Tim Delaney

Another book on the meaning of Marge

Make extra room on the bookshelf for another cultural-studies analysis on the significance of The Simpsons. Tim Delaney aims to show how Springfield is relevant to contemporary culture, and with this easy target, I guess he succeeds.

But his approach reads like a cross between a middle-school sociology textbook (here’s a definition of “extreme sports”) and an encyclopedia of sober plot summaries sorted by societal characteristic (here are episodes that feature skateboarding).

For a beginning student of both the show and sociology, Delaney’s book may be an approachable starting point. For the rest of us, Simpsonology lacks the fanboy minutia and obsessive analysis to reveal the show’s larger meanings—if there really are any.

After all, The Simpsons’ biggest accomplishment is that it has kept us laughing for 19 seasons and more than 400 shows. As Homer once said, “Oh Marge, cartoons don’t have any deep meaning. They’re just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh.”