Sunday, March 8, 2009

thought of the day.235

There’s no better medicine than laughter and nothing better to laugh at than oneself.
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7 comments:

Willie Baronet said...

Amen.

March 9, 2009 at 10:46 AM
john evans said...

The Simpsons are a close second, eh pal?

March 9, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Janet Greene said...

I gotta brag a bit here. I am related to Matt Groening (creator of the simpsons) - he is my 4th cousin. Found this out when a relative did a geneology of our family. Although we are terribly proud of him, I am quite certain that he does not know of my existence. Oh well...

March 9, 2009 at 2:54 PM
john evans said...

LUCKY! Hey Janet, Are the Simpsons as big in Canada as they are here? Our whole family are huge fans, we have every season on DVD and managed to score lots of the signage from a recent promotion where 7/11 convenience stores were turned into Quickie Marts. Rrramone has an amazing collection of all things Simpson.

I really like how Matt handles religion. He makes his agnostic views known but finds a nice balance between mocking and respecting. Such great writing on that show!

March 9, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Janet Greene said...

I'm not sure about overall popularity, but I can tell you that I've seen every episode probably a dozen times. The christian beliefs in the show are identical to my family (my family is the Flanders' - except that we were FAR more dysfunctional and conversative). We are Mennonites who came to North American several generations ago (word is we were fleeing religious persecution but who really knows???)

Our brand of Mennonite is barely distinguishable from other evangelical christian denomination except for conservatism. Rules were: no drinking, no smoking, no dancing, no movies, no rock music, no premarital sex. We didn't dress "funny" though!!! I pretty much methodically went through all the "not to do's" in my teens and early 20's!

I agree that the show does a marvelous job of balancing mocking and respect. No other show has been able to walk that line, which probably explains the Simpson's longevity. I appreciate some of modern animation (some edgier stuff), but Simpsons remains a classic.

March 10, 2009 at 9:21 AM
john evans said...

My youngest Simpsons fan just gave me the Flander’s Book of Faith...ah, if all of religion could be so fun!

Were the Mennonites related to the Amish or am I imagining a connection? Have you seen the great documentary about the Amish teenagers?

March 10, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Janet Greene said...

My understanding (which is pretty sketchy) is that there is a branch of Amish Mennonites, who came from the Anabaptists. I think my brand of "Mennonite" is a close cousin to this group. In my culture, however, we did not wear the funny hats and dresses; and we did not live in communes. Basically, my family looks like people from a Billy Graham crusade - my parents are well-dressed, pseudo-modern people. Very, very typical evangelical. The one major difference is that Mennonites tend to be pacifists. My father was a conscientous objector in the WWII and worked in a coal mine instead of going overseas. I have to say that this is one part of my heritage that I embrace.

March 10, 2009 at 11:09 AM

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