Jeff Nolan sitting in front of 2 unfinished pieces.

The Simpsons and Postmodernism

The Simpsons can be defined as a postmodern cartoon. There are several aspects of the show that define it as such, such as its treatment of time. It deals with time and space in a fantastic way usually only referenced in terms of an on-screen joke or sight gag. The narrative pays no dues to the real world consequences of time or order of events unless it is in service of a joke.

Another non-linear treatment of time is shown in the way that none of the characters age or develop in any significant way from episode to episode or season to season. Twenty-Seven seasons later and Bart is still 10 years old and outside of the occasional flash-back episode or flash-forward, never ages. It is as though everyone in the show exists outside of time.

However lost in time the characters on the show may be, the world around them, particularly technology, advance around them in conjunction with that of the real world. For example, it is now common for characters on the show to use smartphone and other modern technology.

The Simpsons is self-referential, frequently giving its characters a super-agency beyond the limits of the world contained in the show. Characters often reference the FOX network (who carries the show) and break the fourth wall in a manner to suggest that they are self-aware that they are characters in a television show. This is decidedly postmodern trait.