BART SIMPSON

Denotative:

Just looking at Bart one of the signs that you get right away that he is a young boy. He has a typical look to him although his hair has suggestions that there is more to him then what you really see. He is presented to most people as being your average everyday type of boy that you would see around your neighborhood.

Connotative:

When you take a deeper look into the signs that Bart represents things begin to get much more complicated. For one, Bart's hair represents a universal "rebel" style of hair. To some people it would represent a "punk" hairstyle. Whereas to others it could represent the "box cut" that was popular in the late 80's early 90's when the show first aired. In an article by Lawrence Grossberg he also takes a look at teh significance of Bart's hair. He states: "The most central signifier in Bart is his hair. Like Marge's, it is not like the rest of the family's. Its spiked quality suggests punk culture, but its height makes it look more like a crown. It could even resemble popular African American hairstyles. (Grossberg 1998:171)" * His skin is yellow, which seems to be the norm on the show. But, at the same time his skin is also universal that no one can say that he is neither black nor white or any race for that matter. It helps to take the focus of things of that nature and focus more on the character that is Bart Simpson. Depending on the image that you get of Bart you can very well prejudge his character. The image that is most commonly presented of Bart these days is one of him looking innocent in a family portrait type of picture. But, the earlier images of Bart were ones that showed him as being something bigger then the whole family. He was often shown with his back turned and a slingshot in his back pocket giving him a "bad boy" persona. One of the funny things that I always think about when I think of the creation of Bart is that they misspelled "brat". The reasoning behind this thought is because of the fact on every show there is always a moment where Bart will say or do something that will cause some sort of havoc on the show.

Lisa - Marge - Homer - Intro

By: Jeffrey Lyons

*Grossberg, L,E. Wartella & D. Whitney. The interpretation of meaning in MediaMaking: Mass media in a popular culture. CA; Sage Publications. 1998. pp. 147-176.