Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Critical Commons

Sections
Personal tools
Document Actions

The Simpsons on immigration and day labor

by ironman28
Commentary summary:
A brief clip from The Simpsons about immigration and day labor

Text Commentary:

In this rare, popular culture portrayal of Day Laborers, The Simpsons evinces a characteristically ambiguous politics with regard to immigration. At first, Homer's interaction with day laborers outside Builder's Barn (a thinly veiled Home Depot surrogate) appears to be ironically progressive, pointing out the social inequalities between day laborers and the people who hire them. However, later in the clip, a broader fear of mass immigration is revealed when Homer declares, "You can't have too much of a good thing," whereupon waves of immigrants from neighboring Ogdenville rush into Springfield. The show sidesteps issues of race, by portraying the Ogdenvillians with vaguely Scandinavian features and accents, but otherwise plays out a standard, anti-immigrant narrative followed by a simplistic resolution based on learned mutual respect.


Related Clips

Related Clips
Copyright 2010, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. ironman28. (2009, October 07). The Simpsons on immigration and day labor. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from Critical Commons Web site: http://criticalcommons.org/Members/ironman28/commentaries/the-simpsons-on-immigration-and-day-labor. This work is licensed under a No Copyright; No Rights Reserved.