"Reading" The Simpsons

In this project, selected viewers of The Simpsons were surveyed in order to find out their reactions to the show. Their answers were analysed to determine whether or not they “read” television, more specifically the Simpsons.

Method:
Five males and eleven females where given a questionnaire in the form of a survey examining their veiwing habbits of the Simpsons show. They were asked to answer questions in two parts. In the first part, they were instructed to answer questions relating to their gender, age, occupation, level of education, and television viewing patterns. In order to study whether or not viewers were interpreting the show, the questions in the second part were geared towards the 'Simpsons' television show.

Results:
After analysing the data from the first part of the test, the results revealed that 80 percent of females watched television for entertainment purposes, while males watched it both for entertainment and information purposes. The majority of the interviewed were in both the age groups of less than 21 and 21-30 years of age. Moreover, almost all of the interviewed were students at the University level; only one female was at the graduate level. Interestingly, the time duration at which subjects viewed television was split into two parts, less than one hour and 1-3 hours a day. This suggests, for the most part, that students tend not to watch television that much due to the nature of their busy schedules. Evening and late at night were the times at which they watched television the most. This observation suggests that most people tend to watch television during prime-time TV. This is the most profitable time for producers of these shows.

The results of the second part of this project does not agree with Stefan Herrmann's article , but rather, supports the assumption that viewers are not able to ‘read’ the television show ‘the Simpsons’. More specifically, these results reveal that interpretation of the show relies on whether viewers are watching the show alone or in the company of family and/or friends. The reason behind this assumption is due to the fact that most viewers tend to discuss the issues of the show if they happen to be watching amongst a group of people. Many people said that they like the show because it is funny, and that they like to watch it because of this satirical humor, again suggesting that the show does not challenge Its viewer to "read" It.

About 80 percent answered Homer, when asked the question of who is your favourite character? Why? The reason being is that he is funny, silly, amusing, and an idiot. Dinner time, evening, no particular time were among the answers for the question when do you watch the Simpsons? And, due to the high frequency of the show, some suggested that they happen to watch it because it is always on!

Conclusion:
While some people agreed that the topics on the show are irrelevant to viewers' daily lives. The majority felt that the show is pointing to lots of pop culture references. However, of those who agreed that the show is relevant to viewers, they thought that the Simpsons is not the best show to gain educational or political values. Nonetheless, one person mentioned that by making fun of different people and things, the producers actually educate the public by presenting people of all ethnic and social backgrounds and attempting to erase the barriers of stereotyping that North American culture may engage in.

At this point, according to the results of this survey, I would like to conclude by saying that the Simpsons show is not one that challenges it's viewer to 'read'. I think that this is true because it is manly for the purpose of entertainment which does not require viewers to have background knowledge of the culture, nor does it require them to really think while watching the show. And as per the responses of the surveyed, viewers generally watch it for it's "stupid humor" and "unpredictable storyline".

 

Nabil Fakhoury

York University, Toronto, Canada.