This blog will explore the use of intertextuality in media texts , and how it has influenced the film's content. In addition, I will then go on to discuss the benefits of these references to producers and especially audience members watching them.
To begin, the term intertextuality simply refers to the relationship between different texts, or the cross referencing between film. Intertextuality has been repeatedly used and adapted to over centuries and this blog will outline exactly why these references are used amongst some of the most iconic films. As well as intertextuality being mainly action that is almost copied, there are many other derived things linked to it which follow, these could be the basis of an idea, or a beginning or even an ending. The texts I will be looking at is the Simpsons use of intertextuality. Whilst watching The Simpsons I find that in nearly every episode, there is some sort of reference whether that be political or religious references. Nearly every reference contains aspects of politics/religion/culture.
The best reference Michael Polcino has made with Alfred Hichcock's 'Psycho'. The famous shower scene is ever more recognized on a global level, and is certainly the most famous 1960s scene. The scene is of Janet Leigh who goes into the shower tub, and starts bathing. Soon someone appears behind her and attacks her with a knife quite brutally, she is attacked with seven stabs. The subject then walks off, leaving her to die a slow death. We then see her pull the curtain down and collapse to the ground.
The camera is then slowly panned closer to the sink hole , where eventually we see an eye instead. Hitchcock's clever manipulation of the sink hole shot, is very effective to me personally. I feel as though he intended for the viewer to feel as though they were there as well, which can either be exciting where we feel part of something big, or on the other hand we feel guilty and helpless to assist poor Janet from surviving. This scene not only is effective but also is visually entertaining, in the sense that although during the 60's colored screens had not developed so much. The audience are still entertained by the camera work the mise-en-scene and the overwhelmingly apparent fake blood. In the Simpsons version, however the intertextuality is used in a rather different way for entertainment. We see a similar content of which Homer is attacked by his baby daughter. The audience may have a different reaction to this way of reflecting Hitchcock's shower scene, I would personally say that the Simpsons reference was disappointing, this is because the action was not as entertaining and seemed more of a comment on homer and nothing else. Whereas in Psycho I feel it was a comment on the vulnerability of women, or that women are weak and as it was quite a domesticated society during the 60's, a generalization on the way women should be at home, not out, otherwise they will be targeted for sexual services.
This scene shows Maggie who is the youngest child in the Simpsons family, raise a hammer attempting to attack her father. This is a clear example of intertextuality being used, as we see the same/ similar scene in Pyscho. The male figure is holding up a knife and is about to again attack this time the female character who is in the shower. Both scenes are reflective of each other, however in the Simpsons the producer has decided to use the same idea but implement a completely different character. By making the character Maggie be the evil killer, it shows a sense of contrast between her age (a baby) and her personality. We don't expect a baby to have such cruel intentions, however it is funny and therefore entertaining as we gain pleasure from the young minded Maggie with what we'd call some adult's way of thinking.
Therefore, the benefit to using intertextuality is that it almost changes the way we see things. This particular example shows us, as the audience what benefit we gain, which is entertainment and constant engagement. However, another benefit for say the younger audience , who are more likely to watch The Simpsons, would be personal identification as they may see a mirror of perhaps their behavior, because often young children are mischievous.
The next scene is when the character realizes what is coming for her, but does nothing more than try to push her attacker away, using her hands. This again comments on women being weak, and as the attacker is male, shows how men are dominant in the sense that they can over power you physically and you as a woman have no power to stop them. Hitchcock has successfully, shown us how a simple murder scene in black and white can be beneficial to us. This is cross-referenced in The Simpsons version, the only difference I would say is that the producers of The Simpsons have deliberately changed the action, as Homer is not in a shower but is trying to mend or put together a set of wood planks. The reference would still be considered intertextuality though, because the reaction is exactly the same and the camera angles are pretty much similar. The audience who watch this reference might not necessarily recognize it instantly though, because the two films are so dissimilar for many reasons. For example, the target audience will certainly differ, the production team for each would be different as well. This all effects the way the reference is portrayed. 
This extreme close up shot displays how precise the intertextuality is between Psycho and The Simpsons. We see virtually the exact image except in Psycho it is a black and white , shower scene and in The Simpsons it's an animation. The production team who have created these two productions are clearly divided. The differences between them are almost mirrored in the productions, we know from looking at Psycho that the producers must have been fairly old fashioned aged people, however in The Simpsons the production team are probably young goofy adults, who have a good sense of humor. The producers benefit from this reference because they can spend less money on developing an idea, it is already thought of for them. The directors however benefit as they don't spend much time and effort in getting people to storyboard all these scenes, also they can be lazy and almost play the system, earning money out of nothing, and no one can stand in their way or tell them otherwise.
This scene again illustrates to us the accuracy of these references, in Psycho the killer walks away from their attack and leaves us with an impression of coldness, almost like this attacker is emotion-less. However with the reference in The Simpsons, Maggie who walks away from her insult leaves us with a mean to laugh at her, as we wouldn't expect such a young child to commit such action. It effects us as the audience as we are reminded of our childhood, and when we were up to no good. In a way this reference is quite clever as it is not intended for us to be particularly angry with the young Maggie. As the target audience for The Simpsons is something like a family as the production is about The Simpsons family and any race/ethnicity. This reference not only benefits the producers and directors but also the audience, because the producers have done their job successfully the audience are not overcome with the similarity. Also something important to realize is that one of the strengths of The Simpsons is that you're quite rarely not engaged. The plot is always humorous and the audience are entertained. The hammer which Maggie Is carrying reminds me personally of the Avengers movie. Thor who is one of the superhero's uses it as his defense tool against any enemy's.
Again, looking at target audiences both texts are aimed at a completely different market. This means that who ever watches the Simpsons version may or may not recognize that it was copied from Psycho. This simply relies on the target audience who would not be the same for both. Another noticeable thing is that in Psycho the attack happens in a bathroom, and in The Simpsons it happens in the basement , so the producers have played around a bit with the plot and locations in order to make it a tiny bit different. Here I would say the producers benefit because they do not have to think about new ideas, and that is the good thing I guess about intertextuality that the producers, directors and audience all gain in some shape or form. One thing I have noticed is that in Psycho the attack lasts longer than in The Simpsons version. Where the female is being stabbed multiple times, in The Simpsons however Homer only gets one knock to the head with the hammer then he drops to the ground. Therefore in this case, is the intertextuality trying to show men as being weak or easy to overcome? And in Psycho are women more eligible to take pain regardless of the severity?
This scene is very widely recognised, Hitchcock's excellence in directing Psycho has created a mesmerizing scene which will never be forgotten.The good thing about this particular reference is that the clever manipulation of the sink hole makes it look original in the understanding that if anybody tried to do it like Hitchcock, they would never get it quite as good. The fact that in The Simpsons the water is paint which is much thicker than water and it happens to go down a random hole on the floor is quite unrealistic and that is probably one of the problems about intertextuality- most of the time you don't get what you wanted how you intended for it to be. The producers and directors don't gain anything here because whilst the paint is itself looks like blood, we're given a much more negative image of The Simpsons. Water is much more vulnerable and connotes nature and is an important life source, whilst blood is natural however in a completely different sense.
The extreme close up used here is following the sink hole scene where the camera zooms in to the hole and back out again showing us this eye. The effect this has on the audience is they get to see the victims reaction or more a less her emotions after being stabbed nearly seven times. In The Simpsons the extreme close up doesn't work as well, this is because it is not a real eye - just a drawn version and I would say the only way the audience know how Homer is feeling is from the size of the pupil where is small to show shock. Intertextuality is again unsuccessful because the audience don't know that this shot is used to show expression or emotion, although it looks like an eye you don't get the same information from it compared to Psycho. The producers don't benefit anything here because as an audience member I am not overwhelmed at his state , the eye position of the eye in Psycho is from the perspective of someone looking down at It which makes it look fearful and harmless, however with the reference in The Simpsons we don't know whether the eye is looking at an eye level to you or you're looking down at it. This creates confusion and although it isn't apparent makes it look less realistic.
It is often thought that one film references another because they're fans of that film. I think that The Simpsons could well be fans of Psycho, but that is by the by. Like I've said before the filmmakers of The Simpsons would be different to the filmmakers of Psycho, therefore they would view things differently, however it is interesting to see their passion towards Psycho, by making a film reference they're showing inspiration. This example to the left shows a clear reference as Homer is sitting in the same position as Janet, looking up towards us. The image is slightly different however because Homer looks like he is dead not just injured and Janet looks genuinely on the brink of death. What is successful here though is the accuracy of intertextuality, I would say that the directors and producers have been well aware of the precision they will have to do. The audience benefit enormously because they notice this reference and both the target audience for The Simpsons and Psycho come together and gain entertainment and engagement. Also something else they may enjoy is watching something that is from both Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Polcino in one film! 
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