Should I continue watching the Simpsons?

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Costner said:
So I just started to watch the Simpsons again after not watching it for a few years now. My question is if a catholic should watch a show like the Simpsons? Now that i’m older I notice know that the show pokes fun at religion but not to the extreme like the other animated shows on television. What are your opinions on this matter?
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My opinion is that there is very little on television that is worth watching. Find a hobby and occupy your spare time doing something that is both enjoyable and useful. 🙂

And if you honestly have nothing at all to do, go over to your mother’s house and clean something or fix something for her. You’ll both be happier. 👍
 
Although I haven’t watched the Simpsons lately, I think that it is the best written television show ever. I think that you should watch it as much as you want.

Peace

Tim
 
Man, there’s a lot of hatin’ on “The Simpsons” going on here! 😛

I haven’t watched it regularly in the past 10 or 12 seasons, but I caught every episode of the first 12 seasons and I have the first 8 seasons pretty well memorized even to this day (hey, it was on three times a day throughout my college years :o). The few episodes I’ve caught in recent years have generally been better than those of seasons 13-16 (which is what made me lose a lot of interest in the show).

The show is a satire. Yes, there are some digs at Christianity, but the show is not completely devoid of merit. I find it somewhat refreshing that they mention religion at all. Most TV shows nowadays are functionally atheistic. They may not say anything directly against God, but they pretty much carry on with no mention of God or prayer whatsoever.
 
powerofk said:
The Simpsons does poke fun of religion, primarily Evangelical Christianity (though it seems to be in a light-hearted way - the way friends sometimes trade verbal jabs with each other), but it doesn’t promote homosexuality, fornication, drug use, or even profanity, like many other sitcoms do (including the other prime-time animated sitcoms). In addition, it’s not full of the violence seen on the multitude of police procedurals. Of course the program isn’t perfect - but it’s a lot better than the alternatives.
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Actually, I think it does promote some of these things. I know they had an episode where Springfield, the Simpsons hometown, legalized gay marriage for economic reasons. That was a while back though. Granted I’m kind of glad I haven’t watched much of the show since High school. Some stuff isn’t too bad and is genuinely funny, but some of its crass. Granted Family Guy and Futurama are much worse.
 
I love The Simpsons.

Homer has many faults, but he continues to work at the nuclear plant to support his family (Marge is a stay-at-home mom), and he is faithful to his wife, even when tempted by beautiful women. He is civic minded, gets involved with his community, does things with his children, including taking them on vacations all over the world, he does whatever is necessary to help his children succeed in school and in their extra-curricular activities (remember when he coaches Lisa’s soccer team?), exchanges visits with his elderly father, and goes to church with his family.

And Bart has many endearing traits as well, including a love for his sister, and a loyalty to his best friend, Milhouse, who has to be one of the biggest nerds in the school. Bartis a little wiseacre, but he always pays consequences for his bad behavior, and that’s good.

There are many conservative values presented in a very funny way on the Simpsons. If you don’t care for the show, don’t watch it. I remember when Friends was on, so many people just adored that show, and I couldn’t stand it. Same for Ray–a lot of Christians thought that show was the cat’s pajamas, the best thing since the Parables of Jesus, and I thought it was absolutely dreadful–all yelling and making fun of Ray. We’re all built differently–some people think pie fights are hilarious, while others prefer the quick wit of a “Jeeves” story, and others crack up over Adam Sandler’s silly songs.

Let’s just accept our differences rather than looking down on each other.

OP, if you think the Simpsons if funny, and it helps you get closer to God and your family, watch it. If not, then find something else to do.
 
OP, as others have said, if something makes u uncomfortable in watching, just don’t watch it. But at the same time, I think we should kinda be cautious about what we watch and what we find amusement in. I mean, if u were to watch a show because there are beautiful girls who get u thinking about sexual thoughts, then that’s obviously a bad thing. So please do be careful, though, about the kinds of shows that u look to for entertainment.
Joe_5859 said:
I haven’t watched it regularly in the past 10 or 12 seasons, but I caught every episode of the first 12 seasons and I have the first 8 seasons pretty well memorized even to this day.
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Yes, the first 7 or 8 seasons of the Simpsons are hilarious!!! I’ve seen most of the eps from those seasons like a billion times!! Some of that stuff is just seriously brilliant!

However, I don’t remember exactly which season, maybe around 9, 10, 11, but they’ve just gone downhill in my opinion. I mean, they reuse some of the same jokes, and even the new attempts at humor are pretty bland. And the worst part of all, is I really feel like it’s turning more into a drama show more than a comedy show. I really haven’t watched much of any eps though in several, several years, but I maybe caught an ep here or there, but each time I do, it’s always not funny, and seemingly more like a drama show now.
 
suko said:
OP, as others have said, if something makes u uncomfortable in watching, just don’t watch it. But at the same time, I think we should kinda be cautious about what we watch and what we find amusement in. I mean, if u were to watch a show because there are beautiful girls who get u thinking about sexual thoughts, then that’s obviously a bad thing. So please do be careful, though, about the kinds of shows that u look to for entertainment.

Yes, the first 7 or 8 seasons of the Simpsons are hilarious!!! I’ve seen most of the eps from those seasons like a billion times!! Some of that stuff is just seriously brilliant!

However, I don’t remember exactly which season, maybe around 9, 10, 11, but they’ve just gone downhill in my opinion. I mean, they reuse some of the same jokes, and even the new attempts at humor are pretty bland. And the worst part of all, is I really feel like it’s turning more into a drama show more than a comedy show. I really haven’t watched much of any eps though in several, several years, but I maybe caught an ep here or there, but each time I do, it’s always not funny, and seemingly more like a drama show now.
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And I think it’s just the opposite. The first 7-8 seasons were not as well-done. Bart really was a little brat, and Homer was a complete idiot. Then things started to change. Both Hom and Bart developed a lot more admirable traits,
 
Costner said:
So I just started to watch the Simpsons again after not watching it for a few years now. My question is if a catholic should watch a show like the Simpsons? Now that i’m older I notice know that the show pokes fun at religion but not to the extreme like the other animated shows on television. What are your opinions on this matter?
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I wouldn’t
 
Cat said:
And I think it’s just the opposite. The first 7-8 seasons were not as well-done. Bart really was a little brat, and Homer was a complete idiot. Then things started to change. Both Hom and Bart developed a lot more admirable traits,
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Wait, Homer not being a complete idiot?!? Is that even possible?!? 😃

But perhaps they develop more admirable traits because the show is getting more serious than comedy-filled? I don’t know, I guess it’s kinda subjective, and a matter of perspective.
 
Cat said:
And I think it’s just the opposite. The first 7-8 seasons were not as well-done. Bart really was a little brat, and Homer was a complete idiot. Then things started to change. Both Hom and Bart developed a lot more admirable traits,
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I think that’s somewhat true for the first 2 seasons. There was definitely a different feel back then. I still recall the original merchandising when The Simpsons first came out. There were posters and sweatshirts of Bart saying stuff like “Underachiever and proud of it!” I’m glad they moved away from that sort of stuff.

I can’t recall exactly when it was, but somewhere around seasons 11-13, it seemed like Homer was getting hurt or maimed in every single episode. That got a bit much, in my opinion. I do think the episodes now are better than the ones back in the early to mid-teen seasons. But the early seasons are so entrenched in my mind as “classics” that I think it’s hard for the new stuff to compete.

For me, though, I think a lot of the appreciation always came with repetition. I recall being somewhat disappointed by seasons 7 and 8 when they first aired. But then after watching them multiple times on reruns, I grew to like them much more. I don’t think I’ve watched an episode more than once since season 10, though. Maybe if I watched some of them again, I’d like them more.
 
suko said:
Wait, Homer not being a complete idiot?!? Is that even possible?!? 😃

But perhaps they develop more admirable traits because the show is getting more serious than comedy-filled? I don’t know, I guess it’s kinda subjective, and a matter of perspective.
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Through the years, there have been several deaths of Simpson’s cast/crew members, as well as their family members.

Aging and death of ourselves and our loved ones has a way of making even the most “cowabunga” party boys and girls get a little more sober and serious.
 
Cat said:
Through the years, there have been several deaths of Simpson’s cast/crew members, as well as their family members.

Aging and death of ourselves and our loved ones has a way of making even the most “cowabunga” party boys and girls get a little more sober and serious.
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Good point. However, when it comes to the Simpsons, it’s always rubbed off on me as being a show that’s pretty episodic (for the most part), which means, whatever happened in past episodes, generally, don’t effect much the behavior or attitude of the characters in the after-episodes of a major incident such as death.

Of course, there is 500+ episodes and 25 seasons now, so I guess maybe a little bit of change is in order, even if the characters are still the same age (at least I think they still are)! 😃

How long will Bart remain 10 and in the 4th grade (lol)? To me, this is one of the great wonders of the world! XD Although, I can understand not wanting to “age” them since the show would probably lose its appeal.
 
suko said:
Good point. However, when it comes to the Simpsons, it’s always rubbed off on me as being a show that’s pretty episodic (for the most part), which means, whatever happened in past episodes, generally, don’t effect much the behavior or attitude of the characters in the after-episodes of a major incident such as death.

Of course, there is 500+ episodes and 25 seasons now, so I guess maybe a little bit of change is in order, even if the characters are still the same age (at least I think they still are)! 😃

How long will Bart remain 10 and in the 4th grade (lol)? To me, this is one of the great wonders of the world! XD Although, I can understand not wanting to “age” them since the show would probably lose its appeal.
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I remember seeing a special about the Simpson that mentions the “lack of aging” as one of the show’s strengths. In any situation comedy involving real human beings, the characters will age, and that often means the demise of the show. But the Simpsons never age.

Another strength is the physical invulnerability of the characters. Homer can fall out of airplane and survive. To rig up this stunt by real-life actors would cost a fortune and be extremely dangerous. But Homer just bounces.

The plot lines do carry over from show to show. After Ned Flanders’ wife was killed, he continued to be a single man, and quite a few shows dealt with the difficulties of being a single father. There was one hilarious episode where he dated a country singer–so cute. I love the way Ned Flanders is handled on that show–his Evangelical Christianity is made fun of, but in such a way as to make him look like a nice guy and sometime even a hero. I think that many bereaved spouses identified with his suffering after his wife died. And I love the episodes where he rescues his obnoxious neighbor, Homer, from some dire problem! Ned Flanders is awesome!

I think it’s interesting that some Christians see The Simpsons as “anti-Christ,” while others (me and my husband) see the show as one of the most Christ-friendly on television.
 
amazon.com/Gospel-according-Simpsons-Bigger-Possibly/dp/0664231608

As always, when there is a Simpsons thread here on CAF, I like to post the link to this wonderful book, The Gospel According to the Simpsons.

Those of you who like the show will enjoy reading all the stats about how many times “God” and “church” are brought into plotlines on The Simpsons. This show truly is one of the most “God-friendly” and “church-friendly” shows on television.

And many of you who think that the show is utterly godless will be interested in reading about the deeper levels of many of the plots. The Simpsons is an amazingly-complex show, and often those episodes that seem to be the most irreverent are actually just the opposite.

The author does a nice job of analyzing the show. I highly recommend this book. If you don’t want to pay for it, ask your library to get it for you, or see if you can borrow it from an Evangelical Protestant pastor.

I think it’s so important that Christians, especially Catholic and Evangelical Protestant Christians, DISCERN the various entertainment pieces, and not be too quick to condemn.
All too often, we Christians leap before we look, and we end up getting a Christ-friendly piece eliminated. It’s so sad that we miss the point so often. It makes us look ignorant to those who are more savvy and who think more deeply then we do. CHRISTIANS should be the deep thinkers in society!

I think Christians need to do some really serious thinking about entertainment in general and come up with a better approach than what many of us have now.

I believe that some Christians, especially Catholic and Evangelical Protestant (especially the Fundamentalists) think that any entertainment, other than studying the Bible and singing hymns/chant, is always a waste of time and even sinful. This attitude needs to be examined and IMO, expunged from Christian thinking.

And of course, I believe that CHRISTIANS should be on the cutting edge of creating enduring and thought-provoking entertainment. It’s really too bad that so much of our music, films, novels, and theater are so simplistic and shallow.
 
Simplistic and shallow? It’s all about poisoning our minds - most of it.

Pick up a copy of The Creation of the Media by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Paul Starr.

“Cutting edge”? What does that mean?

Bart Simpson: “Underachiever and proud of it.”? Yeah, my little boy is going to start repeating Bart. How about “Eat my shorts.”?

I wants kids and young people to have good, positive role models. Not a donut addicted dad with a big belly lying on the couch with drool coming out of his mouth. Go dad?

Bleh…

Ed

Most media are controlled by a half dozen global corporations.
 
I say no. The series peaked when I was in Jr high (like 15 years ago). Why boost the show’s ratings and prolong a once iconic show’s welcome demise.
 
No. You should not. It used to be brilliantly funny and I never missed an episode from when it started on the…Tracy Ullman show. However it jumped the shark many years ago with the episode that featured Mickey Rooney. Henceforth, watching became a sin.
 
GIR said:
I say no. The series peaked when I was in Jr high (like 15 years ago). Why boost the show’s ratings and prolong a once iconic show’s welcome demise.
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You’ve changed. So has the show. That doesn’t mean that the show has declined, any more than it means that you have declined. What struck you as “funny” back when you were in junior high (e.g., farting noises, etc.) is probably not so funny to you anymore. But to many junior highers, and to those of us who still laugh at “junior high humor,” the show is still very funny.
 
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