Rhetorical Criticism: Signs of Life Summary for The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life PDF

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Signs of Life in the USA Summary of The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life....

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Signs of Life in the USA The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life                    

Carl Matheson argues that most comedy is based in cruelty He applies this argument to the television show The Simpsons He also believes that today’s comedies differ from comedy of the past by depending on the devices quotationalism and hyper-ironism Quotationalism: Quotationalism refers to comedies that “depend on the device of referring to or quoting other works of popular culture” (Matheson, pg. 305). Matheson argues that early use of quotationalism was opportunistic and did not compromise the substance of the genre There would be occasional references to popular culture but they were just treated as a source material not a major component of the show Early use of quotationalism is found in the early seventies with the two comedies, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman and Fernwood2night Quotationalism then came to the attention of the general public in the mid-seventies with shows such as Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, and SCTV making heavy use of the device The Simpsons was born right when quotationalism was maturing The Simpsons use of quotationalism differs from other comedies of its time by using allusions to make references to other works of popular culture as opposed to the direct references used in other comedies The use of quotationalism has its strengths and weakness. People who understand the reference will find the joke funny. However, people who don’t understand the reference won’t find the joke funny. If a television show only uses quotationalism lightly then the overall humor of the show won’t suffer. However, if a show makes heavy use of quotationalism then the overall humor of the show will suffer. Matheson believes that The Simpsons depends heavily on quotationalism and therefore limits its audience but he also notes that when people do understand the references they likely find the show even better because certain people don’t get it. Hyper-Ironism: Hyper-ironism refers to the idea that “the flavor of humor offered by today’s comedies is colder, based less on a shared sense of humanity than on a world-weary cleverer-thanthouness” (Matheson, pg. 306) This ties into Matheson’s belief that comedy is based in cruelty He believes that comedy fundamentally relies on making fun of others. However, he does note that this cruelty is usually employed for a positive social purpose or driven by a moral agenda However, Matheson argues The Simpson has no moral agenda and stands for nothing in particular He offers a few examples of positive social change in the show such as Lisa’s speeches about social causes but he also notes that there are plenty of examples in the show that have no moral ground such as Homer accidentally killing people

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Furthermore, he believes that non-comedies such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer depend on moral closure where comedies have no place else to go when it’s not funny so they have to depend fundamentally on cruelty An example, of this in found in the television show within The Simpsons called The Itchy and Scratchy Show. This skit addresses the issue of censorship. However, it becomes banal and flat when it tries to deal seriously with the issue so instead Itchy and Scratchy try to kill each other and then it becomes funny. Sign: The Simpsons, quotationalism, and hyper-ironism. Thesis: Comedy is based in cruelty and that The Simpsons uses the devices quotationalism and hyper-ironism to employee cruelty for humor. Conclusion: Overall, quotationalism and hyper-ironism are prevalent and inter-dependent in The Simpsons. He admits that he paints a very bleak picture of The Simpsons but he also notes that the characters in The Simpsons love each other despite their flaws and that we love them despite their shortcoming.

References: Maasik, Sonia, et al. “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life.” Signs of Life in the USA, 7th ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2011, pp. 305–317....