On the air for longer than even The Flintstones, The Simpsons enjoys immense popularity, delivering to millions of views its Matt Groening-approved commentary and criticism of contemporary U.S. society. Employing a wide variety of comic devices, from pratfalls to irony to slapstick, The Simpsons casts a critical eye on many different contemporary issues in its many episodes. But these comments and criticisms emerge best through the darker humor presented in the show, the ironies and sarcasms; the lighter fluff humor interferes with the criticism. In the "Grease" episode, Homer Simpson succumbs to greed as he attempts to enter the grease reclamation business while his daughter Lisa struggles with the artificial maturity of the new girl in school. While both of these plots offer opportunity for criticism, the episode fails to effectively resolve these issues, throughout the episode and especially in its whimsical, everything-turns-out-ok ending.
One half of this episode follows Homer Simpson, the common man in a simple world. Homer's sole motivations are to seek pleasure and avoid pain, contrasted in his catch phrases, "Mmm, donuts," and "Doh!" This simple character analysis provides the base for this show's commentary on greed. Homer makes a discovery: "People buy grease?" and he relates this to himself: "My arteries are clogged with yellow gold!" Homer, the common man, knows grease -- in his hot dogs from the Kwik-E-Mart and his burgers from Krusty Burger. The fact that something so familiar to him is a source of money sets his mind to work. Grease is easy to acquire, and it can be easily converted to money. Easy money is a hallmark of greed.
Yet even the very manner in which Homer expresses his greed draws emphasis from this theme. Homer suffers a mild heart attack during his initial enthusiasm for this newfound moneymaking scheme, and he dismisses his clogged arteries as "money in the bank." On seeing a greasy-faced teenager, he drools, saying, "My God, you're greasy." When caught stealing grease, Homer pleads, "Stop pummeling me! It's really painful." Homer never seems to understand the fact that he is caught in the grips of greed, and he speaks line after humorous line. The viewer, hearing each of these lines, can easily dismiss the plot's theme, finding it easier to laugh at Homer and his situation.
The other characters' criticisms of Homer's greed are also easily dismissed within the episode. Bart offers little resistance to Homer withdrawing him from school in order to help collect grease. Marge's complaint of his misuse of her bacon elicits only the response, "Excuse me, I'm a little busy achieving financial independence." School janitor Willie chases after Homer, calling him a "theivin' grease pundit" in his deeply Scottish accent. Each one of these incidents is easily laughed off in the show; none requires or causes any thought on the part of the viewer. The bulk of the Homer/grease plot seems focused on bringing on the laughs from the viewer, much like an episode of "The Three Stooges."
In a completely separate plot, Lisa's confronts the superficial maturity of the new girl in school. This plot relies less on a "Three Stooges" sort of comedy and instead uses irony and stark contrasts to bring out its theme. Lisa is intelligent (in contrast to Homer's ignorance) yet she is naive, assuming the new girl will be like her; the new girl seems visibly grown-up with her "perfume and her cell phone -- and she drinks iced tea," yet she is emotionally immature.
The show's whimsical conclusion wipes the minds of the viewers clean of any trace of the show's commentary. Homer's "one last big score" to get rich quick with his grease goes awry, flooding the school gym with grease with humorous results. The grease plot is never satisfactorily settled; Homer scrounges about stuffing his pockets with grease, and he seems to never learn that greed will get him nowhere, while the viewer laughs the whole time at his antics. The maturity plot is also inadequately resolved; Homer's immature antics interfere with this plots resolution, overshadowing that plot's ending. The show's commentary thus fails to take hold in the viewers' minds.
Relying on its popularity, The Simpsons disseminates its commentary and criticism of American culture; however, its message is not always clearly conveyed. Some episodes, such as the "Grease" episode, devote too much of the show to light, laughable jokes and any message becomes lost in the laughter. With more emphasis on it themes and less on the humor, the show may have successfully delivered its social commentary. The Simpsons still runs, syndicated and with a new episode every Sunday; Groening already has gained the show its popularity, and with less cheap laughs his show could better convey its commentary on the society that watches it.
Copyright © 1999 to Adam Howard. All rights reserved.