Critical Intertextuality In Two Dozens and One Greyhound

The Simpsons is among the most incredible twentieth century sitcom features in the entertainment industry. One of its major successes is attributed to intertextuality, where traditional and contemporary are merged together in order to create the humorous and entertaining episodes. The Simpsons has a unique characterization of political, social and cultural context, which creates a unique entertaining criticism of issues in the reality today, hence attracting a large number of audiences from diverse backgrounds. The television series has managed to address intellectual capabilities of people from different social backgrounds through interstitial content. Therefore, this essay investigates Intertextuality in One Dozen and One Greyhound. Season six, episode twenty of The Simpsons is one among many of Simpsons episodes that are characterized by intertextuality. The plot and some character traits are borrowed from the series 101 Dalmatians. The character trait is similar to pup Lucky’s in Dalmatians. The general plot in both is also similar, since the mission is to have all puppies fur turned into clothes ( Scully,np). Mr. Burns, in The Simpsons plans and is successful in stealing the puppies, after being denied the right to own them, and decides to make a coat out of the puppies. The story line is quite similar as a character similar to the nanny in Dalmatians 101 shows up at Mr. Burns, as the latter sings a musical of his fur love. This interstitial trait exemplifies the director’s love for classical movies and as the theme in most Simpsons episodes. This helps keep the classics alive in the contemporary society, with tributes being made to the original scriptwriters, despite risking losing creativity in their works (Raab & Gurr, 101). Incorporating something new, that is in line with the contemporary social and cultural content becomes essential in ensuring audience appeal. However, films borrowing plots from each other is not a new phenomena, as the movie industry is characterized by depiction of classics in the real world, such as the case in The Simpsons, Two Dozen and One Greyhound, as the classical Dalmatians 101 film is re-plotted in Simpson series. The intertextuality is about not only keeping the classics alive, but also a depiction of certain trends that may not end any time soon. An example is the musical, which is acted by Bart in celebration for his fur love, where he sings, “Be Our Guest”, which is a parody song in “Beauty and the Beast”. The twentieth century American culture is characterized by postmodern trends, which allude to change of the structure in the society and deconstruction of values that were held in high esteem. The movie culture has supported this change by creating scenes that depicts the change and the instability that the change creates. Moreover, the scenes integrate both traditional and contemporary aspects in a bid to show change, and in some cases a solution. This intertextuality may not appeal to the audience if not for satire, irony among other stylistic techniques incorporated in the entertainment industry, like in most Simpsons episodes. This is shown in episodes that start up with a familiar story line and ends up with unusual scenes, in season six, episode twenty of Simpsons. The American culture in the twentieth century is exposed to films that contradict the established story formulae, as well as, humor that is often anarchic (Raab & Gurr, 7). This can be seen in Mr. Burns’ musical where he boosts his son to be a massacre of puppies. In the American cultural films, the story line is often playful, and borrows the content from music, paintings, sculptures or even historical stories. Though the beginning of the film may be similar to the content borrowed, the ends deconstruct the narrative, as they do not align with the convectional and moral borders. This diversion is often referred to as the cool part of the twentieth century. Intertextuality is therefore at the core of the twentieth century entertainment and American culture. Though it was manifested in the older cultures, the contemporary culture is characterized by chaotic versions of the past, making intertextuality today more appealing script writers and audience. Moreover, its usage has been complemented by the quantitative increase in number of references, which have been acquired over the years (Raab & Gurr, 8). The trick lies in the interpretation of the communities in forming scenes (Marx, np), as the unique the interpretation, the more the appeal to the fun base. This means that intertextuality will continue to be an influential point in American culture. In conclusion, critical intertextuality is a film feature that has been characterized in the twentieth century entertainment industry. The Simpsons episode, Two Dozens and One Grey Hound, depicts a plot with interstitial or borrowed content, from Dalmatians 101 film. Both scenes are characterized by puppies, as well as, people who want to massacre the puppies in order to make fur coats. The culture has been characterized with borrowed content from historical narratives, music and art, which have been integrated with contemporary issues in culture, politics and social aspects.

Work Cited:

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Marx N. “Jonathan Gray. Watching with “The Simpsons”: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. New York: Routledge, 2006.” Project Muse. 2008. 28 Sept. 2012.

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