enthalpy

Monday, February 21, 2005


So Patty came out of the closet last night on The Simpson's. This was about as exciting as if Smithers had come out of the closet, but that doesn't mean pointy heads on both sides of the aisle aren't going to pontificate about it for months to come. Let the pontification begin.
But when a show as mainstream and popular as this takes on one of the most divisive issues in American society, it is certain to attract attention. Bookmakers in the United States and England were taking bets as to which character would be revealed as homosexual, and whether there would be a kiss - a nod, perhaps, to the popular programming gimmick of having lesbian characters lock lips during sweeps periods like the current one.

But mostly, television experts, fans and advocates for gay marriage ruminated over the larger significance of the moment.
As Patty herself said last night, "it was so obvious, you could see it from space." I think the larger issue would be why is the show now turning to hot-button political topics as opposed to just being funny. Sure, they're funny when they're political, too, but never before has such a devicive issue been the key plot topic of an entire episode. Because that's just not funny, but then again, it's obvious that the show stopped trying to be funny several years ago.



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