Will Homer Simpson Ever be a Good Dad?
Homer Simpson may be one of the most iconic characters in animated TV history, but anyone who ever watched the show would reckon that he is not a good dad by any means. Well, maybe till now.
In the third episode of the current 35th season, Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) casually announced that he would not strangle his son- a classic running gag of the series- anymore as he greets his new neighbor. When they are shaking hands, the neighbor comments that he was not expecting such a firm grip, and Homer tells his wife: “See Marge, strangling the boy paid off. Just kidding. I don’t do that anymore”. “Times have changed,” he adds.
The scene stirred debates online as some fans of the series expressed disappointment about erasing this tradition, while others applaud for the end of this long-term child abuse behavior. It is note-worthy that today’s viewing environment is less tolerant than that in 1989 when The Simpsons first aired. Even in an exaggerated animated world, an adult gripping a 10-year-old child by the throat so hard that he struggles for breath and his eyes bulge is no longer that funny to most audiences.
To many’s dismay, though, the show’s co-creator James L. Brooks clarified this dispute to People, stating that “Nothing’s getting tamed… He’ll continue to be strangled — [if] you want to use that awful term for it”. The Simpsons’s official Twitter account also confirmed that Homer would not change his way of parenting by ridiculing that line in the episode as “clickbait,” which makes sense in a way since I have not seen any news related to the show since god-knows-when till this story showed up in various publications. For someone who has not seen the show for a long time, the fact that it is still running is surprising enough.
But despite the unapologetic response from the creators, the show did update its humor over the years to counter heated controversies. The beloved character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon- the Indian immigrant store owner with a heavy accent, for one, was permanently removed from the show in 2020 after facing criticism of this character being stereotyped and offensive to audiences of South Asian descent. Avoiding potential racism was apparently not the only thing the show had to do to keep up with the evolving social standards. In a 2018 episode titled “No Good Read Goes Unpunished”, the creators of The Simpsons responded explicitly by speaking through Lisa Simpson: “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?”. It seems like they have no better choice other than making compromises in certain jokes and plots.
Like many other cable programs, The Simpsons has seen a decline in viewership for years. And akin to what the creators complained, voices are claiming that the so-called “cancel culture” has been ruining television shows by setting unwarranted restrictions and suffocating creativity and expression. But is that the real reason that fewer and fewer people are watching the show? It is hard to ignore that the quality of the episodes in recent years is going downhill, especially after the merger of 21st Century Fox and Disney in 2019. The characters appeared to sing out of the blue, sometimes turning the episodes into meaningless musicals, which led many audiences to find the show more relatable to younger demographics instead of being an adult-oriented series as it always was. After thirty plus years on air, The Simpsons was undoubtedly less entertaining now.
To many die-hard fans, however, what is important is that the show is still here, and trying its best to survive under the ever-changing social climate. At the end of the day, while some jokes never run old, many more were bound to be washed out. I believe people would still laugh at Homer’s moments of stupidity, and whenever he exclaims “D’oh!”, but for cases like choking children, most people would have a different view now. In fact, despite the act being officially remained on the show, Homer has not strangled Bart since season 31, according to The Guardian. It is just not many people actually paid attention to this imperceptible shift. Like other long-running animated comedy series such as South Park and Family Guy, The Simpsons is adapting in a positive way to fit with current values and trends.
The Simpsons’ patriarch may not be a good dad by any earthly standard and probably never will be, but like what he said in an early episode from season two, just because he does not care does not mean he does not understand. However subtle, Homer is slowly changing and evolving for the better. After all, the show did not just survive and keep running all those years for no reason.
