Leaving Springfield

The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture

By: John Alberti (Editor)

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Paperback | 1 December 2003

At a Glance

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378 Pages

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22.23 x 14.61 x 1.91

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A study of the landmark television program The Simpsons which focuses on the show's dual roles as subversive political satire and mainstream mass media hit.

Since its first appearance as a series of cartoon vignettes in 1987 and its debut as a weekly program in 1990, The Simpsons has had multiple, even contradictory, media identities. Although the show has featured biting political and social satire, which often proves fatal to mass public acceptance, The Simpsons entered fully into the mainstream, consistently earning high ratings from audiences and critics alike.

Leaving Springfield addresses the success of The Simpsons as a corporate-manufactured show that openly and self-reflexively parodies the very consumer capitalism it simultaneously promotes. By exploring such topics as the impact of the show's satire on its diverse viewing public and the position of The Simpsons in sitcom and television animation history, the commentators develop insights into the ways parody intermixes with mass media to critique post modern society.

In spite of the longevity and high cultural profile of the show, The Simpsons has so far attracted only scattered academic attention. Leaving Springfield will be of importance to both scholars of media and fans of the show interested in the function of satire in popular culture in general and television in particular.

Industry Reviews

The book takes a scholarly yet humorous look at how The Simpsons can remain so popular and yet be countercultural at the same time. - Chicago Tribune

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Society & Culture Cultural Studies Popular Culture Arts & Entertainment Film, TV & Radio Television Literature, Poetry & Plays Plays

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
"Use a Pen, Sideshow Bob": The Simpsons and the Threat of High Culture	p. 1
Commodity Culture and Its Discontents: Mr. Bennett, Bart Simpson, and the Rhetoric of Modernism	p. 29
The Simpsons and Hanna-Barbera's Animation Legacy	p. 63
Countercultural Literacy: Learning Irony with The Simpsons	p. 85
Homer Erectus: Homer Simpson As Everyman ... and Every Woman	p. 107
Who Wants Candy? Disenchantment in The Simpsons	p. 137
Myth or Consequences: Ideological Fault Lines in The Simpsons	p. 172
"So Television's Responsible!": Oppositionality and the Interpretive Logic of Satire and Censorship in The Simpsons and South Park	p. 197
Looking for Amanda Hugginkiss: Gay Life on The Simpsons	p. 225
Releasing the Hounds: The Simpsons As Anti-Nuclear Satire	p. 244
Local Satire with a Global Reach: Ethnic Stereotyping and Cross-Cultural Conflicts in The Simpsons	p. 273
Bart Simpson: Prince of Irreverence	p. 292
List of Episodes Cited	p. 303
The Simpsons Complete Episode Guide, Seasons 1-13	p. 309
About the Contributors	p. 327
Index	p. 331
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Leaving Springfield

The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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