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Why The Simpsons are needed more than ever in the age of Donald Trump

Senior Research Associate Dr Sarah Steele, HSPS student Todd Gillespie (2016) and PhD student Tyler Shores organised the recent Intellectual Forum event with The Simpsons star Harry Shearer. , they consider the role of The Simpsons today.

In 2016,  that The Simpsons had lost its way. He suggested the show was living on a legacy and needed to adapt or face growing demands for its cancellation. But two years later, the show is still on air and remains  in equal measure. Questions about its continuing relevance, however, remain.

Certainly, the show鈥檚 audience has  鈥 but this is in line with a broader pattern of declining American television audiences. Increasing numbers of young people are  to streaming services and social media. But on all of these platforms, political satire remains prolific.

The Simpsons remains the  primetime scripted television show and still manages to get to the heart of issues which established newspapers struggle to analyse amid the rush of 24-hour news, allegations of widespread disinformation and declining attention spans.

Against this backdrop, political satire has given a lift to civic-minded discourse and has been shown to  and drive young people to  about current issues. While nightly topical comedy shows are direct and regularly work off of the back of headlines each day, often becoming divisive as they do so, the 鈥渟lower鈥 form of satire found in shows such as The Simpsons is arguably a more constructive indulgence for contemporary audiences.

Speaking at the Intellectual Forum at 汤头条原创, Cambridge recently, Harry Shearer 鈥 the voice of Ned Flanders, Seymour Skinner and Montgomery Burns among others 鈥 was keen to make a distinction between satire and nightly 鈥渢opical comedy鈥.  The Simpsons 鈥渄igs a little deeper鈥 and 鈥渟erves as a relief valve鈥 for creators and viewers alike. In our politically polarised times 鈥 with no easy solution to bridging the divides in civic life 鈥 that 鈥渞elief valve鈥 is perhaps more significant than ever.

Such a role sits in the minds of many involved in the show. Al Jean, showrunner of The Simpsons, told us: "I think the best satire intelligently exposes all sides of a topic, leaving it to the viewer to draw the conclusion. We have our opinions of course but hope that they鈥檙e presented in a clever way so that no one knows what they are."

Funny 鈥榗ause it鈥檚 true

The show has evolved from what some in the past called 鈥溾. As Shearer explained, those involved in the show 鈥渙bserve the real absurdity, edit out the boring parts, and comically highlight what鈥檚 left鈥. It allows us to look at authority figures such as Donald Trump and ask about 鈥渨hat these guys are doing and maybe even why鈥. The appeal of the show lies precisely in the fact that it encourages a thoughtful kind of laughter, taking a tip from Homer Simpson himself when he said 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny 'cause it鈥檚 true鈥.

Infamously, The Simpsons warned America of a Trump presidency as far back as 2000. Playing on Trump鈥檚 repeated suggestions and shortlived push as a Reform Party candidate,  pictured Lisa Simpson as a president who has 鈥渋nherited quite a budget crunch鈥 from Trump. The episode鈥檚 vision was not so much a premonition as a depiction of what The Simpsons writer Dan Greaney  was 鈥渢he logical last stop before hitting bottom 鈥 the vision of America going insane鈥. Shearer also rebutted any prophetic role for the show, saying: "You do 30 years of television and a couple of things are going to come true; the law of averages caught up with us."

It is clear that, where such satire once appeared to push reality out to the point of being ridiculous, the reality of modern America already is ridiculous.

Taking a long view

However, how The Simpsons marks itself out 鈥 and what will keep it running 鈥 is that it is not about topical news stories. It is about broader societal shifts and trends. With established American press outlets being labelled by the president as the 鈥渇ailing New York Times鈥 and 鈥渇ake news鈥 outlets, it is not surprising that there has been an , leaving America a deeply fractured society. In the midst of this distrust, topical comedy daily shows certainly have a role in attacking and making fun of the current state of affairs.

But The Simpsons has time to consider the longer trends. With an extended lead time 鈥  鈥 it gives its writers and cast the ability to look from viewpoints across time and the political spectrum. This allows the show not only to be self-referential, but also to speak across a broader section of society.

The recent  鈥 a row over the problematic depiction of the Indian Kwik-E-Mart owner and a general lack of minority writers and voices on the show 鈥 highlighted that the show still has room to evolve a more culturally diverse and appropriate approach. But despite this, its appeal sits in its ability to adapt to a breadth of topics using a common language with its audience from which to say something about an issue under discussion 鈥 from environmentalism to industrial decline to vegetarianism.

This breadth of reference points 鈥 and the wealth of characters it can deploy 鈥 allows the show to speak to a huge cross section of people. It engages in considered humour, digesting ongoing public debates and expertly lampooning those involved.

It even lampoons itself. Homer Simpson, in , drove us to consider the point of animated satirical content stating: 鈥淥h Marge, cartoons don鈥檛 have any deep meaning. They鈥檙e just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh.鈥 Quite the opposite is true.

The Simpsons doesn鈥檛 just use humour, irony, exaggeration and ridicule to expose and criticise politics and politicians, it asks us 鈥淲hat is the truth?鈥. As Shearer said, satire 鈥渉as the power to unveil 鈥 to unmask these disguises of decorum and dignity that these scandalous power hungry people affect 鈥 to rip the facade off and go 'look, look at the writhing鈥 wriggling mass of worms underneath鈥欌.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors. This article was originally published on .