According to "The Simpsons mock Donald Trump and endorse Hillary Clinton," a standalone Simpsons cartoon clip uses a romantic scene in the night lives of the Simpson family to comment on the upcoming US election, with Homer quickly becoming a Democrat supporter when Marge tells him that she can't get into sex until she decides who to vote for (2016). The BBC News report also says that the cartoon refers to an advertisement that Hillary used in her failed 2008 campaign against Obama, presenting different responses from Trump and Clinton.
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My Yes/No question is:
Do you watch The Simpsons?
My answer is:
Yes, but not often these days.
And happily, the BBC News gives us the YouTube link to the clip. It's much funnier than the short news report suggests. I enjoyed it with my morning coffee this morning.
I actually came very late to loving The Simpsons. They are an old now, and when they first came out, I never watched TV (actually, I still never watch TV), so I missed them, although I knew from the news that they were a very popular cartoon series making incisive social comments. A few years ago, I got them on DVD and loved them. The first ten series were excellent, but they haven't been as good since. I think it's hard, even for Harvard people, to be consistently brilliant and create fun new stories after so many years. I haven't watched any episodes since around series 15.
I like the Simpsons for the same reasons that most people do: they treat serious issues about family, society, politics, ethics and so on in a fun way. In fact, the stories are often outrageous and some of the things Homer says, and the other members of this cool all American family, are definitely not politically correct. I think this is healthy. We should be able to laugh at things like religion, sex, marriage, government and all the rest because if we can't laugh at them, we probably can't critically assess them either, and that means we are very likely to be blindly believing false myths. Laughter is a healthy solution to this social danger.
I think it's probably his rejection of political correctness in speech that is the single virtue of Donald Trump. If we can't say some things, if the peaceful expression of some honestly held opinion on a topic cannot be said because it is offensive or unpopular or hated by the majority, then that is a serious problem for democracy. It appears that even Donald Trump can remind us something valuable. But I would have to agree with Marge. And Homer.
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Reference
The Simpsons mock Donald Trump and endorse Hillary Clinton. (2016, August 1). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36942102
I like The Simpsons too. In the past I always watched it on television, and I also bought the CD movie version. In fact, I don't really know about the politics or the election of the US, but these characters can convey people to understand the topic and enjoy with them by laughing. My favourite character is Homer because he is a cute American man who is important for the series in which he can make it to continue and be interesting to follow. I agree with you that laughing can make us have happiness. And this cartoon is very useful for me to reduce my stress when I got a serious problem.
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