Good articlePolitics in The Simpsons has been listed as one of the Media and drama good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Did You Know Article milestones
DateProcessResult
January 31, 2007Articles for deletionNo consensus
August 14, 2007Articles for deletionKept
November 3, 2022Good article nomineeListed
Did You Know A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on November 17, 2022.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that politics in The Simpsons have caused controversy in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Japan?
Current status: Good article

shifting alliances[edit]

It should be noted that the show was rather hard on Bill Clinton, in one episode, it went so far as having Clinton assure Lisa "You've learned a good lesson, if you complain long enough, you'll get your way...", when Marge protests "that's a pretty lousy lesson", Clinton responds "I'm a pretty lousy President", note fellow Dem Jimmy Carter is often ridiculed, in Marge in Chains, the town substitutes an Abe Lincoln Statue for one of Jimmy Carter, resulting in a riot, in another episode, Carter is portrayed as a rapper "I've got a brother named Billy and my teeth look silly",,,GOP Presidents Ford and Bush the elder were treated much better, in the past season however, in an apparent criticism of the Iraq war Homer refers to George W. Bush as "commander cuckoo bananas"....

Indeed, the show has definitely shifted, and hard. Homer, in particular, seems to be the voice of the opinions of whomever is writing for him at the time. Still, this could be part of his character, as he is 'the highly suggestible type' ^_^
In the past I think they tried to be even. Most TV comedies just refuse to say anything negative about the Democratic Party, they were one of the few to buck that trend. Still I think the general message was Republicans are actively evil whereas Democrats are basically good people who are just foolish or unlucky.--T. Anthony 14:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Why does everyone have to be either republicans or democrats? Lisa for example is definitely not republican, but she has said things that are more leftist than the democratic party's capitalist liberal centre-left policies. Like in the episode where she criticized people who have butlers.--DaGrob 18:34, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But she clearly would vote Democrat, she even says in one episode "I don't like to support Republicans". I think the show likes to take the easier option of just satirising both sides, like in the episode where Bart gets an elephant the elephant walks through the Democrat conference and the banner says something like "we're pathetic losers" and then through the republican conference, where the banner says something like "we're evil and want bad things for you". Once you pick a side you get bogged down in having a message, as well as offending half your viewers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.46.127 (talk) 12:55, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe the sections should be changed to "right-leaning" and "left-leaning"? --Rubber cat 08:31, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't list everybody (for example, it doesn't list Bart). It only list those characters who at one time or another have supported a specific party.--Per Abrahamsen 20:06, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2017

I happen to think Lisa Simpson would vote Green, I can see similarities between her and Hillary but also with Jill Stein. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DcD2510 (talkcontribs) 13:13, 21 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The George H. W. Bush quote[edit]

I don't know the context, but it is necessarily a slam against the show? I suspect that the creators of The Simpsons doesn't think it represents how an American family should ideally be.--Per Abrahamsen 01:30, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Homer and Abe communists?[edit]

Why is Abe and Homer stated as communists? They are more likely mild Republican or non-belligerent. Abe has on several occasions criticized Democrats, and Homer seemed to have a good friendship with Republican former President Gerald Ford. Reason Abe could have the Communist Party card could be because he is senile, and it is typical for Homer if he took the card so he could exploit them. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.160.111.57 (talk) 13:36, 26 January 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Communist here refers to superficial party association, rather than inner conviction. Which makes the case clear for Abe (being a party member), less so for Homer (stealing a membership card doesn't make you a member).--Per Abrahamsen 14:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Paragraph 1[edit]

Politics is a common theme in the animated television series The Simpsons, and this phenomenon has had some crossover with real American politics. U.S. conservatives have voiced opposition to the show,[citation needed] perhaps because The Simpsons has mocked traditional authority figures such as teachers and parents. [citation needed] U.S. President George H. W. Bush has even said that the U.S. needs to be closer to The Waltons than to The Simpsons [citation needed](although his son, George W. Bush is an admitted fan of the show). [citation needed]If the show has a liberal slant, this was joked about in the episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular," in which reference was made to "hundreds of radical right-wing messages inserted into every show by creator Matt Groening." [citation needed] More recently, however, U.S. conservatives have adopted a derisive Simpsons term for the French, "cheese-eating surrender monkeys."[1].


I repeat, The reference that was there did not have the information it was cited as having. Also, **"Perhaps because..." is an opinion and violates NPOV. Also stop deleting citation requests, if you quote, paraphrase, or make assertations they require citations Jellonuts 22:30, 29 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it does. It says right wingers are using the phrase and got it from the Simpsons. CanadianCaesar Et tu, Brute? 02:35, 30 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, that was all true if your memory goes back that far. But anyway, the source is good- it came from the Guardian, it's citable. On the whole, though, I wouldn't be too heart-broken if the article went to AfD- I don't know if it's important enough to get worked up about. Next time, though, try fixing stuff instead of deleting footnotes and claiming there was never any there, and adding unneeded fact tags. CanadianCaesar Et tu, Brute? 04:01, 31 January 2007 (UTC) **I do apologize for the mistakes, I am getting better at this but I am still learning as I go. I'll be sure to put things on the talk pages before making a major edit or deletion. Thanks for reminding me.Jellonuts 04:43, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

References

Gun Politics[edit]

Treehouse of Horror XIII makes a statement about gun politics. Lisa convinces the entire town to disarm, from criminals to ordinary citizens to police as a tribute to a victim of gun violence. However, this "victim" turns out to be Billy the Kid, and he and his companions tear the town apart, being the only ones with firearms. Homer goes back in time to get the people of Springfield to retain their arms and directs them to the graveyard, where they shoot up the graves of Billy the Kid and his associates. They leap out of their graves and are chased over the horizon, outgunned and defeated. Lisa then admits that guns sometimes are the answer. However, at this point, another Homer appears from the distant future, who warns them of their course of action. He is promptly gunned down by Moe, who proceeds to steal his time machine in order to seek out "caveman hookers". CeeWhy2 —The preceding signed but undated comment was added at 12:11:21, August 19, 2007 (UTC).

not OR[edit]

Scorpion the majority of the stuff that you are deleting like the members of the Springfield republican party comes directly from episodes of the Simpsons.I have noticed you like to destroy large parts of pages using the really week OR argument, but you do seem to want to help these pages —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.55.23.102 (talk)

Very well, I will explain why I removed what I did.

*[[List of celebrities in The Simpsons#Sideshow Mel|Sideshow Mel]], the party's gossip *[[Bob Dole]] *[[Ralph Nader]] *[[Count Dracula]] *A bloodthirsty troll-like creature

==Springfield Cultural Advisory Board== Springfield's Cultural Advisory Board was featured in the episode "[[The Seven-Beer Snitch]]", a group that decides what to build to attract touring to Springfield. They also hold degrees relating to art. Known members of the board include: [[Marge Simpson]], the leader *[[Julius Hibbert]] *[[Ned Flanders]] *[[List of recurring characters from The Simpsons#Helen Lovejoy|Helen Lovejoy]] *[[Carl Carlson]] *[[Moe Syszlak]] *[[Seymour Skinner]] Among one another, the board is shown as quick to coming to decisions, and they seldom mock one another. They are intelligent, though dim at times. Indeed, [[Julius Hibbert]] is also a member of the Republican Party and Mensa Society, however practices medicine illegally. The rest of the board is shown as a contemptuous group (a homemaker, a doctor, a religious man, a gossip, a drunk, a bartender, and a principal).

== Independents and minor political parties == None of the characters in the Simpsons animated series have been labeled as being an independent or affiliating with a minor political party. However, third political parties do exist in the fictional universe, albeit they are often not shown as a viable choice. * When [[Ned Flanders]] first opened up the "Leftorium" ("[[When Flanders Failed]]"), it almost went under and Ned made a comment to Homer that the Springfield [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] would be using the space occupied by the store. * When [[Maggie]] is sent to day care, she is sent to one that operated under the principles of [[Ayn Rand]], who is sometimes seen as a major influence on American Libertarianism. * Frequent [[Green Party (United States)|Green Party]] presidential candidate [[Ralph Nader]] is seen in the Simpsons episode [[Brawl in the Family]] as secret member of the Springfield Republican Party, no doubt a joke based upon the belief that Nader cost [[Al Gore]] the 2000 presidential election. * In the [[Treehouse of Horror VII]] segment ''Citizen Kang'', aliens Kang and Kodos abduct [[United States presidential election, 1996|current US presidential candidates]] [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Bob Dole]] and impersonate them. Several political jokes are made throughout the segment including a joke where Kang and Kodos, after being unmasked by Homer, state that they could either vote for one of them or "throw [their] vote away" on a [[Third party (politics)|third party candidate]] (to which [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]] candidate [[Ross Perot]] is shown in the crowd.) Kang ends up winning and enslaving humanity. * In [[Brother from the Same Planet]] a [[Springfield Isotopes]] game is delayed whilst a representative of the Springfield Communist Party attempts to give a speech before being pelted with tomatoes.

A debate on government funding of education, a classically [[Modern_liberalism_in_the_United_States#Some_positions_associated_with_modern_liberalism|liberal]] position in the [[United States]] versus the opposition of [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservatives]] towards increased [[American_conservatism#Conservatism_as_.22ideology.2C.22_or_political_philosophy|government taxation]] can be seen in "[[The PTA Disbands]]". [[Edna Krabappel]] claims that the demands of the teachers are reasonable, asking simply for better supplies and a modest cost of living wage increase. Principal [[Seymour Skinner]] replies that the school is on a very tight budget as it is, pointing out that there's no more money in the school's budget even after the cutbacks he has made, since the school's funding has been cut yet again. Mrs. Krabappel is urging parents to support the teachers in their strike to better their children's futures, while Principal Skinner claims that to pay what the teachers are asking, they would be forced to raise taxes. The audience at the PTA meeting is left debating over whether the education system is worth greater investment through taxation.

The episode "[[Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment]]" can be seen as a statement against [[Prohibition]], as a Prohibition scheme fails in the episode, and an officer charged with enforcing the law is [[catapult]]ed out of town. While "[[The Cartridge Family]]" clearly mocks irresponsibility with firearms hiding behind the [[second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second Amendment]], Krusty is seen making a speech about how guns are valuable ''if'' handled responsibly ("Guns arn't toys. There for family protection, hunting dangerous or delicious animals and keeping the king of England out of your face.").

The episode "[[Bart-Mangled Banner]]" relates to concerns about the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] and free-speech. In the episode the Simpson family is sent to a "re-education center" for defaming the USA, almost completely by accident. There they meet [[Bill Clinton]] who had been sent to the center for criticizing [[tax cuts]]. The family eventually escapes to [[France]] before returning to the US as [[immigrants]].

==Sugar Lobby== The episode, "[[Sweets and Sour Marge]]" features Marge filing against a sugar company, Motherloving Sugar Co., which can in many ways be seen as a reference to the "Big Sugar". In the episode, Springfield gets in to the Duff Book of Records as the "Fat City USA". This makes Marge question the obesity in town and discover that all goods in Kwik-E-Mart are overloaded with sugar. The episode also features an arrogant sugar boss, Garth Motherloving (who claims his actual last name was "Hitler", although this could be sarcastic.), who was voiced by [[Ben Stiller]] and his company making sugar out of dump.

==Immigration== ''The Simpsons'' has also covered [[immigration]] controversies in the episode "[[Much Apu About Nothing]]."

I always find it amusing when random people who have no knowledge of Wikipedia policy try to argue policy with experienced editors. If you want random "In this episode ____ does _____" facts, then start your own site, or join the Simpsons Wiki. I have a vast record of improving articles and take a look at The Simpsons, which is a Featured article and then this one and you'll notice a HUGE difference. -- Scorpion0422 23:01, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]


I have been editing Wikipedia annonimesly at different addresses for over two years, and and it seems that must of the "improvements" you make are deliting large portions because you clame they are ether cruft or OR, just because you are not familiar with it. You have deleted several things that I have written involving both the simpsons and wrestling but until now I never had a good enough case to challenge you, I am going to re add the information with sources and explanations, but you do not seem to know much about u.s. politics(which is ok since you are Canadian). you seem to want to do a good job but editing is more then just deleting stuff it involves tagging and finding sources. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.55.23.102 (talk)

If you really have been here for two years, then you would know that SNPP is not a reliable source. This is the kind of topic that could have a nice long and well sourced page, but it would require work. You need to back up all claims with sources, even if it does seem like its common knowledge. If you are interested in cleaning up the page, Planet Simpson is a good source. -- Scorpion0422 18:54, 22 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Page protected[edit]

I've fully protected the page for 5 days. Debating in edit summaries is inefficient and just leads to more reverting. Use the talk page folks. CIreland (talk) 16:27, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The list of members of the Republican Party[edit]

My arguments for the removal of the section:

  1. It's overdetailing and giving undue weight to minor jokes, perhaps the party itself figures slightly into the plot, but none of the members do.
  2. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information.
  3. Like it or not, it is cruft.
  4. The only reasons you seem to be able to find that favour keeping it are essays that are used to attack arguments.
  5. You said "It has been here a long time before you decided out of the blue that it was cruft", so? The amount of time something stays in an article does not add to its notability. -- Scorpion0422 16:46, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry it took so long for me to reply scorpion, I could not get to a computer this weekend My arguments for the keeping this section

Ok, the list is NOT relevant at all. Them being republicans doesn't effect their day to day lives in the show. And what are you talking about "discriminating against information"??? We don't have listcruft anywhere, you act like we have it in a lot of articles, and we just don't want a list of republicans. That is illogical and incorrect. We remove all cruft. Ctjf83talk 18:11, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Must include Mr. Burns

The Springfield Republican party is presented as an evil organization, so that it's highly-relevant that the evil Mr. Burns runs most or all the meetings. AnonMoos (talk) 20:49, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

republicans are evil...but I'd agree to listing him as the Springfield republican leader, but there is no reason we need a list of all the members. Ctjf83talk 22:31, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Major rewrite[edit]

I decided to do a major rewrite, since this was the worst Simpsons article based on the number cleanup tags assigned to it. Basically, I have removed everything that was unsourced. If you want to include this again, then you better find sources for it. --Maitch (talk) 13:10, 18 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Brazil[edit]

After "Blame it on Lisa", several comments have been made about Brazil by the Simpsons. In the tenth episode of the 18th season, Lisa claims that Barnacle Bay is the most disgusting place they have ever travelled to. Bart then asks "What about Brazil?", and Lisa replies "AFTER Brazil". In an even later episode, someone in the family suggests they go on another vacation to Brazil, but Homer replies by saying that he heard the monkey problem was now even worse than the last time they were there, clearly a reference to the monkey comment that was supposed to be an especially grave insult to Brazil. Should this be referenced in the article? It's quite obviously references to the dispute. 83.109.72.15 (talk) 11:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Those are really more comments on the episode rather than the dispute and belong to the episode article.--Maitch (talk) 14:53, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Burns-sexual[edit]

This is a pretty minor point in the context of the whole article, but I wanted to call it out because I think a better reference could be found. I just added the bolded text below, based on this reference at the end of the sentence:

Smithers is shown to have a passionate and deep love for Mr. Burns; as late as 2007, during the show's 18th season, Matt Groening and executive producer James L. Brooks wrote in an interview that Smithers, being focused on one particular individual, was not homosexual, but "Burns-sexual".

The thing is, I was surprised to have read this in a 2007 interview. I think the above quote was totally defensible and presumably true before, certainly, about season 5 or 6 or so; but I think the quote became false as the show progressed. I'm convinced this is true but maybe someone knows of a reference that would defend this "transformation" being added to the article. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:12, 28 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Homosexuality[edit]

In the earlier seasons, there are often gags implying Milhouse or Martin are gay. These are quietly dropped as society changes and the show progresses. Paul Benjamin Austin (talk) 07:55, 9 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review[edit]

This review is transcluded from Talk:Politics in The Simpsons/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk · contribs) 15:14, 28 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]


This article should be interesting to review, even for a non-Simpsons fan. Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 15:14, 28 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Thebiguglyalien: Is there any chance we could include the Arnold Schwarzenneger parody in Real-life politics section using this source? . I know it's not referenced in the show but in its 2007 movie tie-in, but it'd be quite a shame this article miss out on it considering the relevance... Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 07:17, 29 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good idea, but Metro has been designated as an unreliable source on Wikipedia (WP:METRO). I added a mention to it from one of the books that's already used in the article. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 21:14, 29 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

::Thanks. I have additional minor issues with this section:

  • you committed a typo inline with the Turner source supporting the recent edit, 2010 instead of 2004, which is why it returns an "error" when I click it
  • if both "real life" and "real world" are to be used as adjectives, be sure they're hyphenated
  • is there a reason why "cast-members" is hyphenated?
  • the Bush quote should be rendered a blockquote since it's 301 characters
  • In cite 23, use |last= |first= parameter for Jon Henley for consistency
  • Please be sure each sentence in this section and elsewhere meticulously observes proper logical quotation; for instance, since "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" is a sentence fragment followed by a clause, the comma should be placed outside. Might wanna link said phrase, too

Expect additional comments soon. Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 10:39, 30 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

In the meantime, I've fixed these issues. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 15:57, 31 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks. Here are some of my next concerns:

Political systems
Political stance
Issues
These should all be fixed now. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 18:41, 31 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

::OK. Onto the next one:

Foreign relations
Sources
Done. I linked to the names of websites and periodicals in sources. I put archive links for three of the articles, one was not available at the Wayback Machine. Last names, language, and publisher name have all been fixed. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 21:41, 2 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Could you find a better alternative source for cite 60? I feel like it's a blog and does not pass the GA criterion for reliable source. Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 07:10, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
It looks like the story only ran in blogs and gossip magazines, which basically means it's not notable enough to include on Wikipedia. I removed the sentence. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 07:22, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
OK. I thank you for addressing all of my concerns. I'm happy to announce that the article has passed the review—it's well written, broad, neutral, illustrated with licensed images, and verifiable. This is something I could see becoming a Featured Article in the future. If you do plan to go that route, my advice would be to use a consistent inline citation format to even better sources, as well as put in a request to the Guild of Copy Editors to achieve the "engaging prose" demanded by the FA criteria. I would also recommend nominating this newly-promoted GA to the main page via Did you know to increase its readership somehow; the article has only had 4,298 pageviews as of late, which is such a shame. Anyway, congrats for having passed the review. Regards, Nineteen Ninety-Four guy (talk) 07:50, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Did you know nomination[edit]

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by SL93 (talk21:22, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Improved to Good Article status by Thebiguglyalien (talk). Self-nominated at 16:46, 3 November 2022 (UTC).[reply]

General: Article is new enough and long enough
Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
QPQ: Done.
Overall: @Thebiguglyalien: Good article. Since this seems to be your third nomination no qpq is required. Onegreatjoke (talk) 19:07, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion[edit]

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:51, 17 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]