Posted on 11/12/2002 9:04:40 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
I am sure that there were plenty of little rabbits that were corrupted by Bugs Bunny and many little coyotes were crippled by attempting to use heavy machinery to catch a road runner, just as there are human children who have imitated Beavis' burning something for the thrill.
There were things in Looney Tunes that I would shudder to show my kids today, particularly the times the shorts would end with someone committing suicide with a shot to the temple. But my point was that the goal hasn't always been subversiveness -- it used to be only humor.
Parker and Stone don't seem to believe that the two are separable. Or, maybe, they are just incapable of being funny without being crude.
I disagree. They're lampooning organized religion, and since their audience can relate to Christianity FAR better than they can to any other, it is targeted the most... however, Apu's Hindu gods have not exactly been over-looked, Reverend Lovejoy has taken MANY potshots at every denomination, God is regularly recognized as an existent and almighty deity, and doctrinal topics actually get discussed... what other prime-time show can say all that?
I can remember blatant slams on Rush Limbaugh and the NRA.
The Birch Birnbaum send-up was HILARIOUS, and never painted him as hateful, racist, or any of the other slurs the true Lefties use. The gun episodes are brilliant, usually far more pro- than con- (mostly it is Homer's misuse of the guns that is castigated, just as any responsible NRA member would do), and gives the NRA far more exposure than they get anywhere else in the media.
Greedy Mr. Burns and criminal Sideshow Bob are shown to be Republicans.
EVERYONE on the show has broken some law at some point. If you're complaining that the rich are painted as republicans, you might want to look at some demographic breakdowns of the two parties... aside from the super-rich, the majority of the top 50% of wage-earners ARE Republican.
Lisa spouts constant liberal-utopian drivel, although she is sometimes mocked for it.
Yes... BOTH sides get shown, and BOTH sides take heat. What more can you ask for? Heck, it sounds like FR... most viewpoints get represented, everyone gets flamed, the religious conservatives and the libertines certainly don't lack for heated debate and pointed barbs around here... the way it SHOULD be! Expecting a show to soft-pedal to one side to make up for the rest of TV being unbelieveably slanted is hardly reasonable. It's comedy. Learn to laugh at yourself, as well as the bad guys.
Yeah, and is subversiveness always bad? If a cartoon shows people that the liberal emperor has no clothes, is this a good or bad type of "subversion?" When the PC liberal sacred cows are skewered is this bad because the PC liberals run the institutions?
Parker and Stone don't seem to believe that the two are separable. Or, maybe, they are just incapable of being funny without being crude.
I would venture that they probably are incapable of being one without the other. But the point is that this is a crude society we are in. If Parker and Stone tried to use goody goody ideas and language they would fail. It is precisely because they capture the crudeness of the age that their speaking out against the pieties of the age are even taken note of.
I would venture that some of the teens and young adults who titter at the crude jokes will mature into well-adjusted folks who don't think fart jokes are funny, but who will remember that sexual harrassment hysteria or "save the planet" stuff is a shallow fraud.
SD
Yes, because no child had ever been fascinated by fire before Beavis and Butt-head came along...
Marge Simpson's boob job |
|
|||||
By CLODAGH HARTLEY
Mumsy Marge goes for a nip-and-tuck op to get rid of fat in a bid to make hubby Homer fancy her again. But the surgeon mistakenly gives her IMPLANTS and she comes out looking like a Page 3 girl. Soon she lands a modelling deal and ends up flashing her boobs at the residents of Springfield. The episode, Large Marge, will be shown in the UK next year. An insider said: Marges boob job causes a huge stir. Homer cant keep his hands off her.
Fans of the US cartoon will see self-conscious Marge wanting to have the implants removed at first. But she soon finds herself enjoying the attention. When Homer takes her out, the restaurant manager gives them a good table and men gawp. The climax comes when she shows her assets in public. The insider added: It is one of the funniest episodes ever. A new series of The Simpsons starts on Sky One this Sunday. |
|||||
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.