The Simpsons (1989) is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting company. 20th Century Fox, has ownership over a wide range of different franchises, such as: Star Wars(1977), X-Men(2000), Fantastic Four(2005), Avatar(2009), Planet of the Apes(1968), Die Hard(1988) and even more. When studying and looking at The Simpsons from a fan’s perspective it is easy to see references to all the other franchises the Fox Broadcasting Company owns. Finding alternative texts in a contrasting text is known as intertextuality. Johnathon Gray mentions intertextuality is parody and that ‘Parody is putting one space inside of another space’ (Gray, J. 2005. p.45). The Simpsons has been a constant example of intertextuality and have referenced other texts consistently throughout the 22-year run time; I am interested to see the influence this has on viewers and why The Simpsons uses intertextuality.
The Simpsons is also the cause of another concept I will be looking at in this essay, that being textual poaching. This has been described by Henry Jenkins as “rogue readers” (Jenkins, H. 2006. p.1). Henry Jenkins drawing on the work of Michael de Certeau, states that a ‘poacher’ is ‘an alternative conception of fans as readers who appropriate popular texts and reread them in a fashion that serves different interests, as spectators who transform the experience of watching television into a rich and complex participatory culture.’ (Jenkins, H. 2013. p.23). Due to the intertextuality of The Simpsons, fans believe they can use the base text as a creative playground for their own needs, whether it’s fan art, fan fiction or memes. I will be looking intensively into the poaching of The Simpsons and why it is so popular for this series.
The Simpsons 