Imagine an animated T.V. show based on a middle class family from Springfield. This show follows the day to day activities of this family and their friends. With only this information, most parents would let their children watch this show. However, upon closer analyzation, I think most of those parents would change their minds. The show I’m speaking of is the Simpsons. The Simpsons is a classic genre-bender T.V. show. A genre-bender is a story that breaks the rules of its genre. This show would be categorized as a children’s/animated show, but there’s so many curse words, sexual innuendos, and dark themes. So, the Simpsons is a very good example of a genre rule-breaker.

         An article from CollegeHumor.com talking about dirty jokes from the Simpsons begins with this paragraph “For many of us who grew up in the 90s, The Simpsons was not only a hilarious, groundbreaking show, but a learning experience. It advanced our knowledge of pop culture well beyond our years. But aside from the dozens of references to movies, TV, and books that we had to ask our parents about, The Simpsons was also loaded with subtle and not-so-subtle sexual references. I recently rewatched the entire series and noted ten particularly sexual jokes that, as a kid, slipped past my freakin’ ears.” I really liked this quote because it’s talking about how many sexual jokes that there were throughout the show. A show that’s animated like this would not be expected to have this many jokes that are too mature for children.

An animated kids show, that doesn’t break the rules of its genre, would be defined by many different things. Some characteristics of this genre would be, obviously, animated characters, situations that are relatable to children, bright colors, no bad language, no sexual innuendos, a simple plot line, children's simple language, and entertaining to children. When a show sticks to the rules of its genre, adults usually wouldn’t like these shows at all. Some examples of TV shows within this genre include The Powerpuff Girls, Arthur, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and The Flintstones. Children love these types of shows because they're easy to understand and are usually very colorful.

         The Simpsons breaks many of these rules; such as having complicated "adult" situations, terrible language, layered plot lines, and so many buried innuendos. Some of the things that happen in this show are very relatable to adults, but inappropriate for children, such as problems with taxes, sexual relationships between adults, drug problems, alcoholism, and homosexuality. Some other examples that are just as bad as this show are, Family Guy, Sausage Party, American Dad and so many others that go uncensored and unnoticed because parents enjoy the shows enough to not care about the bad influences thing they're exposing their children to. The language in this show is very bad. While they don't come out and say swear words, they do use very vulgar language. An article from "SimpsonsWiki" breaks down the usage of bad words in just the first season of this series to the word, and how often it's used. It says that Bastard is the most used vulgar word at 30 times, followed closely by 3 different versions of the word bitch (bitch, 11 times; bitches, 2 times; and Bitchin', 7 times. As most parents know, children just repeat whatever they hear. This can be very bad, and super embarrassing if a parent allows their child to watch this show. Children like to have role models for different reasons; be it "coolness," or respect. Lots of children choose Bart as their role model. This is very bad because Bart is a class clown and is always performing some kind of stunt. Many children have copied Bart's behavior and gotten hurt very badly. When I was younger, my parents allowed me to watch this show. I wish that I had chosen not to, because I was a very curious young child. Whenever I would hear an inappropriate joke, reference, or even just a bad word and didn't understand it, I would google it to try and find out what it meant. Usually, I would find out a bit more information then I wanted to. "

         I think that what this show and many others like it should not be allowed on TV. They purposefully try to make the shows enticing to children and then ruin they're once beautiful, innocent minds. The Simpsons takes a wholesome genre and completely trashes it. Because of this so many parents will be reluctant to let their kids watch good TV shows in the future for fear of another "Simpsons." The show bends the animated/children's genre too much, and needs to "stay in its own lane."

 

 

Ozzi, Dan. “10 Sexual Jokes On The Simpsons You Might’ve Missed as   a Kid.” CollegeHumor. N.p., 15 July 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

 

"List of Vulgar Words." Wikisimpsons. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016."