Lab+8

=Simpsons’ opening a suddenly dark turn= By Eddie Kim · Daily Trojan http://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/13/simpsons%E2%80%99-opening-a-suddenly-dark-turn/

Kim's article brings to light the 21st century's phenomenon of culture jamming. On October 10, 2010 The Simpsons aired an intro that was produced in collaboration with the subversive British artist, Banksy. The intro was significantly darker than past intros for the show and its executive producer, Al Jean, was quick to deny that this particular intro had any literal reference to the politics of the show's production. His statements were an attempt at reaffirming that this was just another one of the Simpson's satirical, impersonal commentaries of its network Fox and that it was meant to be funny.

However, Banksy's conceptualization of this particular intro should not be taken so lightly when one considers the intentions behind culture jamming. Banksy's work is known to be highly political and subversive and his Simpson's intro should be considered no exception. On the //Center for Communication and Civic Engagement//'s website, it states that culture jamming is often "aimed at exposing questionable political assumptions behind commercial culture so that people can momentarily consider the branded environment in which they live" (http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm). Banksy's intro may not have been meant to be taken literally with its depictions of an emaciated unicorn, dead dolphin head and child sweatshop conditions. However, it is meant to remove the viewer from his/her complacent consumer identity for the minute-or-so duration of the intro and to situate this viewer from an angle where hidden politics and processes of the commercial culture (of which the Simpsons enterprise and its consumerist fans are part) are momentarily revealed.The intro's excessively dark and sinister tone works in tangent with the Simpson's reputation to push comedic boundaries through excessive imagery and messages that are generally intended to not be taken seriously. Kim's article reminds us that "outsourced consumerism and worker abuse, fueled by the licensing abilities of major networks, is a current reality" (Kim). Banksy's intentions, whether taken lightly or seriously by audiences, are essentially meant to illuminate these issues.

The process of culture jamming allows artists and activists such as the infamous Banksy, to take a familiar object of consumer culture and manipulate it so that it can be used as a tool to criticize the processes of commercialization from which it acquired its original value and status. The subversive nature of culture jamming has taken on many iconic brands and images in attempts to shake people from the brainwashing processes of consumerism. //AdBusters// is one popular website that produces online articles that do nothing but promote the processes of culture jamming and the undermining of mainstream culture. It aims at shedding light on the socio-political and economic processes that run our everyday lives and encourage the unsustainable level of consumption that is driving the world towards a dismal end. The October 10th Simpsons intro may have a duration of less than a mere 2 minutes but its message is subversively powerful. While many viewers may not receive the message embedded within the familiar frame of the iconic Simpsons cartoon, it is nonetheless still very present and ready to penetrate the commercialized worlds of naive viewers.