http://ctx.sagepub.com/Contexts http://ctx.sagepub.com/content/7/1/56.citationThe online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1525/ctx.2008.7.1.56 2008 7: 56ContextsMatthew DesmondThe Lie of Heroism Published by: http://www.sagepublications.comOn behalf of: American Sociological Association can be found at:ContextsAdditional services and information for http://ctx.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts: http://ctx.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions: What is This? - Feb 1, 2008Version of Record >> at Texas A&M University - Medical Sciences Library on January 14, 2014ctx.sagepub.comDownloaded from at Texas A&M University - Medical Sciences Library on January 14, 2014ctx.sagepub.comDownloaded from56contexts.orgAmerican life (and who always need tobe tipped). Understanding such humorrequires much knowledge of everydaylife in the United States. UnderstandingThe Simpsons, on the other hand, most-ly requires knowledge of the UnitedStates as seen on TV. And this Americahasn’t been the exclusive territory ofAmericans for a long time. The Simpsons’ brand of humorplays on the particular cultural capitalthat comes with living in a highly medi-ated society: recognizing styles and ref-erences, but also being able to seethrough the media logic. From this pointof view, it’s easy to see why there’s lessof this intertextuality in the movie ver-sion. By definition, blockbusters are sup-posed to require less cultural capital thanother media products in order to reachlarger audiences. On the other hand,this intertextuality and media savvyprobably has been crucial for TheSimpsons’ intellectual cachet, even per-suading snobby Europeans. A final feature of The Simpsonscontributing to its international and intel-lectual appeal is its irreverence and sub-versiveness. By international standards,American comedy often comes off asexcessively sentimental and moralizing.In my research, I found Europeans havea preference for American comedies withdarker humor focusing on dysfunctionalfamilies such as the Bunkers, the Bundys,and the Connors (Roseanne’s family). Thepopularity of The Simpsons fits this pat-tern neatly. Its humor is sharp and attimes dark. And the members of theSimpson family, while (ultimately) lovingand loyal, are also known to be mean,selfish, angry, and unpleasant—and inthis respect, despite being cartoon char-acters, probably more human than mosthuman sitcom characters. Moreover, this irreverent humoralso is used to satirize, ridicule, and crit-icize American society. The televised ver-sion of America seems to be populatedmostly by people who are proud to beAmericans—and their one-dimensionalenemies. In this orderly and patrioticmedia landscape, the Simpsons arerefreshingly subversive. This critical bent is also evident inthe movie. The plot centers on the dan-gers of pollution. The villain, Russ Cargill,is an American government official gonemad, manipulating a movie star-turned-president who doesn’t want to read andyearns for Danny de Vito. Typically,Cargill has the best line in the movie.When one of his associates warns thathe seems to have gone mad with power,Cargill responds: “Of course I have. Youever tried going mad without power?It’s boring. No one listens to you.” Many non-Americans may have feltlike Cargill’s underling at times whencontemplating America’s enormous cul-tural and political power. To see thissmug and powerful country ridiculedfrom the inside is gratifying for outsiders,who see their criticisms and suspicionscorroborated by a reliable source. Thismeans that sometimes, non-Americanslike The Simpsons for exactly the samereasons some Americans (includingGeorge H.W. Bush, at least during hispresidency) don’t—it makes fun ofAmerica.Giselinde Kuipers is an assistant professor of soci-ology at the University of Amsterdam and author ofGood Humor, Bad Taste: A Sociology of the Joke. Hercurrent research focuses on the spread of Americantelevision comedy in four European countries.culture REVIEWSthe lie of heroismby matthew desmondThat was one mean fire season. InOctober and November dozens ofplume-dominated fires—those are theones that burn so hot and fast they cre-ate their own weather patterns andwind currents, the ones that give off thatsonorous, otherworldly reverberation: aline of a tanks thundering forward inunison—ripped through SouthernCalifornia. They scorched half a millionacres, destroyed thousands of homes,and snuffed out at least 10 lives.Although these fires claimed feweracres and lives than those that ignitedthe Golden State in 2003, they garneredsignificantly more media attention. Infact, according to a report by the Projectfor Excellence in Journalism, nearly 40percent of all news coverage betweenOctober 21 and October 26 was devot-ed to the California fires, making themthe “second biggest story of 2007,”trailing only the Virginia Tech massacre,which accounted for 51 percent of cov-erage in a single week. Several elements combined to makethe California fires a mega story. Therewas, first, the awe and beauty of destruc-tion. “You hate it, yes, but your eyes donot,” Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien oncewrote of combat. The same is true for themajesty of wildfire—as well as for thedevastation it leaves in its wake. Add tothis the hunt for the arsonist (who laterwas found to be a firefighter chasingdown the Frankenstein he had broughtIn referring to firefighters always and only asheroes, do we not look straight through them? at Texas A&M University - Medical Sciences Library on January 14, 2014ctx.sagepub.comDownloaded from57winter 2008 contextsto life), the hundreds of thousands evac-uated, the tormenting Santa Anas (whichwell reminded people why they’re calledthe “devil winds”), the tragically burned-over border crossers, and the seeminglyunstoppable flame front—not to men-tion the endless comparisons to HurricaneKatrina—and you have the makings of amajor media event. There were stories of FEMA’sredemption, of community solidarity, ofwealthy homeowners hiring private fire-fighters to protect their mansions, and ofhomeowners of more humble originsignoring evacuation orders and facingdown the flames with garden hoses andshovels. There were countless reporterswrapped in oversized yellow fire