The Gospel According to the "Simpsons": The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family [Paperback]

Which is a pity, because, as Pinsky points out, the Simpsons offers by far the most sympathetic portrayal of Christianity and Christians of any mainstream US show. This is a rich paradox, which the author explores in some depth, reviewing relevant episodes fairly carefully and interviewing writers and other staff.

I love the Simpsons, and I really enjoyed this book. As an outsider to Christianity, although a professional religious journalist, Pinsky gives a nicely balanced, objective picture of what is in the series. His fundamental conclusion is that Groening and his colleagues satirise all of American life even-handedly and affectionately, without the sound of grinding axes.

What we see then is different kinds of Christians and responses to Christianity. Marge tries to keep her ostensibly dysfunctional family on the straight and narrow. Revd Lovejoy and his wife less committed than their role in life would seem to demand. Ned Flanders is absolutely genuine - admirable but annoying. He is of course the perfect counterpoint to Homer who is loveable but hard to admire.

By and large this book gets it more or less right - no mean feat, considering that loads of episodes have been released since it was written which could easily have proved it wrong.

The only issue which I struggled with is Pinsky's suggestion that Lisa speaks for Jesus. This seems to me a little far-fetched, especially as she is identified as being a Buddhist, at least some of the time. Lisa is a voice of reason and integrity, but I think Pinsky is stretching a point to claim that she is a religious voice.

Anyway, a good read which set me thinking about a lot of things. Warmly recommended.

Mark Pinsky's The Gospel Acording to The Simpsons is one of a burgeoning number of academic and popular studies which seek to solve the riddle of the extraordinary cultural phenomenon which is The Simpsons. Now in its fifteenth year, the cartoon family has been of no small significance in the development of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, providing a steady stream of viewers all over the world and more than a billion dollars in sales of licensed goods.

The Simpsons appeal has crossed class and generational barriers because it works on so many different levels. While children love its irreverence, adults may appreciate the sophistication which delivers a rich diet of literary and artistic references. Creator Matt Groening confesses that he would be unlikely to be recruited as a writer on the show today, since most of them are now graduates from Ivy League universities.

Religion plays a central part in the life of the Simpsons. On the surface level the life of the family and community are soaked in religion. Church attendance is mandatory every Sunday and characters talk regularly to God in times of need. More importantly, however, plotlines exploring religious themes occur regularly. An episode entitled Homer versus Lisa and the 8th Commandment, in which Homer Simpson obtains a bootleg connection to a cable network, is justifiably described by Pinksy of having 'the structure of an exquisitely crafted, 22 minute sermon'. Pinsky summarizes the various religious strands, including the inaptly named Revd Lovejoy of the Springfield Community Church and the saintly evangelical Ned Flanders, next door neighbour to the Simpsons and now the best known Christian in America. He also examines the way in which two other faiths which figure regularly in the program, Judaism and Hindusim, are treated. His unsurprising conclusion is that religious themes are treated seriously, even sympathetically, even if the visible manifestations of religion are often satirized. Along the way he throws useful sidelights on the background to the program, its writers and producers - and its relationship to the Fox network which carries it in the US.

Mark Pinsky's day job is as a religious columnist for a variety of secular and religious publications. A Jewish commentator on evangelical Christianity, he has clearly learned to tread carefully and his need to reassure readers that The Simpsons is a suitable topic for polite conversation does make the early pages of the book a little wooden. In the end, however, his clear affection for the programme shows through. It gives, he concludes, hope and even inspiration to millions and, most of all, in Homer's words 'it's funny 'cause it's true.'