The Simpsons

[alx5962]

I'm a huge fan since 1991 and so I dreamt about this movie since a very long time !
And it's released today !!!! So I gonna run to watch it

[sound world]

I saw it today.I've probably seen three episodes of the Simpsons in my life,so I'm making up for lost time maybe.
Anyway it was very funny,although it had a very flimsy plotline/premise and quite a surfeit of gratuitous (cartoon) violence.Actually,the huge array of dysfunction on show-basically portraying America as a dysfunctional nation,not just the nuclear family- made it pretty uncomfortable laughter.
Which reminds me of Stina's reaction to the Simpsons-

INTERVIEWER-'you said that The Simpsons depressed you.How can anyone get depressed by the Simpsons?'
STINA -'I had bought two videos in a sale.One was The Simpsons that everybody keeps talking about.I watched and I just...have I bought the wrong film? I just felt like it was tragic...incredibly sad...unbearable.'

[alx5962]

The Simpsons always have criticized USA and the family tries to portray an usual american family. But be assured, they also make fun of many countries like Englad and France (in fact France is #1 in the top list of laughable country in the show just after the USA).
MAny episodes are funny, but a lot are much more deeper than that, in fact some episodes are very serious and clever (the ones where Lisa Simpson is the main character usually). I remember an episode in the last season where they mentionned the Gulf War and it was very intense.

About the movie, you must watch to whole sequence to the end as there's many interesting shorts during that time (and also they make fun of the french hymn 'La marseillaise').

[sound world]

That's a pity,we had to rush off when the titles started rolling,to catch a train-which was,of course,late.

[RobB]

That's a pity,we had to rush off when the titles started rolling,to catch a train-which was,of course,late.

Want to learn to drive?

Incidentrally Dave,where did that Stina / Simpsons quote come from?
I havn't seen that before.

[sound world]

My other half drives,but we decided to take the train yesterday-which would ordinarily have been fine,but for the flooding.
The Stina /Simpsons thing comes from an interview.

[RobB]

My other half drives,but we decided to take the train yesterday-which would ordinarily have been fine,but for the flooding.

Shame your first half doesn't then?

The Stina /Simpsons thing comes from an interview.

yesssssssssssssss,butttttttttttttttt ........

[blue]

Actually,the huge array of dysfunction on show-basically portraying America as a dysfunctional nation,not just the nuclear family- made it pretty uncomfortable laughter.

But that's the whole point (and the brilliance) of The Simpsons. It's the devastating indictment of contemporary American values that brought it to such prominence, and the fact that it's done with such incredibly black humour. It's astonishing what The Simpsons has got away with over the years.

'Itchy and Scratchy' is the perfect example.

[alx5962]

'Itchy and Scratchy' is the perfect example.

They fight! And bite!
They fight and bite and fight!
Fight fight fight! Bite bite bite!
The Itchy and Scratchy Show!

[blue]

Oh god, 'Itchy and Scratchy' is genius, pure genius. Hysterically funny and a searing critique of America's love affair with extreme violence as entertainment. Brilliance.

[barrett]

Some Itchy and scratchy are way more violent than Tarantino films.I often wonder how they get away with it before the 9pm watershed.
I'll be seeing The Simpsimps (as my youngest calls them)this afternoon.Thanx for the tip to stay till the end of the credits.

[sound world]

Actually,the huge array of dysfunction on show-basically portraying America as a dysfunctional nation,not just the nuclear family- made it pretty uncomfortable laughter.

But that's the whole point (and the brilliance) of The Simpsons. It's the devastating indictment of contemporary American values that brought it to such prominence, and the fact that it's done with such incredibly black humour. It's astonishing what The Simpsons has got away with over the years.

'Itchy and Scratchy' is the perfect example.

Fair do's.
As I say,it was very funny-but for someone like me,who hardly watches TV,slightly shocking too.
I just wonder whether those of tender years or fundamentalist intelligence are really ready to appreciate the irony intended,or whether they just take it on face value.

[blue]

It's good that it shocked you! That's part of its agenda. The very fact that your reaction to it has sparked off a discussion here is an indication of how consumately it does its job, by confronting people with hugely uncomfortable truths and making them think about their own lives and reactions. I'm sure there are people out there too stupid to get it, but I'd imagine that, as an adult, if you can't perceive the irony and cynicism in The Simpsons, you're probably going to find much of the content confusing to the point where you switch over anyway.

As far as kids go, I can only relate my own observations - my daughter has watched The Simpsons from when she was tiny, and she and her friends seemed to appreciate the irony even when they were very young. They may not have grasped the political/social context of that irony until they hit their teens, but I think kids understand exaggeration very well indeed, how it can tell you important things about people as well as being funny in itself.

[d.a.walker]

I prefer the earlier seasons of The Simpsons, I think that in recent years it has gone downhill in it's quality, like a lot of television shows which have gone on too long. I liked it when they were an actual animated family rather than individual characters with defined quirks that now annoy. I also much prefer the more realistic episodes. Especially the first few seasons which had some really fantastic stories and moments in them, like family electroshock therapy, depression, bullying and extra marital temptations!

What I love about The Simpsons are the sub-characters that populate Springfield like Ralph Wiggum, Edna Krabapple, The Flanders, Agnes Skinner, Patty and Selma, and Itchy and Scratchy (I still laugh my head off at the one where the cat gets his eyes knocked out with a mallet and replaced with handgrenades) who when given a bit of the limelight are really very very funny.

I probably will wait to see the film on DVD rather than at the cinema, I cannot abide seeing a film at the cinema with gaggles of people and kids screeching and eating the whole way through it, plus the smell of those damn awful nachos makes me want to gag and I always end up with some weirdo sitting near me scoffing them!!

I must say I truly love the episodes Itchy And Scratchy Vs Marge and This Little Wiggum. I love Ralph Wiggum, he's so unintelligently sweet and comes out with some cracking lines like "Daddy says I'm one step away from living in the yard" or "Hello Super Nintendo Chalmers".

I just really hope they don't continue it into exhaustion, television has changed a hell of a lot since The Simpsons first appeared. Family Guy and American Dad have really upped the ante with animated shows albeit aimed at an adult market. It's interesting that certain voice actors on The Simpsons have had issues with the declining quality of the TV show in recent years...

[sound world]

I

I probably will wait to see the film on DVD rather than at the cinema, I cannot abide seeing a film at the cinema with gaggles of people and kids screeching and eating the whole way through it, plus the smell of those damn awful nachos makes me want to gag and I always end up with some weirdo sitting near me scoffing them!!

Too right.The showing I went to had tons of teens and kids,and the first ten minutes of the film was almost inaudible due to their chattering (why do they come?),and every fifteen minutes or so I got hit by bits of popcorn that someone thought it was hilarious to throw.
At the end of the film,a girl three or four rows ahead of us got an entire tub of popcorn thrown all over her.
I just felt sorry for the cleaners.Plus the film was making a point about looking after the environment.