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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2004)
m in i i i ip n fiiMiumini 'ii 11 ,1 imiMwimnwiHipi’i* * WTAU we’ll neTk (35 :eived )• Nan ark (5 peri; dez 20 vois to tears. / the »i 10 the Lori be:: Mmmmm, doughnuts. Homer Simpson would have felt right at ome at the Comix Revolution store in vanston, Ill., recently. He could have spent the afternoon devouring he Krispy Kremes and Dunkin’ Donuts piled top the table in front of the cash register. But he wouldn’t have known what to make of ie highbrow discussion going on between a Jorthwestern University professor and 40 peo- ile about censorship, satire and the arts. It was probably just as well. They were talk- ng about Homer and his family, and we all now how insecure he can get. Northwestern’s Bill Savage, a lecturer in the nglish department and an administrator in the lean’s office, is one of the contributors to the lew book “Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons wilh the Possibility of Oppositional Culture” Wayne State University Press, $21.95). The book takes a scholarly yet humorous ook at how “The Simpsons” can remain so pop- ilarand yet be countercultural at the same time. Or, as Savage told his guests: “Can you have omething made by an evil multinational con- jomerate - not to put it politely - and at the ame time say something serious about multina- ional conglomerates and how they’ve affected )ur world?” Savage says “The Simpsons’” frequent digs do ems lo n aha 19,472 ft T ier, rec es (33 v rece Jacob 6,465 temosib of iasece Refereis it the Fox network and the American establish- ervice tlsoapa' Service 7,82' itlie especti't ) was el Associa Bergera it for i, W lass of lamed f tary; ■er; cretar) ass O 1 lectedf pres'' sects surer; retail oriao state cat nd agv/eed d he: an of all® 1 politic j hetW I iieti ; lid. 0 pd#f Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Monday, April 5, 2004 Cowabunga, dudes Northwestern lecturer ties ‘Simpsons’ to cultural lessons By Patrick Kampert KRT CAMPUS jient help it sidestep its status as a Hollywood leavyweight. But despite its success as the : ongest-running sitcom on TV, he ontends that animation still gets ® bad rap in the United States as ichildish art form. “This is really an American itltural bias that doesn't apply in ier countries,” he said. Savage and many scholars Tj ncreasingly see “The Simpsons” ^satop-notch social and political atire. No one is exempt from its ingers, whether it’s environmen- alists or religious conservatives. 1^5 \\. He says its up-to-the-minute Weisls ailtural allusions, from Anthony Robert LaPenna • KRT CAMPUS ‘Survivor” to medicinal marijua- andLim ia, make it just as effective in vorking on multiple levels as the ass Co* lassie novel “Gulliver’s Travels” vas almost three centuries ago. “Jonathan Swift wrote that as iabsolutely vicious satire of the ritish culture of his day,” lavage pointed out. “But you an also read it as a story about In the culture today, you don't need footnotes; you just need to be hip to what ( The Simpsons') are doing. — Ben Savage lecturer at Northwestern University guy with the giant and the little people. If you ead Swift’s book with annotations, then you can ;o, ‘Ah, I see.’ In the culture today, you don’t iced footnotes; you just need to be hip to what The Simpsons’) are doing.” Amid the pretzels and boxes of Munchkins, lavage treated the guests to a viewing of the pisode “Itchy, Scratchy and Marge.” The episode features matriarch Marge impson’s successful campaign to tone down artoon violence. Marge became appalled when baby Maggie ashed Homer in the head with a hammer after vatching cartoon characters use mallets on each D ther. But when Springfield residents ask Marge o lead another censorship battle to protest dichelangelo’s naked sculpture of David arriv- ng on tour in the town, she doesn’t see what the concuss is about. Afterward, audience members questioned Savage about censorship. One guest complained that the federal government recently cut closed-captioning funding for dozens of TV shows, including “The Simpsons.” Another noted the parallels between this episode, which was from the show's second season, and current events as the Federal Communications Commission and radio companies try to crack down on shock jocks such as Howard Stern. Savage said he hates Stern’s show but finds Rush Limbaugh equally offensive. “If I was in charge, I know whose show I would take off the air,” he said. “Neither of them.” The majority of the crowd at Comix Revolution was about as old as grade schoolers Bart or Lisa Simpson when the show arrived on the scene, first as part of “The Tracey Ullman Show” in 1987, and then when it became a stand-alone series in 1989. Jennifer Johannesen, a Nothwestem University graduate student, said it took time for the show to grow on her. “In the beginning, it was all about ‘Do the Bartman’ or about the T-shirts that said ‘Eat my shorts,”’ she said. “When I got into high school and college, the subtlety of it was more apparent to me and that’s when I started enjoying it.” Dave Weigel, a senior at Northwestern, didn’t need to warm up to the show. He said he remem bers watching “Ullman” with his parents and eagerly anticipating the debut of “The Simpsons” as a series. “I’ve been watching it ever since then. If I miss an episode, it’s because I have a medical emergency,” he joked. He spent some time in the store examining a plush toy of Shake, one of the fast-food heroes of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” from Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim.” Weigel said that the ironic and self-referential Anthony Robert LaPenna • KRT CAMPUS Top: Bill Savage, a Northwestern University lecturer, introduces the book “Leaving Springfield” to the audience. Bottom: Amy Danzer watches an episode of “The Simpsons” prior to the discussion at Comix Revolutions store in Evanston, III. humor of the “Adult Swim” shows owes a big debt to Homer and family. He says he’s confi dent “The Simpsons” will get its due when his tory weighs in on the matter. “The only thing that’s keeping them from being a piece of art like 'Don Quixote’ or 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' is a couple hundred years,” he said. Actually, the wait may not be that long. Savage, for example, may be teaching a class on pop culture - including “The Simpsons” - start ing next year. Show your graduate and professional students that they are WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD! Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week ryh_oth As part of GPS A Week, graduate and professional students are invited to attend the Volleyball Bash Mix n Mingle Wed., April 7th 5:30-7:30 pm Rec Center Backyard. STUDENT Life CM*** »!*«*** Do you want to be a Physician Assistant? Physician Assistant’s Basics Workshop Dates Seminar Dates Mar. 8 @ 10:00 a.m. Mar. 25 @ 10:00 a.m. April 13 @ 2:00 p.m. April 21 @ 2:00p.m. May 11 @ 3:00p.m. June 17 @ 11:00 a.m. July 21 @ 2:00 p.m. If you are interested in applying to P.A. school for entrance in 2005, then please contact the Office of Professional School Advising at 847-8938 or come by room 205 of the Academic Building to register. The workshop location will be given to you at the time of registration.