The man who offends everyone charms Shanghai
By Yao Minji |
March 23, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Simpsons say and do the obnoxious, audacious and outrageous and the animated TV sitcom bashes everyone and everything. Nothing's sacred or spared the quirky satire.
So, many in the crowd at the recent Shanghai International Literary Festival expected Simpsons' creator Matt Groening to be outspoken and irreverent, a quirky funny man. The organizer had expected a kind of "prima donna." Instead, in his appearance last weekend, he was genial, gracious and expansive, answering all questions, talking about his own family, especially his cartoonist father. He autographed Simpsons' books, toys, DVDs, CDs, T-shirts and various items connected with the longest-running American animated sitcom that debuted 20 years ago.
The moment Groening put on his Simpsons spiky yellow headgear, the packed room of small kids, older children and grown-up kids erupted into laughter and cheers. They lapped up every word and pen stroke of the irreverent humorist whose Simpsons skewer the American middle class, culture, TV, Fox News, politics, international affairs, and the human condition in general. Quite a few countries, including China, have been parodied, and some don't like it. It's no holds barred.
Push the envelope
"The idea of The Simpson's was to take a traditional family sitcom and see how far I could go with that," Groening said of his collaboration with many writers, animators and musicians. "The first 13 episodes were complete experiments, and I'm very proud of them."
He said he wanted at first "to slip stuff I really liked into mainstream culture." But "The Simpsons" struck a chord and now there's no holding back.
"The Simpsons" has just reached 500 episodes and Groening has been commissioned for two more seasons.
He said his latest favorite is last year's Christmas episode in which the Simpsons travel to the future and Bart becomes the father of two sons. He also announced that Lady Gaga would become a character and speak the role.
Celebrity guests usually don't ask or comment about how they want to be depicted, Groening said. Yao Ming was one of the few who did. "Don't draw me as a monster," Groening quoted the ex NBA star as saying.
"There have been a few cases of censorship over the years, times the (Fox TV) executives didn't like what we did, but we rarely lose," Groening said. "We always win."
During his short Shanghai stay (on deadline for his weekly syndicated comic "Life in Hell) he also sang and danced (wearing the headgear) with the all-author rock'n'roll band, The Rock Bottom Remainders. The band plays only for charity. Groening did some life drawings while he rocked and they were later auctioned for charity.
He had it much better in Shanghai than the Simpsons when they made a trip to Beijing in 2005 so that Selma could adopt a Chinese child in one episode of Season 16. As always, the "ugly American" family, and especially Homer, encountered all the exaggerated, stereotypical and unpleasant aspects of China.
The Simpsons crude behavior and irreverence also offended a lot of Chinese on TV. Homer claimed to be a Chinese acrobat. Bart fed peanuts to a dragon. The episode ends as the family watches three Chinese dragons flying in the sky, singing and playing erhu (a traditional two-stringed Chinese instrument).
Groening said there was no official feedback, there never is. The show isn't aired on the Chinese mainland but is available on online and on DVDs.
"My ultimate goal is to offend every country in the world," Groening once said in jest.
Nonetheless, the China episode has its own separate page on the Chinese movie and TV drama review site douban, unusual for a single episode of a long sitcom. It received a lot of feedback. Some reviewers were indignant about the twisted stereotypes of China and the Chinese people, while others accepted the quirky sense of humor. The first season, originally shown in 1989, was rated 8.9 out of 10 in China, with nearly 9,000 comments.
Homer, my dad
Groening, who is 58, spoke at length about Homer, not only Homer Simpson, the dysfunctional, self-indulgent, bumbling and angry husband and dad, but also Homer Groening, Matt's own father, an ex-bomber pilot and cartoonist who predicted his son would never make it. Nonetheless, he encouraged his teenage son's creativity and provided drawing materials He describes his father as "a tough guy and a wildly creative filmmaker."
"He was a visionary who really loved his work. I now find I am able to relate to a lot of his visions of works and ideas about society," the cartoonist said. The only thing his father and Homer Simpson have in common is their love of donuts.
Matt Groening named the Simpsons after his own family members (except himself), and named his first son Homer, but he is better known as Will, for obvious reasons. His father died in 1996.
"Bart is really doing the mix of all the bad things me and my friends did at school," he said.
"Bart was the main character to begin with, but Homer is really becoming the main character now. People like him because he just indulges himself, he has no guilt, and he really loves what he loves."
His father enjoyed the show very much but set one rule: Homer can do anything, but he can't be mean to Marge, Groening said.
He was angry - and called to complain - over an episode in which the family's car had a flat tire. Homer rested in the car while Marge took the heavy tire to be repaired.
"He said Homer can never do something like this even if he strangles his son every week."
So, many in the crowd at the recent Shanghai International Literary Festival expected Simpsons' creator Matt Groening to be outspoken and irreverent, a quirky funny man. The organizer had expected a kind of "prima donna." Instead, in his appearance last weekend, he was genial, gracious and expansive, answering all questions, talking about his own family, especially his cartoonist father. He autographed Simpsons' books, toys, DVDs, CDs, T-shirts and various items connected with the longest-running American animated sitcom that debuted 20 years ago.
The moment Groening put on his Simpsons spiky yellow headgear, the packed room of small kids, older children and grown-up kids erupted into laughter and cheers. They lapped up every word and pen stroke of the irreverent humorist whose Simpsons skewer the American middle class, culture, TV, Fox News, politics, international affairs, and the human condition in general. Quite a few countries, including China, have been parodied, and some don't like it. It's no holds barred.
Push the envelope
"The idea of The Simpson's was to take a traditional family sitcom and see how far I could go with that," Groening said of his collaboration with many writers, animators and musicians. "The first 13 episodes were complete experiments, and I'm very proud of them."
He said he wanted at first "to slip stuff I really liked into mainstream culture." But "The Simpsons" struck a chord and now there's no holding back.
"The Simpsons" has just reached 500 episodes and Groening has been commissioned for two more seasons.
He said his latest favorite is last year's Christmas episode in which the Simpsons travel to the future and Bart becomes the father of two sons. He also announced that Lady Gaga would become a character and speak the role.
Celebrity guests usually don't ask or comment about how they want to be depicted, Groening said. Yao Ming was one of the few who did. "Don't draw me as a monster," Groening quoted the ex NBA star as saying.
"There have been a few cases of censorship over the years, times the (Fox TV) executives didn't like what we did, but we rarely lose," Groening said. "We always win."
During his short Shanghai stay (on deadline for his weekly syndicated comic "Life in Hell) he also sang and danced (wearing the headgear) with the all-author rock'n'roll band, The Rock Bottom Remainders. The band plays only for charity. Groening did some life drawings while he rocked and they were later auctioned for charity.
He had it much better in Shanghai than the Simpsons when they made a trip to Beijing in 2005 so that Selma could adopt a Chinese child in one episode of Season 16. As always, the "ugly American" family, and especially Homer, encountered all the exaggerated, stereotypical and unpleasant aspects of China.
The Simpsons crude behavior and irreverence also offended a lot of Chinese on TV. Homer claimed to be a Chinese acrobat. Bart fed peanuts to a dragon. The episode ends as the family watches three Chinese dragons flying in the sky, singing and playing erhu (a traditional two-stringed Chinese instrument).
Groening said there was no official feedback, there never is. The show isn't aired on the Chinese mainland but is available on online and on DVDs.
"My ultimate goal is to offend every country in the world," Groening once said in jest.
Nonetheless, the China episode has its own separate page on the Chinese movie and TV drama review site douban, unusual for a single episode of a long sitcom. It received a lot of feedback. Some reviewers were indignant about the twisted stereotypes of China and the Chinese people, while others accepted the quirky sense of humor. The first season, originally shown in 1989, was rated 8.9 out of 10 in China, with nearly 9,000 comments.
Homer, my dad
Groening, who is 58, spoke at length about Homer, not only Homer Simpson, the dysfunctional, self-indulgent, bumbling and angry husband and dad, but also Homer Groening, Matt's own father, an ex-bomber pilot and cartoonist who predicted his son would never make it. Nonetheless, he encouraged his teenage son's creativity and provided drawing materials He describes his father as "a tough guy and a wildly creative filmmaker."
"He was a visionary who really loved his work. I now find I am able to relate to a lot of his visions of works and ideas about society," the cartoonist said. The only thing his father and Homer Simpson have in common is their love of donuts.
Matt Groening named the Simpsons after his own family members (except himself), and named his first son Homer, but he is better known as Will, for obvious reasons. His father died in 1996.
"Bart is really doing the mix of all the bad things me and my friends did at school," he said.
"Bart was the main character to begin with, but Homer is really becoming the main character now. People like him because he just indulges himself, he has no guilt, and he really loves what he loves."
His father enjoyed the show very much but set one rule: Homer can do anything, but he can't be mean to Marge, Groening said.
He was angry - and called to complain - over an episode in which the family's car had a flat tire. Homer rested in the car while Marge took the heavy tire to be repaired.
"He said Homer can never do something like this even if he strangles his son every week."
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