Rupert Murdoch has done one thing that enriches modern life – but it does not involve publishing a newspaper. Amid the boa constrictor of shame that has engulfed and engorged his British tabloid the News of the World, let's recognise the most wonderful – and totally incongruous – pearl of his global media empire: The Simpsons.
It makes no apparent sense that Murdoch ever allowed this left-of-centre cartoon to be made by Fox. The reason is presumably that it is popular and a good investment. The bottom line is that when the funniest American family's creator Matt Groening created his science-fiction parody Futurama for Fox, less astronomical ratings led Fox to cancel it, although cult status later won it a reprieve. So it is success and not charity that keeps The Simpsons as such an immortal fixture of Murdoch's TV stations.
There has never been any attempt by the makers to disguise their political views. In a compilation of early highlights, actor Troy McClure revealed that Groening plants hidden rightwing messages in the show. The joke, of course, was that he does the opposite and that its sceptical view of capitalist life is not hidden at all. Springfield, the town where the Simpsons live, is dominated by tycoon Monty Burns, owner of the local nuclear power station. Rapacious, heartless Mr Burns is a caricature tycoon right off a 1930s Monopoly board, yet his wealth constantly interferes with the well-being of Springfield. In his darkest hour he even blots out the town's sunlight.
Is Burns a portrait of Murdoch? Not as such. Rather he is a portrait of the power of money unfettered, which may amount to the same thing. Murdoch himself has appeared on the programme, introducing himself as follows: "I'm Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire tyrant." Groening said he performed the line enthusiastically. But does the fact that The Simpsons is part of his business undermine its radical spirit?
Some would say the radicalism really only belonged to the show's classic early years. In the 1990s, nothing in contemporary pop culture was so brilliant and hilarious. And it was – it is – a Murdoch property. We owe the most widely criticised business empire of the age this much gratitude: it gave us the finest and funniest piece of modern televisual pop art. Murdoch's current travails resemble one of the periodic disasters that hit Mr Burns, such as the time the nuclear power station owner ran for political office and was forced to eat Blinky, the three-eyed fish, live on television. "The old man's finished," say his spin doctors after he spits out the nuclear-mutated fish. "It was over when the fish hit the floor." And they leave as he cries out: "You can't do this to me – I'm Charles Montgomery Murdoch!" Sorry, that should read Burns.
Comments in chronological order (Total 24 comments)
11 July 2011 5:19PM
I was thinking this day, watching James - who reminds me very much of Smithers.
11 July 2011 5:23PM
I prefer south park.
11 July 2011 5:24PM
I think "Murdoch" is the name of a villain in a "Rambo" movie. Rambo III?
11 July 2011 5:29PM
'Howling Mad' Murdoch from the A-Team
11 July 2011 5:32PM
"Well, that's odd...I've just robbed a man of his livelihood, and yet I feel strangely empty. Tell you what, Smithers -- have him beaten to a pulp."
11 July 2011 5:36PM
The NOW staff got off lightly compared to some of Mr Burns' victims:
'Well, that's odd ... I've just robbed a man of his livelihood, and yet I feel strangely empty. Tell you what, Smithers - have him beaten to a pulp.'
11 July 2011 5:41PM
Roger Murdoch. Who definitely wasn't a basketball player. And who worked his buns off dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
11 July 2011 5:49PM
No, because Mr Burns has some likeable aspects of his character.
11 July 2011 6:12PM
Lest we forget, Dennis Potter named his pancreatic cancer "Rupert".
Every time it rains it rains Pennies from heaven. Don't you know each cloud contains Pennies from heaven. You'll find yor fortune falling All over town. Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.
11 July 2011 6:14PM
Don't forget that the involvement of proven hitmaker James L Brooks helped to shield the show from corporate interference at the start, and that Fox was seeking to build a brand (and therefore overjoyed to have a cultural phenomenon on its hands, rather than worried about conflicting ideologies). Compare the rather woolly social politics of Glee.
Sadly The Simpsons lost its edge a long time ago, for various reasons (exhaustion of storylines, changing personnel, the difficulty of remaining radical when you're making so much money), and it seems unlikely we'll see its equal any time soon. Wouldn't it be nice if the UK could produce a mainstream show with that much wit and venom?
11 July 2011 6:27PM
I'm a little confused. I don't see how Murdoch is to thank for the Simpsons. He didn't write it or any of the episodes; he didn't create the animation; he didn't produce it; he didn't do the casting; aside from his own cameo he didn't do any of the voices. All he did was own the network that aired it. Why should we be thanking the capitalist for the product of the workers?
11 July 2011 6:46PM
Randolph Hearst another right-wing press-baron personally supported the wonderful Krazy Kat and ( luckily for us ) saved it from extinction.
This tired old canard that the Simpsons has lost its edge ought to be laid to rest as well. It's got as much edge as it's always had, the quality of the animation and the visual jokes are tons better than they used to be.
It's lost the warmth it had, the storylines are occasionally too over-complicated but there are still LOL moments in most episodes.
11 July 2011 7:19PM
LarryOodleson
because Newscorps paid for it.
and the corrollary,, that Groening was comfortable with that..
11 July 2011 7:33PM
"I'm Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire tyrant!"
11 July 2011 7:48PM
and is he going to lose his company like Mr Burns lost the power station more than once?
Lest I seem a l'il Lisa showing sympathy can I say the Gordon Brown revelations this afternoon actually made me cry with rage. Who are these people and how did they get so much power?
11 July 2011 8:21PM
Has anyone mentioned Elliot Carver?!
11 July 2011 8:24PM
Groening created The Simpsons as he didn't want to reliquish rights to Life In Hell to Fox; Conan O'Brien made The Simpsons for me
11 July 2011 8:30PM
from this papers live feed :
"7.40pm: Wonder if Rupert Murdoch has been watching the Simpsons this evening. No doubt by sheer coincidence, Sky One has been showing an episode called "Fraudcast News", in which the elderly tycoon Montgomery Burns establishes a media monopoly to strike back at his enemies.
In the episode, reports of Burns' death are greatly exaggerated and when obituaries tell the truth about him, he starts buying up the media in order to brainwash Springfield.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, more than one commentator in the past has likened the Australian American media mogul to a real-life version of Mr Burns (above).
As a portrait of power unfettered, the Simpsons' character is as much cartoon villain as the show's real- life owner, according to one writer, though many have scratched their heads that Murdoch ever allowed this left-of-centre cartoon to be made by Fox.
And lest we forget, Murdoch himself has also appeared on the programme, introducing himself as follows: "I'm Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire tyrant."
Thanks to Joseph Stashko for pointing out the Simpsons' episode by the way."
11 July 2011 8:39PM
How about Monty Python's British Army vs The Mafia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZKUozrBl4
I'll cry if Rebekah's head, replete with flaming hair, isn't displayed on an iron railing.
11 July 2011 8:40PM
irrelevant to this thread but one wonders if the gov't are developing the courage to tackle corruption and vested interest in the media, the same ethical standards will then be applied to banks.; specifically the leverage trap/ debt spiral and the prioritisation of the interests of offshorespeculators and lenders over those of the ordinary UK citizen
...., which are ( Burn's style) currently sucking the lifeblood out of various european economies, including our own, and cutting the balls off our politicians ( of whatever gender or hue). as much if not more than News International and their Ilk.
11 July 2011 9:00PM
Possible Simpsons storyline? The local tabloid newspaper, The Springfield Shopper dies of shame in the gutter…nah.
11 July 2011 9:15PM
but rebekah, for calling brown about his dying daughter,
that woman must go to the guillotine
with her lethal red hair
falling into the basket
too bad but it must be so, because
it looks like she has not a shred of decency left to bargain for clemency with
put it on a pike on fleet street
as a warning to all those who believe in success at any cost,
put it next to Ozimandeus, Rupert himself
11 July 2011 9:29PM
@Innerspeaker
I watched that Super Bowl episode the other day. "Slience!"
If you haven't seen the episode Missionary: Impossible, I thought there was some Murdoch referencing, not least the first five minutes: Homer watches "Do Shut Up" a Manchester sitcom featuring football hooligans. The beauty of that is it came right after the BSkyB failed takeover of Manchester United.
The ending is gold: Murdoch gets a donation of $10,000 and says to the caller "You've saved my network", Bart adds "Wouldn't be the first time".
11 July 2011 9:32PM
Or perhaps News Corp's other Fox villain the evil Emperor Darth Sidious (the evil Emperor from Star Wars) is closer to the bone:
"we will watch your career with great interest"
"Only together can we turn him to the Dark Side of the Force."
"Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends, up there on the sanctuary moon, are walking into a trap, as is your Rebel fleet. It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."
Hee hee.
Go Guardian....the Force is with you.