Joseph's real origin?

Recently someone e-mailed me with some information for my character list, and he took a major exception to the way I brought up Nancy, Joseph, and John Redcorn by quoting "son" and "healer." Then he followed that up with some convincing evidence that Joseph was really adopted by Dale and Nancy, and not the son of John Redcorn as we may think.

(NOTE: These aren't my arguments. I'm not endorsing them; I'm just throwing them out to see what the rest of you think about this possibility, so don't send me any e-mail saying I am wrong.) Consider:

1. Joseph is 12 years old (presumably the same age as Bobby, who just turned 12). Nancy has been seeing John Redcorn for 12 years -- but a woman's pregnancy normally lasts nine months. So if John was really Joseph's father Nancy would have needed to see him for 13 years, so Joseph's age and the length of time Nancy has been seeing John may simply be a pure coincidence. Also, the Gribbles (based on what we know so far) seem to be a very well-adjusted family, as they all talk to each other regularly and effectively.

2. "In Luanne's Saga" (4E04) John was thrown out of Nancy's bedroom, as we well know, and Dale let him dance with her in exchange for a beer. But in that same episode Bill was dancing with Peggy, and Hank didn't get a beer in return. If there was something for Dale to suspect, Dale would have suspected it since that is his nature.

3. The show is so subtle that Cotton recognized Kahn as Laotian in the recent "Shins of the Father" (4E08). Many people, as Hank and his friends demonstrated in "Westie Side Story" (4E06), cannot tell Chinese from Japanese. So Dale may have noticed Joseph's appearance sometime in the past; this could set up a future episode about adoption or past marriages in Arlen.

4. So far, none of the producers of the show have mentioned who Joseph's parents really are (unlike the recurring "Is Smithers Gay?" debates in alt.tv.simpsons, where a Simpsons producer mentioned that Smithers is indeed gay).

Again, these aren't my opinions. It's just some food for thought, with a lack of a new KotH episode this week. (Besides, it will help get our minds off the Grim Chieftain and the latest "Make Money Fast" spam.) What do the rest of you think?

--Jason

"Damn it, this neighborhood is turning into Melrose Place!" --Dale Gribble, "Luanne's Saga" (4E04)

YeahmanItellyawhut...

I'm not going to requote all of these reasons but I disagree with the idea that Redcorn and Nancy are not having an affair because if they did, Dale would suspect them because he suspects everything.

This is why it's funny: Dale suspects *everything*. He's a conspiracy nut. But when something fishy is going on right under his nose, he's blind to it. This is a form of humor called "irony."

What's really weird is that Joseph himself doesn't seem to suspect anything either.

Alan

Alan ([email]) wrote:

Who says the kid doesn't know and hasn't accepted it? He ought to be able to plainly see that his dad is white, his mom is white, and he's not white.

Y'know, folks, a running joke just isn't funny any more when you start psychoanalyzing it. The running joke, in this case, is that no one notices how much Dale's son looks like Dale's wife's "healer."

Actually, Hank and the rest HAVE noticed this. The running gag is that Dale, who suspects everything, doesn't notice.

Jared Betnar

In article , [email] wrote:

This is best explained in the sound clip (during an episode) when Hank says, "Dale, there goes your wifes, uh..." and Bill finishes "healer."

Classic.

Big John Virtual-Arlen

Give me a break, just enjoy the joke. Why does everything have to be analized. For the love of God, debating if a cartoon realizes he's a friggin cartoon, now I know why the Japs are kicking our ass.

In article , Sean Cardia wrote:

Wow! A real honest-to-goodness relic of the 1980s. Welcome to the new decade. Hope you get up to speed before the next decade arrives.

The "Japs" haven't been kicking any ass for several years. Remember all that US property they were buying up? Turns out they were borrowing from US creditors to buy it--and the bills have come due. Furthermore, the artificial economic props that the Japanese government had put in place kind of fell apart recently. Japan's not in the happiest of economic positions anymore.

In article , [email] says...

"I had my shins shot off by a Japan Man's machine gun, so don't come cryin' to me with your troubles" -Cotton

In article , [email] says...

They aren't Japanese! They're Laotian!!!

On Wed, 16 Apr 1997, Sean Cardia wrote:

"Analized?"

(I'm used to this sort of thing, folks -- I wish I had a dollar for every time I've seen messages like this over on alt.tv.simpsons.)

--Jason

"I don't need a bed. I can sleep in a drawer after what they did to me overseas!" --Cotton Hill, "Shins of the Father" (4E08)

Yeah, and your using WebTV..... go figure.

In article , Jason Hancock wrote:

Um, Redcorn is Joseph's daddy ... that's all there is to it.

Dang ol', -N!

Doesn't notice what? <_Dale_>