The Simpsons: Senility of a Yellow-Skinned Legend

449 episodes, 21 seasons, one full length feature film, 25 Emmy awards, a square on the Hollywood walk of fame, and a bewildering plethora of merchandise and memorabilia, ranging from a signature edition of Monopoly to a series of 44 United States postal stamps. These and more have spawned from the keystone of North American animation--Matt Groening's The Simpsons. Groening's brainchild was originally released as a sketch on April 17, 1987 for the Tracey Ullman Show. From these humble beginnings, it has spawned a media empire that revolutionized the American standard of primetime comedy and introduced the word "doh" to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Simpsonsepitomized the Cold War-era nuclear family in a new and witty light, paving the way for all future middle-class-friendly, 30-minute animated satires that would dominate the post-Soviet world. The humor of the show provided an accurate portrayal of the trials and tribulations of mundane suburban living, a horror that scarred Gen X into drug-induced suicide and whiny yet edgy alt-rock hits. This style of comedy, pioneered by Groening, was meant as an alternative choice to what the writer referred to as mainstream trash. However, there is a sickening irony present in the show's modern stage when it is compared to its original purpose. Like Shakespeare's tragic hero Macbeth, The Simpsons' original intent has been tainted over the years by arguably evil influences. The absence of the show's original writing staff is apparent in its now tired format and cheap failed attempts at immature giggles. Gone is the witty commentary on American society, so prescribed to a lost generation. Gone is the controversy of lampooning family culture, replaced by a shameless style that only serves in transforming the show into the very mainstream trash it served to replace. Viewers are now perpetually subjected to a half-an-hour experience as merely a time-waster when one's mental state falls below the ability to think, similar to Seth Macfarlane's Family Guy and American Dad. The nihilistic brand of laugh out loud punch-lines presented by the Simpsons' descendants have reached backwards in time and degraded the Simpson family to a tired knockoff.This is not to say that change is a bad thing--indeed, unwillingness to try new concepts often comes off as tiring and uninspired in itself. The key to continued cultural relevance is innovation, something which The Simpsons patently fails to do in its current state. It has moved in a direction unappealing to new audiences (with half a thought process) and disillusioning to the older viewers. What is even scarier, however, is that this gradual descent into comedic abyss may well be a reflection of modern viewing tastes. Has the North American standard for comedy devolved to the "mainstream trash" previously only enjoyed by pubescent nitwits? Or--even more worrisome--has the evolution of humor simply 'progressed' beyond our previous appreciation for satire? It is depressing and terrifying that such a question must be raised, and indeed I fear that many readers may find themselves conclusively agreeing with the latter argument while having no power to reverse it. In the end, The Simpsons may be a model of the insidious, and potentially irreversible, degradation of humor in our society.