Simpsons Offers a Comedic Look

Simpsons offers a comedic look into American suburban family life. Because they are depicted in an animated show the Simpsons can represent families of any ethnic, religious, or cultural background living in suburban USA. Moreover, the name of their hometown is Springfield, one of the most common city names in America. Therefore, Matt Groening satirizes American suburbia and American family life by revealing truths about how American families function. The writers and producers also elucidate issues related to gender roles in the family as well as how the family deals with crises, elder care, and child care.

The family consists of parents Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Bart is 10, Lisa is 8, and Maggie is a toddler. Lavall would note that the Simpsons are both at Stage 3 (with pre-schoolers) and Stage 4 (with school-age children). The Simpsons are also a nuclear family: a household headed by the parents and consisting only of parents and children. No extended family members dwell with them. Grandpa Simpson is in a nursing home. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and other grandparents also live in separate dwellings from the nuclear Simpons family. Homer Simpson is the father and sole breadwinner. Except for a few entrepreneurial ventures, Marge Simpson is not a working mother. She performs traditional housewife tasks including all the home cleaning, cooking, and childcare. Homer works at the local nuclear power plant and in the evenings usually goes to the bar with his male friends. Therefore, the gender roles in the Simpsons household are highly segregated. Of the five Simpsons, only Lisa is aware that traditional gender roles can and should be transcended.

If Homer is the breadwinner then Marge is mainly the health officer of the family. She even has to take care of Homer, who has poor dietary habits and no real common sense. Marge sometimes plays the role of gatekeeper, dictating who can do what, and when. She is assertive and yet defers to Homer because of her ideas surrounding gender role segregation. At times, little Lisa plays the gatekeeper role. The smartest member of the family, Lisa often notices disasters before they occur or warns her family about health or ethical issues. For example, Lisa is a stalwart vegetarian with high ideals for the environment.

The Simpsons are somewhat dysfunctional because of Homer's carelessness and lack of foresight. However, the family stays together because of several core strengths. The dedication to family cohesion is the main strength of the Simpsons family. No matter what happens to Homer, Marge, and the kids, they do not split up. Only in one or two episodes of the show does the family show signs of breakdown. Invariably they reunite with love. The main reason for their ability to stay together as a family is mutual acceptance and unconditional love. Whereas Marge's twin sisters Patty and Selma continually criticize Homer for his faults, Marge sees past his flaws and accepts him for who he is at the core. Such unconditional love is what keeps Homer and Marge together in spite of all the troubles they encounter and pain they endure.

Another reason the Simpsons stay together is because they bounce back from stressful situations that might tear other families apart. Although the show is clearly a comedy, real-world families can learn a lot from the Simpsons. When disaster strikes, it strikes them hard. Instead of falling apart and heading for the divorce lawyer or marriage counselor, the Simpsons pull together. On occasion they seem at the breaking point. In one episode, Marge and Homer attend a church-sponsored marriage counseling session and their relationship is judged hopeless. Even after the fiasco they endured there, Marge and Homer remain married.

In another episode, Bart achieves emancipation from his parents in a highly unlikely but still educational scenario. Bart lives on his own in a rented loft apartment. It turns out that skating legend Tony Hawk lives right upstairs and Bart makes friends with all the older kids. To win back his son's love, Homer knows he has to do something to impress him directly: he has Tony Hawk help him win a skateboarding competition. Homer's willingness to eventually come through for his family is admirable. Marge's patience is even more admirable, because she has seen Homer risk the children's lives as well as her own. Ultimately, Homer and Marge Simpson set aside their differences and move on, still bonded together as husband and wife. They never reach the point where they are just "staying together for the kids" as many married couples do. In every episode in which Homer and Marge seem to be at the breaking point, they reunite with love and passion.

Their sexual relationship is strong too. Peterson & Green note that a "satisfying sexual relationship is one of the keys to a quality marital relationship." Several Simpsons episodes depict Homer and Marge exploring the sexual dimension of their relationship. Obviously a core strength of their marriage, Homer and Marge can become better parents when their needs in the bedroom are met.

Marge is the main disciplinarian in the Simpsons household. Homer is relatively hands-off and laissez-faire and in fact needs discipline of his own. Like a child, Homer gets himself into trouble and causes mischief. Marge is the one who puts her foot down and occasionally gets accused of being a nag. However, her role as both gatekeeper and as health officer ensure family stability and well-being. Marge is also the one who nurtures the family. She comforts her kids when they have bad days at school, and she also rescues Homer from his own bouts with depression. Because of the many roles Marge assumes for herself, she sometimes shows signs of psychological breakdown. In one episode, her hair starts falling out. She leaves the house to recuperate, and during that time the Simpson family has to hire a housekeeper. The housekeeper is modeled after the fictitious character Mary Poppins. Her role as housekeeper, disciplinarian, and nurterer reveal clearly that Marge takes on far more roles than her husband does.