This episode of the Simpsons is a bit of a celebration of Black History Month. Lisa discovers things about the family’s history while attempting to do a project for school.
The opening segment that changes with every episode scared me. Instead of everyone coming to the couch like normal, Homer drowns. I have a feeling that it is some sort of strange Olympics parody, but it still unnerved me.
Coming from Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford, CT, I know all about bomb scares at school. (My high school would have a bomb threat about once a month. Whenever the said ‘mini-terrorist’ had a test, I guess.) Bart has plans to blow up the school, which made me laugh because his ideas never work; the school is completely safe. But then Willy, the Scottish custodian, decides to help. That worries me. And freaks me out. I’m not sure what Groening is trying to say about municipal workers, but it must be interesting. A great moment is when something lands on Principal Skinner’s car. Bart calls it, saying: “Here comes the ‘mykia.’” It lands and Principal Skinner looks out the window yelling “MY KIAAAA.” It was hilarious. Just going to show how much Americans love their overstated Kia vehicles.
Until recently I planned to be a teacher, which helped me to enjoy and understand that parody of the teacher. She looks at her planner when asked what they’ll be doing. What does it say? “Who knows, who cares, beats me, sick day, film strip.” Teachers seem to be portrayed like this pretty often. Why? I think I know why: children will always come home complaining about how bad school is, how they do nothing, learn nothing, etc. I vaguely remember some psychological term about it; people always tend to focus on the negative things in their lives. No one ever wants to complain about how great their life is going. (It reminds me of how there are always only depressing things on the news.) Teachers don’t deserve this view about them, because I’m sure that only a certain percent are as useless as this one.
She looks out the window and decides the children should make family trees – which gets Lisa on her mission. She goes home to encounter discouragement from her father and grandfather, who warn her against proceeding. Marge, on the other hand, encourages her, and helps her along the way with her project. Together, they discover that the Simpson family was a bunch of terrible people. Or were they?
Lisa ventures into the attic (with a little aid from Bart) and encounters a few interesting things. None are really highlighted, but I noticed them and found them interesting. There was an astronaut suit, a large stone face, pictures, a shirt that says “I didn’t do it,” skulls, old advertisements, and rainbows. I wish my attic was that cool.Lisa had to blow on the book five times for all the dust to come off…Go figure, it was from 1860. She brings it down to the living room and begins to read it. They find out that the Simpsons were kicked out of Australia. Since Australia was practically a giant British prison, the question arises: How bad WERE they?!
Eliza Simpson, the writer of the diary, was a daughter of a slave owner. The modern-day Simpsons show shock when they find out they are descendents of slave owners, when in actuality, many people around the world are and show no sympathy whatsoever. I find this to be an interesting reaction for them to have. Perhaps Groening is showing how he feels all descendents show feel?
The story follows Eliza as she attempts to help a slave, Virgil, run away through the Underground Railroad. They get chased (by men on horses that run across logs like Simba) and end up at the home of the Simpsons. Homer agrees to hide Virgil only because he knows how to make doughnuts, but later on gives him up to Colonel Burns, who then gets scared away by Marge with a rifle. The diary ends there because Santa’s Little Helper sneezes on it and it turns to dust and scraps. Lisa continues with her mission at the library and discovers a bit more about the story.
It comes down to Grandpa to finish the story. Homer has to threaten him by turning down the thermostat to tell the story, but he eventually tells the rest: Marge and Virgil run off to Canada together, meet Abe Lincoln along the way, and get married. Lisa: “We’re 1/64th black!” Bart: “That’s why I’m so cool!” Lisa: “That’s why my jazz is so smooth!” Homer: “And that’s why I make less than my white coworkers!” The family is now generalizing and stereotyping themselves differently because they found out that they were partially black. Another interesting part to notice is that Groening pokes fun at Grandpa and his generation. Grandpa admits that his generation is racist, which is something that almost everyone I know acknowledges about their elderly family members.
Oh, one last special note: For the black history month presentations half the kids were mini-Obama characters.
