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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

He's Huge in St. Catherines

Thanks to Brother John, we've lifted this report from the Brock University website (which sometimes requires a registration when you hit it, and sometimes doesn't). Lookit Turner, lending all sorts of credibility...

It is not uncommon for students in any given course - in the humanities anyway - to bring up The Simpsons in any given seminar discussion.

After 16 years and over 300 episodes, The Simpsons has covered just about everything to do with culture, politics, sociology and even philosophy. One area that has been of particular interest is religion.

The depiction of religion in The Simpsons is a topic so rich that on April 5, Brock's Lutheran Student Fellowship held a seminar called "The Theology of The Simpsons: Why do the Simpsons go to Church? Postmodernism and Religion in Pop Culture," in the Trivial Recruit Room in the Students' Centre. David Duke, a Lutheran reverend who specializes in postmodernism, spoke to students and peers about The Simpsons and religion, but was quick to point out that as interesting as the subject may be, it is to be taken with a grain of salt."The first thing we're going to learn is that this is stupid," he said.

"We've got to remember that there is no such thing as 'the theology of The Simpsons.' These guys who write the show are writing the show to get a laugh and to make a buck. They're selling soap, essentially. That's what this is. It's just a fun show. We're not really going to find out any deep theological truths about The Simpsons. We might find some deep theological truths about ourselves by examining this text. And we want to make sure that taking The Simpsons seriously is stupid because it's not an authoritative text or anything."

The seminar focused on the fourth season of The Simpsons, commonly regarded as one of the best seasons of the show's history by fans and critics, and includes such fan favourites as "Homer the Heretic," "Kamp Krusty," "Krusty Gets Kancelled" and "Marge Vs. The Monorail."

Using a variety of clips to demonstrate how The Simpsons has depicted what God is like, what Christians are like and other "basics of Christianity according to the writers of The Simpsons," Duke used the seminar to look at the show from a Christian perspective, but keeping in mind that what we seeat home on The Simpsons is just "stuff that the writers think is funny about religion."

He was particularly interested in a section of clips he labelled "The Joy of Man's Desiring," a reference to the fallen state of man from a song by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Duke discussed the religious belief that Christ is the answer to the longing of the imperfect human heart, and how the episode "Kamp Krusty," intentionally or not, becomes an extremely appropriate allegory for this idea "the Joy of Man's Desiring."

In "Kamp Krusty," Bart and Lisa are sent to a shoddy, prison-labour camp guised as a Krusty-endorsed summer wonderland. As bad as things get, Bart clings to his faith that Krusty will soon arrive at the camp as promised and save them from the wretched conditions, while Lisa - who Duke refers to as the 'atheist' - has lost all faith that Krusty will show at all. The episode even contains a messianic reference from the book of Numbers in the Hebrew scriptures of the King James Version of the bible ---in reference to the impending arrival of the missing Krusty in Bart's declaration that Krusty will arrive to "smite" his enemies.

A fact that Duke points out as especially interesting because of the fact that Krusty is Jewish.

"I had no idea that I would find this," said Duke. "This is what I was talking about when I said texts bring out stuff in you."

Duke said that one of the benefits to looking at the depiction of theology in The Simpsons is "just for fun."

"Because of my first text, being a Christian and having preconceptions about life, about reality ... I see my own text being drawn out, my own preconceptions about life."

The Simpsons, as a text, has touched on many religions and religious issues in its 16 year history, but not always without controversy.

In the mid-'90s, the California based Federation of Hindu Associations spoke against the show's representation of the Hindu god Ganesha in several episodes, including one where Homer offered Apu's god a peanut.

America's Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights also publicly complained about the portrayal of its faith on The Simpsons several times between 1989 and 1999, for episodes that made jokes about the church's rejection of contraception among other alleged slights.

However, no organized religion or faith goes unnoticed by the satiric eyes of the writers of the show, and everybody gets made fun of, which seems to level the playing field making virtually nothing taboo on the show.

Last year, Random House published Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation by Chris Turner. Turner, whose book originated as a frequently reprinted essay from Shift magazine called "The Simpsons Generation," has won four National Magazine Awards in three years, including the President's Medal for General Excellence in 2001, which is the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing according to his book's author profile.

In Planet Simpson, Turner talks extensively about the rippling effects of The Simpsons through virtually every aspect of modern society, and vice versa, including religion.

In a section called "The First Church of Springfield: Faith & Religion on The Simpsons," Turner talks about how extensively religion is actually portrayed on The Simpsons. Often treated with satire and spite, The Simpsons just as often treats faith with sincerity and "uncommon respect" when it is addressed on the show.

Turner writes, "The Simpson family attends services at the church every Sunday, as do most of the people they know in Springfield; all of the Simpsons turn to the church in times of trouble; and on several occasions of particularly intense spiritual crisis, the church's leader ... comes by the house in person to offer guidance and solace."

Turner writes how unique the show's depiction of religion is because while church attendance in real life in North America is constantly plummeting, the First Church of Springfield is an essential part of the Simpsons' - and everybody in Springfield's - day-to-day lives.

Characters such as Marge Simpson, Rev. Lovejoy and especially Ned Flanders offer viewers complex depictions of devoted followers of Christianity that range from questioning, to unbearably pious, to respectful-but-disinterested.

"God, Christianity and Christians are more a part of the Simpsons' daily lives than any other prime-time network series, at least shows not devoted to religion," quotes Turner from Mark I. Pinsky's 2001 book, The Gospel According to The Simpsons.

Over the course of seasons, The Simpsons has dealt in depth with a number of other religions besides the family's own unique brand of Christianity. Lisa converted to Buddhism in one of the later seasons, and Krusty's Jewish upbringing has been an integral part of many episodes. Apu's Hinduism has also been featured prominently through the years, even so far as having a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony in the Simpsons' backyard. And a Godfather-style brand of Roman Catholicism has often shown up through the years in the show's depictions of Springfield's most notorious gangster, Fat Tony.

So, however stupid looking for theology in The Simpsons may or may not be, it is unquestionably a part of the show's history. Part of The Simpsons' brilliance is that by making fun of everybody, it actually embraces everybody and every faith.

Posted by Ashley at 10:31 PM (-07:00 GMT) | TrackBack (336) | Comments (1)

Monday, April 11, 2005

Slashdotted

It's been brought to my attention by my brother-in-law, John, that my book was reviewed on Slashdot last Friday. (Actually, the way he put it was: HOLY SHIT, TURNER WAS SLASHDOTTED!!)

Read the review and discussion of same here.

Posted by Ashley at 10:51 AM (-07:00 GMT) | TrackBack (589) | Comments (1)

Saturday, April 09, 2005

I Knew Him Long Before He Ever Became A Jersey Girl

Do you live in the New York metro area? Are you looking for an excuse to spend some time in beautiful downtown Jersey City? Well, then, why not come on down to the campus of New Jersey City University this Monday afternoon, 11 April, to see my thought-provoking lecture on The Simpsons, the role of pop culture in modern society, and such-and-such?

Full details here.

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Posted by Turner at 03:00 PM (-07:00 GMT) | TrackBack (376) | Comments (0)

Monday, April 04, 2005

Newborns Are The Harshest Critics

Earlier today, I was reading to Sloane (who is now two weeks and two days old) from Rick Moody's essay about being a National Book Award judge in the new issue of The Believer. About three paragraphs in, she threw up all over her Beatrix Potter-brand Peter Rabbit sleeper, bringing the reading to an abrupt end.

It's not entirely clear whether this scathing review was intended for Moody or for the commercialization of the estate of Beatrix Potter, or both. Regardless, I won't be attempting a reading from my book any time soon. I can handle a vicious snark from the Village Voice, but there's no easy way back to legitimacy once you've made an infant puke.

In a somewhat related story, my rendition of the Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt 1" is No. 2 with a bullet on the Lullabies Sloane Likes Hit List. It still trails behind a tune that's enjoying it's third week atop the hit parade, despite the fact that I have no recollection whatsoever of when, where or how I know it. That song: "Goodnight, Sweetheart" by the Spaniels (warning: cheeseball midi file embedded in that link).

Posted by Turner at 02:18 PM (-07:00 GMT) | TrackBack (274) | Comments (1)