Banksy's satire on The Simpsons

The first ever episode of The Simpsons  showed a family plunged into poverty by the vagaries of capitalism. When Mr Burns cancels the Christmas bonus, Homer has no idea how to get presents for his children in Simpsons Roasting Over an Open Fire. That set the political tone of the series, so forgive me for not being amazed by the courage of Banksy in satirising the ethics of the now-venerable Simpsons in its own opening credits. The British street artist has created a very funny opening sequence in which we glimpse a hellish underworld where oppressed Koreans labour to put together the programme and its merchandise.

Banksy is supposedly responding to "reports" that the makers of The Simpsons use far-eastern sweatshop labour to help churn out its episodes. I don't know about "reports", but I do know that the makers of the show have joked about the same subject. As for Banksy's portrayal of the Fox logo surrounded by military searchlights and barbed wire, that too is of a piece with the programme's persistent biting of the hand that feeds it, including caricaturing Rupert Murdoch. This is a cartoon about blue-collar Americans that always makes it clear who their oppressors are – not foreign terrorists, but big business and the Republican party (which has been shown scheming in a secret Dracula-like lair).

Liberal-seeming, Apple-style capitalism has also been a favourite target. When Homer gets a job in an ideal community, the only drawback is that non-hierarchical, sustainable-businessman Hank Scorpio is a supervillain who doesn't want to be called boss – he just wants to rule the world. So Banksy's joke may be that in turn, the cartoon has itself become part of the cosy modern consensus, still broadly leftish in its views but no longer looking at the world – or itself – with the honesty of youth. Then again, he got his sequence made.