What the Simpsons can teach us... (part I): Simpsons and Clergy dress

This will not really be a 2-part post... The two posts, though mentioning The Simpsons, really have nothing to do with one another.  However, during Lent, many Facebook posts by Orthodox Christians excitedly contained this picture from a recent Simpsons episode:

                 

One of my initial reactions to this was to notice that the traditional serpents on the bishop's staff were turned into a mustache, but that is neither here nor there.  The more profound impact of this image for me spins off of what many others stated about it.

For many Facebook users, this image showed that Orthodoxy is now becoming more recognizable... more "mainstream," though I dislike and disagree with that particular term.  However, if the writers and artists of The Simpsons could make this joke, many felt this was evidence of some great headway for Orthodoxy in America.  This may, indeed, be the case.  For me, however, something else stuck out.

Notice, here, what the figure, intended likely to be an Orthodox priest but in reality an Orthodox bishop, looks like: He wears a rasso and a beard.  The figure could have been wearing a suit and a collar, but those in charge of the image associated a certain look with Orthodox clergy.  This look was representative of Orthodoxy for those who are most likely not Orthodox themselves.

I will likely post my thoughts on clergy dress more extensively in the future, but I thought this pop-culture Easter egg (sorry for the bad pun) said a great deal about how the heterodox and largely secular West views Orthodoxy... We are distinguished by our church architecture and our clergy's dress.  We are often told that the rasso, long hair, and a beard are "out of place" in America and that Americans associate the suit and collar with being a priest.  Here, however, we see that, at least for some, we are recognized by the very things that set us apart, that make us appear, according to some, "out of place."  Perhaps we should desire standing out and desire Orthodoxy being associate with a look - and feel - that is not found in other denominations...

As a side note, because I mentioned the word "feel," I couldn't help but notice this express this bishop was given:  that all-too-familiar peaceful, almost stoic demeanor.  I am not a fan of The Simpsons, but I confess that I was impressed with how they captured this.. and that, even in America were Orthodoxy is not well known, the presence Orthodoxy does have relayed this look.  This bishop is not presented as a scholar or intellect, nor as a crazy zealot... He is just a man quietly observing his Faith, probably kind and gentle, but faithful above all else.  This is an image that indeed speaks volumes...