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Description
Show: The Simpsons
Episode: 481
Year: 2011

Writer(s): Bill Odenkirk
Director(s): Michael Polcino

It's amazing how far down The Simpsons has gone in its 27+ years of existence; although, compared to most shows that have gone through seasonal rot, it has stayed largely tasteful. Unlike Family Guy where the characters became hollow shells of their former selves and they desperately want to be taken seriously and seen as relevant, The Simpsons’ main problems in seasonal rot are the stories they tell. While we do still get some great episodes here and there compared to the first 8-10 seasons of the show, it isn't anything like it once was. They not only started to go in more cartoonish and off the wall routes in an attempt to compete with Family Guy and South Park, they also tried to come off as "progressive" and started doing a lot of stupid and cruel episodes, although nowhere near as cruel as some of the other things I've seen.

This episode basically wants to turn the gag of Homer strangling Bart into something that would have serious consequences… this is a big, BIG mistake. Something like this that is MEANT to be played to laughs and has been since 1989 CANNOT be made into a serious form of abuse after so long, especially this late in the game. Because Homer made Bart piss himself in front of an entire football stadium, he takes a fathering class to try and improve himself, and I know this isn't going to work because he's Homer Simpson! Trying to make Homer a better father in the 20+-season era is like trying to get Pan-Pizza to stop jacking it to Raven!

Things get really bad when Homer mentions to Dr. Zander (voiced by Paul Rudd) that he strangles Bart whenever he misbehaves, and Kirk Van Houten and Apu both act like they've never seen Homer do this before! I'd understand everyone else getting shocked by this, but not those two. So in an effort to show Homer how terrible he is, Dr. Zander gets the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to act in a role-play session where he strangles Homer to show him how it feels. If he were only pretending to strangle him and trying to scare him, I'd understand, but he ACTUALLY strangles Homer out of rage because honestly, yeah, a guy doing that to his kids in real life would be horrible. But we as the audience most likely would find what Homer usually does funny and over-the-top. Compared to how Peter abuses Meg, Homer strangling Bart is like nothing after almost 30 years!

It wants turn something meant to be cartoonish into something with real consequences, but the problem is that you're doing this to an essential part of Homer's character! Peter didn't always abuse Meg the way he does, so this happening to him would be justified and cathartic. But because Homer is put through this in every single session he went through, he's absolutely TERRIFIED of his own son! So Bart, of course, acts like a little asshole and does whatever he wants, abusing his father and becoming a bully. It gets to the point where Homer has nightmares about his own son! What exactly did Homer do to deserve this treatment? All he did was try and get friendly with his son at a football game and make a simple mistake and try to make up for it.

The Simpsons has a very loose continuity, so events don't really carry over from episode to episode. If Homer strangling Bart was seen as a consistent problem throughout the series, then maybe this would've had a point; disregarding The Simpsons need to maintain status quo almost as much as Family Guy, of course. The episode also has an interesting attitude towards therapists, saying that they'll handle just about anything for money! Not every therapist can handle every dispute; just because someone is a teacher for adults doesn't mean they're good with kids, especially when money is their motivation to do their jobs! Sadly, there are a lot of therapists out there who can be paid off to say basically whatever their money tells them to, regardless of if it tries to help their clients. This is why people with, say, fetishes, that get found out and put through them don't always come out ok. I am aware that not every therapist is evil, money grubbing or a pawn, but in this day and age, just about anyone can be paid off for anything.

Predictably, Dr. Zander's attempts to rekindle Homer and Bart's relationship don't work, with Bart constantly abusing Homer because he's a little asshole! It actually leads to Homer trying to hang himself because Dr. Zander says Bart will cut him loose! BTW, now Bart text pranks Moe, that's just sad... And in the end, they realize that Bart getting strangled is the right course of action for Homer's fatherly relationship and thus sue Dr. Zander for his poor home in a hollowed out tree, gaining nothing! I don’t know what this episode was trying to say at all, but all I know is I wanna strangle something after watching it!

Cringe-Inducing Audio: 0
Cringe-Inducing Visuals: 1
Lackluster Writing: 7
Annoyance: 6
Disturbing Content: 4
Unnecessary Cruelty: 7
Rancid Morals: 2
Low Production Values: 0
Unfortunate Implications: 3
Character Derailment: 5

Final Score: 35/100

The Simpsons is owned by FOX.

Animated Atrocities is from

Regulas314

Description
Show: The Simpsons
Episode: 481
Year: 2011

Writer(s): Bill Odenkirk
Director(s): Michael Polcino

It's amazing how far down The Simpsons has gone in its 27+ years of existence; although, compared to most shows that have gone through seasonal rot, it has stayed largely tasteful. Unlike Family Guy where the characters became hollow shells of their former selves and they desperately want to be taken seriously and seen as relevant, The Simpsons’ main problems in seasonal rot are the stories they tell. While we do still get some great episodes here and there compared to the first 8-10 seasons of the show, it isn't anything like it once was. They not only started to go in more cartoonish and off the wall routes in an attempt to compete with Family Guy and South Park, they also tried to come off as "progressive" and started doing a lot of stupid and cruel episodes, although nowhere near as cruel as some of the other things I've seen.

This episode basically wants to turn the gag of Homer strangling Bart into something that would have serious consequences… this is a big, BIG mistake. Something like this that is MEANT to be played to laughs and has been since 1989 CANNOT be made into a serious form of abuse after so long, especially this late in the game. Because Homer made Bart piss himself in front of an entire football stadium, he takes a fathering class to try and improve himself, and I know this isn't going to work because he's Homer Simpson! Trying to make Homer a better father in the 20+-season era is like trying to get Pan-Pizza to stop jacking it to Raven!

Things get really bad when Homer mentions to Dr. Zander (voiced by Paul Rudd) that he strangles Bart whenever he misbehaves, and Kirk Van Houten and Apu both act like they've never seen Homer do this before! I'd understand everyone else getting shocked by this, but not those two. So in an effort to show Homer how terrible he is, Dr. Zander gets the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to act in a role-play session where he strangles Homer to show him how it feels. If he were only pretending to strangle him and trying to scare him, I'd understand, but he ACTUALLY strangles Homer out of rage because honestly, yeah, a guy doing that to his kids in real life would be horrible. But we as the audience most likely would find what Homer usually does funny and over-the-top. Compared to how Peter abuses Meg, Homer strangling Bart is like nothing after almost 30 years!

It wants turn something meant to be cartoonish into something with real consequences, but the problem is that you're doing this to an essential part of Homer's character! Peter didn't always abuse Meg the way he does, so this happening to him would be justified and cathartic. But because Homer is put through this in every single session he went through, he's absolutely TERRIFIED of his own son! So Bart, of course, acts like a little asshole and does whatever he wants, abusing his father and becoming a bully. It gets to the point where Homer has nightmares about his own son! What exactly did Homer do to deserve this treatment? All he did was try and get friendly with his son at a football game and make a simple mistake and try to make up for it.

The Simpsons has a very loose continuity, so events don't really carry over from episode to episode. If Homer strangling Bart was seen as a consistent problem throughout the series, then maybe this would've had a point; disregarding The Simpsons need to maintain status quo almost as much as Family Guy, of course. The episode also has an interesting attitude towards therapists, saying that they'll handle just about anything for money! Not every therapist can handle every dispute; just because someone is a teacher for adults doesn't mean they're good with kids, especially when money is their motivation to do their jobs! Sadly, there are a lot of therapists out there who can be paid off to say basically whatever their money tells them to, regardless of if it tries to help their clients. This is why people with, say, fetishes, that get found out and put through them don't always come out ok. I am aware that not every therapist is evil, money grubbing or a pawn, but in this day and age, just about anyone can be paid off for anything.

Predictably, Dr. Zander's attempts to rekindle Homer and Bart's relationship don't work, with Bart constantly abusing Homer because he's a little asshole! It actually leads to Homer trying to hang himself because Dr. Zander says Bart will cut him loose! BTW, now Bart text pranks Moe, that's just sad... And in the end, they realize that Bart getting strangled is the right course of action for Homer's fatherly relationship and thus sue Dr. Zander for his poor home in a hollowed out tree, gaining nothing! I don’t know what this episode was trying to say at all, but all I know is I wanna strangle something after watching it!

Cringe-Inducing Audio: 0
Cringe-Inducing Visuals: 1
Lackluster Writing: 7
Annoyance: 6
Disturbing Content: 4
Unnecessary Cruelty: 7
Rancid Morals: 2
Low Production Values: 0
Unfortunate Implications: 3
Character Derailment: 5

Final Score: 35/100

The Simpsons is owned by FOX.

Animated Atrocities is from

Regulas314