cartoonlover27
Professor
So maybe this is just me, but I feel like Homer's a huge douche in some season 9 episodes. I know Scully-era episodes have gained criticism for being less emotional, but I feel like it's a big difference in Homer's characterization.
JoshTheater
Space Pope
« Reply #402 on: 01-04-2014 21:26 »
« Last Edit on: 01-04-2014 21:38 »
Give me an example of him being a douche in season 9 and I bet I can find an example of him being a bigger douche in an earlier season. Maybe not, but I'm willing to bet.
Refer to this post:
But there's been one comment that's kept coming up that bothers me to absolutely no end, and that's the concept of "Jerkass Homer" who supposedly only starts showing up in the later seasons. I'll say this right now: this idea is complete bullshit. Sorry, but Homer has frequently been an irredeemable dick of a person ever since the series began, and any notion otherwise is totally mistaken. Go back to classic era episodes or even the super early years and you'll see that almost every single episode has examples of Homer doing or saying completely unforgivable things, whether they be due to ignorance, misogyny, or just being plain mean-spirited. The only reason we're not supposed to hate him is because it's a cartoon . We accept his flaws and see the good traits in him because none of the characters (apart from maybe Lisa) are really meant to be realistically fleshed out personalities...they're caricatures who fluctuate between good and evil to fit what the writers are trying to get across, which is generally either humor or emotion. "Jerkass Homer" is everywhere throughout the series. Watch the episode A Streetcar Named Marge from season 4 and try to tell me that Homer isn't as bad or worse than how he's acted in recent seasons. He's pretty much the worst husband ever in that episode, he ignores Marge almost intentionally, is horribly mean and insulting to her, and acts like everything's fine. Sure, we get the schmaltzy ending where he seems to show some self-awareness, but at least in my opinion it doesn't come close to making up for his behavior throughout the episode. But that's okay, the episode still works, because it's not about whether Homer is truly a good person...it's about the message that the episode is getting across about being good to your partner. Homer doesn't need to embody good or have justifications for his actions because it's a comedy cartoon and he's not real. Same goes for Secrets Of A Successful Marriage, where Homer is a total dick, and then ends up coming up with possibly the worst reason ever for why Marge should stay with him, and it works because it's a cartoon . Critics love that episode even though it probably has one of the worst messages the show has ever put across, because it's funny and raises interesting thoughts. Or what about Homer's Enemy, which is one of the most well-received episodes ever, where Homer's complete incompetence and utter buffoonery ends up causing a totally innocent man's death? Why is that not too far? Because it's FUNNY. See, that's what's important. Homer can be as much of a horrible jackass as the writers can possibly make him, but as long as it's funny it's not too much. The only reason to dislike Homer for being a jackass is if you don't find it funny, but in that case your problem should be with the comedic writing, not with the behavior of the character being out of place. Complaining about Homer being too mean or too stupid makes no sense, because chances are he's been that mean and stupid if not meaner or stupider at some other point in the series where you didn't complain because it was funny enough that you didn't think about it.
SolidSnake
Professor
I just got around to watching Homer at the Bat, an episode I never really had the chance to watch. I kept hearing alot of good things about it so I watched it and.... I loved it, one of my favorite episodes now.
Beamer
DOOP Secretary
Give me an example of him being a douche in season 9 and I bet I can find an example of him being a bigger douche in an earlier season. Maybe not, but I'm willing to bet. Generally though, aside from the Flanders stuff (which has been a running joke since the early years), and Frank Grimes' death (which doesn't exactly count as Grimes was always intended to be an interloper, and therefore more of a comedy prop than a fully fleshed-out character, let alone Homer's Enemy being a relatively stand-alone episode in terms of its darker tone), Homer would always either learn his lesson or get some sort of comeuppance by the end of the episode. Season 9 was where this started to cease.
SolidSnake
Professor
Give me an example of him being a douche in season 9 and I bet I can find an example of him being a bigger douche in an earlier season. Maybe not, but I'm willing to bet. Generally though, aside from the Flanders stuff (which has been a running joke since the early years), and Frank Grimes' death (which doesn't exactly count as Grimes was always intended to be an interloper, and therefore more of a comedy prop than a fully fleshed-out character, let alone Homer's Enemy being a relatively stand-alone episode in terms of its darker tone), Homer would always either learn his lesson or get some sort of comeuppance by the end of the episode. Season 9 was where this started to cease. If I recall, Trash of the Titans supports that claim, fully.
Beamer
DOOP Secretary
His assholey behaviour in The Cartridge Family and The Trash of the Titans as least serves a purpose, satire-wise. It's not always pleasant to watch, but at least the show had a point to make. In later-era Scully episodes, the episodes are largely meaningless, making Jerkass Homer even more insufferable.
SolidSnake
Professor
« Reply #410 on: 01-06-2014 02:15 »
« Last Edit on: 01-06-2014 02:36 »
I guess I can agree with you to an extent, Beamer. Anywho, watching the new ep, I'm sort of liking the writing style of the first acts again. They introduce the plot and everything just like Earlier Episodes. And I'll admit, this was a great episode (By New Simpsons Standards.) (By old Simpsons Standards, it was either mediocre or barely passable). I laughed out loud on MORE THAN ONE occasion, which is rare, and I actually enjoyed the story! Of course my main gripe on the episode, is the stupid axe reference, guest stars, The Nascar cutaway was pretty dumb, and ending. The ending pretty much sucked though, which is sad. I was enjoying the rest of the episode too.
Beamer
DOOP Secretary
* JoshTheater shivers.
I think I can safely say that season 18's Yokel Chords was the worst episode of the entire series up until that point. My back hurts from perpetual cringing. It's so bad that I vaguely recall seeing it when it aired but I'm quite certain I repressed the memory. I wish I could destroy every physical and digital copy of that episode so that nobody is every subjected to it again. I'm not looking forward to upcoming episodes which are worse.Just you wait until the one about Moe's bar rag!
SolidSnake
Professor
Josh, you're going to need to be tied to a chair to watch the rest of these episodes, because they truly are crap. And I wanna run away every time a Season 17-Present episode airs. Unless I recall seeing it, and liking it (Rare, but happens).
SolidSnake
Professor
Wait a sec! J. Stewart Burns wrote the latest episode. No wonder why it was a better offering than this whole season.
SolidSnake
Professor
How does that affect my Simpsons fan status? Still as good as before.
MeatablePie
Professor
I also watched it, first time in about 10 seasons... wow, has it been that long? Is it possible I've watched less than half of the entire show now?! How does that affect my Simpsons fan status? Let's just say there are more episodes that are garbage now than there are good.Amen, brother.
Most of the episodes are forgettable now.
Beamer
DOOP Secretary
Steal This Episode was fantastic. Genuinely funny the whole way through, somewhat original storyline (at least for The Simpsons, anyway) and the guest stars weren't as overused as I was worried they'd be. Easily the best episode since The Day the Earth Stood Cool (oh crap, we've gotten our one token good episode of the season out of the way already
).
Quantum Neutrino Field
Liquid Emperor
So maybe this is just me, but I feel like Homer's a huge douche in some season 9 episodes. I know Scully-era episodes have gained criticism for being less emotional, but I feel like it's a big difference in Homer's characterization.
Monster_Robot_Maniac
Liquid Emperor
Because of the higher than usual regard for 'Steal this Episode', I decided to watch it, and I must say it was pretty good, and exceeded my expectations. It was funny, and had a clever satire storyline, two things I enjoy seeing from Simpsons. Afterwards, I watched that Submarine one I complained about a few pages back, and it was as bad as I thought it'd be. The Skinner dream/song felt uneeded, along with pretty much the entire story, really. Lastly, I watched the most recent Christmas episode (Sorry I don't remember the names to most of these), and overall it was pretty average. It was funny and creative enough, but felt a little dragging to me at points. All in all, though, they were still entertaining, and I don't regret watching them.
MeatablePie
Professor
« Reply #425 on: 01-13-2014 02:10 »
« Last Edit on: 01-13-2014 02:21 »
This new Simpsons episode is already feeling promising.
Breaking the fourth wall at the start when they killed off Radioactive Man.
I don't know why but I could smell a Futurama reference coming a mile away in this episode.
If not, a Bongo Comics reference.
* MP takes deep breathes
MR. SPARKLE REFERENCE.
Beamer
DOOP Secretary
This week's episode was fucking atrocious. Utterly cliched story jam-packed with all sorts of racist tropes, and the end result was just painful to sit through. I mean, my expectations for modern Simpsons are pretty low, but god damn. Ignoring the fact that we've already had more than one "Comic Book Guy finds love" episode, and they've all been terrible thus far - why retread those waters again?
DannyJC13
DOOP Secretary
They replaced Milo's original voice actor, Jack Black, with Maurice LaMarche, hm...
SolidSnake
Professor
Yeah, I kinda avoided watching this one. It was on in the background, and nothing about it drew my attention. Except for that Comic Book Guy song. That was actually decent-ish. I knew it was going to be a bad ep from a mile away.
DurinsonofDurin
Crustacean
I really liked it. I've been waiting for a Radioactive Man episode for years now, and if this is the best I'll get, I'll say that I am disappointed, but the short segment was pretty darn good. Also, I liked this episode a lot.
MeatablePie
Professor
It's a "yeah, we're not pretending we're as good as we used to be anymore" kind of season. Wasn't that the case for the previous few seasons, too?