LOUIS BURKE | Culture | CONTACT
With mounting house prices and increased cost of living (see Coachella tickets) becoming more widespread, welfare and lifestyle margins has become an important issue for many members of Generation Y.
With youth organisations working hard to provide support for young people dealing with an array of different issues, one organisation has sought to help perhaps the most ostracised sub-group of Generation Y; those whose parents didn’t let them watch The Simpsons.
Founder Kelsey Cartwright (28) says her support group NDACM [Never Had a Cow, Man] sets out to help people just like her, who feel outcast by not being able to understand jokes from the classic animation that their friends work into everyday conversation.
“We meet every night at 6pm. That’s a very emotional time for us as that’s the time we were constantly denied the opportunity to watch The Simpsons.”
Cartwright founded the group in 2014 after noticing the increasing number of Simpsons humour and imagery in Australian popular culture.
“When I mentioned the idea of starting the group my friends asked me if it was going to be called ‘The No Kelseys Club.’ I told them that wouldn’t make any sense because Kelsey is my name. They kacked themselves for some reason. I felt stupid and that’s why we need this group.”
Immediately, Cartwright’s group was a huge success, drawing interest from people from all walks of life, including one young man named Milhouse Parkes (24).
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be called Milhouse and not be allowed to watch The Simpsons. No, everything is not ‘coming up Milhouse’ how could it be? That’s not a grammatically correct sentence.”
One thing all of the attendees seem to share is having conservative religious parents who deemed The Simpsons to not be appropriate viewing for their children.
“One time, I finally convinced my mum to please let me watch one episode and in the episode the dad didn’t want to go to church anymore. My mum nearly broke the TV that night. Never allowed to watch it again. My friends say she’s ‘a bit of a Flanders like that.’”
While all members of the group are adults who can now watch the show, the consensus amongst the group seems to be The Simpsons is a show where the nostalgia aspect surely makes it funnier.
“I turned it on the other day, because they’re still making it. Was a new episode and it wasn’t even funny. Don’t get what the fuss is about.”
For founder Kelsey Cartwright, the work she has done to improve the lives of her sans Simpson peers is truly rewarding but she states there is plenty more work to be done.
“Our goals are simple; we just want to be treated with respect and not ‘a new candle every once in a while’ whatever the fuck that means.”
