items of interest

with contributions from John Dart, David Briggs

"The Enormous Popularity of The Simpsons, now in its 12th television season, suggests that religious people have a sense of humor—contrary to the usual wisdom in Hollywood," writes John Dart, news editor for the Christian Century. "The program takes more satirical jabs at spiritual matters than any other TV show, yet the erratic cartoon family has an appreciative audience among many people of faith and among many analysts of religion. The reason? Perhaps it's because The Simpsons is an equal-opportunity satire: it shrewdly targets all sorts of foibles and hypocrisies, not just religious ones. Perhaps it's also because the show is exceptionally aware of the significant place religion has in the American landscape....

"Religious content appears in nearly 70 percent of the shows, according to a study by John Heeren of California State University at San Bernardino. Heeren spent eight weeks last year watching reruns of 71 programs from the first 11 years of the series. He counted at least one religious reference in 58 percent of the shows and 'religion as the context' in 11 percent."

John Dart
"Simpsons have soul"
Copyright 2001 © Christian Century Foundation.
Reprinted by permission from
the January 31, 2001, issue
of the Christian Century.