COMPARING THE SIMPSONS (U.S.)
AND J-TOWN (INDONESIA) IN
PRESENTING THE SOCIETY
By:
Galang Adi Firdaus
(B0316017)
ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
CULTURAL AND SCIENCE FACULTY
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
2018
PREFACE
Praise God Almighty for all His mercy so that the paper "COMPARING THE
SIMPSONS (U.S.) AND J-TOWN (INDONESIA) PRESENTING THE SOCIETY" can be
arranged to complete. I also say many thanks for the help of those who have contributed by
contributing both material and mind.
And I hope this paper can increase knowledge and experience for the readers, for the
future can improve the form and add the contents of the paper for the better.
Due to my limited knowledge and experience, I believe there are still many
shortcomings in this paper, therefore we are looking forward to constructive suggestions and
criticism from readers for the perfection of this paper.
Surakarta, June 15 2018
Galang Adi Firdaus
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the paper
The Simpsons is a comedy cartoon series created by Matt Groening from the United
States. The show was first aired on American television in 1987. Every episode of Simpsons
always discussing about family life consisting of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, they
live in a small town called Springfield. Despite taking a cartoon themes, the target audience
that Simpsons is an adult audience. The so-called themes are diverse and often include
sensitive topics. The Simpsons series is widely known for satirical comedies that satirize
American society.
Meanwhile in Indonesia there is also a cartoon that is almost similar to the AmericanSimpsons is J-Town, some people call J-Town is The Simpsons but Indonesian version. JTown is an Indonesian comedy animation series aired on NET television stations. J-Town is
first aired in Indonesia in 2017 and is produced by an animation studio in Bandung called
Kumata studio. J-Town tells of a family consisting of Jaya, Ayu, Mrs. Tini, Kevin and Keti.
Telling about a family who wanders to Jakarta and living in a decrepit flat.
Both animated series have the same format, genre and background in telling stories,
what distinguishes them is the State and the society in which they live. This paper will
compare the social life and the different cultures that exist in America and Indonesia through
the animated series. Although these just cartoons, these animations not only have a purpose
as entertainment but have significant messages.
1.2 Problem Formulation
a. How The Simpsons and J-Town Presenting each society?
b. What is the different of American Society and Indonesian Society?
1.3 Purpose of the paper
a. Knowing how The Simpsons and J-Town Presenting each society.
b. Knowing the difference between American society and Indonesian society.
CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION
2.1 Comparing The Simpsons andJ-Town
The Simpsons
In most episodes of the Simpsons, Bart as
Homer's son often calls his own father by his
real name and does not use the father's
proper calling.
J-Town
In the J-Town series, all younger people
will call any older person with the title
"Pak" "Bu" "Mas"
Sometimes American teenagers call their parents by their first names and do not use
titles, but not all teenagers in America do that, Whisper.sh survey of "18 Reasons Why Kids
Call Their Parents By Their First Names And Not Mom or Dad" Has many reasons, such as
bad relationships with parents or just as a joke, even some parents ask their child to call them
by name instead of the title. The behavior of calling parents is still the usual thing in
America, even though it actually falls into the category of deviance. (Scanlan & Feinberg,
2000) If this is applied in Indonesia would not be accepted and would be deemed to be very
disrespectful to parents. (Moffatt, 2012)
Meanwhile in Indonesia calling the older with the title is very important, as a sense of
respect and is a tradition that if violated will make the perpetrator as a person who has no
norms, manner and impolite. Titles are important in Indonesia as they signify status. It is
important to use someone's title when you are talking to them. Hierarchical relationships are
highly respected, emphasized and maintained and superiors are often called "Pak" or "Bu"
which means the equivalent of the father or mother, sir or madam. (Moffatt, 2012) Calling by
Title is not only used by the people of Indonesia to call the elderly but also to the fellow age,
usually this is done when two people have not known each other or they are just met. Calling
using this title when applied to the United States will have the effect of respecting others.
The Simpsons
J-Town
Springfield residents have different
ethnicities, countries and cultural
J-Town tells about a flats house occupied
backgrounds. This is reinforced by the
by people from all over Indonesia, but
enhanced impression / stereotype of
not very visible because the majority of
people of various ethnicities living in
Indonesians have the same appearance.
Springfield. Diversity is very visible
Just different ethnic, different race.
here. (Scanlan & Feinberg, 2000)
This shows that America is composed of various people who not only come from
America but various countries come to America to seek new life because according to
history, the immigrants consider America as dreamland or Living in American Dream.
(Garfias, 1994) A new place to start a new live, it can also be seen in The Simpsons Movie
Film (2006) when Homer says that America gives many opportunities to earn money with
many multi-language banner.
The Simpsons Movie (2006)
The characters in the Simpsons have a variety of descendants or usually called
“Stereotype characters” such as Luigy Italian restaurant owner who is an Italian native, the
Van Houten family of Dutch descent, Groundskeeper Willie who is an immigrant from
Scotland and so on.
Meanwhile, J-Town tells about the Jaya family who moved from Madura to Jakarta.
The social and ethnic environment in the new place is not too different from Jaya's family,
just different accents and regions. Described that while Indonesia has different ethnicities and
cultures, and define themselves locally, they will define themselves nationally - Indonesian.
Even so, Indonesia also has various cultural influences stemming back from difference in
heritage. Like the descendants of Chinese, Arab, Europe or India, however it is only heredity.
(RLN, 2007)
The Simpsons
The family in The Simpsons story is
ready to let and or even forces their
teenage family members into adulthood
to live independently and sufficiently for
J-Town
The families in the J-Town story still retain
their teenage children if they still cannot be
established and do not let go of his family
their own needs.
members.
American teenagers who have reached an average age of 19 years often moved from
their parents, this is a tradition to let American children live independently and fulfill their
own needs. (Dey & Pierret, 2014) Children who live with their parents without a job can be
regarded as a burden on their parents and troubles them. This is exactly the scene of the
Simpsons who discussed when Bart's legal age could move from his parents.
The Simpsons “Barting Over” S14E11
It is contrast to families in J-Town who do not release his teenage children to live
alone but live with his parents. Teenagers who still live with their families are caused by
several factors like job factors such as unemployment and have not got a job established.
Making teenagers move from parents is also not a tradition in Indonesia.
The Simpsons
J-Town
In the J-Town show, people who talks in
In the Simpsons, people sometimes talk
unnaturally high tones get a reflex question
to other people in high tones even though
like "what happen?" from the person who is
their positions are close together and
spoken to. It means that high notes are used
huddle with a loud voice.
only in certain circumstances like to signify
or are angry.
In the Simpsons show, often especially the main character Homer, speaking in a loud
tone (not because of cartoon filling) is unusual. Not because many noisy sounds or because
their position is far away. He speaks loudly even though the position of his speech is in a
close position though. This also presenting American to the world, there are a lot of websites
and forums complaining about “Why American so loud?” or “Loud American tourist”
It is contrast to J-Town, when one of the characters is talking to the main character in
a loud voice, the person who is spoken to immediately say "sshhhh do not speak too loud
about it, it annoys the neighbors, explain briefly while sitting here". Indonesians appreciate
people who speaking softly. Loud people may be interpreted as aggressive and annoying.
(Moffatt, 2012)
CHAPTER 3
CLOSURE
3.1 Conclusion
The Simpsons is one of the American cartoon series that often brings up topics about
the circumstances that happened in America and J-Town is one of the Indonesian cartoon
series whose personality very reflects the personality of the Indonesian people. Both these
cartoons intentionally or unintentionally presented about how the environment and social
environment that exist in each country. Cultural differences that are far between the west and
east can be seen in the impressions; the differences presented above include Communication
style, ethics and verbal behavior. Although there are still some cultural differences that exist
there like Belief and feelings, prejudice, the way of making a point but because the one side
does not include the same thing then I will not discuss it, because this paper is about
comparing.
3.2 Suggestion
Cultural differences in America and Indonesia can be very far and not infrequently
cause a culture shock, this is common to happen and we only need to adjust to the
circumstances around. There is no better culture between one another. Culture is the identity
of a person or a nation around the world and it is normal to be different from one another.
References
18 Reasons Why Kids Call Their Parents By Their First Names And Not “Mom” Or “Dad”.
(2017). Retrieved From whisper.sh
Calling Parents by Their Name. (n.d.). Retrieved from:
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CallingParentsByTheirName
Dey, Judith G. & Pierret, Charles R. (2014). Monthly Labor Review: U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Independence for young millennials: moving out and boomeranging back.
Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.
Fox Broadcasting Company. (2010). Retrieved June 15, 2018, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.thesimpsons.com/
Garfias, Robert. (1994). Cultural Diversity and the Arts in America. Retrieved from
www.socsci.uci.edu
Moffet, Amanda (2012). Indonesian Cultural Profile.West End, Queensland: Diversicare.
Ott, Brian L. (2003). The Journal of Popular Culture. I’m Bart Simpson, who the hell are
you? : A Study in Postmodern Identity (Re) Construction, 37(1). Oxford: Blackwell.
Petersson, Jessica. (2010). Social Class in the Simpsons.Retrieved from
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/. Göteborgs Universitet.
RLN (Regional Language Network). (2007). Indonesia – people, culture, language: A guide
for businesses.
Scanlan, Stephen J. & Feinberg, Seth L. (2000). Teaching Sociology. THE CARTOON
SOCIETY: USING THE SIMPSONS TO TEACH AND LEARN SOCIOLOGY, 28,
127-139.
Sutantoputri, Novita W. & Watt, Helen M.G. (2012). International Journal of Higher
Education. Attribution and Motivation: A Cultural Study among Indonesian
University Students,1(2). doi:10.5430/ijhe.v1n2p118