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NEWS > U.S.A. > CONSERVATIVE CRITICS UP IN ARMS OVER MARGE SIMPSON PLAYBOY PICTORIAL
CONSERVATIVE CRITICS UP IN ARMS OVER MARGE SIMPSON PLAYBOY PICTORIAL
October 11 2009
Los Angeles, CA – ‘The Simpsons’ has been, for almost twenty years, a staple of most television viewers around the world. One of the longest running television shows in history, the show has enjoyed incredible success with both children and adults with
its blend of immature and sophisticated social satire. That success has often merged with the real world with the antics of the two lead characters – Bart and Homer – becoming cultural touchstones for generations of people all over the world.
No stranger to controversy, the program has once again stepped into hot water with doting mother Marge posing for a pictorial in the men’s magazine ‘Playboy’. The issue, on stands now, does not feature the matriarch in the buff but her endorsement of the magazine has raised the ire of conservative critics in the United States. Most vocal thus far is the 80,000 member ‘Eagle Forum’, a pro-family interest group heavily active in Washington. The organization has come out aggressively against the pictorial, citing it as an example of the eroding moral values across the nation and a slap in the face of families in the country.
“This pictorial, if one could call it that, is absolutely disgusting. This is a person who has been influencing our children, a person who has been invited into the homes of millions of children across the United States and now she is showing her true colors with this disgusting display. We are calling for a boycott of the television show on which she appears and are warning all parents to tune out,” said a spokesperson for the organization. “We cannot allow this type of filth to appear in our homes, disrupting the lives of our families, and destroying the moral values given to us by God. This type of permissive and disgusting behaviour cannot be allowed in Christian America and must end immediately.”
The organization also went on to blame President Obama and the growing Liberalism in the country as the cause of the moral erosion that has allowed Simpson to appear in the magazine.
“We support Marge and the producers of ‘The Simpsons’ completely. We have seen the pictorial and while it is racy, it is also tastefully presented. We do not believe that Marge’s appearance in the magazine will cause significant harm to the cultural or moral values of families in the United States and we would dispute any voices to the contrary,” said Fox, the network which airs the show, in a statement. “We of course would recommend that parents do not purchase the magazine for their children. While we fully support the pictorial, we also believe that it is aimed at the adult fans of the program and should remain that way. We look forward to continued success with ‘The Simpsons’ and the producers of the show.”
Despite lagging in ratings compared to past years, ‘The Simpsons’ remains a ratings winner for the network which has struggled to maintain momentum with primetime programming. The show has also provided a great deal of ancillary revenue in the form of merchandise and two years ago was made into a blockbuster film.
“I think it’s very unlikely that any kind of boycott will be successful in either the short or long term. The fans of the show have a kind of ironic sense of humour already and they will get the joke having a relatively conservative mother posing for Playboy. Of course Marge did hang out with KISS in her younger days so there is a wilder side to that docile exterior,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “It’s also likely that a boycott would do very little anyway. The people who participate in boycotts tend to be more casual viewers but with the way the show has dropped in recent years it’s likely that only the most hardened and loyal of fans are even watching, meaning they will see either very little or no loss in viewership. Frankly, it can’t get much worse. As for Playboy, well they should have had Lois Griffin if they really wanted to boost sales.”
Marge Simpson, being a fictional cartoon character, had no comment on the controversy.
Mike Michaels, American Correspondent
NEWS > U.S.A. > CONSERVATIVE CRITICS UP IN ARMS OVER MARGE SIMPSON PLAYBOY PICTORIAL
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