Homer Simpson: American Icon

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the phenomenon that is "The Simpsons" which is currently the longest-running animated television series. This paper explores the inspiration behind Groenig's amusing yet dysfunctional family which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The writer of this paper contends and explains how and why Homer Simpson should be considered an American icon. This paper proves that Homer Simpson represents America's moral majority. This paper delves into how Groenig's concept of the "The Simpsons" symbolizes cultural America in the 1990s which explains the show's long-running success. This paper analyzes the character of Homer Simpson who according to the writer represents the typical all-American dad and husband.

From the Paper:

"This basic argument of this report is that Homer Simpson represents the typical American father and husband as anti-hero. He makes a lot of mistakes as a character and is no ways perfect, in fact being very much the opposite of perfect in an exaggerated way. He gains the status of icon not through being heroic, but by being fallible and vulnerable to external problems. The rise of the anti-hero in American society was a twentieth century phenomenon. When people watched television in the fifties there was an Ozzie and Harriet ideal that wasn't really reflected in society, and this and other circumstances led to the formation of a new culture in the mid twentieth century which particularly valued the fallible or human hero, or anti-hero, as a sort of shock to the system."

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