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Section/# The Simpsons: A Personal Point of View A continual debate that has existed over the past several decades is whether or not media reflects society or society reflects media. In the case of the article entitled “The Simpsons: A Reflection of Society and a Message on Family” the author argues the fact that The Simpsons, a widely successful television program that had aired on Fox for over 12 years now is ultimately destructive to the way in which family is defined, religion is respected, and morality is understood.
Rather than arguing each and every point of this particular advantage point, the following analysis will seek to engage the reader with an understanding of the impact that The Simpsons have had upon my own life and the manner by which I will ultimately intend on raising my own family.Essentially, The Simpsons served as a comedy program that could be enjoyed by each and every member of our family; when I was growing up. As such, my parents were not overly conservative and did not attempt to restrict the overall access the television in our home or otherwise only approved certain programs for viewing.
The understanding that was unspoken, at least in our home, was the fact that when situations arose and were represented on television that did not abide by the rules of our family or the point of view that children were expected to respect, these did not need to be restricted; they merely needed to be dismissed. As such, I have distinct memories of several occasions in which my parents would laugh along with the plot of The Simpsons; turning to me and saying something to the effect of “you had best never do anything like that”.
As such, even though this particular show was comedy, I was fully aware of the fact, even from an early age, that not everything represented within it should be taken exemplification from model behavior. In terms of The Simpsons and its overall impact upon how I will raise my own family, it should be noted that I will follow a very similar approach to that which my parents ascribe to during my own childhood. Rather than restricting access to certain television shows and ultimately attempting censor the media, the best approach is to enjoy these television shows with the appropriate age groups in question and merely categorized at certain times that specific behavior is not allowable and when not be tolerated.
As such, the parent child relationship does not become one that is domineering; it becomes one that is beneficial and utilizes media as a way of helping to further define the roles that individuals within the family must fulfill (Garrison 3).Finally, in terms of the broader question that was briefly referenced within the introduction of this analysis, it is the view of this student that media ultimately does not represent society; nor does society necessarily represent media. Instead, we faces the continual need to be inventive, new, fresh, and pushing the boundaries as a function of gaining new membership and viewership.
As such, it is not difficult to understand why media oftentimes represent hijinks, sarcasm, irony, and disrespect as a function of accomplishing these core goals. Rather than seeking to separate oneself from such a media, a far better approach is to understand this dynamic, explaining to children, and still encourage model behavior and expectations with regard to the way in which children will interact with one another and with their family.Work CitedGarrison, Eric. "The Simpsons Archive: "A Reflection of Society and a Message on Family".
" The Simpsons Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. .
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