Just a Gwai Lo - fun within prescribed limits

Caterina: “Homer Simpson and his "lovable irresponsibility" wearies me. I don't find it lovable at all. We watched some of the third season on DVD last night, and it turns out I like The Simpsons less than I thought I did. If there is one show on TV they could shuffle off all those deadend stereotypes and 50s nuclear family tropes, it is in an animation as groundbreaking as The Simpsons. But they don't. Marge is the June Cleaver of the 90s. It is really depressing.”

A contrasting opinion can be found in Carl Matheson: “not only do the detractors of the show miss a great deal of its humor, they also fail to realize that its pattern of quotations is an absolutely essential vehicle for developing character and for setting a tone. And, since these people are usually not huge fans of popular culture to begin with, they will be reluctant to admit that they are missing something significant. Oh well. It is difficult to explain color to a blind man, especially if he won't listen. On the other hand, those who enjoy connecting the quotational dots will enjoy their task all the more for its exclusivity. There is no joke like an in-joke: the fact that many people don't get The Simpsons might very well make the show both funnier and better to those who do.”

What Caterina fails to realize is that The Simpsons parody the very stereotypes that she finds depressing. Marge Simpson isn't the June Cleaver of the 90s: Marge Simpson is making fun of the June Cleaver of the 50s.