I've been a Simpsons fan for many years, back when they were a roughly drawn comedy sketch featured on The Tracey Ullman Show. After The Simpsons premiered, I was watching an episode at home, on break from college. My mom came into the room, looked at the t.v. and said, "Oh I hate this show! That 'Bart' is such a brat! He deserves a smack right across the mouth. And the parents are awful. They act terrible. They say such horrible things!" Well, that's the whole point.
It was a truer representation of life than the sitcoms and t.v. shows of the day, which were blatant fakes. Nothing about pop culture reflected our lives. Finally, a depiction of a less-than-perfect family muddling their way through. This seemed more like me and my friends' lives at that point, and it was a cartoon. Perfect! Every artist I know is a huge fan. In between the crude behavior and silly jokes, came some of the most poignant t.v. moments from my early adulthood.
The question of identity can be challenging for anyone, but for children, it is a developmental necessity, enabling them to survive the slings and arrows of adolescence and beyond. I was fortunate to be born with an innately strong nature, though it did create a deep sense of isolation from the children and people around me. It's a recurring theme of Tim Burton's work, too: you are not like the others, and for a child that is extremely disconcerting.
We are taught to behave, conform, and accept what it being told to us by our elders, even against our better judgement or instincts. For Lisa Simpson, this is keenly felt, because she is brilliant, gifted, talented, diligent and hard-working, while her family is not. Her loneliness is sharp, which she can clearly express, though it falls on deaf ears. So when a substitute teacher with a flair for teaching appears before her, she is entranced. He becomes a symbol for the kindred spirit absent from her life thus far.
When he is transferred to another school, Lisa is devastated. Her oasis of learning and understanding is being ripped away from her, and the acute isolation will close in upon her again. What an awful feeling! And yet, in that recognition lies her strength. She will endure, because she can. Her most excellent teacher gives her a final lesson, reminding Lisa that when there is no one, she still has herself, and that is formidable indeed.
