SUSO

Happy 20th From Rome

"Birthday tributes roll in as the Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special airs in the US."

Created by Matt Groening,  first aired on the 17th December 1989, and subsequently broadcast to the tune of 449 episodes worldwide - The Simpsons has long been termed 'a satirical parody of a working class American lifestyle'.  For the most of us it is Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of the Springfield massive, reminding us in the very funniest of ways of the pure entertainment to be found in american culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.

So successful a phenomena has The Simpsons become that, on top of the many awards and significant revenue the show has both won and generated over the years, the Vatican's newspaper (as in the Pope's own!) recently took it upon itself to send The Simpsons its best wishes on the shows 20th anniversary.

In a article titled Aristotles Virtues and Homers Doughnut, Losservatore Romano praised the shows philosophical learnings as well as its often bold take on religion. It went as far as to credit the show for teaching viewers how to laugh! The article cited several episodes centered around religion, including the one where Homer cries out for divine intervention. The newspaper said "America's longest running animated show is a mirror of the indifference and the need that modern man feels towards faith." Wow.

Still the newspaper did find a moment to criticize the shows use of crude language and violence (thank the Lord!).

While beyond Rome there may be more that would refrain from labelling the Simpsons as perfect - in our humble opinion, for its imagination and relentless delivery of creative brilliance, we here at SUSO HQ maintain this show is beyond critique.  Everyone has a favourite clip, and here's one that the Vatican News probably took a particularly close look at! 

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