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July 17, 2007

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The Simpsons vs. Rupert Murdoch

By Eric Kohn

The end of July now promises two historic inevitabilities: Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch will acquire The Wall Street Journal (only Divine Intervention could prevent the purchase at this point), and The Simpsons Movie will open at theaters across the nation. These two seemingly unrelated events have more in common than revealed by surface inspection. Murdoch’s ominous News Corp. runs the network that broadcasts The Simpsons -- and, by extension, contributes to bringing its feature length treatment to the big screen. But unlike other renowned Murdoch properties, such as the tyrannical ideologues on Fox News and the absurdly one-sided inanities published in the New York Post, The Simpsons has tended to freely spoof the contradictions and dispiriting partisanship of its boss. Check out the following clips for assurance that, no matter who controls the media, somebody in Springfield is still trying to keep the truth out there.

1 Dissonance of outlook and programming

In this pointed scene, Lisa points out the contradiction of Fox News’ supposedly conservative values and the networks’ notoriously sleazy programming. Homer’s gullible ramblings (“Liberals…woohoo!”) could serve as the News Corp. slogan.

2 Rupert Murdoch: Terrific Dancer

The spin is in the details. The Simpsons’ animators clearly went to town with this clever spoof of the news network’s ticker.

3 Just Like the Waltons

Not a Murdoch or Fox News spoof, but a similar refutation of partisanship: On the eve of George H.W. Bush’s loss of the presidency in 1992, The Simpsons did its part to maintain its integrity.