I really couldn't put a finger on "my fav simpsons episode," but EIEIDoh (Tomacco episode) was always one of my favorites to watch.
Lets start with the obvious. The beginning of the show can be interpreted as a satire of the influence of movies in American culture. Homer displays this when he mocks word for word the Zorro movie he saw in the theater, when his "honor was insulted" then subsequently demands for satisfaction. The Glove Slap song is an obvious parody of Love Shack, and the montage that plays during the song is hilarious (Slapping the toll-guard for a mere fifty cents.)
Another obvious satire in the episode is the prominence of American's indulging in whims, namely tobacco or other addictive substances. The series of events as certain characters become immediately addicted to the tomacco is great. (Chief Wiggum and son "It tastes like Grandma! Holy Moses it DOES taste like grandma! I WANT MORE. Yeah me too, just give me the whole bucket.)
I wish they would have had a little more of this satire in the episode. They could have expanded on the tobacco industry, as well as American's inclination to become addicted. It seems like the last five minutes of the episode they tried to cram as much in as possible, more time should have been allotted to attacking these.
Other good items in the show:
The southern man who accepted Homer's "Duel" challenge. Great comedy of manners regarding a stereotypical southern man (who talked like Foghorn Leghorn and had a suspiciously-Yosemite-Sam-like sticker on his car).
Advertising in movies using violence. (Soldier brutally piercing another just to take a soda out and adveritise it)
Homer constantly getting smashed by the tractor in absurd ways.
My favorites one liners of the episode:
Marge: Looks like you were saved by a Christmas tree!
Homer (mockingly): And somebody wanted to get rid of it in April.
Lenny: Plutonium! Homer don't you think thats kinda risky?..... Naaah I guess your right, it's not.
Wiggum: Go ahead Ralphie, the stranger is offering you a treat! (Fantastic satire of the incompetent parent)
Some good dark comedy:
Homer: I guess I'll go hang myself in the barn...
Marge: Homer No!
Bart: Let him go Mom...
Lisa: Wait Dad you don't have to kill yourself!
Homer: This better be good!
Lisa: (After Homer is shot) Dad this might be one of those things you should go to the hospital for...
Homer (quickly retorting): After pie.
Like I said, my favorite? No. But still damn good. Like I said, I wish they had more content regarding addiction and maybe some more shots at the tobacco industry.
On second thought, I suppose Homer's invention and exploitation of Tomacco is a huge metaphor comparing the tobacco industry. Homer doesn't care he is selling Tomacco even though others getting addicted and is unhealthy, he is selling just to make money, exactly parallel to the view on the tobacco industry.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Sedaris' Genius
It's a shame that this class introduced to me David Sedaris.
His unique style and blatent criticisms about himself and his family are hilarious. I love how he is so open when he writes about himself, it truly results in a real genuine, funny product. The tape we listened to on Wednesday was a perfect example. He talked about how hard it was to take his clothes off even when he was inside his own trailer, and he even touched on his sexual excitements (tingling in his penis), and it was funny. His Letterman gig was similar in that he was talking about pissing while talking to people. And it all comes off so funny because you can think to yourself: "I would be thinking and saying the same shit he is in these situations.) His genuinity in his content as he writes about these awkward situations, and the fact that it comes out hilarious, and perhaps even relatable, is where his genius shines.
I thought "Rooster" was a great example of how Sedaris' genuinity comes out of his stories. Sedaris certaintly played up Rooster's raw and vulgar mannerisims in the story, and while funny, made me think of Rooster as rather unpleasant in the beginning of the story. But then Sedaris told us about his "fuck it" attitude . Sedaris spoke of The Rooster as resilient, and it seems like he could deal with a heavy load of adversity. The very end was appealing to me, when Rooster pats his Dad's back and tells him that he'll get through it. At the end of the story Rooster was incredibly admirable to me and it felt like I actually knew The Rooster, which is very hard to do in such a small story.
That is Sedaris's genius, his relatable and genuine style of his writing.
His unique style and blatent criticisms about himself and his family are hilarious. I love how he is so open when he writes about himself, it truly results in a real genuine, funny product. The tape we listened to on Wednesday was a perfect example. He talked about how hard it was to take his clothes off even when he was inside his own trailer, and he even touched on his sexual excitements (tingling in his penis), and it was funny. His Letterman gig was similar in that he was talking about pissing while talking to people. And it all comes off so funny because you can think to yourself: "I would be thinking and saying the same shit he is in these situations.) His genuinity in his content as he writes about these awkward situations, and the fact that it comes out hilarious, and perhaps even relatable, is where his genius shines.
I thought "Rooster" was a great example of how Sedaris' genuinity comes out of his stories. Sedaris certaintly played up Rooster's raw and vulgar mannerisims in the story, and while funny, made me think of Rooster as rather unpleasant in the beginning of the story. But then Sedaris told us about his "fuck it" attitude . Sedaris spoke of The Rooster as resilient, and it seems like he could deal with a heavy load of adversity. The very end was appealing to me, when Rooster pats his Dad's back and tells him that he'll get through it. At the end of the story Rooster was incredibly admirable to me and it felt like I actually knew The Rooster, which is very hard to do in such a small story.
That is Sedaris's genius, his relatable and genuine style of his writing.
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