The Simpsons Movie

When a film begins with cute little Ralph Wiggum singing along to the introductory 20th Century Fox theme, you know it’s going to be a good one.

After 18 very successful seasons on television, there were extremely high expectations from fans and critics alike going into The Simpsons Movie. Many television series to film translations have been unsuccessful. After all, stretching a 22-minute format into feature film length requires a different pace of storytelling. Thankfully, the 15 screenwriters – yes, 15 – have delivered.

The 87-minute film never lags as the clever plot is crammed with jokes that target politics, popular culture, the environment, family relations and of course, Christianity.

Fans of The Simpsons television series will be used to Christianity being a regular theme in the show. Over the years Homer Simpson has discovered the short-term benefits of missing church on Sundays: “I’m whizzing with the door open, and I love it!”, he has prayed to a waffle stuck to his ceiling: “Lord, I know I shouldn’t eat thee”, then eaten it: “mmm, sacrelicious” and of course he has lived next door to the most famous fictional Christian character of all time, Ned Flanders.

So it should come as no surprise that given the USA’s current social climate the film begins with the Simpson family walking to church. Naturally, Homer is grumbling all the way and is overheard by the entire congregation.

But it is not a typical Sunday at church for the Simpson family. When Reverend Lovejoy opens it up to the congregation members to come to the front and preach, Grandpa Simpson suddenly comes forth with words of prophecy like ‘eepaa’, ‘1000-eyed monster’ and ‘twisted tail’.

Homer grabs a Bible and flips through to see if it offers any explanation to Grandpa’s rambling then after finding none exclaims “this book doesn’t have any answers”. Is it a pointed dig at the relevancy and perhaps even the truth claims of the Bible, or is it merely a dig at the ignorance and irreverence of Homer?

While the rest of the town soon forgets Grandpa Simpson’s bizarre behaviour, Marge is convinced his prophecy is telling of things to come. And Homer’s actions soon fulfil this prophecy. Homer’s irresponsible anti-environmental behaviour sees him find a pig (curly tail) then dump a silo full of its faeces into the local water supply. This causes a squirrel to mutate into a multi-eyed freak (1000-eyed monster). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or eepaah) capture it and President Schwarzenegger – yes, Schwarzenegger – decides Springfield is now the most polluted city on the Earth and so has a giant glass dome placed over the entire region. The townspeople are condemned to die.

Homer’s foolishness and selfishness also extends to his parenting. He sends Bart on a dare to skate through Springfield naked (warning – there is frontal cartoon nudity) and deserts Bart when the police catch him. This leads to Bart finding care and comfort in Ned Flanders, valuing him as a father-figure in Homer’s absence. In fact, throughout the whole film, Ned is portrayed as the calmest and most caring citizen in Springfield. The clichéd anti-Christian jibes and stereotypical behaviour of Flanders that has dominated more recent seasons of *The Simpsons* are kept to a minimum in the film.

With Homer brining about the ‘apocalypse’ of Springfield through his irresponsible actions, the populace quickly turn on him. Luckily, Maggie finds a secret escape route allowing the family to get away. While the family is on the run, Homer has several opportunities to step up and be the husband and father he should be to protect and support his family. Yet he fails his wife and children again and again by making selfish and foolish choices.

Homer and Marge’s marriage has come close to breaking point numerous times in the television series and this relationship is most severely tested in The Simpsons Movie. When Marge finally decides to take the kids back to Springfield without Homer, their marriage hits its lowest points in the Simpson family’s 18-year history.

Lost and alone, Homer verbalises the realisation “In order to save myself, I need to save Springfield”. He recognises that attempting to save the town will require other-person centred actions and force him to leave behind his selfish ways. It will also help make him the man he needs to be to get his family back. 

While God is never looked to as a bringer of salvation – there is not even a “Save me, Jeebus!” from Homer – Homer discovers that he most fulfils his role as father, husband and male when he is willing to sacrifice himself for others. 

In Ephesians 5 Paul tells husbands to love their wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. In Titus 1 a Christian elder is expected to be blameless, committed to his wife and have children who are not wild or disobedient. While Homer is not exactly a candidate for Christian husband of the year or even church elder, he best models God’s expectations of fathers and husbands when he takes responsibility for the welfare of his family and his community.

Like every episode of The Simpsons the film never questions the fundamental importance of faithfulness in marriage and family. Homer and Marge always end up back together no matter what their struggle because they are willing to love and forgive one another. While this may seem like an overly-optimistic view of modern day relationships, it does correspond with a biblical view of marriage that never sees divorce as a viable option.

Perhaps President George Bush was wrong back in the 1990s when he said that America needed to be less like the Simpsons.

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