I have never been a fan of the simpsons at all, and i dont think that the new episodes are going to turn me on to the simpsons now. I have never liked cartoon comedy and i dont think i ever will. I might be one of the only kids my age who doesnt like south park, the simpsons, family guy, or any of the other popular cartoon comedies these days. I see them as dull, boring interpretations of sitcoms that have already been produced. We talked in class about how they all have the stereotypical episodes, and since i dont have a favorite episode, i guess i will talk about homer's phobia since its one of the only episodes i have ever seen.
I didnt like the way that the episode played on all the dry, overused stereotypes for gay culture. The writers take the easy way out in trying to talk about homosexuals and just play up all of the popular, and sometimes absolutely wrong, stereotypes of homosexuals. I also dont see why every family in these kind of cartoon comedies has to have a fat dad, one boy, one girl, a mom.....like the perfect family. People in america understand that the life portrayed in these shows is not everyone's life, and isnt even that ideal. Another thing i didnt like about this episode was the fact that the comedic parts of it were not done very well. The part where homer sits bart in front of the billboard for the cigarettes, coming back two hours later and finding out his son wants a cigarette (but a woman's brand) was too cliche and predictable. I also think that John Waters was greatly underdone in this episode. I would much rather watch a movie by him than see him weakly represented in a cartoon comedy.
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Finally, someone who doesn't like something. I appreciate a good critique. Good job, Tim.
You're absolutely right in that Homer's Phobia is full of gay stereotypes. Why is that? I think that gay stereotypes (and/or exaggerations of gay life) are used as a weapon. In my blog, I say that the steel worker scene is a satire on gay stereotypes. The workers are a parody of gay stereotypes. It's complicated. In a way, it gives straight audiences what they want, yet it messes with the stereotype in that the gay men are machno/manly steel workers. I think a large percentage of Americans believe gay men want to be women. They hear gay and think men in dresses or men talking like women. A lot of people are ignorant--and would react much like Homer reacts. So this episode messes with that audience. Yeah, we watch this episode and think, it's kinda offensive. John Waters car honks "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Yeah, I found that offensive. But I found it more offensive in that John Waters is not that sort of gay. And by that, I do mean, the stereotype.
It's something we should talk about. Stereotypes. Even in The Loved One we get stereotypes of the British (playing cricket and speaking intelligently--using words that the Americans don't understand). There's also stereotypes of Americans. And American women. Women. And artists, even. Why does dark comedy or satire use stereotypes? How does the stereotype change in the hands of a satirist?
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