In the real world, we’re still polishing off that Thanksgiving turkey. In the latest Simpsons episode, “Mypods and Boomsticks,” it’s already the day after Christmas. What does this chilling vision of the future portend? Bart befriending a Muslim family, Homer trying to prove that same family is planning to blow up a Springfield landmark, and Lisa falling under the spell of the myPod she gets at the mall’s shiny new “Mapple” store.
I’m going to file “Mypods and Boomsticks” under B, for “Biting the hand that feeds.” Besides nestling one of the most pointed satires of Apple culture I’ve ever seen between commercial breaks featuring Macbooks and the iPhone, Homer’s fear that a Muslim family might secretly be terrorists hits Fox a mere week after the prologue to a new season of 24. Coincidence? Considering Lenny encourages Homer to use a dinner party as bait to “Jack Bauer” Bart’s new friends, I think not.
Perhaps the only way The Simpsons could tackle the touchy subject of terrorism and religious intolerance was to tie it into Fox’s real-time cash cow. As a fan of both shows, I don’t blame them. Unfortunately, “Mypods” swings too much between the extremes of heavy moralizing and Homer’s stupidity to do it justice. Of course Homer bows to peer pressure and media hype and pre-judges Bashir and his parents. Of course Marge and Bart tell him off for doing so. And of course the story ends with Homer trying to stop Bashir’s father from blowing up a building—one that’s scheduled for legal demolition by the construction firm he works for. Don’t get me wrong. Lingering fears about terrorism and television shows that play off those fears are ripe for satire. There must be more original ways to do it, though.
But the terrorist storyline of “Mypods and Boomsticks” is just a cover for the dangerous fanaticism the writers really want to address—the so-called “cult of Apple” …I mean “Mapple.”
Someone must either have had a bad experience with Apple customer service or is sick of people laughing at his Zune for all the vitriol that’s heaped on Steve Jobs (sorry, I mean “Steve Mobs”) and his computer empire. The writers hit all the major hater gripes: high prices, pretentious employees, holier-than-thou customers, Pavlovian excitement over a simple product announcement. Funny? Yes. True? Mostly. But nasty enough that it made me wonder whether this episode was the third prong in Microsoft’s recent anti-Apple ad campaign.
The biggest problem with The Simpsons‘ swipe at Apple is that it hits closer to Springfield than the writers might want to admit. Let’s face it: the only reason this show has lasted this long is because of the unwavering (and unquestioning) devotion of long-time supporters. Say what you will about the dangers of slavish loyalty. It’s the only reason I stuck around after the disastrous 18th season.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish writing this on my iMac and go see if there are any new podcasts on iTunes waiting to be synced to my iPod.
1. December 2008 at 9:40 am
Thanks, I thouht I was alone! The whole time the episode was airing, I was thinking, at least now i can say ” I watched the worst episode ever” live….. I am torn on my opinion. The positive aspect is, at least now they aren’t even trying to blur their Anti-Middle American views and recriminations, so perhaps finally the intended targets will see the light. Of course the downside is, I guess we can give up the faint hope we have been clinging to for quite a few seasons that the writers will ever give us another purely funny episode with zero morality lessons or recriminations against Middle America.
I had to wonder the whole time, if the Mapple stuff was their delusional way of trying to “balance” that vicious attack on Middle Class White Males with some swipes at the Intellectual Elite, or Chosen People. But, having read that article, the authors theory makes more sense… I guess the Simpsons writers are disillusioned that the Holy Grail of their culture isn’t freely distributed.
Of course now that prosperity is “just around the corner” perhaps we can look forward to two things: less attacks on the economy from Democratic Supporters, and maybe the government will add Mapple users to the bailout list.
Maybe President Obama will even lobby Congress to add a check box to the 1040, so that the 48% of people who actually pay income taxes can designate that some of the money being redistributed can be used for Mapple products for the 52% of people who will be getting handouts after filing.
12. January 2009 at 8:11 am
I didn’t really look into the in depths points of the episode, i just thought it was an awful episode purely on the jokes that were made, they were just terrible a real let down!
13. August 2009 at 11:10 pm
Man, that was a bad episode. For the first time, I had to ask myself “Are these writers even trying anymore?” And the whole dumping on Apple. Is over-enthusiasm for Apple products the biggest sin they could find to marry with terrorism? The whole anti-Apple thing felt contrived – yeah, let’s protect 90% of market share Microsoft from their competition.This episode felt like a first draft from the lame opening. I hadn’t watched a Simpsons episode in quite a while and now I know I am not missing much.