Propaganda and the power of 'The Simpsons'

I can confirm that someone -hint hint... has already tainted the simpsons original programs to promote a "murdochian Fox agenda"... in a very subtle way...
and perhaps in doing so, revealed another bush player in the coming elections.

In the "Homer meets Bush" episode from the late 90's. Bush Sr. moves in across the street, and a "dennis the menace, bart-bush scenario" unfolds

At a point in the story, Homer holds up two cardboard cutouts of george bush, and jeb bush in front of the peephole, and says "hello, I am George Bush jr, and the other one"

In the clearly edited version, the text was changed to avoid the slam on Jeb bush, and named him personally... as "hello, i am George Bush Jr and Jeb Bush". (totally taking the laugh away)

I have never heard of a simpsons episode being rewritten years after production in such a way... and it is strange that that episode favors a very "home town" version of Bush. It almost makes you forget Iran/contra, and the head of the CIA, and the drug smuggling scandal thru panama.

So yes, I legitimately wonder if Simpsons is being used to interject a bit of propaganda here or there, in a small, seemingly harmless way.

But i dont think it will ever get blantant, because Murdoch is about ratings, and he knows the success of the Simpsons is more important than political favors...

Thanks for take my smart witted coment with the light heart that it was intended to be Delta.

It's the perfect medium to 'slip it in', as you say. The propaganda is there, whether it be political or otherwise. Of course, there will aways be just 'fun' episodes as well, but you have to keep the masses watching...........I seem to remember that George Bush episode being a very strange and dull one.

Interesting.

I haven't watched the Simpson's for a long time, but I used to watch it religiously and I know and care about every character as if they were real.

I won't give up on TV because there are just some shows I love to watch for entertainment. I don't think I'm being brainwashed or anything but somehow I'm not so sure about some people. I often wonder if the reason some people still support this administration is that they are being somehow affected by the TV (and commercials) they watch. I always mute commercials so the attention is 'disengaged' while they're on.

Looks like I'm going to have to check in on the Simmers to see what propaganda they're laying down these days...

And that is the key! Either that, or even better - Bin the Box!

I don't think the brainwashing is necessarily working on everyone, (Thank God!) but I think we all have to admit we have been got to in one way another by the propaganda machine.

Yes! *shakes fist in the air* "Damn you, Pizza Hut commercials"!!!

... Glorious stretchy cheese ...

To the OP,

In my opinion, it's really all about the individual honestly. I went without viewing television for 5 years. I now have television, and have found that any prolonged period without television does "deprogram" you. When I started watching television again, I found that 99% of the programming was moronic and I couldn't stand it.

Now, my family and I watch only things found on the "educational" channels(science channel, history, learning channel, etc) and ..... the Simpson's.

But we don't view the Simpson's as it is presented. Rather we watch it and try to dissect the social commentary that is found in it's parody. Rather than sitting there and "turning our brains off", we try to evaluate what statements are being made by the writers. I think if you do that, you'll see that the Simpson's are rather witty, fairly anti-establishment, bluntly exposing corruption and idiocy that you can find daily in the real world around you.

I agree with you that the Simpson's has an appeal that draws many of these folks in, no doubt about it. Most of them watch it as a satirical comedy, never thinking about the nature of underlying truths found there. But that's true for many things, not just the Simpson's.

Bottom line for me is, most people do watch television and simply turn off their minds and allow it to put the pretty/funny/dramatic/sensual pictures into their mind. And some even delude themselves into thinking that their own lives are as interesting and glamorous(or strange and humorous etc) as the characters they watch on television. No doubt. But you can't change them, and can't make them not want to watch t.v. , it's something they find comfort in, and they are addicted to it.

In this house we watch very few things, and keep it in perspective. Your family might be able to do the same thing, but not everyone will. Sad, but it's not something you can personally change.

X

wow! The film watched by the most people is the Jesus film which has been watched by some estimates by nearly 5 BILLION people

en.wikipedia.org...

Name one hollywood film that has achieved even 1 billion, the simpsons film got a lot to live up to in your mind.

A fair point,aronld_vosllo, only time will tell.........

Considering the size of the fanbase, I reckon there is a good chance - don't forget the DVD that comes out after the Cinema screening.

That is fair enough X, and I am certainly not criticising you - but is that 'education' definitely not propaganda based television?

You can read all kinds of crazy stuff on this site, but this one is up on my list as insane. To think the Simpsons is propaganda (for who may I ask?) is ... insane! I don't think you watch it enough if you admit you don't have a TV and only watch it because your friends told you to? That is like says the Daily Show is real news? Or is john stewart also a tool for propaganda? Why can't a cartoon be just that? A cartoon. It is an old cartoon at that and there is in no way any propaganda I see in the show, if anything it is one of the last moral shows on TV, if you pay attention to the story line there is always a "lesson" to be learned.

Well, it's like I said above; just about 99.95% of all that junk has some propaganda value to it. I mean even if it's only a snippet, it's there.

What do I do? Simply I strive to educate loved ones on critical thinking. I mean I don't know if you're a parent, but I find that the battle to correect the propaganda from the school system is much worse than the trivial things that my approved tv list may contain.


You just have to get yourself and loved ones into questioning everything. We all have to be able to focus on a subject critically and without emotion. We can overcome this propaganda "matrix" simply by refusing to be told anything. And rather decide to take and choose what we want out of whatever data we are faced with.

I know I make it sound simple, but it's really not that hard for most people that are already thinking somewhat critically.

X

[edit on 6-7-2006 by Xatnys]

Please bear in mind that I haven't always had no telly (its been about 2 years now), and the Simpsons has been running for what, 15 years?

I have watched Simpsons videos back to back, and spent long hours watching repeats of the show. If it was put in front of me now I would probably sit and watch - and enjoy-it.

Cartoons have been used for propaganda for years -the Warner Brothers ones in particular.

That is the crux of my argument. It is almost TOO entertaining and powerful to be taken lightly, and there is actual obvious propaganda in certain episodes too.

most of it applies to advertisting. I stopped reading the tabloids. I read mainstream news, but the tabloids are a waste of 25 cents. I think consumerism is why america is what it is, but Im just tryin to find a way to live without losing the economic war. If i buy a meaningless item, im allowing them to win the war.

But propoganda also is huge in times of war. Capitalists need to keep the people thinking that everything is peachy.

I am a parent, X, and I agree with you - there are people like you- and probably most of the members here - who watch TV with a healthy, critical mind.

But there are a lot of people out there - probably the majority - who's lives are defined by the TV they watch. More so than they realise.

I might be the BIGGEST Simpson fan here, and just to set the record straight, when Lisa goes to the Flanders' cottage and dresses cool to be with the cool kids, Bart gets jealous and ruins her friendship with them, but at the end of the show, The 'cool' kids thank Lisa for all that she has taught them, they don't care about her being cool, she is a good friend and that is what counts. And at every single ending of the Simpson, they learn a lesson, a life lesson, not like in south park, where at every ending they say they have learned a lesson but its a really stupid one. I don't think the simpson brainwashes anybody, the only thing I have heard outside of the show is ppl saying'Do'h' which Homer says very often. Other then that, the show is a funny, well it was funier 10 years ago then it is now, but anyways, it has been 17 seasons and it is still going strong. Anyways, the Simpson does not brainwash us....lol...

Hey, Jimmy 910130

I don't blame you for being a fan, it is a funny, clever programme.

What with that, and all the other funny, clever, witty comedies there are to watch - where is the time to actually think?

(and by the way that isn't a personal dig - I mean generally speaking)

Sadly, I don't see how to help those folks. I mean, tv is(at least on the surface) a voluntary thing(not counting any addiction/dependency one may get). So it's not like we can argue that they're watching against their will.

As for critical thinking, that's a hard trait to teach en masse. And I'm sure many understand why the government doesn't like the majority of the population to be critical thinkers on a moment to moment basis.

I wish it didn't rule people's lives and construct their vision of "reality" either though, for the record.

X

But it is voluntary? Even though I don't have a TV. I know what is happening in Big Brother (for example) because of the headlines in the papers or from EVERYBODY talking about it

It is impossible to cut yourself off from it entirely as it is such a huge part of our existence.

I'm not being hyper critical at all but I hust have to say this.
1. Not every episode of the simpsons has a message. Some of them are simply crazy stories. It just so happens that the crazy stories without a lesson are generally the funniest. IMO
2. And the lessons in south park are are great sometimes. Sometimes they are a bit crazy but some of them are great. eg. The episode with the southpark flag. That was a great message and immensely funny too.