Matt Groening Says That Freedom to Joke Doesn’t Mean Freedom from Criticism

Sometimes, the price of telling a risky joke is a bad review, but that’s not the same thing as censorship — otherwise, Matt Groening would be in prison.

In the nearly 35 years since The Simpsons took over TV comedy, Groening has seen innumerable cultural debates over line-crossing in comedy come and go while artfully avoiding excess participation in any such dialogue. Though The Simpsons has long faced calls for censorship or increased sensitivity when it comes specific jokes — even from the literal censors at Fox, whom Groening generally ignores — the series doesn’t habitually thumb its nose at such critics the way their rivals over at Family Guy so often do. At the same time, The Simpsons doesn’t exactly engage in what most comedy fans would call “edgy humor,” so it’s not often that the series ever finds itself smack-dab in the center of the comedy culture war — except for when The Simpsons had to clarify that, no, they had not taken a stance against child abuse by ending the “Homer chokes Bart” gag.

In a recent interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, Groening explained his belief that, much like The Simpsons itself, the freedom to make a joke is still alive and well in America, despite what the critics may say.

When his interviewer asked about the enduring debate over whether or not comedians can tell boundary-pushing jokes in today’s “sensitive” cultural climate, an issue that somehow made it from the American podcasting scene all the way to Madrid, Groening said responded, “I think the important thing is to have as much freedom as you can to express yourself, but you’ve got to be prepared for criticism. That’s justified as well. So, you put it out there and you dish it out … and you’ve got to be able to take it back.”

That second part seems to be where many comedians have stumbled — taking it as well as they dish it. But if they take the less-self-serious path that Groening has followed, it pays off. “There’s no retirement!” Groening said of his chosen career in comedy. “I love my job. It’s like child’s play. Telling stories, joking and making people laugh is basically the only thing I wanted to do when I grew up. I love to continue doing it.”

Between the new seasons of The Simpsons and the Hulu revival of Futurama, Groening has shown that he can take criticism in stride and continue making people laugh — even if it’s at his shows instead of with them.