im_ryandick

it wasn't the same simpsons that i've been watching for all these years.
from the opening scene, with itchy as president, i was shocked at how much focus went into left-wing writing and not belly laughs like i had expected.

i was disappointed as hell, and i agree with msn movies 3 / 5 stars.
i hope they don't do the same to the futurama movie.

"i was elected to lead, not read."
come onnnnn.

Groucho

I didn't find it that political at all. The Itchy/Hilary thing was just a throwaway gag.

dadaluholla

If only there was a thread for reviews of the Simpsons movie!

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

eye c waht u did thar!

im_ryandick

because i'm asking for reviews of the movie, right?

Seantn

The reviews thread is a general discussion thread.

PopcornTreeCt

Left-Wing political? Like I needed another reason to skip this movie.

Mr. Salty

You have thin skin.

"The Simpsons" has always poked fun at everyone, including whoever is in the White House. The whole appeal of the show has been that it's an equal-opportunity offender.

Seantn

That might be going over the edge a bit. I've never looked at the show and thought of it as being "offensive" to anyone. Maybe they make a few jokes about certain things, but offensive is a pretty strong word.

hardercore

The Simpsons movie was all kinds of awesome, and I didn't feel it went OTT with any kind of poilitical agenda. It took generally good-natured jabs that were designed to draw laughs, not heated debate.

Hokeyboy

I thought lefties were supposed to be the oversensitive ones...

sauce07

The Simpsons has always poked fun at political situations. Lisa has always been a left wing idealist who cares about the environment just as Homer has never cared about anything (that is until the very last second).
As for the "I was elected to read, not to read" line, this has nothing to do with any current or past president, this is a joke coming from President Schwarzenegger's (!) mouth, not Bush. In 20 years when people watch this timeless movie they will not be thinking that this was made while Bush was in office, they will be laughing at the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bodybuilder turned action movie star turned gov. of California, was president.

P.S. they will also be laughing at the fact that people wouldn't listen to Lisa about the dangers of global warming.

P.S.S. Lighten up and laugh, it's the Simpsons Movie

UncleGramps

No.

mmconhea

I feel perhaps one would think it was political if they took offense to jokes that our political leaders are idoits... if they were very sensative to that sort of thing... or defensive for some reason... Like if they were one of those people that still think Bush is "just a bad public speaker" and that people that say to the contrary are just liberals bashing the president. Yeah I can see that. But no, it's just a cartoon and they are just jokes. The Simpsons' policical agenda is about as realistic as the Simpsons' skin tone.
The simpsons has always taken shots at presidents: Sr., Clinton, Jr., Ford, Carter.

paradicelost

I haven't got to see the movie yet, but i wouldn't doubt it. People can say "Simpsons just make fun of everyone" and i agree to a point but they make a point to push the limit when it comes to making fun of Bush and other republicans. They crack on conservatives as hard as South Park crack on liberals, though people just notice and bitch about South Park more. Groening hates Dubya, and he has made that very obvious the last 7 1/2 years,especially when he threw that little subliminal "Vote for Gore" on the chalkboard the sunday nite before the election. Don't get me wrong i do like the simpsons and i do plan on going to see the movie and even with the conservative jokes i'm sure I'll laugh my ass off. Kinda off topic and its just my opinion so be gentle with the flaming.

dan30oly

This movie did lean alot towards the left.

That being said, that tv series takes shots at everyone and I would estimate that if you took the series as a whole, they probably take an even amount of pot shots at each side.

p.s. I thought the movie was mediocre at best. It felt like one very long super-sized regular tv episode, nothing worth spending $10 on.

BernieStolar

NRA 4ever

Groucho

Examples?

wildcatlh

Erm... did you not watch the show in the mid-late 90s? Do you not remember how much they made fun of Clinton? Do you not remember the "I'm a pretty lousy president" line? Geesh.

Marge: President Clinton?
Clinton: Yeah, hi. I'm here to see Lisa Simpson.
Lisa: [gasps] You read my letter?
Clinton: Much of it, yeah. And those glow sticks were wrong,
very wrong, so I personally overturned the results
of that band contest. Congratulations. [hands Lisa
a plaque]
Lisa: [gasps] Thank you, Mr. President.
Clinton: No, thank you, Lisa, for teaching kids everywhere a
valuable lesson: If things don't go your way, just
keep complaining until your dreams come true.
Marge: That's a pretty lousy lesson.
Clinton: Hey, I'm a pretty lousy president.

Brain Stew

BEFORE I WRITE ANYTHING, I MUST GIVE A SPOILER ALERT. REALLY YOU SHOULDN'T BE READING A THREAD LIKE THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE, BUT I AM SURE SOMEONE WOULD COMPLAIN WITH A SPOILER ALERT.

If you want to get technical about it and extend this insane thought process, Itchy was elected due to the forward momentum of being seen an Astronaut/American Hero, when in actually he savagely killed the only other person who went to the moon with him and lied about it. When it was revealed that Scratchy was alive, Itchy then sent the sum total of America's nuclear weapons to kill Scratchy once and for all. So basically, a Democratic president is shown as being a liar, a war monger and against the environment (that many nukes would destroy the moon which would screw up the tides).

So you see after analyzing things way more than the writers did, you can really see the true right wing message.

calhoun07

The show has always had political humor thrown in the series, and it's clear where Groening's political feelings lean towards.

I think it's just more noticeable in this movie because the jokes are closer together, not randomly spaced out in the series over a number of episodes.

calhoun07

He's also taken a few jabs at Democrats. Like in the episode where Lisa and Bart can't break into writing for Itchy and Scratchy so they use Abe's name. Abe suddenly starts to get a check each week for $800.00. He thought it was from the government and when asked why would the government would give him money for doing nothing he replied, "I thought the Democrats were back in power."

I would suspect that Groening leans towards the Democratic party, but he does throw some good jabs at them too.

RagingBull80

There are a lot of conservatives on this board.

Chew

I didn't feel the movie was any more or less political than the show usually is.

RichC2

I've seen far more political episodes. There were a couple political slaps here and there, but it was about par for course for The Simpsons, and I found it to be a pretty equal offender.

(Paraphrasing Sideshow Bob as he gets arrested) "I'll be out of jail and on the streets in no time! You can't keep the democrats out of the white house forever!"

(Paraphrasing that entire episode where the Simpsons become convicts and go to france) "Fuck the gov't!"