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Table of Contents

Other Titles in the Smart Pop Series Title Page

The Family Simpson - Like Looking in a Mirror? General Family Demographics Family Hierarchy Family Roles Family Rules Communication and Emotional Patterns Parenting Conflict Resolution Social Interaction A Healthy Family? The Simpson Family as the Cultural Ideal

For Better, or Worse? - The Love of Homer and Marge Interdependence Theory Homer and Marge: Satisfied? Homer and Marge: Dependent? Homer and Marge: Invested? Homer and Marge: For Better, or Worse? References Reference for scale:

“Which One of Us Is Truly Crazy?” - Pop Psychology and the Discourse of Sanity ...

Stupid Brain! - Homer’s Working Memory Odyssey References Acknowledgments

Homer’s Soul Homer and His Brain Homer’s Soul A Trickle-Down Understanding of the Mind:

Alcohol—The Cause of, and Solution to, All Life’s problems

Defining Alcohol Use Disorders: Do Homer, Barney and Ned Have the Same Problem? Dependence Risk in the Simpson Children General Risk Factors Specific Factors: Bart the Musician and President Lisa Bart the Musician or Bart the Policeman? The Evidence of “Simpson DNA” References

The Cafeteria Deep Fryer Is Not a Toy Recommended Further Reading

Righteousness and Relationships - Feminine Fury in The Simpsons or How Marge ... 1. Anger Always Messes up Relationships and Is Always Bad 2. Anger Destroys Your Health 3. Anger Means You’re a Weak, Emotionally Unstable Person 4. You Can Permanently Steer Clear of Anger 5. Anger Makes You Stupid and Makes It Difficult to Think Rationally Special Cases of Anger A Qualitative Content Analysis In Conclusion References

Self-Esteem in Springfieid - Self and Identity in the Land of D’oh Self-Esteem Self-Discrepancy Theory Self-Esteem and Performance Self-Esteem and the Performance of Others Conclusion References Acknowledgments

Can Bart or Homer Learn? Evidence of Observational Learning Evidence of Classical Conditioning Evidence of Instrumental Conditioning Evidence from Classical and Instrumental Conditioning Conclusions References

Sex and Gender in Sprigfield - Male, Female and D’oh Definitions Doctrine of Two Spheres Gender Stereotypes in The Simpsons Gender Roles in The Simpsons Masculinity and Femininity Conclusion: Sex and Gender in Springfield References

Hope Springs Parental - The Simpsons and Hopefulness References

Looking for Mr. Smarty Pants - Intelligence and Expertise in The Simpsons Intelligence Versus Expertise Domains of Expertise Who Should Provide Advice? Expertise and Development Conclusions References

The Personalities of The Simpsons - Simpsons’Big Five Peer Assessment The Study Results Summary References Acknowledgments

Lyle Lanley, You’re My Hero! - The Social Psychology of Group Membership and Influence

Power of Numbers Excellent! The Power of, Well, Power Examples of Applying Influence Tactics Conclusion

pringfield—How Not to Buy a Monorail - Decision-Making (Mostly Bad) in The Simpsons

Algorithmic (Marge/Lisa-Type) Decision-Making Heuristic (Homer/Bart-Type) Decision-Making

Conclusions References

(a) None of the Below - Psychology Testing on The Simpsons The Springfield Psychological Association’s Manual for Constructing Tests ... The Springfield Citizen’s Association Manual for Subverting Psychological

Tests

Copyright Page

Other Titles in the Smart Pop Series

Taking the Red Pill

Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix

Seven Seasons of Buffy

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show

Five Seasons of Angel

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Vampire

What Would Sipowicz Do?

Race, Rights and Redemption in NYPD Blue

Stepping through the Stargate

Science, Archaeology and the Military in Stargate SG-1

The Anthology at the End of the Universe Leading Science Fiction Authors on Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Finding Serenity

Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon’s Firefly

The War of the Worlds

Fresh Perspectives on the H. G. Wells Classic

Alias Assumed

Sex, Lies and SD-6

Navigating the Golden Compass

Religion, Science and Dæmonology in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials

Farscape Forever!

Sex, Drugs and Killer Muppets

Flirting with Pride and Prejudice

Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece

Revisiting Narnia

Fantasy, Myth and Religion in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles

King Kong Is Back!

An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape

Mapping the World of Harry Potter

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors on the Bestselling Fantasy Series of All Time

The Family Simpson

Like Looking in a Mirror?

Misty K. Hook, Ph.D.

THE UNITED STATES is a country that talks a lot about “family values.” That particular phrase is often used as the rationale for major social, political and even business decisions. But what does “family values” mean to individual people? In general, people tend to look at families through two lenses: (a) how their own family operates; and (b) how they think other families operate. We tend to think of our family as “normal,” but at the same time we judge the quality of our family life based on what we think other families are like. We form our views of other families based on what other people tell us . . . and what we see on television.

This can be unfortunate, because we tend to look at other families through rose- colored glasses. We have to rely on what other people tell us—and their accuracy is often in question. After all, who wants to admit that their family is flawed? Family processes are shrouded in secrecy. Gone are the days when we all lived together and could actually see how families talked and played together, what kinds of discipline methods were used, and what roles everyone played. Now we have to guess how it is that other families behave or rely on possibly erroneous self-reports.

Given this secrecy and the reluctance people have to let others into their private lives, where are we to look for examples of family life? Why, TV, of course! By making hits of TV shows like The Brady Bunch, The Waltons and The Cosby Show, we showed ourselves to be fascinated by other families. However, the early television version of families was too sanitized, too perfect. The Bradys didn’t even have a toilet and six kids shared a bathroom without maiming or killing each other! Anyone who has ever had to share a bathroom with even one sibling knows that is very optimistic. The Walton and Huxtable parents rarely lost their cool! Clearly these were Stepford parents. We enjoyed these shows because they portrayed families as we wished they were in real life. Of course, it’s all too easy to view our own families poorly in comparison.

Into this atmosphere of warm, loving and ideal families came the fledgling network FOX. They had other ideas about families—they could be loud, hostile, deviant and quite dysfunctional—and their programming reflected these notions. Thus, in its early days, FOX brought us two of the most dysfunctional family sitcoms to date: Married with Children and The Simpsons. The Bundy family depicted in Married with Children was too outrageous to be seen by most viewers as anything but a parody. The Simpson family was different. While they too could be rude and insulting, there was a soft core at the center of their dysfunction. This was a family who, at the end of the day, were there for each other. They loved each other and this could clearly be seen through their forgiveness of each other, their unity in the face of external adversity, their sacrifices and their own brand of affection. In many ways they were more like our families than the Bradys or the Cosbys. It was these qualities (along with all the things that the Simpsons get away with) that, in a TV Guide poll, made so many people choose the Simpsons as the TV family to which they would most like to belong.

In the Simpsons, we have a family that draws people into their world week after week, year after year. What does their family say about us? Are they the American family? Do they fit into our cultural ideals about families in general? Do they reflect our way of life, our family members, and our family values? Are they truly dysfunctional? In short, we need a deeper analysis of the Simpsons as a family within the larger system of families in the United States.

General Family Demographics

As a family, the Simpsons accurately reflect a large portion of the families in the United States. They are Caucasian, middle-class and have a typical family structure in that their nuclear family is comprised of two married heterosexual adults, three kids, a cat and a dog. They live near some extended family, including a grandfather, a grandmother (occasionally) and two aunts. Gender roles are somewhat traditional as Homer is the primary breadwinner and Marge, although she dabbles in outside careers, is generally a stay-at-home mother. Homer is allowed to come and go pretty much as he pleases, while Marge volunteers in the community and rules over the domestic domain. Thus, from the outside looking in, it seems as though the Simpsons look like a “normal” middle-class, Caucasian family. However, upon further examination, this is not exactly the case.

Family Hierarchy

When thinking about families, you usually expect to see a clear hierarchy. When there are grandparents around, they frequently hold considerable influence. They are followed in power by the parental dyad, with the father generally being the most powerful. Directly below the couple are the other adults in the family (like aunts and uncles). At the lowest end of the power spectrum are the children, with the most power being held by the oldest child and the youngest having the least amount of power. At first glance, the Simpson family appears to totally disrupt the traditional power hierarchy . . . but do they really?

In contrast to what you would expect to find, it seems as if Grandpa Abraham Simpson has the least amount of power in the family. He is treated as little more than a child and is often even ignored. Marge, Homer and the kids frequently laugh at his failing memory and his ineffectual attempts to get what he wants. Even Bart and Lisa do not listen to him. He is left behind, forgotten and rarely invited to spend time with the family (Marge: “Are you really going to ignore Grandpa for the rest of your life?” Homer: “Of course not, Marge. Just for the rest of his life”).

However ineffectual he is now, Abraham Simpson had a considerable influence in the formation of Homer’s character. Flashbacks repeatedly show what an angry, critical father he was to Homer. He yelled, used corporal punishment and constantly belittled Homer’s attempts to have fun, date and excel at various activities (Abe to young Homer: “You president? This is the greatest country in the world. We’ve got a whole system set up to keep people like you from ever becoming president”). These interactions stick with Homer. Marge has only to remind him of how his father treated him and Homer will change the way he treats Bart, Lisa and Maggie (like the time when he became coach of Bart’s football team and forced Bart to be quarterback despite his obvious lack of ability). Homer will become gentler and more supportive because he is determined to avoid being like his father. Homer also tries in vain to repair the relationship with Abraham and continuously seeks his approval. However, Abe continues to be just as critical as ever (“The good Lord allows us to grow old for a reason: so we can find fault in everything he’s made”). Grandpa Simpson is not

without influence, but he certainly does not play the traditional grandfather role in the family hierarchy.

In most traditionally gendered families, the father holds more power than the mother. Is this true for Homer and Marge? Homer does earn most of the money, tends to the finances (as is shown by his constant loss of wealth), metes out discipline to the children and does little, if any, of the household chores. He also is consulted on all major decisions. In contrast, Marge takes care of all of the household tasks and seems to defer to Homer on most major decisions. So, it seems as though Homer holds more power than Marge. However, Marge makes her desires known. She is good at subtly influencing Homer’s decisions and he consistently asks for help. Moreover, whenever Marge gets truly fed up with Homer’s behavior, she takes charge and tells him what he needs to do. In an effort to make Marge take him back, he tells her, “I know now what I can offer you that no one else can: complete and utter dependence!” Consequently, although she has to endure a lot to get it, in the end, Marge almost always gets what she wants. As such, it looks as though Marge holds the most power in the family although she lets Homer believe that he has more than he actually does.

For Bart and Lisa, the power equation is a little less clear. Bart tends to bully Lisa until he gets what he wants. He is free to be as insulting and rude to her as he wants to be. That is, until she gets fed up. Then, like Marge, Lisa takes charge and gets her way. Whenever Lisa gets hurt or angry, Bart will almost always suffer until he backs down and apologizes. For example, when Bart was being particularly mean to Lisa on a school field trip, she obtained a restraining order against him. Bart had to live outside the house and be in school with Groundskeeper Willie in order to adhere to the legal requirements of Lisa’s order. Bart suffered until he became so wild that Lisa forgave him and he ended up apologizing for his behavior. Consequently, the power is somewhat shared between Bart and Lisa despite Bart being the older child. As a baby, Maggie does indeed have the smallest amount of power.