Lydia Poulteney - The Simpsons Secret A Cromulent Guide to How The Simpsons Predicted Everything!.

Chapter 2

Covering Up Michelangelos David

Is it a masterpiece? Or just some guy
with his pa nts down?

Kent Brockman, Itchy and Scratchy and Marge

Predicted: Season 2: Itchy & Scratchy & Marge.
First aire d in 1990.

Came True: 2001

As with any exciting new television show that breaks the framework of previous tradition, The Simpsons attracted controversy and doubt across the USA. In its most basic form, it was just a cartoon with a bright yellow colourful family getting into adventures every week, but do not be led to believe that this was a childrens television show. The series deals with themes of religion, relationships, and suicide, all while maintaining a satirical and comical edge. The show, conceived by Matt Groening, was loosely based on his original comic Life in Hell , which dealt with similar themes as well as Groenings initial anxiety about trying to make a name for himself in La-La Land (Los Angeles), which all eventually morphed into The Simpsons .

The show received criticism from surprised and often angry parents, pleading with the creators to tone down the violence, rude behaviour, and coarse language. To which The Simpsons retorted via Helen Lovejoys line Wont someone please think of the children?! In 2015, ethicist Jack Marshall wrote that this phrase stunted rationality, particularly conversations on morals. Think of the children has been invoked by censorship enforcers to shield children from perceived dangerthus suggesting that The Simpsons creators wanted to push censorship boundaries and expand minds to a more developed understanding than the overbearing, religion-dictating parents who were probably writing those angr y letters.

Barbara Bush, the wife of President George H. W. Bush, condemned the show during an interview in 1990, calling The Simpsons the dumbest thing Ive ever seen. The creators wrote a letter to Bush from the perspective of Marge, who was deeply hurt. She continued, I always believed in my heart that we had a great deal in common. I hope there is some way out of this con troversy.

The former first lady later retracted her statements, writing, I am looking at a picture of you, depicted on a plastic cup, with your blue hair filled with pink birds peeking out all over. Evidently, you and your charming familyLisa, Homer, Bart, and Maggieare camping out. It is a nice family scene. Clearly you are setting a good example for the rest of the country. Please forgive a loos e tongue.

Dealing with an onslaught of nagging from pushy parents to tone down the adult themes of the show must have been a bugbear in the writers room. So an episode was perhaps made in retaliation to this, and was also partly inspired by Terry Rakolta, a Fox protester who fought over the show Marriedwith Children . For an episode that dealt with such a major issue, the writers tried to be unbiased, despite their own feelings. So, the Season 2 episode Itchy and Scratchy and Marge was created. Stand back, internet celebritiesthis is how you confront criticism:

When Maggie watches the violent antics of Itchy and Scratchy on TV, the youngest Simpson hits Homer on the melon with a mallet. Fearing that the vengeful cat and mouse are a bad influence on the minds of children, Marge begins a crusade against the studio. She holds protests with other concerned parents, demanding that Itchy and Scratchy be taken of f the air.

Roger Meyers Jr. eventually bows to the pressure, censoring Itchy and Scratchy. Instead of slicing off heads or pulling out entrails, the duo shares a refreshing glass of lemonade with very enlarged pupils and stunned expressions, a scene more fitting for One Flew Over the Cuck oos Nest .

Meanwhile, Michelangelos David sculpture is on a US tour. But some of the townsfolk do not welcome its arrival, seeing it as just another naked body that should be covered. As Helen Lovejoy puts it, Its filth, it graphically portrays parts of the human body, which, practical as they may be, is evil!

The group Springfieldians for Non-Violence, Understanding, and Helping urge Marge to continue their censorship crusade by protesting the sculptures arrival. But Marge argues that it is a masterpiece and refuses to take part in the protest, leading the righteous Maude Flanders to proclaim, I told you she was soft on full fronta l nudity!

When Marge goes on Kent Brockmans show to discuss the topic, the image of David is shown with jeans on. In the end, the statue is allowed to remain nude in the local museum and Itchy and Scratchy return as the sadistic dynamite-loving, blood-splattering, knife-swiping duo we know and love.

Now, not to be obvious, life often imitates art, and in this case, it literally does, because this exact scenario has happened on more than one occasion, to a Testicle.

In 2001, eleven years after the episode aired, a five-hundred-pound, five-foot concrete replica of Michelangelos David was erected (childish pun intended), in Polk County, Florida. Apparently 3,800 residents of the town objected to the statue and complained to City Hall. The statue had been placed outside a local shop, so the manager reluctantly wrapped a cloth around Davids waist. He later said, This is a representation of a classic masterpiece. Its art, not obscenity. Not unlike what Marge said about David. And weirdly, this guy was named Sarge Mimpson! (Nah, onl y joking.)

In 2013, a sixteen-foot replica of the statue was installed in a park in Okuizumo, Japan. But some residents took offence, asking the local government to add some underwear. According to town official Yoji Morinaga, Some people apparently said the statues might not be good for their children.

In 2014, neighbors complained about a four-foot statue of David in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The replica statue was put up on a gated lawn. A few locals complained about the eyesore, and one said, Its conflicting. I can see the beauty of the art, but the statue, especially its size, is not appropriate for a resident ial area.

When a David was installed in central St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2016, a disgruntled woman took issue with the mute but nonchalant nudist. In a letter to the Childrens Rights Ombudsman, she wrote, How could you put this bloke without any trousers on in the center of St. Petersburg, next to a school and a church?

Parents and teachers were said to have also expressed their concerns about the nude sixteen-foot sculpture.

And so, the statue was placed for a Michelangelo exhibition, and organizers decided to put it to a vote. They created the Dress David initiative, where city residents were welcomed to suggest their ideas for clothing David, while also having the option to leave David be. Organizers even taped a black object over his nether regions for modesty; however, we have not been able to find what the final ou tcome was.

Even as recently as 2020, some have requested the censorship of nude sculptures in video games. Some players were shocked to find a nude virtual statue based on Michelangelos David in the Nintendo game Animal Crossing: New Horizons . This ignited a discussion online, with some saying these anatomically correct depictions have no place in a childrens game, with others calling it an accurate depiction of a real piece of art that is ed ucational.