martes, 22 de febrero de 2011

Editorial: The Simpsons



I’m through with The Simpsons.

I’m not going to enter a cynical speculation about how they have outlived their own creativity a long time ago. Throughout the more than twenty years I’ve been watching them, we have some good times and bad times together. They have changed, and probably they’ll keep on changing, but so have I. It’s not anyone’s fault, really, our relationship just grew cold and stale and routine started caving in between us and we just grew tired of each other. We grew apart and I suddenly noticed that the things they do now aren’t meant for my amusement anymore. I tried really hard to make it work, but I’m just tired now.

Sunday’s episode is an excellent example. It told the story of Bart’s little web-cartoon, Angry Dad, going commercial and triumphing in several awards shows. Through the episode, several other animation artists with moderate or large public notoriety were paid homage through little sketch-parodies. Among them were Toy Story (and Pixar in general), Wallace & Grommit (with Nick Park voicing himself), The Triplets from Belleville (with original music and everything) and Persepolis. Ricky Gervais (no fangs, sorry ladies) made an appearance, I think there was a parody of Spider-Man: turn off the dark and there were lots and lots of name-dropping (Wes Anderson and Banksy among them).


It should have been great. In theory, it was supposed to be an intimate night where we got to screw around the memory lane, cherishing in laughter the things we both enjoy. After all, who but us, dedicated followers of the industry would get the myriad of references displayed in the episode? But it wasn’t. It came of f as a desperate attempt to gain my attention, to re-kindle the flames that once engulfed us. But when it was over, I didn’t feel thrilled; I felt cheated and a little bit cheap. It was desperate of them to do it and desperate of me to play along. And I fear things will keep on going this way as they keep on having guests like Neil Gaiman and the aforementioned Banksy.


But as of today, I quit. No more shall we hurt each other trying to keep alive a relationship that’s no longer meant to be. It’s time to explore new grounds and we need to take a break to be able to do it properly. Like I said, I’m not resentful. I wish The Simpsons a long a prosper life, but they’ll have to continue that journey on their own.


Maybe someday we’ll meet again and we’ll be able to be just friends. Until then, goodbye. 


1 comentario:

  1. Ha! Love it! It's a great love story this of yours, you are damn right, after all these years it is really more like a girlfriend than like a TV show.


    Man, you should have done so a long time ago! I did so and it was a huge relief. Since she has started snorting cultural references like cheap cocaine, she is not what she used to be.

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