What emerged in the 90s was a kind of cultural and political Double-think,
a sense of both growing optimism and pessimism; an assimilation of Postmodernist aesthetics
into the capitalist mode of production, best embodied by The Simpsons. Simultaneously a transgressive
satirical send up of contemporary American values and a damning example of late capitalist excess,
with its numerous cross-media tie ins, merchandising empire and prominence in the pop cultural
landscape. In one of the earlier seasons of the show, the writers even poke fun at this with a gag
featuring news anchor Kent Brockman visiting a sweatshop in South Korea, where ‘American cartoons
are made’. The show parodies this again in more gruesome detail in 2010 with a couch gag directed
by guest animator Banksy, the so-called ‘anti-establishment’ street artist whose vague and often
politically heavy handed artworks also seem to have been absorbed into the postmodernist aesthetics
of the capitalist mode of production.
a sense of both growing optimism and pessimism; an assimilation of Postmodernist aesthetics
into the capitalist mode of production, best embodied by The Simpsons. Simultaneously a transgressive
satirical send up of contemporary American values and a damning example of late capitalist excess,
with its numerous cross-media tie ins, merchandising empire and prominence in the pop cultural
landscape. In one of the earlier seasons of the show, the writers even poke fun at this with a gag
featuring news anchor Kent Brockman visiting a sweatshop in South Korea, where ‘American cartoons
are made’. The show parodies this again in more gruesome detail in 2010 with a couch gag directed
by guest animator Banksy, the so-called ‘anti-establishment’ street artist whose vague and often
politically heavy handed artworks also seem to have been absorbed into the postmodernist aesthetics
of the capitalist mode of production.
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2027768,00.html
When time for the production for the Couch gag reached South Korean Animator Nelson Shin,
who had worked on the show since 1989, his team protested Banksy’s depiction of the labour practices,
arguing the satire was off point and gave the wrong impression to Western Audiences about how the
industry works in the contemporary period. This highlights a sort of disconnect between how those on
the supposed Left of the political spectrum in the west perceive inequality and exploitation from their
cosmopolitan standpoint. Banksy’s satire seems misdirected towards the South Korean animators who
live fairly comfortable cosmopolitan lives while actual labour exploitation in parts of South East Asia
goes unexplored; glossed over almost by a well-meaning, if misguided and misinformed joke at the
expense of the wrong people. It’s not like The Simpson’s brand doesn't rely heavily on cheap
exploitative labour; The Simpson’s merchandising empire almost certainly does, but this inconsistency
on the part of the director with this gag serves to highlight how those in the west who rely on the
current exploitative capitalist mode of production to make a living still cannot escape it themselves,
even when trying to critique. Our awareness of this leads to a sort of Double-think, where we in
the west see the exploitation of the third world, yet are powerless to do anything about it and
instead fall back on irony tropes and a cool detachment.
arguing the satire was off point and gave the wrong impression to Western Audiences about how the
industry works in the contemporary period. This highlights a sort of disconnect between how those on
the supposed Left of the political spectrum in the west perceive inequality and exploitation from their
cosmopolitan standpoint. Banksy’s satire seems misdirected towards the South Korean animators who
live fairly comfortable cosmopolitan lives while actual labour exploitation in parts of South East Asia
goes unexplored; glossed over almost by a well-meaning, if misguided and misinformed joke at the
expense of the wrong people. It’s not like The Simpson’s brand doesn't rely heavily on cheap
exploitative labour; The Simpson’s merchandising empire almost certainly does, but this inconsistency
on the part of the director with this gag serves to highlight how those in the west who rely on the
current exploitative capitalist mode of production to make a living still cannot escape it themselves,
even when trying to critique. Our awareness of this leads to a sort of Double-think, where we in
the west see the exploitation of the third world, yet are powerless to do anything about it and
instead fall back on irony tropes and a cool detachment.
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