The Simpsons - Mr. Burns - American Business at Its Worst

As Springfield's number one villain, Montgomery Burns represents Corporate America at its worst. He lies, cheats, and buys off everyone from employees to nuclear power plant inspectors. He is as stingy as he is rich, and has very few, if any, redeeming qualities. This begs the question: Why include a character like this in a show like the Simpsons?

There are several reasons, but here are the most important reasons. 1. Burns is a satire of American business. As a true satire of the money-grubbing American businessman, the creators are able to use Mr. Burns to create amazing commentary on some very real economic issues. By calling attention to the inequity of the system in a humorous way, it is more palatable to audiences, without being too harsh. 2. Burns's over the top personality makes it possible to easily humanize him, as in the episode where Marge paints a fragile picture of Burns naked. There are several episodes in which various characters plead to his humanity. He may cave in and show his humanity for a moment, but then he is right back to being Mr. Burns. 3. The Simpsons needed a true villain as the other characters all have noticeable redeeming characteristics. Think about it, Moe is too kind hearted and Chief Wiggum is too stupid to be good villains. Not only do you need someone bad, you need someone who is smart and without much of a conscious. Montgomery Burns makes the perfect villain.

In addition, Burns provides plenty of comic relief. His relationship with Smithers is just plain funny. Burns appears to be completely unaware that Smithers is the biggest brownnoser possible. No matter how hard he tries, it just isn't quite enough. There have been several times in various episodes in which Homer gets on Burns's good side, only to oust Smithers from his cherished position. Besides his comic interaction with Smithers, Burns's schemes provide plenty of comic relief as well. How could anyone forget the time that he outsourced the plant to India, only to have his new Indian employees worship Homer, the employee put in charge of setting up shop in India, as a god? There are several other instances throughout the series; Burns never fails to provide comic relief.

Even though Montgomery Burns comes across as the worst possible person, there is a heart underneath the crusty exterior. Whenever Burns appears in an episode, we, the audience, normally gets a glimpse at his humanity. However, it is normally very brief and his scenes often end with him going back to his normal selfish ways. He, like the Simpsons themselves, never seems to learn from episode to episode, no matter what occurs during the ½ hour show from week to week.

Many fans love to hate Mr. Burns, but the Simpsons would not be the Simpsons if it weren't for him. After all, he is the stupid person who hired incompetent Homer. As all Simpsons fans know, Homer would not have gone back to Marge (even though she was pregnant with Bart at the time) if he hadn't landed a decent job. No matter how much you hate him, he is an integral part of the show.