Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Simpsons depiction of the 1920's

Part 1
In the Simpsons episode portraying life in the 1920's during the Prohibition period I believed had more accurate points than fictional comedy. For example, the Simpsons perfectly depicted life during the Prohibition in the aspect of jobs such as: bootleggers, mofia members, and speakeasy owners. Homer and Bart perfectly depicted the aspect of bootleggers, people who obtain and illegally sell banned alcoholic beverages to undercover bars (speakeasies); some bootleggers illegally smuggled alcohol imported from other countries, but others made their own alcohol mostly in the basements of their homes, which Homer and Bart did. Also in the Simpsons episode, it was shown that mofia members paid and bribed cops to 'be quiet' or 'hush-hush' about the illegal selling of government banned alcohol, which most of the police officers did in the 1920's; some even joined the local law-breakers at the speakeasies to share a round. Which clearly shows how most of society ignored the law of Prohibition because to many it was a 'stupid' or 'illegitimate' law. Most of society in the 1920's would gather at speakeasies and drink even though it was illegal, which is also shown in the Simpsons episode. All of these true facts depict in the Simpsons episode of life in the 1920's made it even more enjoyable to watch, I was able to learn about the 1920's in a realistic- yet comedic way, which is not exactly normal- which made it the reason why I liked it so much.


Part 2
"Added Scene"
If I was to add a scene to the Simpsons episode we watched in class depicting life in the 1920's under Prohibition, I would include a scene with the writing of the bill. The scene would take place in the House of Senate, and it would be of all of the Senators, Representatives, and the president of the time period, James Montgomery, all discussing why alcohol should be banned. I would also include the original reaction of the public society to this law being made. It would begin with newspapers titled "Prohibition--Banning All Alcohol Consumption", and it would show people reading the articles, some angry, some sad, and some sad reactions that would soon turn into seperate gatherings to start the making of "speakeasies" and to start hiring people to be the "bootleggers" for everyone's benefit.