Politics in The Simpsons - Political Bias

Political Bias

Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias. Al Jean admitted in an interview that "We are of liberal bent." The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum. In the DVD commentaries, creator Matt Groening and the majority of people who work on the show state several times that they are very liberal, but some, such as John Swartzwelder (the writer of many episodes), are conservative. So the two main political parties of Springfield, the Republicans and the Democrats, reside in a stereotype Draculan castle, and in a public salad bar respectively; the on/off Mayor, Joe Quimby is represented as a Democrat and Sideshow Bob as a Republican during his brief tenure as Mayor. Occasionally third parties are also mentioned on the show, such as in the episode "When Flanders Failed", Flanders in danger of losing the title to his struggling fledgling Leftorium store, which was due to become headquarters for Springfield's Libertarian Party, which Flanders hopes will do better than his store. The show portrays government and large corporations as callous entities that take advantage of the common worker. Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is both incompetent and corrupt.