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Worldly Distractions: The Simpsons 25.11 - Specs and The City


crazyforkate

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blog-specs.jpg 

specs

Apparently, this episode is along the lines of "The Simpsons meets Google Glass". Ooh, aren't we trendy? Forgive me for thinking this might not be the pinnacle of the series.

We have basically no opening credits - just an advisory to "Drink and Bet Responsibly" from the Duff Blimp, then a shot of the Simpsons running through their garage. We abruptly cut to the living room. No, it's not the couch gag, it's the episode. I'm confused too. Homer watches the Super Bowl. Bart steals his beer and hangs it over telephone wires like a pair of shoes. Homer climbs up a tree, tries to grab the beer, and hangs out for several hours, intermittently electrocuting himself. This wreaks havoc with the town's power. I bemoan the man's increasing stupidity. When did he stop being a character, guys?

Bizarrely, at that point we get the television title card with the creators' names on it. So...that was the couch gag? But the next frame says one month earlier, but that was the episode, too? Also, the Super Bowl is next week, so I'm pretty sure this was out of order. I'm so confused, guys, and we're only a minute or so in.

Okay, we go back one month to Christmas, where the nuclear power plant is fully staffed. Bah, humbug. Homer hangs inanimate carbon rods on a Christmas tree. Carl lets him know that the company Christmas gifts are about to be announced. Since they have traditionally been lousy, no one's holding their breath. Burns shows up with "Oogle Goggles", which are - yeah, Google Glass. Sorry for insulting your intelligence.

The guys are thrilled with their new gifts, and take turns looking up information and calling each other. We get a meta joke about the opening credits, which is as insufferable as usual. Burns, meanwhile, reveals an ulterior motive to this sudden generosity - he's wired all the glasses to an elaborate surveillance system, Dark Knight-style. Now, the employees must be on alert at all times, at work and at home. Gee, I wonder how that feels. The cameras also have murder buttons, but they don't work.

Time passes, and soon enough it's Valentine's Day. The kids have to give a card to every student in the class. Lisa's cynical, Bart's resentful, and Marge just wants them to make their stupid class Valentines and be quiet. We get an educational video warning of the "dangers" of being the unpopular kid with no valentines. Oh, come on, this stuff never works. As I recall, I was always the kid whom everyone conveniently "forgot" despite having class lists sent home. What ever happened to the days of Ralph Wiggum getting only one card, leading to one of the show's best episodes?

Homer can't get over how awesome his glasses are, though it drives Marge insane. In fact, everyone is soon tired of Homer's constant infodump. He wears them to drive, eat, and even snuggle. This last one prompts Marge to leave the bedroom in disgust.

The next morning, Marge is pissed off and Homer tries to make amends. He promises to give them up. The kids all fight over the glasses, but Marge wins out. Oh, boy! What crazy hijinks will this lead to?

On V-day, the kids nervously line up with their cards for Nelson's approval. Turns out he takes the whole enterprise a little more seriously than one would have thought. A boy brings in a substandard product and is dragged away. Bart gulps. He steps forward, but suddenly changes his mind. He takes a stand and declares that he won't give a valentine to a bully. Everyone stops dead. Nelson says he'll let Bart live - if he produces the perfect Valentine in one week. A depressing commentary on the nature of resistance, if you ask me.

At work, Homer finds himself increasingly alienated from his bespectacled coworkers. He desperately searches for a new pair of glasses. Marge, meanwhile, uses Homer's pair to look through recipes. She soon finds herself enchanted.

Homer goes to ask Mr. Burns for a replacement, but discovers the boss missing and the monitors on display. (By the way, the monitors offer some good Easter eggs if you bother to look.) Homer feels violated, and rightly so. However, he soon finds himself sucked into the world of his coworkers. Through his own glasses, he is also able to check up on his wife. He watches Marge commit such sins as hiding the ice cream and inviting Grampa to lunch.

Bart and Milhouse confer about the Valentine, and the process looks awfully like a Mad Men pitch. Of course, they refer to this. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as productive. Bart laments over the mere existence of the holiday, because it only leads to trouble. Amen, son, amen.

Homer continues to follow Marge through her day. This takes a worrisome turn when it's revealed that she's secretly seeing a therapist. Rather than turning away like a decent husband, Homer listens in on the session. Of course, it comes back to bite him when he turns out to be the subject of all her complaints. Homer runs crying to Moe. The bartender assures him he's the greatest guy ever, and advises him not to tell her that he's been spying (Moe knows this from experience). He suggests finding a way to "bump into" Marge at the therapist's office. At home, Marge is sunny while Homer is sarcastic. This does not bode well.

Bart comes up with a card, and it's simple and brilliant - it reads "I Fear You". Inside there's a poem, which includes the delightful line "You're a sociopath in need of a bath." Bart explains that he was inspired by the nature of Valentine's Day itself. It's a holiday based in fear, as people are coerced into giving gifts out of terror of the consequences. Nelson is skeptical, but soon gives in to his emotion, admiring the fear expressed in it. They actually hug it out. It's weird, and the other kids waste no time commenting on it.

Homer arrives for his therapy appointment. He hides behind a door and waits for Marge, but when he overhears her talking about how much the sessions mean to her, he remembers that she always seems to be happy on her appointment days - and miserable before. For the first time, it dawns on him that she might need this. He tries to back out of his appointment, but rather than using the time to vent, he has the therapist give him a haircut. Luckily, though, Marge doesn't see him.

At home that night, Marge is in a good mood. Homer starts to confess what he did, but Marge laughs off the idea that it could have been anything really bad. He takes this as a "get out of jail free card" and keeps his treachery secret. Marge tells him a funny story, and afterwards they snuggle. However, Marge still has the glasses on. Burns is watching the monitors, and gets quite the eyeful...

It really should have ended there, but we get a tag scene with Lisa and Ralph anyway. Apparently, he gave her a valentine with a tooth in it. Ralph suggests that she plant it and "grow a new Ralph". Lisa assures him she likes the old one already, and wishes him a Happy Valentine's Day. He colors himself green to get ready for St. Patrick's. I half-expect to see a Hallmark sponsorship logo at the end.

So, overall the episode was pretty decent. I enjoyed Bart's trick with Nelson, though the bully's reaction seemed a bit forced. The show was smart to get away from the technology gimmick as fast as possible, using it instead to drive the main plot - which was pretty decent, overall. It led to a surprisingly adult moment in the marriage, and a good development for Homer. At the beginning, I was ready to throw in the towel - but it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable half-hour.

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  • Posts

    • Xan

      Posted

      The egg apron is a deal breaker for me.  That was just an insult.  "You think you deserve a gift?  I'll show you your place!"

      And I'm a little bit tired of the social media scolds.  If they didn't put their lives on the internet, we wouldn't have opinions.  They did so we do.  If most of us think that he's a bully, he probably is.  I guess it's another case of the husband being so full of himself that he was sure the interview would show him in a good light.  It didn't.

    • Xan

      Posted

      I always find these Trump fantasy worlds very bizarre.  He's never in a nice suit meeting a world leader or even in a fireman's suit saving a child from a burning building.  It's always some fake macho outfit and, in this case, driving a car with a Confederate flag on it.  Their heroes don't seem that heroic.

    • JDuggs

      Posted

      On 12/22/2023 at 11:51 PM, JDuggs said:

      It looks like Micah is in a relationship, or very good friends, with this Florida realtor Veronica Peters. I’ve seen photos of them together on Micah’s IG, but I always thought she kind of looked too old for him. Maybe not.

      This was on Moriah’s IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e5583f82734714ccb023fc889e4f0f90.jpeg

      And this was on Veronica’s personal IG and professional IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e637a588be2f14fc379935962e743f47.jpeg

        Hide contentsimage.thumb.png.bfaa9a4a2ac77388067acef5c5afb81c.png

       

      Quoting myself from six months ago. I think this really is Micah’s girlfriend. She doesn’t seem quite as public about their relationship as she did back then.

      This photo of Veronica didn’t get copied over from my old post.

      Spoiler

      image.thumb.jpeg.0ae44da117d43f1db49868c42924ea03.jpeg

       

      • Upvote 1
    • JermajestyDuggar

      Posted

      There was a post on social media talking about this recent interview with Ballerina Farm and asking what people think about some of the things in it. So many commenters were like, “it’s her business! It’s not your life so why do you care?” This is the type of thing that bugs me to no end. Ballerina Farm posts their lives willingly! They post their children’s lives! Of course people will speculate and care! If they didn’t put their lives all over social media none of us would know anything about them. 

      • Upvote 1
    • LongTimeLurkerOG

      Posted

      On 7/25/2024 at 6:47 PM, LilMissMetaphor said:

      Just FYI in case someone missed it the first time round, this is what Art wrote on Reddit a year ago addressing some of the concerns that were brought up.  It's very telling if you read between some of the lines.

      "I don’t lie or make fraudulent claims to get money. That’s what a grifter is. I’ve closed all previous fundraisers and not all of them were successfully funded – for instance my legal name change and wedding fund did not get funded, so I still haven’t had a chance to do those things.

      I’m unable to work for a variety of medically supported reasons. It’s not okay to ask disabled people for proof of their disability simply because it’s medical information. To entertain the question is to concede that it’s okay to go ask other disabled people for their private medical history. It’s a common misconception that people pretend to be disabled for benefits or monetary gain, but it’s rare and doesn’t really make sense to do because benefits and fundraising add up to so little.

      I have been going to Seattle to look at possible places to live because it’s literally unavoidable, and I’ve been in severe pain because of it. That doesn’t mean I could do manual labor on a consistent basis. I don’t even drive, so I’ve had to cover gas and ask friends for help with rides.

      Have you ever tried working at a call center? I have. They’re severely strict and demanding, and incredibly demoralizing without paying much. They’re not an accessible alternative for people who can’t do more demanding manual labor. “Get a job like the rest of us” is ableist and is a fundamental misunderstanding of how accessible jobs are. It’s no better than yelling it at someone panhandling on the street. The supposedly “easy” or “low-skill” jobs are still difficult to do.

      I do use what resources I can, but it’s a total myth that there’s a robust social welfare system anywhere in the United States. If there was, we wouldn’t have so many hundreds of thousands of homeless people here, with millions more just a few missed paychecks away from joining them.

      The toxic mold was confirmed. My partner is literally terminally ill from it. If you read the actual updates, the name of the illness and the research surrounding it have been detailed. We have a letter from the pulmonologist that we sent to the landlord explaining that the environment my partner was in was causing the illness. Again, you’re demanding medical proof that you have no reason to ask about. Some things can’t just be washed out.

      I am as clear as I can possibly be about specific needs so that people know what they’re helping to support. I have said again and again that people shouldn’t give unless they can spare it and want to help. I even said that in the post linked to in this comment thread. My patreon is explicitly to support my writing.

      So why am I still fundraising and making money off telling my story? Because I literally have no other real options. I’ve been formally diagnosed with PTSD, it’s not “alleged trauma.” If it was working all that well, I wouldn’t have to keep detailing my needs.

      The real grifters in our society are billionaires, not poor disabled people. You sound like you just hate us for trying to exist."

      I remember reading this before. Well, they can take all their reasons and Stop. Grifting. Plenty of people with disabilities work and /or receive assistance (as I mentioned previously, my exPOS, who has disabilities so I'm familiar with a number of options and money). Some family, have / had disabilities. I've been an advocate for services and staff training (and provided training) for Years with previous positions - because it matters to me. So, yea, Artemis get. a. job. 

      57 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

      Art lists manual labour and call centres. And that's it. Not any jobs they could look at involving writing, from editing to writing student essays for money (yes it's dodgy but people do it). Not even playing video games for money (get character to a level where they have cool stuff for someone.)  Nothing about remote work, which there is more of now, and not even entry level white collar work.

      On the one hand I agree with them that the social support is inadequate, and that detailing your medical needs shouldn't have to happen - but they just grifted nearly $5000 to move and for a holiday, and with the amount of effort that took they probably could have held down employment of some description and to be honest would probably be better off.

      So many WFH/remote legit jobs now. Hell, you can play games on your phone and earn gift cards; donate blood and get gift cards. I knew a homeless couple that donated plasma for higher amount g.c.

      Absolutely! The amount of money; it's disgusting. And that amount of effort... At some point, even we don't want to or circumstances we don't want to deal with and adult, because... We're adults! Plenty of things I want to ignore or not deal with, just have go away but persevere because the alternative... not an option.

      2 hours ago, Bookworm1564 said:

      My all-time favourite Art post is the one where they say “Just for today, you can double the impact of your support with this opportunity” as if this was the moment we were all waiting for.

      Like a sale for limited-time-only 🤣



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