I was watching the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage" with the commentary on DVD and they were saying they had to remove the original lines referring to a particular country and replace it with "The repulsive barge circled the oceans for 50 years but no country would accept it. Not even that really filthy one. You know the one I mean.".
Does anyone know which country they mean? I suspect it could be France as both The Simpsons and Futurama have many jokes at the expense of the French.
Ian
The infamous barge, in reality, was at sea for two months, and went from the US (New York -> North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississipi, Texas, and New Jersey, not necessarily in that order) to Cuba to Belize, past Mexico (which threatened to fire on it) and then back to New York.
France not mentioned.
"Matthew Miller" wrote in message news:[email]...
Thanks for clearing that up.
Just one more thing moving a bit off topic, why do Americans seem to hate (or at least greatly dislike) New Jersey? I've noticed this on many programs/film including Futurama and The Simpsons.
New Jersey is inherently funny. :)
It's famous for 1) landfills, 2) shopping malls, 3) the turnpike (highway), and 4) being run by the mafia. A great combination for humor. Basically, it's the backyard of New York city, and serves as a dumping ground in many ways.
(In actuality, many parts of the state are quite nice. But that's not so much fun.)
Matthew Miller wrote:
Don't forget all of the industry, which churn out a great deal of pollution. And the shipyard, which makes for a beautiful scene out on the water.
Isn't it nicknamed the "armpit" of something? Or does that apply to all states that people want to make fun of. ;)
<< Isn't it nicknamed the "armpit" of something? Or does that apply to all states that people want to make fun of. ;) >>
It is indeed known by others as "The Armpit of America". When we gave oral reports on different states in the fourth grade, the guy who had chosen New Jersey could not seem to reveal this fact without laughing a lot.
In article , "Robert J. Muldoon" wrote:
If you have access to "The Sopranos", you can get a good sense of what New Jersey is to most people from the opening credit sequence - leaving NYC, down the Turnpike past industrial plants and oversized suburban homes. All that's missing is the mall.
David Z Houston TX
(My oral report was on the District of Columbia... had to be different.)
"Matthew Miller" wrote in message news:[email]...
Thanks for clearing that up, sounds like a place I should avoid next time I'm in that part of the world :)
On or about 10 Feb 2002 15:58:17 GMT, Matthew Miller made the sensational claim that:
It's actually *two* states. North Jersey, which is what I snipped of your description, and South Jersey, which you refer to here. South Jersey is the only part I've been to, and it very much resembles where my grandmother lives in northwestern Ohio.
=v= But that doesn't make much sense to me, since France is very much not a filthy country. Except for the McDonald's franchises.
"Ah, the life of a frog. That's the life for me." -- Bart Simpson
=v= The classic joke being that Fry wouldn't move into a perfect apartment because it was technically in New Jersey.
=v= Some of it has to do with all the ugly industry and toxic waste dumping that goes on in New Jersey. From many highways that go into New York, that's *mostly* what you see of New Jersey, and it ain't pretty. In that respect it's the same as jokes about Pitssburgh.
=v= Some of it is just big city snobbiness. For some, this even extends to the boroughs. My girlfriend, for example, lived in Manhattan and looked down on the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. (She's suspending her Museum of Modern Art membership for a few years because they're moving their exhibits to Queens while they renovate their buliding in Manhattan.) Fry was born in Brooklyn, so he's probably used to Manhattanites looking down on him and so all he's got to look down on is New Jersey. (But note that by pulling down Delivery Boy money, he's managed to become a Manhattanite himself.) <_Jym_>
"Jym Dyer" wrote in message news:[email]...
But they smell and their toilets are holes in the ground :)
(just to make it clear I'm not a racist and don't really hate the French. Parisians are a different matter and French people I've met don't like them too)
"Ian" wrote in message news:...
Maybe it was an allusion to the Holocaust, and the country is Germany. People got out of Germany, only to find very few places that would let them in. There was at least one ship that made a number of unsuccessful stops; I can't remember what the final outcome was. The Nazis wanted to get rid of the Jewish people, so obviously they wouldn't want them back (though, I'm not sure what happened to people who could find no safe harbor in another country).
Michael
That's a bit heavy, isn't it? Maybe the writer(s) just thought of adding that line to provoke debate. But on the DVD they do say something like "You'll never know".
Dastards.
I bet it's France, anyway.
On 10 Feb 2002 09:49:47 -0800, [email] (Michael Black) wrote:
----- "Find a Queen without a King, They say she plays guitar and cries and sings 'la-la-la-la'"
I'm pretty sure it was just an allusion to the actual garbage barge that, in the '80s, was denied entry into several countries and finally had to go back to New York. See <http://www.lihistory.com/9/hs9garb.htm>. (Note that the details in that story may or may not be accurate.... other web sites refer to different stops in different orders....)
On 10 Feb 2002 09:49:47 -0800, [email] (Michael Black) wrote:
The incident you are referring to was made into a movie called "The Voyage of the Damned". Most of the people on the ship later died in concentration camps. Historians consider it a calculated move on Hitler's part. Once the ship got back to Germany, they could do whatever they wanted. If any country objected, they could reply "you didn't want them either".
Since the allusion was a reference to cultural stereotypes, I would guess it wouldn't be Germany, who are stereotypically clean and organized.
Considering the history of both Futurama and Simpsons, I would think hey are referring to France. Both shows have put down the French before.
--Larry
If it's any country, it's got to be the Phillipines.
They really have been known to take in other countries' garbage for cash. There are many impoverished people that actually live in garbage dumps and try to make a living selling items they find that people have thrown out. I remember seeing on the news once that tens (hundreds?) were crushed and smothered in a garbage "avalanche".
"Just like Oscar the Grouch." - Homer Simpson