Social Commentary through Sitcoms
Social Comments
Sitcoms tend to be funny because the characters drown in their own stupidity, yet beneath the surface one might discover more than which meets the naked eye. Using humour to examine social comments is an effective technique used by sitcoms. In every sitcom, social comments are expressed through the types of humour they use. This can be seen by observing the social issues the episode “Lisa the Tree Hugger” is exposing, clarifying the type of humour used to uncover the social comment and analysing if using humour is an effective technique.
Exposing social commentary through humour is an effective method used by sitcoms. The comment the Simpsons’ creators are trying to depict is that extremists make many people feel insecure because they don’t express their beliefs as boldly as them. The Simpsons doesn’t convey that all extremists including environmentalists, religious, economic and political extremists are all ruthless; however they need to be conscious about how they interact with other people. The light, funny sitcom is not singling out the heavy, extreme acts of people willing to harm innocent individuals in the name of their god, but the extremists who are not open minded in wearing anything else but Ralph Lauren, who won’t eat anything that contains more than twenty calories or in Jesse’s case, people who refuse to eat anything that casts a shadow.
There are many types of humour used by sitcoms to link to a social comment. The Simpsons convey this comment by the parody of “Jesse the Eco Hunk,” as a fanatic character that is a truly obsessed environmentalist. For “Jesse,” being a vegetarian is not enough when it comes to saving the environment. If one is not a level five vegan and doesn’t pocket compost then they are simply not good enough. Using this humorous method is ingenious to the fact that the creators of the Simpsons are not exaggerating the character of Jesse, as many extremists tend to act the way Jesse does in this Simpsons
Sitcoms tend to be funny because the characters drown in their own stupidity, yet beneath the surface one might discover more than which meets the naked eye. Using humour to examine social comments is an effective technique used by sitcoms. In every sitcom, social comments are expressed through the types of humour they use. This can be seen by observing the social issues the episode “Lisa the Tree Hugger” is exposing, clarifying the type of humour used to uncover the social comment and analysing if using humour is an effective technique.
Exposing social commentary through humour is an effective method used by sitcoms. The comment the Simpsons’ creators are trying to depict is that extremists make many people feel insecure because they don’t express their beliefs as boldly as them. The Simpsons doesn’t convey that all extremists including environmentalists, religious, economic and political extremists are all ruthless; however they need to be conscious about how they interact with other people. The light, funny sitcom is not singling out the heavy, extreme acts of people willing to harm innocent individuals in the name of their god, but the extremists who are not open minded in wearing anything else but Ralph Lauren, who won’t eat anything that contains more than twenty calories or in Jesse’s case, people who refuse to eat anything that casts a shadow.
There are many types of humour used by sitcoms to link to a social comment. The Simpsons convey this comment by the parody of “Jesse the Eco Hunk,” as a fanatic character that is a truly obsessed environmentalist. For “Jesse,” being a vegetarian is not enough when it comes to saving the environment. If one is not a level five vegan and doesn’t pocket compost then they are simply not good enough. Using this humorous method is ingenious to the fact that the creators of the Simpsons are not exaggerating the character of Jesse, as many extremists tend to act the way Jesse does in this Simpsons