'Homer Simpson and Contemporary American Values of Fatherhood Essay\r'

'The Simpsons is whiz of the m many(prenominal) television fork outs in the United States of America which features a across-the-board length cartoon narrating the everyday lives of a family. The plant makes us confront the absurdities of how near Ameri mickles live through the jovial acts and conducts of the pieces in the animated furnish. man each of the members of the Simpson’s family trifle a several dominant attitudes of Americans†nigh b golf-clubing on the obscene and some bordering on the goodâ€the attestor’s apprehensions non only almost the American company in which he or she lives in quiet defeat similarly about his or her self is challenged.\r\nThe show seems to contract to push its think audience to reexamine their lives, reflecting on each denotation in the Simpson’s family and the rest of the partings in the show. In general, the Simpson family unit is a dysfunctional family, never aging through the course of th e show in years and often ends the show limning the family members still loving one an opposite(prenominal) patronage the odds. For the most part, the Simpson’s family two reinforce and subvert coetaneous American values in a calculate of ways.\r\nEach episode highlights the splutters of the family members of the Simpson household and the neighborhood, some meters reaffirming several mixer pigeonholes and some time intriguing our comfort zones and our accepted beliefs. In any pillowcase, it is important to note that even the manifestly absurd gestures and encounters of every record in the animated show point to modern-day American values that may be either subverted or reinforced, depending on the recital of the informant in most cases.\r\n homer Simpson, the arrive of the household, embodies the emblematic American dad. He is a father who enjoys drinking his beerâ€specifically called â€Å"Duff”â€who is physically overweight and who is prevent ative of his family. He works at the capital of Illinois Nuclear Power Plant despite his c atomic number 18less(prenominal) characteristic, in that respectby suggesting that he has this capableness to bring chaos to the rest of the union with his slightest mistakes period at work.\r\nApparently, home run’s characteristics reflect the typical American father who has the responsibility to dismiss his kids and secure the affectionate welfare of his family. His character subverts the contemporary American perception that divorce oftentimes results from a family that is dysfunctional. patronage his failures to provide for several needs of the Simpson household, he has never resorted to divorcing his wife, Marge. At the end of the day, bulls eye finds himself at home together with his wife in bed looking antecedent to the coming day ahead.\r\nMoreover, bell ringer has been sh throw to cave in a strong regard for the welfare of his family in onerous times, such(prenom inal) as in â€Å"Lisa the Beauty Queen” (1992) w here(predicate) he sold his prized car in order to enter her daughter, Lisa, into a beauty show to make her feel better and in â€Å"A Millhouse Divided” (1996) where he position for a second wedding for his wife, Marge, to resort for their unsatisfactory first of all wedding ceremony. On the other hand, some of bulls eye’s characteristics also reinforce some contemporary American values.\r\nOne of these values is the thought process that typical American fathers spend their time drinking beer and submitting themselves to their weaknesses quite easily. Some of kor’s weaknesses are his strong want for doughnuts, his aggressive behavior in difficult times or in times when he is not able to bonk his capers and his low intelligence. In general, these things reinforce the stereotype of the American dad, reflecting the cultural struggle of the American father in the American landscape, losing his quic k edge along the way.\r\nLooking at the ways in which mark Simpson handles himself in front his family, it can be said that his character implies the binary inverse between attainment and superficial, centering and dispersal, and quad and enfolding. For one, the character portrayal of bulls eye suggests the erudition of his personality, one that can be easily construe as the typical American father at first glance plainly one that can also be interpreted as an unusual American dad on closer inspection.\r\nDespite aggrandizement a dysfunctional family on a mundane basis, Homer has not abandoned up on his task as a father although there are times when he seems to be on the verge on giving up on things. bandage he is considered to be a borderline alcoholic, he does not end up entirely succumbing to his habit. On the contrary, he is able to maintain his fatherly figure and image and goes on to raise his family even when it meant attending to several jobs on many occasions. There is both the erudition and the superficial qualities in Homer Simpson that represent American fathers in contemporary society.\r\nWhile at that, Homer’s character is also able to create distance and participation among the viewers. It is not surprising at all if the viewers of the show are able to colligate to the experiences of the Simpson household because the experiences of Homer’s family might just as well be the same daily experiences that other households experience. By focusing on the typical experiences of American families, the animated show is able to draw the attention of the wake frequent and, in a way, to impart them to â€Å"participate” in the show at least in call of universe able to relate to and find a part of themselves in the show.\r\nHowever, the animated show is also able to distance the viewer from the characters. In the sense that the nature of the showâ€meaning, its â€Å"animated” structureâ€makes the character s open to patently absurd situations, it is not always the case that the viewers are able to convey an exact representation of their daily experiences. That is, the cartoon characters can perform unrealistic behaviors that the real-life viewers can hardly imitate.\r\nThe binary opposition between distance and participation in the show is also reflected in terms of how the show portrays the stereotypes familiar in American society and, in the process, causes its viewers to mention themselves first with the show’s characters and last causing them to redefine themselves. The fact that The Simpsons explores the ostracize stereotypes in contemporary American society suggests that its viewers may or may not be able to to the full relate to these stereotypes.\r\nThose who are able to relate to these stereotypes are more(prenominal) or less likely expected to distance themselves from these stereotypes or, more specifically, from Elizabeth Traube calls as â€Å"the fictional self that it (stereotype) constructs” (Traube, p. 129). Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson tho suggest that hot tillage has not only been the offspring of society’s â€Å"beliefs, practices and objects generated from political and commercial centers” provided has also become â€Å"an entity on its own” (Mukerji and Schudson, p. 53).\r\nThus, it is not surprising to say that there leave be so-called â€Å"popular culture” so long as there are conduits for expressing the generally discover patterns of behavior among lot. The Simpsons is just one of the many social elements that showcase such patterns. The assumption here is that some television shows such The Simpsons do not only give ear the goal of highlighting parts of the generally ob attend tod behaviors of peopleâ€behaviors that are parts of stereotypesâ€but also reinforce and subvert such observations at the same time.\r\nThe very presence of these kinds of television shows he lp people advance what they have become. They aid the human elaboration to notice the things that have become so familiar they no longer luck into the vein of our senses and sensibilities. In â€Å"The Visible designate of Cultural Producers”, Maureen Mahon suggests that forms of popular culture serve as â€Å"arenas in which social actors struggle over social meanings and as palpable examine of social processes and social dealings” (Mahon, p. 467). Apparently, Homer Simpson’s character in the animated series struggles over social meanings within the context of the show.\r\nThe context of the show, however, is anchored on the realities happening in the society. That, in turn, suggests that, indeed, the character of Homer is a visible evidence of several social processes and social transaction in real life, from his struggles to raise his family and his image as a father. Jerry Herron also suggests that Homer Simpson is not only a â€Å" monitoring devi ce” of how much of contemporary America has declined but is also a symbol for ambitious our attitude towards the social stereotypes.\r\nIn particular, Homer Simpson is â€Å"an appeal to the sensibility of the public towards popular culture to redefine themselves from the negative to the validatory” (Herron, p. 12). But what exactly are these confident(p) and negative aspects and how are we able to order them without confusing one over the other? The answers do not seem to be as clear and as unsophisticated as they seem. Based on Jerry Herron’s article â€Å"Homer Simpson’s eye and the Culture of Late Nostalgia”, it appears that Homer Simpson is both a criticism to society’s stereotypes and, at the same time, as an frame of those stereotypes.\r\nHomer plays the role of an intellectually challenged but loving father. He takes the role of the typical American dad who loves to drink his preferent beer and yet his is a character that chall enges the contemporary attitude towards dysfunctional marriages and families. He directs the viewer’s attention to his character while making them reflect on their own lives and society at the same time. He shows some of life’s worsened obscenities and yet allows the viewers to realize the naked contrasts between a life value living and a life that is worthless.\r\nIn essence, Homer Simpson subverts and reinforces contemporary American values. In â€Å"Stereotypes and Registers of Honorific Language”, Asif Agha argues that stereotypes â€Å"are consciously grasped” and are, hence, â€Å"reportable, discussable, open to gainsay” and that â€Å"they serve as models for some individuals and counter-models for others” (Agha, p. 152). Following Agha’s rendering of stereotypes, the social perception towards the stereotype American father is still open to dispute and can in turn serve as the â€Å"counter-model” for what the Ameri can should be.\r\nUsing Homer Simpson as an example, our notion of the â€Å" duty” American dad can be derived from some of the qualities of Homer Simpson. The conscious exposure of the viewing public towards The Simpsons can be an eye-opener for reassessing our standing(a) perception of the stereotype American father. While the image portrayed by Homer is â€Å"an entity on its own”, it is nevertheless still created from the social realities that persist in contemporary America. It is only through a revolutionary change in the contemporary American value system can the American society be lifted from its place quo.\r\nBut that is not to say that the task of removing the binary opposition between depth and superficial, centering and dispersal and distance and participation begins at the confront where the American public is able to realize the stereotypes and recognize the â€Å"counter-models”. Rather, it begins right at the criticism of such stereotypes pr evalent in popular culture. The creation of the character of Homer Simpson is perhaps the first stage in bringing the things that â€Å"dumb down” America into the public awareness.\r\nOf course, it is not affluent to have shows such as The Simpsons, among others, to underline the cultural problems of America and to compel people to address these problems. However, it is only necessary to first bring elements of popular culture into the surface, elements that both reinforce and subvert contemporary American values in order to retain with the tasks of criticizing what has become of this nation and its people and of resolving what needs to be resolved.\r\n'