FREE ESSAY ON SIMPSONS

SIMPSONS

Who watches The Simpsons?
Composition and Rhetoric 
For this assignment I watched the show The Simpsons, which comes on the Fox network on
Sunday nights at eight. The show is about an animated nuclear family and their everyday
lives. The Simpsons targets the middle class families that live in the suburbs of
America. The show mainly appeals to families that composed of parents who work at
blue-collar jobs and have children, between the ages of 10-18. You can tell this from the
commercials, how The Simpsons life style is portrayed and the jokes contained in the
show.
The commercials seen along side the Simpsons apply to the middle class family. These
commercials are meant for both the adults and the children who watch the Simpsons. One
such commercial is for Toys R Us. The commercial shows a mom and dad taking their son to
the local Toys R Us. Inside the store we get shots of the newest toys to appeal to the
kids who are watching the commercial. The commercial then states that it has the most
toys for the lowest price. This statement is meant to appeal to the parents who have a
low income and can only buy toys that are inexpensive. Among other commercials that are
viewed during The Simpsons are family vacation advertisements. One such one is of a
family going to Disney world. The commercials states that Disney world has everything for
everyone in the family. The advertisement shows the Dad playing golf, which is meant to
appeal to the dads who watch the Simpsons. The commercial also shows the mom buying
something at the gift shop, which is meant to appeal to the moms who watch the show. And
finally the commercial shows the children going on the rides, which is meant to appeal to
the kids who watch the show. Another commercial seen with The Simpsons is a commercial
for a mini van. In this commercial the mini van is compared to a standard two-door car.
The commercial asks, ??How are you going to fit your family in that two-door car??? This
commercial is meant to appeal to people who have a large family that needs all that extra
space only a mini van can provide. Also the min van comes equipped with a small T.V, and
shows kids watching it. This is meant to appeal to children who now instead of just
sitting there can watch TV on long trips. All these commercials deal with families. So
that means that the television channel is trying to advertise to families who watch The
Simpsons.
Also the Simpsons mirrors the lifestyle of the people who are watching the show. The show
always deals with middle class situations that the viewers can relate to. The family in
the show consists of a middle class family with two parents and three kids. Both of the
parents graduated from high school and that is the extent of their education. The dad
holds a job at the local nuclear power plant. His wife is a housewife and the two kids
attend public elementary school. Many of the problems seen in The Simpsons are similar to
those, which occur to middle class suburban families. This would appeal to middle class
families because they can identify with problems facing The Simpsons.
In one episode Bart the eldest son has problems with school bully. He gets into a fight
and is beaten up. Later his parents find out about his problem. His mom tells him to tell
on the bully while his dad tells him to fight back and shows him how to fight. The
parents watching can really relate to The Simpsons. They have dealt with similar
situations with their own kids being bulled or getting into fights. While the kids who
watch The Simpsons can identify with Bart and his problems with the bully. One other
episode The Simpsons had to move because Homer lost his job at the nuclear power plant
and showed how the family had to readjust to living in a new town. The episode showed how
both the parents and children had to meet new people. Middle class families can
understand the frustration that comes along with moving to a new town or cities. Like the
Simpsons middle class families understand the hard ships in moving and readjusting to a
new life. All these situations The Simpsons face everyday all emulate the middle class
families that watch the show.
Then there are the jokes found in the show. The show being animated mostly appeals to
kids because they see it as cartoon. But there are jokes in it that only adults being in
their late 30s would understand. Like one episode where former president Jimmy Carter was
not allowed into a party because, the party didn??t allow one ??termers??. Only adults
would understand that, kids who watch The Simpsons weren??t even born at that time
period. Also there are some subtle sexual innuendoes found in some episodes that are
meant for the adult viewers only.
In conclusion, The Simpsons appeals to the average middle class family. The commercials
are meant to advertise products for the middle class family. The Simpsons life mirrors
that of its middle class viewers. And the joke in the show appeals to the children and
their parents in middle class family.
Bibliography
None