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The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

The Simpsons spoof cultural facilities

April 8, 2005 by Andrew Taylor

Anyone who watched ”The Simpsons” last week got a hilarious view of the cultural facility development process, featuring the voice of architect Frank Gehry. Summarized on this Simpsons web site:


While in Shelbyville, the Simpsons watch a musical about the town, which includes a character from Springfield who isn’t particularly bright. Marge suggests to the Springfield Cultural Activities Board to have a concert hall, built by Frank Gehry (voicing himself); however, when it becomes clear that nobody in Springfield likes classical music, the building is sold to Mr. Burns, who turns it into a prison.

At the town meeting to unveil the design (a riff on Walt Disney Hall in LA) the town leader calls for the vote this way: ”All in favor of a $30-million ‘screw you’ to Shelbyville?”

Clearly, Matt Groening and his team have a particular perspective about why communities build cultural icons, and how engaged those buildings are with the world. Painful, but very, very funny.

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Comments

  1. Larraine says

    April 11, 2005 at 7:32 am

    The Simpsons take on nearly everything is dead on. In this case I would guess that if more cultural buildings were built to take into consideration the finances and tastes of working-class people (even if you have a bachelor’s degree that has become pretty much working class if you think about it), they might be more successful. They can always sneak in a little art here and there. Often people who think they don’t understand art find they like it.

  2. SmartyPants says

    April 12, 2005 at 3:25 am

    I don’t recall the exact quote, but I loved the moment when Marge tried to stop the stampeding masses from leaving the hall by enticing them with the music of Philip Glass. It’s classic Simpsons humor — not everyone could laugh at it, but those who did loved it!!

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