I Want To Live In Springfield

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As I write this, FOX owned FXX Network is running every chapter of "The Simpsons" -- all 552 episodes, plus the movie -- in a 12-day marathon. What began, in 1989, as a series of family based animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, 

Photo courtesy of Amazon's Affiliate Program.

has evolved into a 25 year chronicle of the, fictional, town of Springfield. While I haven't watched the entire marathon, needing at least enough time to catch the premiere of DOCTOR WHO's 8th season and True Blood's grand finale, I've caught enough stretches of the marathon to know that I want to live in Springfield.

While many of its inhabitants are simplified  caricatures of societal stereotypes, Springfield seems to work somehow.

First, everyone has a productive roll to play, and no one is treated like an outcast.  Even Otto, the town stoner, is employed as a bus driver, and Barney, the town drunk seems to have an automatic spot on any sports team the town puts together.

Equally impressive is the glaring lack of hard core crime in the town.  Sure, Nelson is the school yard bully and Fat Tony is the local mob boss, Springfield never sees 17 year old boys raping & killing 6 year old girls.  Crimes in Springfield are more benign and easily solvable.


Most alluring though, is the long term maintenance of the status quo.  Babies can be fawned over for decades, childhood never ends, friend today are friends tomorrow, and family units are stable.

Of course, such a place doesn't exist.  Freezing time with photos, journals, and cherished memories may be as we can get to living in Springfield.
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