The Simpsons makes its most blatantly criticizing joke about Donald Trump yet in this year's Halloween special, but it had to be revised multiple times due to how quickly new Trump scandals occur. The Simpsons is one of America's most recognizable shows due to its distinct animation, hilarious social commentary, and characters' unique hairstyles. Not to mention, the show has been around for over 30 years. While the show has certainly not shied away from discussing politics in the past, it has become noticeably more progressive in its commentary.
This year's "Treehouse of Horrors XXXI," Homer Simpson runs to the polls to cast his vote for president. As he fills out his ballot, he wonders aloud who he should vote for, which leads a mask-wearing Lisa to walk into the booth and tells him not to forget all that has happened over the past four years. When Homer does not remember what Lisa is talking about, he (and the audience) see a list rush past with 50 reasons not to vote for Donald Trump.
The Simpsons' executive producer, Al Jean, explains his reasoning for taking this swing at Trump in an interview with Give Me My Remote, while also mentioning a new challenge from writing jokes during a presidency with such an unrelenting political news cycle. Clarifying that this is his opinion and not the show's, Jean says he used to take a more "even-handed" approach when discussing politics, but that has changed since Trump became president. Jean's full quote is below:
“We have the most polarizing president there’s ever been. When we started 30 years ago, I had some conservative leanings and I thought that you wanted to be even-handed. It’s just things have gotten pushed so crazily—and this is just my opinion, not the show’s—but Trump has been engaged in so much illegal activities as documented by the New York Times, you just go, oh this is crazy. No president in my life has violated policy like this; no president had a rally at the White House. You can’t be even-handed when the subject at hand is not, that’s my view.”
This presidency has also made it more challenging for The Simpsons' writers because a new scandal is always breaking. Most of the jokes in "Treehouse of Horrors XXXI" were written a year ago, but Jean says that they "kept adding" to the list when Trump did or said something new. For example, some points on the list that were relatively recent include "said to swallow bleach," "withdrew from W.H.O.," "paid $750 in taxes," and "destroyed post office." Even with the constant revisions, they still couldn't make an entirely updated list as it did not include the president recently contracting the coronavirus. This points to the unique writing problem with trying to write a comedy about recent events. Many TV shows focus on or reference politics, but that can be challenging when it takes months to write, film, edit, and finalize an episode – all the while political scandals continue to occur.
The Simpsons is America's longest-running scripted series and has remained relevant so far through its run. Over the past three decades, the show has referenced many events that are now historical but were current at the time. And although it's hard to remember, today's political climate will one day be another thing of the past. Based on this joke and his personal opinion, Jean and The Simpsons are saying that there is one clear candidate to vote for – even if it is just to ensure that writing about Trump becomes a thing of the past.
Source: Give Me My Remote
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