Friday, October 15, 2010

Shanker Blog � Bart Simpson: Worker Rights Activist

Shanker Blog � Bart Simpson: Worker Rights Activist

BART SIMPSON: WORKER RIGHTS ACTIVIST

If (like me) you’re not a regular viewer of The Simpsons show, you will have missed a controversial new opening sequence created by British graffiti artist Banksy, which aired this past weekend. The segment, which mocks the show for outsourcing much of its animation work through a South Korean company, began to go viral until yesterday, when Fox asking for the video to be pulled from YouTube and other venues (see here).

The scene begins much like the regular opening, but with “Banksy” scrawled strategically across the town of Springfield. Bart is seen writing punishment lines on the school blackboard, as usual, but this time “I must not write all over the walls” covers every wall of the classroom. The sequence continues almost as usual until we see the family is seated on their couch.

Suddenly, we shift to a dark, cavernous space where row upon row of sweatshop workers are seen to be laboring