Leaving Springfield

Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture is a non-fiction compilation work analyzing the effect of the television program The Simpsons on society, edited by John Alberti. The book was published in 2004 by Wayne State University Press. Contributors to the work include academics associated with Northern Kentucky University, the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, The Australian National University, and the University of Sydney.

Leaving Springfield
Book cover
AuthorJohn Alberti (editor)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesContemporary Film and Television Series
SubjectThe Simpsons
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherWayne State University Press
Publication date
2004
Media typePaperback
Pages384
ISBN0-8143-2849-0
OCLC51323494
791.45/72 21
LC ClassPN1992.77.S58 L43 2004

The book discusses the nature of The Simpsons, and its impact on society from the perspective of popular culture and that of political satire. The work received a positive review from Luke E. Saladin of Scripps Howard News Service for the breadth of issues discussed in the book, and was criticized by Cathlena Martin in a review in the journal ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies for a lack of discussion and analysis of gender issues and the role of women in the television series.

Authors

John Alberti, the editor of the work, is also the writer of the book's introduction. Alberti teaches American literature and critical studies at Northern Kentucky University, where he is an associate professor of English.[1] Alberti notes that there is a distinction between poking fun at something and satire: "Satire involves defining a kind of moral or political point of view and using humor to show how it's not living up to this ethical standard."[2] Alberti told CanWest News Service that rather than the Fox Network, the most valuable database for information on The Simpsons when doing research for the book was "an online archive established, maintained and vetted by unpaid Simpsons enthusiasts".[3] Other contributors include David L. G. Arnold, who teaches English at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point; Duncan Stuart Beard, who holds a Ph.D. in English literature from The Australian National University; and Mick Broderick, Associate Director of the Centre for Millennial Studies the University of Sydney.[4]

Contents

The book analyzes the impact of The Simpsons – both as a popular television program as well as its use of political satire. Leaving Springfield discusses the financial success the program has had; despite often parodying the forms of capitalism it also promotes. Commentators in the book take a look at the use of parody and satire in society to critique itself, by discussing the impact of the television series on its viewership and its place within television comedy history.

Reception

Luke E. Saladin of Scripps Howard News Service notes that an "especially popular theme in the essays" contained in the work is the fact that The Simpsons promotes its nature as a corporate product of Fox, while simultaneously denigrating the Fox network in jabs during the program.[5] Saladin also notes that essays in the book discuss The Simpsons' "place in television history, its treatment of social issues and capitalism, and everything else from the Cold War and nuclear arms to what Homer Simpson's narcissism tells us about our own tendencies".[5]

In her review of the book for the journal ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, Cathlena Martin is critical, and points out that the book "lacks a feminist study of The Simpsons", noting: "A weakness of this collection is that it does not address more gender issues and analyze the main or supporting female characters more. ... The lack of analysis with regard to the female members of Springfield is decisively missing."[6] Jeremy G. Butler cites the book as an example in his work Television: Critical Methods and Applications, when noting that "books on The Simpsons have become a cottage industry".[7] An essay from the book on "Cultural Conflicts" is required reading in a sociology course on The Simpsons: "The Simpsons Global Mirror", at the University of California, Berkeley.[8]

References
  1. Budzak, Gary (March 2, 2004). "Cracked Humor, Creative Freedom Keep 'Simpsons' Going". The Columbus Dispatch. The Dispatch Printing Co. p. 08B.
  2. Little, Aiesha D. (April 2005). "Trend of Two: Is It Satire Or Just Funny?". Cincinnati Magazine. 38 (7). Emmis Communications. p. 28. ISSN 0746-8210.
  3. Harris, Misty (CanWest News Service) (March 11, 2005). "The best job ever?: Watch old Dukes of Hazzard episodes for $100US,000". National Post. p. PM7.
  4. Alberti, John (2004). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-8143-2849-1.
  5. Saladin, Luke E. (Scripps Howard News Service) (February 25, 2004). "Exploring TV satire – Book shows 'Simpsons' have left an impact". The Record. North Jersey Media Group Inc. p. F07.
  6. Martin, Cathlena. "Review of Leaving Springfield, Ed. John Alberti". ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies. 1 (2). Department of English at the University of Florida. ISSN 1549-6732. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  7. Butler, Jeremy G. (2007). Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Routledge. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-8058-5415-2.
  8. Gold, Thomas B. "The Simpsons Global Mirror". Sociology 190.1. University of California, Berkeley.

Further reading
  • Ellis, Nick (2008). "'What the Hell is That?': The Representation of Professional Service Markets in The Simpsons". Organization. 15 (5): 705–723. doi:10.1177/1350508408093649. hdl:2381/4675. S2CID 145106730.
  • Fink, Maxwell A.; Deborah C. Foote (September 14, 2007). "Using The Simpsons to teach humanities with gen X and gen Y adult students". New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 2007 (115): 45–54. doi:10.1002/ace.266.
  • Gray, Jonathan (August 2005). "Television Teaching: Parody, The Simpsons, and Media Literacy Education". Critical Studies in Media Communication. 22 (3): 223–238. doi:10.1080/07393180500201652. S2CID 144462611.
  • Gray, Jonathan (May 2007). "Imagining America: The Simpsons Go Global". Popular Communication. 5 (2): 129–148. doi:10.1080/15405700701294111 (inactive 2021-01-16).CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (link)
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