It’s very rare to come across someone who isn’t a Simpsons fan. It traverses demographics — the monumental series has something for everyone. Each character is immediately recognisable and relatable, and every scenario is somehow believable no matter how far-fetched the ending. As much as the show is imprinted on our generational psyche, however, there are always new things to discover within its colourful, satirical storylines. Now, there’s an Insta dedicating itself to our favourite cartoon, but not in the way that you might expect.
@scenicsimpsons is the account for the Simpsons und art lovers among us. As well as making us laugh, we can now add aesthetic and artistic merit to its long list of accomplishments. Curated by an anonymous Springfield-aficionado, this esoteric Insta cleverly compiles screenshots and cropped stills of things that you might not have noticed amid the mind-boggling action. For example, the way the light plays on a coin, Homers’s face stretched in a glass of water, a saturated orange sunset, or how the rain catches on Bart’s skateboard, are only a few of the aesthetic moments that @scenicsimpons spotlights. These stills mirror the mundane and insignificant aspects of our own lives, those things that when we stop to notice are beautiful in their own right. Viewed together in the grid, these scenes reveal the pink and purple-dreaminess and bold-lined aesthetic that characterises the world of Springfield. In this regard, the feed is a testimony to the skill and attention to detail that the animators put into the show. Unlike the actual Simpsons, which has not always got it right despite our love for it (Apoo, for example), there is nothing problematic about these images at all — instead they zoom-in and reveal an otherworldly, artistic side of the technicolour world we thought we knew so well. Do yourself a favour, and follow this Friday.