Movie Essay Assignment (The Simpsons)


The Simpsons is an animated series created by Matt Groening for Fox Broadcasting Company. Since its debut on December 17th, 1989, the show has broadcast 532 episodes and the twenty-fourth season ended on May 19th, 2013. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle performed by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture, society, television, and many aspects of the human condition.
               The "Three House of Horror", or better known as The Simpsons Halloween Special, was the third episode of The Simpsons' second season. The plot revolves around three scary stories (see the description of each story below) told by the Simpson children in the family's treehouse.
ü  The Bad Dream House: The family move into an old house, wondering at its low cost. Their questions are answered when the wall begin to bleed and objects begin to fly through the air. It turns out that the house was built on an Indian burial ground. During the night, the house possesses Homer and the children, manipulating their minds and making them chase each other with axes and knives. Marge intervenes and confronts the house, demanding that it treat them with respect during their stay. The house thinks it over, and eventually opts to destroy itself rather than live with the Simpsons.     
ü  Hungry are the Damned:  the Simpsons are in their backyard having a barbecue when they are abducted by extraterrestrial life forms. The aliens explain that they are taking the Simpsons to their home planet on Rigel IV. En route they present the family with enormous amounts of food and watch eagerly as they gorge themselves, then check their weights, being particularly delighted at Homer's mass. Suspicious of alien's intentions, Lisa sneaks into the kitchen and finds a book titled "How To Cook Humans". Lisa, skeptical at this, blows off some dust from the book, revealing the title to be "How To Cook Forty Humans". enraged at Lisa's distrust, they return the Simpsons to Earth, explaining that Lisa ruined the family's chance at paradise on aliens' home planet.
ü  The Raven: Lisa reads "The Raven" written by Edgar Allan Poe. In this case, Bart is depicted as the raven, Homer finds himself in the role of the poem's lead character, while Lisa and Maggie are seraphim.  
               This episode, that could be divided into 3 parts because of the three different stories that were told by Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, could be philosophically analyzed. For example, first of all we have Lisa, a young student that always care about following the rules; moreover, she always do her duties (in the school, in the house, etc.). For that reason, I would consider Lisa as a stoic person (referring to the Schools of Philosophy). In the same, when she started to read Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Raven", Bart said "Its Halloween, put your book away" and Lisa replied, "For you information, I'm about to read a classic tale of terror by Edgar Allan Poe". That's another quality of a stoic person, who's not afraid of being a little bit boring; moreover, she just wanted to tell one of the most famous stories of a well-known American author.
               In the same way, I consider that it's possible to link "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" with Lisa's thoughts because the idea (and goal) of leaving the cave is enlightenment, and the same happens with Lisa. She want to transmit her knowledge with the rest of her family, guide them towards good and helping others.            
               On the other hand, there is Bart Simpson, also a young student; however, he's well known for having bad grades and have a bad behavior. In my opinion, Bart is a hedonist person (as well as Homer, when he gets drunk, or when he starts buying lots of thing and he does not have much money) because he lives wild and crazy, no matter what could happen. He likes attention and most of the times he gets what he wants (being selfish). Moreover, the phrase "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse" could totally apply for him; however, as we are talking about a fictional main character, he would never die or suffer from any severe injury.  
               Then, we have Homer and March Simpson, the parents or Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. For me, they are completely skeptic because they are always indifferent with anything, and they seem not to have any purpose in life. Moreover, they don't care about anything, and that's why, for example, sometimes Bart starts yelling at them and they don't do anything. finally, they do what they need to do; however, they do it without any real energy or enthusiasm.      
               In conclusion, I consider The Simpsons as my favorite TV series because of the different characters (and everyone with its own ideas and lifestyle) that take place on this legendary cartoon. For example, you have characters, who are totally the opposite (character, ideas, lifestyle, attitude, etc.) like Bart and Lisa; however, at the same time those characters complement each other. For me. it's the best movie/television series to analyze from a philosophical point of view.     

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