User:Maitch/draft4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Criticism of political bias
Some social conservatives have come to embrace the show.[1] One of the main explanations is that The Simpsons portrays a traditional nuclear family among a lineup of television sitcoms that portray less traditional ones. The show has toyed with the possibility of extramarital affairs, with the show always strongly affirming Homer and Marge's marriage in the end. Social conservatives and some evangelical Christians have also pointed to the positive role model of devout Christian Ned Flanders, whose fretfulness is occasionally ridiculed but whose decency never wavers despite constant provocation from Homer. In several episodes, God intervenes to protect the Flanders family, invoking such Christian concepts as Divine Providence. As compared with the Simpson family, the Flanders family is relatively well-off and less dysfunctional, although they are quirky in their own way, with over-the-top devotion and their fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible. There are many episodes of The Simpsons which are less pleasing to social conservatives; for example, in "Homer's Phobia", Homer overcomes homophobia and befriends a gay man, and the episode "There's Something About Marrying" promotes acceptance of gay marriage. Lisa Simpson, the most intelligent member of the Simpson family, is portrayed as an unabashed liberal.
