The first mention of Belgium is in “Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?” (S11E3). After an attempted murder of Homer Simpson by restaurant owners, Chief Wigum, Springfield’s police officer, offers his two fellow police officers to eat a “Belgian waffle” at the food festival. This, however, only occurs in the original English-speaking version and in the Spanish-speaking Latin-American one. In the French version, the waffle is replaced by a “crèpe” (a pancake). This suggests that Belgium is famous for its waffles in America (both English and Spanish speaking) but not in France. Why is that? Maybe France is too proud of its cuisine to appreciate Belgium’s one. Or maybe it is simply that “gauffre belge” (“Belgian waffle”) does not sound good in French.
Another typical Belgian tradition is mentioned in The Simpsons. In “Husbands and Knives” (S19E7), a new comics bookshop opens in Springfield. There, Lisa Simpson finds a whole shelf dedicated to “Astérix” and “Tintin”. She says that she is surprised; she thought that you could only find those in High School French class. She then opens Tintin in Paris in which Tintin has the mission to save the Belgian ambassador. The scene takes place in a castle, and the soundtrack is a song by the famous French singer Edith Piaf. Moreover, Tintin, in all the three versions, says in French “zut alors!” (“woops” or “blast”). Belgium is therefore recognized for its numerous successful comic’s authors although French language and culture seem to undermine a little the acknowledgement that Tintin is Belgian.
Tintin comes back in “In the Name of the Grandfather” (S20E14). The Simpson family travels to Ireland, where Grandpa Simpson was deployed during World War II. Lisa Simpson notices that Ireland is ...
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- The Simpsons seventh episode of the 19th season: “Husbands and Knives”, directed by Nancy Kruse, 2007.
- The Simpsons ninth episode of the 20th season: “Lisa the Drama Queen”, directed by Matthew Mastuk, 2009
- The Simpsons 14th episode of the 20th season: “In the Name of the Grandfather”, directed by Ralph Sosa, 2009.
- The Simpsons first episode of the 22nd season: “Elementary School Musical”, directed by Mark Kirkland, 2010.
- The Simpsons ninth episode of the 22nd season: “Donnie fatso”, directed by Ralph Sosa,
2010.
- “Bart Simpson is verzot op Kuifje”, De Standaard, March 26th 2009.
- Renzenbrick, Anne, “What Country Gets the Most Vacations?”, CNN’s Blog Business 360, March 16 2012.
- Simpsons Wiki’s webpage on Kirk Van Houten.
- The Simpsons Park’s webpage on Luann Van Houten.
- Simpsons Wiki’s webpage on Norbert Van Houten.
- Solvang USA’s website.
It does so by exaggerating certain parts in the episode to show how easily influenced people can be. For example, when Mr. Burns is having dinner at the table with the Simpsons family, he starts to answer all the questions that they have for him. Mr. Burns knew that his dinner with the Simpsons family was going to be recorded and broadcasted on live TV. So, before starting dinner he asked every member of the Simpsons family to memorize questions to ask him so he can talk about his “great qualities,” and the great things that he can offer the people. For the viewer, it is obvious that this scene in the show is exaggerated because Lisa looks miserable asking questions and every time Mr. Burns answers a question his response is a little exaggerate. One way Mr. Burns exaggerates is through his body movements. He gets up form his chair raises his hand and slams it on the kitchen table during the dinner. Also, his voice gets louder and more demanding. They are supposed to be having dinner, so there is no reason for why he should be reacting this way. Also, Mr. Burns asks Lisa “do you have a question?” and Lisa responds, “ Yes sir, your campaign seems to have the momentum or a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?” This is another example of how this scene is exaggerated. Lisa is only eight years old. A girl her age would not be interested in asking the politician a question. She would probably
Racism is displayed through Homer even though in truth the things he believes Muslims do are, nothing like most Muslims and their values. Throughout the episode, Homer makes many comical and idiotic attempts to prove that the Bashir’s family is up to something. At one point in the episode, Homer goes to Bashir’s home and talks to his mum. In this scene, Homer says “I heard somewhere your people are hospitable.” Mina (Bashir’s mum) replies “That is true. You may come in.” Homer then exclaims “Praised be Oliver!” Then Mina corrects “That’s Allah.” Finally, Homer says “Well, look it up in the Corona.” This exchange shows that Homer in truth actually knows nothing about Muslims. That scene is an example of malapropism. This causes the viewer laugh at the jokes and think how they might be like Homer and consider how much they actually understand about other religions and their beliefs. The director of this episode is extremely successful in portraying Homer as the antagonist to Bart’s cause and a stereotypical racist
Groening took responsible risks to make these shows into popular TV shows. Groening made the first popular animated adult comedy (The Simpsons). He said “ The history of TV has traditionally been not to do anything that would scandalize Grandma or upset Junior. Our solution on The Simpsons is to do jokes that people who have an education, or some frame of reference, can get. And for the ones who don't, it doesn't matter, because we have Homer banging his head and saying, 'D'oh!'.” This became the concept around the Simpsons and Futurama. He also based the Simpsons on his real family (he didn’t in Futurama). His dad was named Homer, mom’s was Margaret (most called her Marge), and his little sisters were named Lisa and Maggie. He also had two
Neuhaus, Jessamyn. "Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons." Journal of Popular Culture 43.4 (2010): 761-781. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
McAllister, Matthew P. "The Simpsons." Encyclopedia of Television. Ed. Horace Newcomb. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
The kid is talking to his mom about Santa Claus and in line 25 the kids at the 8 year old school say Santa Claus is not real. The mother sits down on their purple flowered couch with the kid (26-27)
“The Tortoise and the Hare” (Disney 1934). YouTube.com. Youtube, 17 June 2010 Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs and Lisa Ganjhu. 2004. DVD.
Rhimes, S. (Writer), & Corn, R (Director). (2009). Stand By Me [Television series episode]. In
Homer Jay Simpson, the patriarch of the Simpson household on the Fox series “The Simpsons” is a childish, lazy man, whose hobbies include eating donuts, drinking Duff Beer, watching television, and sleeping. A victim of the “Simpsons gene” which allows for only Simpson women to possess the trait of intelligence, Homer is unfortunately as “dumb as a chimp” according to his father, Abe Simpson. However, it is mainly through the analysis of his simplistic thoughts and nature, that one can gain a real perspective on Homer’s complex personality.
Johnny Mnemonic . Dir. Robert Longo. Pref. Keanu Reeves, Ice-T, Dolph Lungdren and Henry Rollins . Tri-stra pictures , 1995.
Matt Groaning creator of the Simpsons uses his trademark satire and television show to deliver a political statement over the process of church and the material found in the old testament of the bible in its 10th season episode 18 labeled "Simpson Bible Stories." The setup of the episode has the Simpson family sitting front row at church nearly passed out due to boredom when the preacher extends the Easter sermon for finding a chocolate bunny in the collection tray and labeling it as a false idol. Each Old Testament biblical retelling is funneled through each of a Simpson family members sub conscious as they pass out listening to the sermon. The wife Marge 's dream is focused on the retelling story of Adam and Eve. This version acts as an alternative
When Ralph finds a conch shell and uses it to call the boys from all