How the Mighty Have Fallen

Little Jack was working himself into a bit of a frenzy. He simply could not wait for his dad to wrap up what seemed like a never-ending phone. After he had awakened early, did all of his assigned household chores and eaten breakfast, he watched a few Saturday morning cartoons on TV for a while. His mom was out shopping, and the time for movie theaters to open was fast approaching, yet his dad was locked into this unending phone conversation with some guy. Had it slipped his mind that this was the first Saturday for the new movie craze, “The Simpsons,” to be out? His dad had promised a few days earlier to take Jack to the first showing of this movie of the family’s favored cartoon characters. 

Jack paced the hall by his dad’s spacious home office, peering anxiously at his new watch as he crossed the doorway, trying to catch his dad’s eye, but without any success. Should he just to interrupt the conversation? Nope. Jack remembered his dad’s last few reactions when he interrupted important business calls, not to mention the punishments he got. He needed his dad to be in a good mood, at least this morning. So back to watching cartoons he went, keeping an ear tuned in for an end to this incredibly long phone call.

Finally, the call ended and his dad strode into the kitchen to eat breakfast. “Breakfast?!,” Jack yelled out? “What about seeing “The Simpsons” movie like you promised?” “Agrhhhh, I completely forgot all about that, son,” his dad sighed. “Let’s go, we still have time to make it to the first showing, like I promised…” 

So out the door they dashed to see “America’s favored family,” like millions of other kids…and adults all over the world that week…yes, the world, thanks to the movie industry’s new, worldwide simultaneous release technology. Gone are the days when audiences overseas must await the slow arrival of hundreds of pounds of reels from the US to enjoy what would have too quickly become “old hat” or “stale news” from fast-paced Hollywood releases.

With the release of this movie, I earnestly pray that America has now reached its lowest possible point, and are now unable to sink any further. America was founded on solid Biblical principles, though flawed in their interpretation and application in many areas. We can now only ponder, “how the mighty have fallen,” when one of the best icons of American culture and values and our “most beloved” role model family …The Simpsons – a dysfunctional cartoon family headed by an irreverent, donut-crazed Homer Simpson.

Is there any life remaining in our “founding roots” as a nation? The sponsors of this movie reportedly only agreed to support the venture if it would succeed in “making the audience forget that it is watching a cartoon.” (Quote by sponsor on “Entertainment Tonight”). This may be the clearest indication of how far we indeed have fallen…of how much we may see ourselves … in the Simpsons.