a fight. One other thing that represents the empire in this episode is the normality of fighting. At the end when Marge is trying to teach a lesson, everyone leaves when they find out that two drunken guys are fighting outside. Fighting seems normal to the men and they feel they have to go and watch and that it is the thing to do.
What other examples of empire can we see through other professional sports? What can we do to help put an end to these problems?
I wonder if the whole concept of bullying has been drawn out of sports. A perversion of sports. I know that people say that bullying has to do with insecurities within individuals, but would it take a violent form if it weren't for sports to be so violent at times? America promotes wrestling and even football, which promote running and hitting others. Is there an impact, I wonder, on bullying because of the impact of sports in American culture?
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if violent video games can motivate bullies. Video games often show great animation talents of the designers, but do they have negative impacts on those who choose to play the games? I feel like, while possibly a long shot, video games might influence players to have an inner feeling of defeat or satisfaction in hurting others. Whether many people would actually play that out in their lives, I don't know.
I think The Simpsons helps to show our culture and how we pervert things. We pervert physical activity in the context of sports. We might become uncharacteristic of ourselves and, like Bart, suddenly turn into a bully. Whether America has a negative impact on us overnight, I'm not sure. But growing up around it, I think there might be some damage done.
In this example, I think Marge is almost trying to "tear down the empire" instead of simply the arena. She sees something is wrong with what is being presented to the young people of the community and is determined to do something about it. I think, though, that "older" minds (not just young ones, as Bart) are affected by violence. When one sees an act of violence in such an entertaining setting as an arena, they think it's okay or the "normal" thing to do. Marge had the right approach to fixing this issue, but at the end, it seems that the "stereotypical" guy thing to do is not to learn from a good lesson, but to continue doing things to their heart's content.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think the writers, directors and animators of The Simpsons would tell this story? When watching films and television, we need to remember that the story isn't unfolding in a natural way (i.e. - the way the stories of our lives do); writers are writing scripts to tell stories in a certain kind of way, often illuminating things we don't see during our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteSo, while we can do some interesting analysis on the plot of a particular episode, it often helps us dig a bit deeper if we consider why the plot was told the way it was.