The Simpsons

Last night, for the first time ever, I had the quintessential late-20th/early-21st-century-modern-popular-average-young-person-American cultural experience. I watched a full episode of "The Simpsons" for one half hour at a real TV (I'd watched an episode before on my friend's computer, but that doesn't count). It was indeed humorous but indeed absurd and flagrantly lacking any sort of depth either in meaning or humor. I am slightly curious how people can watch the show on a regular basis: it seems that most of the humor is derived from the usual oddities like Marge's hair, or Homer's idiotic voice which would get old after a time. It would be a lie to say that I did not enjoy it, and perhaps I am enjoying critiquing it even more, yet most of the show is what I would characterize at being of the apex of stupidity. Die-hard Simpsonites would probably cry foul if they heard my blasphemizing remarks (this is no exaggeration), but in order to prove my point let's go a little deeper into the episode that I just saw.

Homer Simpson is a security guard at the local nuclear power plant and his "econovalue" stool breaks. He notices that the other security have leather massage chairs. As it turns out, two of the other guards belong to the "Stonecutters", a secret society that covertly controls the world for their own personal benefit. Homer tries to get it, but can't until he discovers that his insane father was a member of the Stonecutters. Once inside Homer must be paddled several times in the rear and is then a full member. But after numerous blunders Homer finally uses the sacred parchament of the society as a bib when eating ribs at a meeting. Homer is stripped down naked and ordered to walk home dragging a giant boulder behind him by the neck. When he is stripped down naked everyone sees a birthmark that is in a certain shape and identifies him as the "Chosen One". The Stonecutters then worship him until he starts making them do community service at the whim of his 6-year old daughter, at which point they create a new society called the No-Homers club. Homer then repents and decides that the best club in the world is his family. His children then proceed to paddle him in the rear.

I can't say that it was entirely devoid of humor, but perhaps the correct word is "lame". And there are people who like lameness, apparently quite a lot.