Assignment 1-4-4 Written Analysis 3

Assignment 1-4-4 Written Analysis 3

            Being topical shows, heroes and the cult of personality have been featured on both The Simpsons and Family Guy multiple times over the series’ production.  Depending on the context, the theories have been applied as parodies of the theories themselves or in a serious tone to prove a point. What follows is a couple examples of both theories as depicted on the shows.

            Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin are quite often depicted representing the cult of personality theory.  Both characters get very dramatic and often fanatical over random things.  The curious thing about this is how well and often they are able to convince their peers to go along with their shenanigans.  A recent episode of The Simpsons in which Homer stands up to the TSA is an example of this concept.  In this episode Homer’s defiance of the TSA’s over-bearing policies on a grounded flight was recorded by Bart and uploaded to YouTube.  The video went viral, and provided exposure for Homer, which allowed him to be picked up as host for a political talk show, similar to The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.  Homer’s often nonsensical political rambling appealed to many people, who began to listen to Homer’s rants word for word.  Peter Griffin similarly is able to influence a large amount of impressionable people when he gets them to join the congregation of his newly-created house or worship, The Church of “The Fonz”, a Church dedicated to worshipping Fonzie from Happy Days.  Though both of these examples were depicted for comedic effect on the shows, it clearly shows in both examples how powerful the influence the cult of personality can be on the average citizen of Springfield and Quahog.  As is in reality, Springfield and Quahog townspeople get caught up in the charisma and enthusiasm of Homer and Peter, often at the expense of common sense in reason.  When this is depicted on the shows, it is generally for comedic effect, but can also be interpreted as an allegory for its viewers for doing the same thing in real life.

            Heroes are also depicted in several forms on both The Simpsons and Family Guy.  “Radioactive Man” is a comic book hero that Bart Simpson is a fan of on the show.  A plethora of comic book heroes have been depicted in parody form on Family Guy, such as Spiderman, the Justice League, and Superman as well.  In a more serious depiction, the Griffins’ next door neighbor, Joe Swanson, is depicted as a heroic cop on the show.  Joe is paralyzed from the waist down due to a terrible fall he suffered after trying to apprehend “The Grinch” from stealing Christmas gifts from an orphanage.  Homer has portrayed heroes several times as well.  A notable example was depicted in an episode where he became chief of police.  Due to a rise in crime and the growing perception that Chief Wiggum is incompetent, Mayor Quimby fires Chief Wiggum and appoints Homer as chief of police.  Homer’s friends Lenny and Carl help Homer to clean up crime in the town.  They even manage to arrest (albeit temporarily) Fat Tony, the biggest criminal in the town.  Shortly after incarceration, Fat Tony escapes and threatens to kill Homer.  Homer confronts Fat Tony (and his newly assembled gang) alone, and tries to rid the town of him again.  Homer is hopelessly outnumbered but still stands up for the town.  He is eventually saved by a sharpshooter, who kills all the gangsters (which turned out to be Maggie, the infant).  Homer’s ability to clean up the town of criminals with help from his friends made him a hero, and his selfless confrontation of Fat Tony and his gang increased that portrayal more.

            Whether the intent was to provide comic relief to the viewer or whether it was to depict a serious side of main characters, the hero mythology is definitely present in Family Guy and The Simpsons.  Whether it’s a depiction of Bart’s occasional admiration for his father Homer, or a bunch of characters following Peter on his latest fanatical conquest, the hero concept and the cult of personality have both been popular plot lines for both shows.  These concepts are prevalent in many forms of media, fact and fiction, likely due to the fact they are easy to relate to.  Everybody has their own definition on what a hero is, so it’s not unusual to encounter media where someone is being labeled a hero to someone else.  As long as these theories remain popular to viewers I foresee both concepts being used in many more episodes in the future. 

References

Brooks, J.L, Groening, M., & Simon, S. (Executive Producers). (1989). The Simpsons [Television series]. Hollywood: 20^th Century Fox.

Goodman, D.A., Callaghan, S., Sheridan, C., & MacFarlane, S. (Executive Producers). (1999). Family Guy [Television series]. Hollywood: 20^th Century Fox.