Melting Down the Nuclear Family: Fragments of Meaning in Television's The Simpsons

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2014-01-15

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University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Viewers who tune in to Fox Network's The Simpsons every Thursday night are greeted by a harmonious blend of voices. As we hear “The Simpsons…” echo through our television altar, our eyes are transfixed by a halolike title which materializes amidst a background of clouds. The clouds quickly fade, however, and the angelic hymn is displaced by composer Danny Elfman's jarring theme song. During the title segment that follows, we see Homer Simpson inadvertently take home a vial of nuclear waste from the plant where he works. His wife Marge forgets baby Maggie in a shopping cart at the grocery store, who is then scanned by the checkout boy as a piece of merchandise. Their son Bart is forced to stay after school to write “I will not waste chalk” on the board as punishment. Daughter Lisa is kicked out of band practice for her free-flowing saxophone improvisation. The family then hurries home where they all converge on the living roam sofa just in time to watch The Simpsons on TV.1

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47 pages

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