COMMENTARY: Nations drift apart, cultures converge

By Pekka Mykkänen in Springfield, Vermont
     
      If one seeks to understand the popularity of The Simpsons or the history of the series, one place to start is "the people's online encyclopaedia" Wikipedia. Wikipedia is renowned for being a dodgy source on certain subjects, but in the matter of The Simpsons it is comprehensive to a fault, a veritable cornucopia of information.
      In the Finnish-language Wikipedia, for instance, there is more than three times as much material on Matt Groening's creation as there is on the great Finnish novelist and playwright Aleksis Kivi.
     
In the Wikipedia celebrity match-up of Simpsons vs. Kivi, the resounding defeat for Mr. Kivi is naturally a shocking indicator of the supremacy of American culture.
      But as much as this, it is also a reminder that the United States is full of delightful phenomena that are not in any shape or form connected with George W. Bush, Iraq, or the waterboarding torture of terrorist suspects.
     
I am among the guilty ones myself when I acknowledge that in recent years the image of the United States in the world's media has been warped and overly negative.
      There has been all too little coverage of that other United States, the one that is in so many ways an inspiring and charming society.
     
But for all that, we live in times when anything and everything associated with the US of A seems to be political.
      When I asked 15-year-old Alex Page - and without the slightest reference to politics, I must add - what sort of picture of American life The Simpsons sends out to the world, he answered promptly: "A much better message than our government sends. I much prefer people watching our TV shows than following our ridiculous political debate."
      Again, without my mentioning the P-word at all, a conversation about The Simpsons with Vic and Judi deForest - a couple from New Hampshire who were visiting Springfield, Vermont - was steered around to Bush.
      Not by me, by them.
      Husband Vic commented that he was ashamed to be an American because of his President, while Judi said: "Bush makes me afraid to be an American. For instance right now I think it would be uncomfortable to travel to Europe [on an American passport]."
     
It is sad to hear it - and this was by no means the first time - when Americans express a sense of shame or fear over the events of recent years. Especially since we have so much in common with them, for instance a shared delight in The Simpsons.
      Where George W. Bush as it were thrusts others away from the United States, the exploits of Homer Simpson and his dysfunctional family coax them back again and again.
      Bush has sought to use "hard power" in international relations; The Simpsons represent American "soft power" in action. The former is based on threats, coercion and deterrence, the latter on attraction, through cultural or ideological means.
      Bush's presidency will last for two terms, eight years in all, while The Simpsons are in their 21st year on the screen.
     
Even though American culture is often said to have a questionably strong, even hegemonic position in the world, it does not swallow up little countries just like that.
      Take a look at Alex Page's seriously distressed black cut-off jeans. You can just make out the text "Riistetyt".
      Page, who plays drums in a band of his own, explains that Riistetyt ["Exploited", or "The Exploited"] are a Finnish "crust punk" band originally from Tampere, who have even gigged in Vermont, and one that he and his mates admire.
      Wha? "Crust punk"?
      "It's a mix of metal, punk and hardcore. But it is heavier than punk, faster than metal, and most of the guitars come from hardcore. And therefore the name crust, like in pizza crust", explains Alex.
     
On the basis of a glance at their website, Riistetyt would appear to have recorded such tracks as Jo sikiönä silvottu (Mutilated as a Foetus) and Ristiinnaulittu evoluutio (Crucified Evolution), along with a good many other radical and politically in-your-face titles - the band's first album from way back in 1983 was called Valtion vankina (Prisoner of State), and the 2005 U.S. tour also went by that name.
      It just goes to show, doesn't it, you never know where you are going to find the common chord that unites both sides of the Atlantic.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 4.10.2007


Links:
  Competition videos on the Net (USA Today)
  Springfield, Vermont (Wikipedia)
  The Simpsons Movie
  Springfield Chamber of Congress
  Riistetyt
  Crustcore/Crust Punk (Wikipedia)