The Simpsons has been a part of my evening routine for quite some time now, due to old and new episodes being rerun on Channel 4 everyday at six O’clock, from when I was nine years old to today I still find The Simpsons as funny and original as ever, even episodes I have seen multiple times are still entertaining. During my early stages of engaging with this text, I was not aware of the vast online community it had, as a result I only watch the show for fun and would not have considered myself as a ‘super fan’. I had no knowledge of intertextuality or textual poaching.
After applying the concepts of intertextuality and textual poaching to The Simpsons,I have definitely learnt what a vast and talented community the show has in relation to textual poaching, whilst also now being able to appreciate the references shown as more than a quick Easter egg, but as a show of respect to other texts and how different types of intertextuality govern different genres (Campbell, M.M., 2014. p.22). On top of this I am very interested in the textual poaching of the show and would like to engage with the fan material more often. To summarise, analysing this case study that I have watched for years has not changed my opinion or feelings and I will continue to watch the show.
Looking towards the future of my media consumption, I am curious into engaging with more online communities and seeing how their methods of poaching differ from that of The Simpsons. The reason for this being that when you engage with more than one aspect of a text, you can get a different experience from just engaging with the main text, which is what I did for The Simpsons for many years until I started to analyse the show.
The Simpsons 