In the spirit of our discussion on food parodies and ironic
representations of food in our society, I took a look at one of America’s most
popular televised comedies…Many of you are aware of the show called, The Simpsons. Currently in their 25th season, The Simpsons have redefined comedy animation television with its slapstick humor and almost controversial character dialogue. If you have never watched The Simpsons, the show focuses on The Simpson family, residing in Springfield, USA. Possibly an allegory for a type of “Main Street, USA” Homer, who tends to be a little dense, Marge, who shows unconditional love for her family, Lisa, who is a straight A elementary school student, Bart, a wise-cracking 10 year old and Maggie… who really just likes her pacifier… a lot.
The show pokes fun at popular culture and well-known symbols of our American society. They parody Burger King and McDonalds with “Krusty Burger” endorsed by a depressed, temperamental celebrity clown, and they even make a point in pointing out the use of lard in baking things such as donuts.
Lard Lad Donut shop is found in Springfield, complete with a giant-sized man holding a giant donut with the words, “Lard Lad Donuts” painted on them.
The police chief, Chief Wiggum, loves visiting Lard Lad, even when he is on duty. This perpetuates the stereotype of how cops love donuts.
The term “Lard Lad” implies that the ingredients that they are using in these donuts are literally lard or lard based. According to Wikipedia, Lard is pig fat and can be used in cooking as cooking fat, shortening or a spread, like butter.
Personally, the name “Lard Lad” doesn’t set well with me, which is probably why the creators and writers of The Simpsons have named it, possibly, to poke fun at the idea that donuts are incredibly unhealthy for you and ARE actually being cooked, fried, baked (whatever) in lard.
Much like Grand Theft Auto, I believe that The Simpsons follow a similar agenda in making a satire out of American culture and specifically our consumption of donuts.
I have been told that in Portage cops only have to past a rigorous physical fitness test once. That's probably what it is in Springfield too.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post! As a fan of The Simpsons, it was quite entertaining. I never really noticed the satire behind some of the things that you mentioned but I will have to be on the look out now.
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