The Simpsons: A Global Cultural Phenomenon

I'd like to open this post as a forum to continue today's classroom discussion on American media and its impact on global culture. We saw how badly comedy can get muddled in translation today with Nike's flop of a Lebron James commercial in China. Professor Hayden described comedy and irony as cultural traits that are the most challenging to translate, yet The Simpsons is a global phenomenon that has spanned two decades and translated into over twenty languages including Arabic as you see here.

So how is a comedy so popular globally though it clearly reflects American pop culture? Perhaps it is, as Iwabuchi describes, culturally odorless. Though it references American pop culture, the fact that it is a cartoon that largely plays on the comedy of family dynamics, it is those dynamics that make it popular overseas. It should also be noted that in global syndication, certain liberties are taken with editing and translations that make it more compatible to the local cultural norms. That said, I think there is still a clear cultural identity here and so does Hugo Chavez as the Simpsons was banned in Venezuela in 2008.

And Chavez is not the only critic of the Simpsons. Brazil and Australia were unimpressed with the depictions of their nations in episodes when the Simpsons traveled overseas. Interestingly though, when the Simpsons visited England, giving the country the same stereotypical treatment as Brazil and Australia, the same outcry was not seen. Perhaps this is because the country is used to it by now with similar episodes seen in television shows from Friends to Married With Children. Or is it a deeper question? Is there such close cultural ties between England and the United States that the English could appreciate the comedy? Was there - as I feel - a larger group who felt that the show actually reflected negative sentiments about America? This is highlighted when Homer get's stuck in a British roundabout (traffic circle). After hours of attempting to exit, he finally gives up and yells, "I'm getting out of this the only way Americans know how: unilaterally!"

What do you think? What is it about The Simpsons that makes is a global success? Does it represent American cultural imperialism? Or does its success come from being culturally odorless?