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Dogmantra wrote

what a well written essay

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devtesla wrote

I mean it's way too long but yea it's good.

I also don't think it's identifying the change between the golden age and newer simpsons correctly, it's not the addition of catharsis and feeling (lots of older episodes have a point) it's the addition of more rigid structures and actions scenes and drama. Dead Homer Soceity covers it better.

They're spot on about Lisa, though.

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Moonside wrote

I read the Zombie Simpsons book but I do feel like it could have gone more into the basic storytelling problems. The best bits were a bit circumstantial, like how much staff they bled or how the show became more cartoony (like pointless chases and so on).

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Dogmantra wrote

I honestly don't know very much about the simpsons, I was mostly referring to the fact it had a very nice little narrative to it

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Moonside wrote

I must agree with Devtesla - the conclusions about Lisa are mostly spot on, but the diagnosis on the whole about the Simpson's decline is mistaken. Actually it could have been a better piece if it was all about Lisa as now the first part seems abandoned in the end.

As an example where the essay falters is seeing one of the episodes this piece mentions (by quoting it) as something absurd and as a vehicle for jokes is Selma's Choice. However, it actually has a very clear three act structure:

  1. (The Proposal) Marge's mother dies and her family and Patti and Selma meet at her funeral. Mother has left behind a video tape about her deathbed regret of remaining single and tells in it for her daughters avoid her fate. This gets Selma nervous. (Proposal: life without family/lover is unfulfilling.)
  2. (The Argument) Selma begins dating but doesn't succeed at all. Men are garbage. Selma also visits a theme park with Lisa and Bart and it all ends with chaos.
  3. (The Conclusion) Selma has a speech in which she concludes that the company of her iguana is plenty enough for her and that not everyone has to have the family or love life like others. She rejects the proposal of her mother. And I'd say this is presented as a positive thing.

Thus the episode is hardly random and in fact the first act is laid down with care, length and clarity to set up the whole thing in motion. You don't even have to know about The Simpsons to get it! "I am the Lizard Queen" is funny in part because it's basically pointing at how terribly Selma fares with kids.

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