Miles Files: Learning lots from television Miles Files: Learning lots from television (May 18, 2005)

By Miles McMullin

8th Grade, St. Joseph's School, Atherton

"Everything Bad is Good for You."

Sound like a book title? It is a book title. It is a newly published book, written by Steven Johnson, that was recently reviewed in Time magazine. I stumbled upon the Time article, which noted the author's claim that "today's popular culture is actually making kids smarter."

Usually this type of statement would bore me, but then I realized that my favorite show, "The Simpsons," often deals with moral issues and I have learned a lot from watching it.

For example, a recent episode dealt with gay marriage. Homer, the main character, becomes a priest and starts marrying gay couples. Homer talks about issues that gays face, and the show raised topics I had not thought about before.

Another show of "The Simpsons" tackled religion. Lisa, the daughter, converts to Buddhism and viewers see how peaceful she becomes once she is a Buddhist.

Another episode focused on cloning. Homer gets cloned after he jumps into a hammock, and there are hundreds of Homer clones running around. All of them have to get destroyed. To do it, large donuts are placed in helicopters and thrown off a cliff. The cloned Homers follow the food because Homer is nuts about donuts. I realized that cloning could be a problem for our society.

In almost every episode a celebrity guest drops by, such as 'N Sync or Paul McCartney. In a recent show, they ridiculed "American Idol."

You have to watch "The Simpsons" to see what I mean. You will learn lots about our society's moral issues, and you will get some big laughs, too.
For other "Simpsons" addicts reading this article, blog me at www.milesmcmullin.blogspot.com with the answer to this question: Who is Homer's next-door neighbor who he hates?

E-mail a friend a link to this story.