Moral Marge
The character of Marge Simpson is driven by her morals and her desire to do what is in the best interest of her family. She is the polar opposite to her husband Homer and provides a moral balance to an otherwise dysfunctional relationship and family. The balance also extends to her children, and even follows the parallel of gender, with Lisa, almost without fail, choosing the moral high road in her daily decisions and Bart, like his father, choosing to wreak havoc for his own personal gain and amusement.
When Marge decides to take on the subject of violence in cartoons by protesting against the company that produces the show, she struggles with the balance that she provides in her own family, taking on the responsibilities of leading this mini revolution and abandoning her role as wife and mother. As her movement gains momentum, she sees that she is actually making a difference, but also realizes that her family is paying consequences in other ways.
Her struggle in this episode is not unlike the struggle that we as parents face every day. We want the best for our children and go about obtaining that goal in different ways, when the best way is likely to just spend time with them and monitor and involve yourself in what they are doing. The single biggest influence a child has on the decisions they make is the example set by their parents. Marge’s “One person can make a difference” crusade was successful in its own right, but failed in the grander scheme because she lost the level of involvement she had in her childrens’ lives previously.
