The Simpsons episode that floors me every time
The Simpsons episode that floors me every time
Marge Be Not Proud may be remembered for gags about crap video games but it's really about losing parental love
Ever heard of Zombie Simpsons? It’s not a Halloween episode but is in, in fact, a theory made by a fan website that the longest running US sitcom of all time went downhill from season 8 (1997 no less!) and became the walking undead from season 12 onwards (2001). It’s bold to claim that one of the most loved shows ever has been a been a bit shit from the start of this century but maybe there’s an element of truth in this as its best episodes were in the 90s.
Luckily ‘Marge Be Not Proud’ is from peak Simpsons: season 7. Hmm. The website refers to One Bad Episode of that series and I quote: “’Marge Be Not Proud’ was the first time the show ever sincerely employed the rote, brainless patterns of a normal program [sic]. It was, in the parlance of crappy television, a ‘very special episode’”.
Well I disagree. But it doesn’t really matter what I think about the merits of the show because I’m not here to critique it as a piece of comedy. I’m here to explain how this episode makes me weep. On every viewing. I’ve now watched it more than ten times. That’s a lot of tears. And in any case everyone hates a critic and having done standup comedy for a few years I can tell you that no one hates a critic more than a comedian does. (Oddly knowing a few journalists who review live comedy I can reveal they want to be loved even more than comedians do. It’s sad because more than anything they want to be on stage but can’t, for whatever reason, and then trash those they actually love in pursuit of a narrative. If any standups are reading this who have had bad reviews I hope this helps.)
The feeling of being in trouble can overwhelm you. It’s that knot in your stomach when you know you’ve made a mistake at work that’s yet to be discovered. It’s when you say something hurtful to a loved one who remains silent. It’s when you’ve given Chris Rock two-stars to make your review standout on Twitter but he’s seen you walking towards him and recognises your face from your tweet: “THREAD: WHY ROCK SUCKS…”
It’s also when you are caught shoplifting and your parents have been informed. For Bart his sinking doom is caused by the latter (Bart would never diss a comedian even for fun. He’s not THAT evil) and this sense of dread overwhelms this ‘very special episode’. Bart wants this video game called Bonestorm which was based on the 90s craze for ultra-gory beat-em-ups like Mortal Kombat and his theft is definitely a nod to how much said game would retail for (although in real money still cheaper than today’s Playstation games).
Bart temporarily loses his mother’s love after she discovers he shoplifted the game that she had banned him from having because of its violent content. She becomes emotionally distant from him and this means no bed-time tuck-ins (a tear is starting to form as I write this) even though he stole out of peer group pressure. It’s a defence in my book. I’m Team Bart here. Even though ‘peer group pressure’ may have been Rose West’s defence. What makes this episode so sad is the notion that you can lose a mother’s love and win it back. When I first watched it as a teenager it gave me hope that this could happen and that my mother would finally see me for the Good Boy I Am™.
But then therapy has taught me that hope is completely unfounded. In fact, my most recent viewing (for this piece) led me to cry because I wanted so much for Marge to be my mother. Yes, that’s right my mum is so bad I want the naffest woman in cartoon history to be my parent. A woman who suppresses her artistic talent to marry a bald alcoholic who only drinks crap beer. But then she does forgive Bart when he buys her a thoughtful present (sigh, I’ve tried this so many times) and that’s not something my mother has ever done.
I am not Bart though. The worst thing I did when I was young wasn’t shoplift but want to see my mother when she came home from work. She worked nights as a nurse and my Dad did bedtimes. I can’t really remember what this involved – I must have been about my daughter’s age of four as my sister wasn’t born yet – but I do remember he was ‘hands off’ so I went to bed late and watched TV that scared me.
So much so I was still awake when I heard my mum come back from work. I was in bed and threw my alarm clock on the floor so she would hear I was awake – it was about 10pm and I just needed comfort. I expected a cuddle but my Dad came up and ‘smacked me’ to use my family’s parlance. He actually picked me up and slapped me across the face so hard I was bleeding and weeping uncontrollably. All because I wanted to see my mother.
It must have been a hard ‘smack’ as she did eventually come up. Here was my hug I thought. But like Marge she just shut the door without even a tuck-in. It’s important to stay with my feelings with this and remember that because my parents were from traditional backgrounds that this still isn’t acceptable. The problem with immigrant families is that they are praised for hard work but it’s often forgotten that they have a lot of trauma; mine didn’t even have the emotional skills to parent me.
TV in the 90s did not paint a nuanced view of immigrant life (exception: The Buddha of Suburbia) and that’s why I turned to comedy shows like The Simpsons for emotional connection. When, in a prior episode, Bart says: “TV [has] spent so much more time raising us than you have” he’s speaking for me as I was plonked in front of a screen (as well as TV, I also had a games console like Bart) for my entire childhood.
Consequently, the undealt trauma just spills out when I watch this episode and I really empathise with Bart because all he wants is to please his parents, Bonestorm theft aside. If Bart aged in real time he would be in his 40s like me: I do hope he finds some solace in therapy. The biggest achievement you can make is not pass this trauma on to your kids. Although Bart’s kids are going to be fucked up with or without therapy let’s be honest, unless Lisa picks up the slack on the moral mentoring side; Auntie Lisa will be giving them anti-racism lessons, while Bart believes Qanon conspiracies.
In fact when I eventually show ‘Marge Be Not Proud’ to my daughter in a few years, I expect her to view it as a piece of whimsy that doesn’t trigger anything apart from laughter. But then she will have no trauma because I have taken the decision to have regular therapy sessions; they sometimes infuriate me but mean I can have the most rewarding and loving relationships with my kids.
I’m no Zombie Parent after all.
Next week I’ll be talking about TV Burp, my love of market towns and a house-share that actually was fun. It’s not a whole episode of the Harry Hill clip show but one short one-minute skit on River Cottage. And squid preparation. Watch it here.
But if you prefer darker content… the week after I’ll be droning on about an episode of Cracker which features racist murders, bombings and the fallout from the Hillsborough disaster. If you’ve not seen it it’s some of the finest British TV ever made. Do you need an excuse to see Messrs McGovern, Coltrane, Carlyle, Eccleston and Geraldine Somerville’s finest work?