This media analysis will define the cultural values of the American Protestant culture that are being negotiated with Roman Catholic culture in The Simpsons’ “The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star”. In this episode, Marge decides to allow Bart to attend a Roman Catholic school (St. Jerome’s Catholic School) in order to expand his knowledge of Christianity in the Roman Catholic experience. However, Marge is a member of a Protestant Church (First Church of Springfield), yet she is seeking a different Christian perspective in the community. Therefore, they are ‘negotiating’ the meaning of religious life in America, which involves a conflict of conversion between Father Sean (Roman Catholic) and Reverend Lovejoy (Protestant). Bart and
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In many ways, this is immediately perceived as a threat Homer, and he attempts to revert Bart back to Protestant values. However, he is also converted when Father Sean offers him pancakes, which inspires Homer to join the Roman Catholic Church (Simpsons 10:46). The negotiating factor for an American audience in the conflict between Roman Catholic and Protestant values, which are often in competition with each other. This forces the audience to negotiate their allegiance to either Roman Catholic Values or Protestant values, yet there is an obvious bias towards the Catholic Church through the negative perception of a protestant family. This is a cultural projection of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) that is being satirized in the behaviors of Marge when she finds out her family has been converted: “At this point it is necessary to understand the scope of the WASP label and to offer a more accurate descriptor of what is truly represents as a countermand to Catholicism—and what it still does (Henry 156). In this manner, Marge’s terror at Bart and homer’s conversion becomes a point of contention for American Protestant audiences that wish to see her family revert back to the Protestant faith as part of the negotiation of religious values. This is a crucial part of the show, which illustrates the tension between Protestants and Roman Catholics in American …show more content…
However, the Protestant traditions of the Simpson family define the overarching “audience” of Protestant America culture. The Simpsons symbolize a deference to the Roman Catholic faith, which satirizes some of the more compelling elements related to conversion to another faith. IN this manner, a tone of religious tolerance describes an important theme in the show, but the overriding dominance of the Protestant faith is the primary meaning of American religious culture. In the show, the ‘negotiation of religious identity is an important factor, which reflects the American conflict of Christian sectarian differences. The Simpsons attempts to show the differences in these beliefs, which is meant to evaluate the issue of religious tolerance in a more secular perspective. The Simpsons may appear to be pseudo-religious in their religious values, but the dominance of the Protestant faith reveals one way of identifying an audience and the meaning of religious life in
In many ways, this is immediately perceived as a threat Homer, and he attempts to revert Bart back to Protestant values. However, he is also converted when Father Sean offers him pancakes, which inspires Homer to join the Roman Catholic Church (Simpsons 10:46). The negotiating factor for an American audience in the conflict between Roman Catholic and Protestant values, which are often in competition with each other. This forces the audience to negotiate their allegiance to either Roman Catholic Values or Protestant values, yet there is an obvious bias towards the Catholic Church through the negative perception of a protestant family. This is a cultural projection of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) that is being satirized in the behaviors of Marge when she finds out her family has been converted: “At this point it is necessary to understand the scope of the WASP label and to offer a more accurate descriptor of what is truly represents as a countermand to Catholicism—and what it still does (Henry 156). In this manner, Marge’s terror at Bart and homer’s conversion becomes a point of contention for American Protestant audiences that wish to see her family revert back to the Protestant faith as part of the negotiation of religious values. This is a crucial part of the show, which illustrates the tension between Protestants and Roman Catholics in American …show more content…
However, the Protestant traditions of the Simpson family define the overarching “audience” of Protestant America culture. The Simpsons symbolize a deference to the Roman Catholic faith, which satirizes some of the more compelling elements related to conversion to another faith. IN this manner, a tone of religious tolerance describes an important theme in the show, but the overriding dominance of the Protestant faith is the primary meaning of American religious culture. In the show, the ‘negotiation of religious identity is an important factor, which reflects the American conflict of Christian sectarian differences. The Simpsons attempts to show the differences in these beliefs, which is meant to evaluate the issue of religious tolerance in a more secular perspective. The Simpsons may appear to be pseudo-religious in their religious values, but the dominance of the Protestant faith reveals one way of identifying an audience and the meaning of religious life in