The Simpsons: World Building

It is usually easier for an animated series to have a large cast of supporting roles, especially if the series has a vocal cast as talented as the one from The Simpsons, since the same 5 or 6 people can provide the voices for most recurring characters. Over the course of 20 years, the city of Springfield, USA has been populated by enough characters to fill a real small town. Many of these characters have even evolved more than the Simpson family.

Most of the residents of Springfield are stereotypes/archetypes for their particular role, such as the pushover best friend (Milhouse Van Houten), the bumbling cop (Chief Clancy Wiggum), the evil business magnate (Charles Montgomery Burns), and the town gossip (Helen Lovejoy). In most other shows, this would be a sign of lazy writing, but on The Simpsons, the writers use these stereotypes to point out the absurdity of society, especially when the characters break from what we expect of them.

Let's start at school. The three educators we spend the most time with are Principal Seymor Skinner, fourth grade teacher Edna Krabappel, and second grade teacher Elizabeth Hoover, and none of them are worthy of any teacher of the year awards (despite what the events of "Special Edna" would lead us to believe). Krabappel and Hoover became jaded with the education system long ago; when the students in Krabappel's class run away to find the stolen lemon tree of Springfield, Krabappel gives a half-assed "plea" for them to stay, then promptly lights a cigarette, while there is ample evidence that Hoover has done some drinking on the job. And Skinner is a total wimp who can barely keep his school under control (originally, Skinner was going to more of a Norman Bates-type character, which led to some funny visual gags, but I don't know if they could have kept that up for 20 years). It's no wonder that most students at Springfield Elementary test so poorly and are unmotivated to learn (their ugliness doesn't help either, but it can hardly be relevant to test scores... right?).

While I was planning this post, I was thinking about how most Springfield residents are some combination of the following traits: jaded, incompetent, amoral, and corrupt. There are a few exceptions (Ned Flanders and Apu Nahasapeemapetelan come to mind), and the aforementioned educators certainly fall into a few of those categories. But they are far from alone; Clancy Wiggum, the chief of police is almost too fat to move, and he sees bribes and harassment of citizens as a job perk. Or his rival, Mayor Joe Quimby, who is pretty much a dimestore Kennedy; despite having none of the charm shown by JFK, Quimby's sexual exploits are pretty comparable (as well as his voice). His other political scandals are pretty noteworthy as well (appropriating funds to build a secret Roman bath house in his home). Or what about Reverend Lovejoy, who came to Springfield as a man full of God's grace and was worn down by the constant pestering of super-Christian Ned Flanders, who once called the Reverend at night worried that he'd sinned when his "buttocks accidentally came in contact with the buttocks of another man" while on the dance floor. Entertainer Krusty the Klown seems like a good person until he is shown off camera, where we learn that he has problems with drugs, alcohol, and gambling, and can barely stand children.

No type of person is safe; for the most part, characters are defined by their jobs, and are given personalities that reflect the worst stereotypes of said professions. Lionel Hutz (one of the characters portrayed by the late, great Phil Hartman) was the world's most incompetent lawyer; he is in need of representation himself more often than he represents clients, and the Simpsons are pretty much the only people who will hire him. At the other end of the legal spectrum is the "Blue Haired Lawyer", who stands for ruthless sharks who are employed by corporations to get them out of any jam. Another Hartman character (all of whom were retired upon his death) is washed up actor Troy McClure, who used to be an action star, but is now relegated to educational films and tour videos (if Hartman were still alive, I'm guessing that he'd have become a reality TV show host). Comic Book Guy (later given the name Jeff Albertson) represents angry nerds who abuse the little power they have by belittling their nerdy customer base who have nowhere else to go to get their weekly comic fixes. He points out people's lack of knowledge on various subjects (and tends to break the fourth wall). Most business men are ruthless and heartless (I will focus on Burns in a minute or two); Roger Myers, Jr., the CEO of Itchy and Scratchy Studios, doesn't respect anyone unless they have money, while Hank Scorpio (ok, so technically, he's not a Springfield resident) is a fucking James Bond villain, bent on world domination!

And then there are two characters whose morality makes everyone else in town look like saints: C. Montgomery Burns and Sideshow Bob. When the writers doled out competence, these two got the entire pot; I would say that it's a wonder that they can stay sane in a town like Springfield, where they are the only two who can actually get things done, but it's hard to argue for either of their sanity. Burns is the oldest living man in Springfield (and possibly the world), and he owns the nuclear power plant. His family has been in Springfield for generations, and the Burnses have been the elite from the beginning (although there is evidence that he came from more humble beginnings, as seen in the episode "Rosebud"). He was at his best when he was evil (lately, he's become more of a senile coot); his office had trapdoors for employees seeking raises, and he would "release the hounds" on unwanted houseguests. In the epic two-parter (the only one of its kind on The Simpsons) "Who Shot Mr. Burns", he even succeeded in blocking out the sun. However, he is certainly the product of a bygone era; he is often unable to understand modern customs and uses outdated aphorisms.

Sideshow Bob is an intellectual who was pushed over the edge by the low-brow citizens of Springfield. He was Krusty's first sidekick on the show (before being replaced by Sideshow Mel), and he briefly took over the show when Krusty was arrested for armed robbery. Bob then turned Krusty's show into an intellectual series where he tried to nurture his viewers' minds by reading poetry and providing edutainment. That's all well and good, but it turns out that he framed Krusty for the robbery, since he was tired of the buffoonery he was subject to. After having his crimes discovered by none other than Bart Simpson (it took the loss of his favorite low-brow programming to finally motivate him), he went criminally insane in the slammer, and every time he was released (with one exception), he plotted some new ingenious scheme that was always foiled by Bart and Lisa.

As I said, not everyone in Springfield is bad; Flanders is a beacon of goodness, which is probably why Homer has an irrational hatred of him. Although he has become somewhat holier-than-thou lately, for a while, he was just a really nice guy who had everyone else's best interests at heart. And Apu seemed to break stereotype by actually enjoying his job at the Kwik-E-Mart. But these exceptions are few and far between.

Up next: Life in Springfield...