Why Does Lisa Like Itchy & Scratchy?

[CousinMerl]

So I was rewatching 'Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie' and I started thinking a bit: why does Lisa even like the show & the movie?

It's violent and a rather stupid show & the movie doesn't seem to be any better. The fact she is a fan of it does feel kinda odd and it goes against the intelligent, intellectual, responsible and mature person she is for her age.

(Edit: Yeah, this is kind of a stupid thread, but I only wanted to see what you think.)

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

She's a kid.

[Old painty-can Ned]

She's still a kid though and that is what makes her character great. The balance between her child-like innocence and the intelligent mature adult. Despite her intelligence she still is influenced heavily by pop-culture whether it be I&S or Malibu Stacy or watching a dance video in Radio Bart. Her line explaining her love(or at least why she watches it) for Itchy and Scratchy in Itchy & Scratchy &Marge shows the complexity of her character well because she answers in such an innocent way but it also has a lot of complexity to it.

[Captain Squid]

1) She's still a kid at heart

2) She probably appreciates the artists behind it - I could see her liking it as an artform

3) It may be violent, but it also could represent freedom of expression, which I could see her appreciating

[CousinMerl]

I have to say that I think the only real reason she likes it is because they want to show us that she is still a kid.

[The Thompsons]

I guess they didn't want to completely loose the aspect of her doing as her older brother does from the Tracy Ullman shorts. This is a good way to show they do have some things in common despite their polar opposite personalities.

[hammster]

First reply nailed it.

[Homer I Am]

Because we all get a thrill out of violence, regardless of what you say.

[Friz]

As you can see, the real deal with Waylon Smithers is that he's Mr. Burns' assistant. He's in his early 40s, is unmarried, and currently resides in Springfield. Thanks for writing! We'll be right back.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Isn't that like the only thing you ever post nowadays.

[Magaggie Simpson]

It's probably the most intelligent show that airs in Springfield.

[Dark Homer]

what about smartline

it has "smart" in its name

[cymek]

Had the writers have some sense of reality about character development, Lisa wouldn't seem so unrealistically adult for her age and such questions wouldn't appear. Now we have Lisa with a dual personality: an "8-year-old girl" Lisa for watching cartoons and doing kid stuff and a "young adult trapped inside an 8-year-old" Lisa for protesting stuff and other things.

[Knightboat]

She's an intelligent kid but it's important to emphasise that she's only a kid, too.

Then again, she seems to be into Knightboat as well so who knows.

Announcer: We now return to "Knightboat: the Crime-Solving Boat".
Michael: Faster, Knightboat! We gotta catch those starfish poachers.
Knightboat: You don't have to yell, Michael, I'm all around you.
Michael: Oh, no! They're headed for land.
[the poachers ride onto the beach, jump on motorcycles, and speed away]
Michael: We'll never catch them now.
Knightboat: Incorrect: look! A canal.
Homer: Go, Knightboat, go!
Bart: Oh, every week there's a canal.
Lisa: Or an inlet.
Bart: Or a fjord.
Homer: Quiet! I will not hear another word against the boat.

[Jesse Pinkman]

i think i've seen this kind of thread before and the only logical answer is 'because she's a kid'.

[Mr Black]

she also likes malibu stacey. basically, she isn't one dimensional like meg griffin so she has intelligence, but is still very childlike.

also I & S has no age limit, everyone likes it (Mr Burns in Burns Hier, Herb Powell in Oh Brother etc)

[Wavy Gravy]

The Lisa of recent episodes really has no reason to like Itchy and Scratchy because they've turned her into such a humorless bore. I remember back in Season 16, that scene in "A Star is Torn" where Lisa imagined herself being animated into an I&S cartoon and stopping the plot dead to talk about prevention of cruelty to animals, it just played so awkwardly. Once again, it's like the writers are acknowledging that their characters have no reason for the things they do anymore, but they keep on doing it anyway.

[Miguel Sanchez]

No reason for her not to like it. There are plenty of intelligent people who abhor violence in real life but love dumb, violent movies.

[D DEBBS]

Lisa's eight...she may be way mature for her age, but she still likes the mindless fun and mayhem cartoons have: it's an escape from the doldrums of reality!

[christmas_ape]

Wait, why can't an intelligent person enjoy Itchy & Scratchy? It's comedic brilliance. As others have said, a lot of the smarter (by Simpsons standards) characters seem to enjoy it as well (I'd just like to add Dr. Marvin Munroe as an example).

[CousinMerl]

I don't really see how it is 'comedic brilliance' (it's got some moments that are quite clever, though), but you've got a point there.

[shoz999]

Meh.

[shoz999]

So you rather have Lisa as an fully intelligent adult? Really? I mean in the Classic Simpsons, before Modern Simpsons, Lisa was shown more as an eight year old kid than ever than intelligent. It did show her intelligent but it mostly showed her child-side. Haven't you seen the episode, "Lard Of The Dance" where Lisa in comparison to Alexis, is a child at heart, even explaining that her friends and classmates are children as well and that they'll never have a chance to have fun and laugh as kid's ever again once they grow up.

[CousinMerl]

So you rather have Lisa as an fully intelligent adult? Really?

No. This has nothing to do with me wanting her to fully be an adult; I just wondered why she watches the show even though it goes against her overall mature and intelligent personality, and then I realized she is still a kid (like so many others in this thread has pointed out) and that's the best explanation in my opinion (if they took her liking of the show away, she would possibly be too 'adult' so in a way, it's important to have something that keeps her in the child territory, in this case I&S).

[christmas_ape]

Well I happen to think I&S is brilliant ultraviolent slapstick, but fair enough.

[Cartoonnetwork]

The show is violent and Lisa is against violence. But dumb? I'm not sure. After all, Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes are violent but kind of clever.

I guess Lisa can see the difference between cartoons and real life, and that's all. I enjoy violence in cartoons but I wouldn't hurt an animal. Still, violent cartoons are not very dumb compared to other programs you can find on tv.

[Sideshow Ben]

Lisa wasn't such a PC thug when they first wrote her.

[biffwestwood]

Lisa was also a fan of The Happy Little Elves in Some Enchanted Evening and one of the Tracey Ullman shorts and may still be a fan of that since she has some of that merchandise. She also watched a HLE episode in Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. But the way her character evolved quickly lead her to becoming more of a fan of Itchy and Scratchy which is what I prefer. I also can't imagine her being a fan of a cartoon that reminds me of The Smurfs.

I'm thankful she didn't remain a HLE watcher because I didn't like Lisa comparing an HLE hating Bart to a specific elf during either of those times. That would've been a terrible running gag.

[The Governor]

Girls, Lisa. Boys kiss girls!

[shoz999]

Well, just one question then. You do understand why she still does many actions of a young child even with a high IQ not based on just my explanation but on others as well, right? If not, you could watch "Lard Of The Dance" to understand why Lisa still acts like a kid, plus a few laughs from a Homer and Bart Storyline. Homer Simpson: "Wait a minute! There's no Angus McCloud in North Kilttown! Why, you're not from Scotland at all!"