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Written by David Crumm, MCT
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Friday, 06 July 2007 |
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 This isn't entirely a laughing matter.
When "The Simpsons Movie" opens next month, at least some of the folks flocking to theaters will be looking for spiritual messages among the hilarious exploits of America's most famous canary-hued family.
Among them will be Rabbi Daniel Wolpe of Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, Ill. He has used clips from the TV series to raise moral issues for teenagers in religious classes over the years.
"'The Simpsons' occasionally make fun of hypocrisy in religion, but not the ideals of religion," Wolpe said. "Some of the episodes that I like best might be called, 'Homer Learns a Lesson.' Usually in those episodes, Homer winds up with new respect for religious values."
Wolpe is nationally known for encouraging the use of cartoon clips in religious education. He moved to Oak Park last year from a congregation in Orlando, where his friend, Orlando Sentinel religion writer Mark Pinsky, wrote the popular book, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons."
Because Pinsky and Wolpe discussed these ideas over the years, Wolpe appears in a chapter of Pinsky's book, describing how the rabbi's first use of "The Simpsons" in Hebrew School classes in the 1990s "prompted some puzzled phone calls from parents."
Pinsky, reached in Orlando last week, said that kind of skeptical reaction from parents isn't as likely these days. The idea of finding spiritual lessons in unexpected places is so popular now that Pinsky has published a new, expanded edition of his 2001 book (WJK Press; $16.95).
The success of "The Simpsons" TV series, which debuted in 1989, fueled today's boom in animated satire, but that expansion hasn't been entirely wholesome, Pinsky argues. The new 70-page section of his book, called "Unintended Consequences: Through an Open Door," explores how animators seized this new freedom to crack religious jokes and ran in some disturbing directions with it.
"Some of these shows are very funny, but shows like 'Family Guy' or this late-night series, 'Moral Orel,' can get quite vicious," Pinsky said. "There are lots of cheap shots at religion in some of these shows. There's no one in a show like 'Family Guy' who is like the Simpsons' good-hearted evangelical neighbor Ned Flanders. The humor in these newer series, overall, is really more cruel about any subject they raise, including religion."
Neither Wolpe nor Pinsky advocate censorship, but they do advise parents whose children have convinced them of the value of watching shows like "The Simpsons" or "South Park" to set some household limits on cartoons.
Wolpe has used some material from "South Park" with his classes, especially a musical number from the series in which a Jewish character sings, "It's hard to be a Jew on Christmas; my friends won't let me join in any games."
Wolpe said, "I like that song because it really does capture this feeling Jews have at Christmas very poignantly."
But Wolpe said that, like Pinsky, he wouldn't recommend searching for spiritual lessons in "Family Guy" or other cruel comedies. "And even 'The Simpsons,' I wouldn't use that show in talking with kids younger than seventh grade. Younger kids would laugh at the comedy, but they wouldn't get the issues."
"Let's get serious," Pinsky said. "There are limits to how much religious wisdom you can expect from TV shows - although the series 'Futurama,' which is in the Simpsons' vein, does predict that in the third millennium one of the big religions will be Oprah-ism."
Now, how's that for spiritual wisdom from the mouths of animated characters? Can we get an "Amen"? Or, at least a "D'oh"? | Only registered users can write comments.
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