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the above source discusses portrayals of homosexuality from the subtextual to the overt. this next source examines overt south asian and middle eastern cultures and characters, what satirical devices are used to portray them, and the impact they may have.

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Laughing Matters: Economies of Hyper-Irony and Manic-Satire in South Park & Family Guy

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Laughing Matters: Economies of Hyper-Irony and Manic-Satire in South Park & Family Guy

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How are middle eastern and south asian people portrayed in family guy and south park?

Working within the economy of hyper-irony and manic-satire, both animated series promote dominant and conservative viewpoints while simultaneously targeting and ridiculing them.

“Animation has long relied on one-dimensional representations such as stereotypes for narrative shorthand and comedy. This is due in part to the practice of cartooning that often used satirical caricature as a precise design strategy (Van Buren 2006: 539). Animated representations lend to iconographic construction, offering viewers a set of verbal and visual traits by which to identify racialized characters (Dyer 1984).”

“Both shows tend to get away with dialectic themes of dominance/subordination, xenophobic patriotism/challenging state power, and criticisms of racial essentialism/reification of racial representations.”

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The above source highlights the supposed lack of impact on the audience that discourse/portrayals on tv have, while this one is a lot more focused on the portrayals themselves, how overt or subtextual they are, and how they reflect the discourse around homosexuality at the time

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Perspectives: “The Same Thing We Do Every Night”: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons

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Perspectives: “The Same Thing We Do Every Night”: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons

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How do television cartoons portray same-sex relationships and homoeroticism?

Animated sitcoms such as The Simpsons and Daria tend to acknowledge gay and lesbian identities, while presenting same-sex desire as ludicrous or beyond the realm of possibility. Conversely, surreal cartoons such as Rocko’s Modern Life and Spongebob Squarepants tend to ignore gay and lesbian identities but present same-sex desire as ordinary and even vital and worthwhile.

“Or Homer, who in “Bart Gets Famous” and many other episodes openly expresses homoerotic desire (“Oliver North was just poured into that uniform!”), but in “Screaming Yellow Honkers” he refuses to drive his new Canyonero SW because it might imply that he is gay. He pleasantly reflects on a new acquaintance, “What a nice guy. I wonder if he’s gay?’ but threatens violence at the thought of a cartoon cat and mouse being gay. Virtually every male character has both expressed homoerotic desire and made homophobic comments.”

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the above source looks at portrayal of gender and femininity in-depth through one character. the next source looks at the same thing more broadly and with multiple characters from different shows

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Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons

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Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons

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How does the simpsons portray female domesticity through the character of Marge?

“Marge rarely falls short as a mother or a wife. Her unconditional love for both offspring and spouse often serves as the show’s nod to genuinely moving moments of familial affection. Critics point to Marge’s exemplary mothering as one of the most important ways The Simpsons embodies traditional values.”

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Adult animated sitcoms have been relevant for over thirty years now, and have a history of commenting on pertinent issues and affecting the way we talk about them.

From the subtextual to the overt, portrayals of social issues are often woven into the fabric of these shows using satire as both a storytelling tool and a tool to get the message across to the audience. studying how shows use satire will be key to my research into how shows portray social issues and to what effect.

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the above paper reads the subtext about female family roles using reading skills detailed in this paper.

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TRANSITION:  CONNECTION FROM THEME TO THEME

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TRANSITION:  CONNECTION FROM THEME TO THEME

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one of the main tools, especially for more overt portrayals and discussions of issues, used by adult animated sitcoms is satire. this next cluster is about how satire functions as a storytelling device and as a tool for messaging.

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TRANSITION:  CONNECTION FROM THEME TO THEME

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TRANSITION:  CONNECTION FROM THEME TO THEME

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the previous cluster focused on subtextual portrayals of issues/groups. this next one focuses on more overt discussions of these within shows as well as the impact they may or may not have on the audience

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these sources all connect to explain how satire is used in a narrative to tell a story, what kinds of satirical devices there are, and how satire has an effect on a series and its viewers. satire as a tool for commentary is going to be one of the main answers to my rq.

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the previous source delved into the specific satirical devices used to comment on an issue. this next source discusses why these tools are used and their outcome to bring change.

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the first source describes plot events in BoJack Horseman that satirize a social issue. this next source delves in detail into the satirical devices used by south park to critique another issue

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"Horsin’ Around?” #MeToo, the Sadcom, and BoJack Horseman

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"Horsin’ Around?” #MeToo, the Sadcom, and BoJack Horseman

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How does season 5 of BoJack Horseman portray the exploration of power structures and obstacles in the way of women in Hollywood, particularly in regards to the #MeToo movement?

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these sources all relate to shows discussing topics in a more overt manner and how this affects the audience's view on an issue and the public discourse surrounding it as a whole. this relates to the "so what" of my thesis statement, explaining my claim that these shows have a lot of influence and can affect how the population sees and discusses current events.

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while the above two sources consider the impact of tv messaging on the public, this source proposes the idea that these messages don't have nearly the impact we think they do.

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while the above source discusses how portrayals of groups or issues can affect mainstream discourse, this one talks about how portrayals of groups or issues can affect the way younger audiences think about them

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together, these sources demonstrate the reading and drawing of meaning from subtext in shows from broad social issues to portrayals of women/mothers. the interpretation of subtext is vital in this project, as shows often do not talk about issues overtly, rather, they are baked into the fabric of the world and are not directly or seriously addressed. But just because social commentary is not overt does not mean it shouldn't be explored.

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the above source refers to The Simpsons as "genuinely parodic" and "one of the most daring cultural and political satires in television history." the next source explains this claim using examples of situations from the text and how they can be interpreted as complex cultural parody.

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How do adult animated sitcoms portray social and political issues?

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How do adult animated sitcoms portray social and political issues?

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Reading the Ungraspable Double-Codedness of: The Simpsons

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Reading the Ungraspable Double-Codedness of: The Simpsons

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How can we grasp the cultural subversiveness alongside the commercialism of The Simpsons in academia?

“The Simpsons is genuinely parodic. Indeed, this view seems generally agreed on in much academic discourse, where The Simpsons is variously referred to as one of the “most daring cultural and political satire[s] in television history,” (Alberti xiv) “providing both a parody and a critique of organizations,” (Rhodes 375) and “inextricably bound with the more active practice of parody” (Henry 91)”

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Funny or Harmful? Derogatory Speech On Fox’s Family Guy

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Funny or Harmful? Derogatory Speech On Fox’s Family Guy

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RQ1: What types of derogatory messages are present in Family Guy?

RQ2: What types of characters are represented as senders of derogatory messages?

RQ3: What types of characters are represented as recipients of derogatory messages?

RQ4: Will derogatory messages frequently be reciprocated by the reciprocated by the recipients of the derogatory messages?

While acceptance of this hypothesis would be purely subjective, it seems fair to argue that an average of eight derogatory messages expressed per 22-minute episode equates to derogatory messages being very prevalent in Family Guy discourse.

“While cultivation analysis would suggest that replication is problematic for all populations, normalization of derogatory language that is presented as comical and with no consequence may be amplified amongst a younger generation of viewers that do not have the experience to understand the negative connotations of such language.”

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Political Correctness in Comedy: An Analysis of Satire in South Park

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Political Correctness in Comedy: An Analysis of Satire in South Park

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How does South Park mock the concept of political correctness?

“For the next component, the satirist chooses a method to approach the issue, which includes two phases, the setup phase, which is neutral in character, and the incongruity phase, which creates a change in the original meaning. This phase is connected to the concept of frame-shifting, where Fillmore defined the frame as a system of categories whose structure is rooted in some motivating context (Coulson 2001), frame shifting can be understood as the violation of the listener’s expectations.”

“One of the satirical devices employed here is metonymy, where the college bar represents the college campuses in the USA as a whole, a microcosm of politically correct culture. Another device employed here is allusion: the aggressive and violent college bros is a reference to real life protests by students against speakers whom they deem not deserving of the right to speak at college campuses because of their views, where a lot of these events are canceled for security reasons. “

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A Mother’s Value Lies in Her Sexuality: The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park and the Preservation of Traditional Sex Roles

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A Mother’s Value Lies in Her Sexuality: The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park and the Preservation of Traditional Sex Roles

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-focus specifically on the way that the institution of motherhood is represented in these three programs through the ways that motherhood roles are depicted, demonstrate their connections with ongoing arguments about the relationship between motherhood and sexuality in American culture, and theorize the significance of transmitting these ideologies through animated sitcoms.

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The Polis of Springfield: The Simpsons and the teaching of political theory

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The Polis of Springfield: The Simpsons and the teaching of political theory

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Research Question: How can we use The Simpsons to teach political theory?

“Not only do the citizens of Springfield have the opportunity to make decisions and deliberate on matters of public concern, but the citizens also staunchly portray themselves as being morally equal participants in this decision-making process.”

“ This episode can be used to discuss a variety of political issues that touch on what should, and what should not be censored, and could provide for an interesting discussion of, for example, Mill’s ‘harm principle’ (the idea put forward by Mill in On Liberty that the sole basis for preventing a person from doing what they wished is to prevent harm to others (Mill, 1993, p. 78)). Homer was clearly harmed by being hit on the head by a mallet; however, was this harm a direct result of Itchy and Scratchy, or could it be said that Maggie was the only one directly harming Homer. Likewise, the discussion could be broadened to look at whether being offended by something constitutes harm, and therefore if we should ban something because it offends people.

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“Stop saying things, Bart. That’s TV’s job.” An examination of social and political commentary in animated sitcoms

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“Stop saying things, Bart. That’s TV’s job.” An examination of social and political commentary in animated sitcoms

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1. What is the frequency of commentary on politics, popular culture, and societal

norms in these animated sitcoms?

2. How key is political, cultural and/or social commentary to episode plot lines?

3. Do the views represented in the animated sitcoms come from a single perspective

or are they from multiple perspectives?

4. How are American societal norms and mores presented in the episodes?

5. How do the comments in these shows differ from what could be presented in a non-animated show?

Animated sitcoms push the boundaries in order to help take advantage of the medium and make their rhetorical statements obvious.

"While episodes of The Simpsons do convey a message, it is easy to question the impact that the messages have. Many argue that an encoded message sent to viewers who may or may not be paying attention has little or no impact."

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"The Simpsons" and the Law: Revealing Truth and Justice to the Masses

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"The Simpsons" and the Law: Revealing Truth and Justice to the Masses

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"Lastly, Part IV examines the interaction of satire and mass culture, concluding that "The Simpsons" represents a socially corrective form of satire that intends to affect social change-specifically, the improvement our legal system."

"Satire is an elevated form of comedy that is often designed to affect social change. 28 Satire achieves its socially corrective purpose by holding a mirror up to our society and ourselves, and demanding that we improve both. Authors use satire to rebel against an over-codified society and to liberate themselves from a 'stultified' world.29 Indeed, satire has the coercive power to attack hidden "absurdities" in social custom, unmasking fallacies and undermining the hypocrisy of our society. 30 "The Simpsons" is a pop culture icon, which, by Groening's own acknowledgement, has been heavily influenced by the American countercultural movement of the 1960s. While lampooning the law and legal actors, the series depicts a range of problems confronting the American legal system. The series' commentary is certainly comical, but it goes further than mere comedy to "unmask" the flaws in our social systems. The series ventures into the realm of socially corrective satire; it is not only reflective of a flawed legal system, but also represents an attempt to change the system as well."

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PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues through Satire

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PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues through Satire

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Prove that framing is a powerful means for the media to convey an ideology.

Methods: Watch South Park’s “Stunning and Brave” and explain it through framing theory

Because satire frames information  to be ambiguous, messages framed through satire can reach broader interpretive communities within a large audience population. Work from scholars such as Balcetis & Dunning (2006), Kunda (1990), and Long & Toppino (2004) have proven the age-old chestnut that people see what they want to see.

Satire as a tool for political messaging may influence popular debates.

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Since the ‘90s, adult animated sitcoms have been potent and poignant tools for tackling the political and cultural issues on America’s consciousness. Being an avid viewer of programs of this sort from across time and the political spectrum, I want to use content analysis to examine trends in portrayals of issues and what they mean for the cultural landscape at large.

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Since the ‘90s, adult animated sitcoms have been potent and poignant tools for tackling the political and cultural issues on America’s consciousness. Being an avid viewer of programs of this sort from across time and the political spectrum, I want to use content analysis to examine trends in portrayals of issues and what they mean for the cultural landscape at large.

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Looking at adult animated sitcoms through a cultural lens can reveal a lot about the world around us. Whether these shows are tackling specific issues head on, as BoJack Horseman did with #MeToo (Sawallisch, 2021), or indirectly, as The Simpsons does with law enforcement (Ho, 2003.) These shows can act as cultural barometers for where American culture stands on certain issues.