In an unprecedented collaboration, a deal was quietly forged, granting (almost) unfettered creative liberty to an artist known not by face but for their satirical critiques of societal norms. The artist, pseudonymous Banksy, renowned for provocative street stencil art, finds an unlikely collaborator in Al Jean and The Simpsons (Itzkoff, 2010). As their worlds collide, we, the viewers, are faced with a 1 minute and 43 second couch gag beckoning us to collective introspection, or, simple comical relief (or both).
Banksy's depiction of dystopian sweatshops - overrun by rats, staffed by Asian workers and unicorns, confronts us with the stark absurdities - gross exploitation of humans and nature - of our capitalist society and the mass culture it perpetuates.
Banksy’s The Simpsons intro couch gag (2010).
Storey, (2014) in Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction, explains that popular culture eludes a finite definition; rather, it finds meaning through theoretical and political debate. His six definitions all find their way into Banksy’s couch gag, yet two stand out: mass culture and folk - where mass-produced entertainment meets grassroots, citizen rebellion.
Within the framework of Adorno and Horkheimer's (1993) critique of the culture industry as mechanisms of both entertainment and social control, Banksy’s The Simpsons intro illustrates these processes at work under capitalism. The sequence dually entertains and invites viewers to reflect on the mass production of pop culture’s underlying realities, serving as a medium through which the critique of commodification and passive consumption is sharply conveyed.
In Banksy’s sequence, capitalism, ruled by its iron law of exponential growth (Hickel, 2020) yet paradoxically reliant on our planet's limited resources, is laid bare. Banksy's sharp satire extends to the profiting beneficiary ‘suits’ with the 20th Century Fox logo surrounded in barbed wire, eliciting laughter with its critique. When questioned if the creators were biting the hand that feeds them, Jean jokes, “Approved by them… it’s a place where edgy comedy can really thrive, as long as it’s funny, which I think this was. None of it’s personal,” (Itzkoff).
Yet, this humour masks a deeper inquiry: Does this collaboration between Banksy and The Simpsons incite us to confront our role as consumers in the culture industry's excesses, and rise from the couch challenging the oppressive structures it upholds?
The phenomenon of viewers flocking to watch the gag on YouTube (banksyfilm, 2010), only to have their attention and any emotional appeals for rebellion smoothly stolen by the next algorithmically curated video delivered by auto-play, highlights the pervasive distractions of today’s digital age.
The Simpsons, now in its 34th season, has consistently wielded satire to critique capitalism's impact on middle America (Rotten, 2018). Allowing Banksy to mirror the studio’s oppressive role in mass pop culture highlights Adorono and Horkheimer’s (1993) relevant critique: “The people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly: as its violence becomes more open, so its power grows.” Yunkaporta (2024) half jokes, it’s “a handful of billionaires pretty much got the world by the balls and driving it like they stole it.”
Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Benjamin, 1935) is a poignant backdrop to this discussion. Benjamin argues that art loses its presence in time and space in the face of mass reproduction under capitalism, thus diminishing art’s ‘aura,’ (Benjamin). Banksy’s opening for The Simpsons speaks to this tension, but while Banksy’s art traditionally challenges this paradigm through place-based ‘street art’, their contribution to The Simpsons highlights the complexities (and contradictions) of critiquing the system from within. Despite Banksy's anonymity, which protects him from direct scrutiny, the collaboration itself becomes a mass-produced spectacle, amassing nearly 20 million views (and counting) on YouTube alone (banksyfilm).
Though the pairing of two cultural powerhouses invites us into critical reflection and may even spark behavioral change, can the critique proposed in The Simpsons through Banksy’s lens, embedded within the very system they aim to challenge, spur real change?
Did 20 million pairs of eyes mobilize for collective action against the injustices it highlights? Or was the gag simply “fanciful” as Jean claimed, purely for entertainment value (Itzkoff).
Banksy’s dip into Springfield certainly provides powerful commentary on the culture industry, challenging us to contemplate our roles within a system that commodifies dissent. However, if we merely laugh at the dystopia without questioning our complicity, we contribute to their product roadmaps, reinforcing that “those who control the fantasy control the future,” (monika bielskyte [@monikabielskyte], 2019).
In Banksy and The Simpsons couch gag, we are reminded that popular culture can be a site of resistance despite complexities of critiquing from within. We must question if this moment of satire is enough to spark real change, or if it simply perpetuates the cycles of oppression it critiques.
References
Adorno, T., & Horkheimer, M. (1993). Dialectic of Enlightenment.
banksyfilm (Director). (2010, October 10). Simpsons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1iplQQJTo
Benjamin, W. (1935). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
Hickel, J. (2020). Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World. Windmill.
Itzkoff, D. (2010, October 11). “The Simpsons” Explains Its Button-Pushing Banksy Opening. ArtsBeat. https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/the-simpsons-explains-its-button-pushing-banksy-opening/
monika bielskyte [@monikabielskyte]. (2019, May 10). ‘Those who control the fantasy control the future.’ Dystopias become product roadmaps. I don’t even have words to express just how dangerous all this has become. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/monikabielskyte/status/1126699220562407424
Rotten, A. (2018, October 12). A TV Producer walks into a movie theatre. Medium. https://medium.com/@aurynrotten/a-tv-producer-walks-into-a-movie-theatre-d8d78e6b02c8
Storey, J. (2014). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction.
Yunkaporta, T. (2024, January 17). Transcript: TYSON YUNKAPORTA on Inviolable Lore /362. FOR THE WILD. https://forthewild.world/podcast-transcripts/tyson-yunkaporta-on-inviolable-lore-362