Monday, January 11, 2010

Where Would We Be Without Homer Simpson?

Last night, the FOX television network celebrated The Simpson’s 20 anniversary by airing a documentary – some might say mockumentary – on the famed prime-time cartoon show.

They even got documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, known for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden and Supersize Me to put together the hour-long, made for television look back at the longest running television show so far.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a supersized Simpson’s fan. I never miss an episode; occasionally participating in the discussion forums online, racking my brain on Simpson’s trivia, and even purchasing Simpson’s merchandise.

Every Sunday night on FOX, I tune in to watch Homer, Marge, Bart, Maggie, Lisa, Grandpa and the rest of the townsfolk go about their lives in the fictional town of Springfield.

But last night’s anniversary special raised an interesting question – where would we be without the show?

Spurlock asked this of several celebrities and show producers. Musician Sting said he didn’t want to think about a world without the show – he’s appeared on a few episodes. The show’s creator Matt Groening says he’d probably be working in a mundane job, doing cartoons mocking his bosses during his breaks. One of the show’s voice actors smugly said he’d be a lot poorer.

But the question isn’t so much where would the world be without this cartoon television show, rather, it raises the question, where would we be without the escapes of television, movies, and other forms of entertainment?

If we really did live in a world which was all work and no play, then more than just Homer Simpson would go crazy.

We’d all go nuts, because we’d have nothing to really live for other than our work. And no matter how much you love your job, we all need some down time.
Scientists for years have been telling us we all need love in our lives to function.
There is more and more proof that we – being social animals – depend on the simple loving touch of a hug to be, otherwise we end up angry, aggressive, and dysfunctional.

So where would we be without Homer Simpson – or rather television?

Wherever that would be, it wouldn’t be good.

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