The Simpsons Theory

This is taken from a review of 'The Wicker Man,' found at http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060901the-wicker-man-review

--- quote --- Neil LaBute's remake is very predictable in many ways, but probably mostly due to what I call The Simpsons Theory.

The Simpsons Theory: When I was a teenager, I watched every Simpsons episode, every week. In my late teenage years, I discovered cinema and started renting the classics. I found that because of The Simpsons, I already knew the plot of most of the films. For Example: Citizen Kane.

Wicker Man suffers from the Simpsons theory because many films and television shows have been made since the original, borrowing some of it's many ideas and plot threads. A lot of the movie might seem familiar to you, and the ending might come into vision much earlier than you would hope. --- end quote ---

I have had similar experiences with 'SCTV' and 'Monty Python' as well.

-- R Flowers

I know Im in too deep here but im gonna try anyway: The funny thing about simpsons is that the show refers to a cultural heritage that may seem obvious to you americans but is still funny to us europeans because we just dont know any better. I like figuring it out. Like making a post at alt.tv.simpsons asking whats the name of that song... it all comes together... oops... coffee. brb.

--------------------

Damn! Answer that post! What is this...?

wrote in message news:[email]...

There are definitely a lot of English things that do not make sense to us Americans, I was visiting a buddy in the UK and he had a photo of some Argentinean Soccer player getting kicked in the balls. I had not idea why he thought it was funny to see a player from that country getting kicked in the balls, then he explained the whole Falklands thing, then I knew what he was talking about.

I thought it was football they played over there?

Michael

"Michael Black" wrote in message news:ed9rkp$f2i$[email]...

And here we see part of the problem...

UK football = USA soccer USA football = the bastard child of UK rugby

Not to mention UK chips = USA French fries UK biscuit = USA cookie

Then there are UK blood pudding = USA some kind of sausage, UK pudding can be cakey kinds of things in general. However, my sketchy research indicates that most kinds of UK puddings require an animal to die.

And the less said of Spotted Dick, the better. In the UK you may fetch your spoon. In the US, we head for the doctor.

-- R Flowers

"R Flowers" wrote in message news:[email]...

UK football = Australian Soccer also BUT: Australian football = AFL or Rugby League (Which are both different to UK Rugby which is Australian Rugby Union!!!!) USA football is totally different again. Confused yet?

Australian chips - the fat ones Australian fries - the fattening ones

Do you have Wedges in the US?

Australia favours "biscuit" here. More specifically the Tim-Tam.

"*Ninja*" wrote in message news:B1aKg.21740$[email]...

Aussie Rules football is very different to Rugby League. Both Rugby League and Rugby Union are played in the UK.

+e

What are "Wedges"?

"Sparky Spartacus" wrote in message news:3sSLg.164$[email]...

Maybe potato wedges? Something like this: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/food/iceland-southern-fried-wedges/

-- R Flowers

"R Flowers" wrote in message news:[email]...

Mmmmm - yep - that's the sort of thing I'm talking about :-) With Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli Sauce. Delish.

"R Flowers" wrote in message news:[email]...

Lots of lovely puddings and some spotted dick (which is lovely!!!!):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/spotteddick_78629.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/stickytoffeepuddingw_79983.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/applespongepuddingwi_76908.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/gingerspongepuddingw_78679.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chocolatespongepuddi_79125.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/classicsummerpudding_82264.shtml

+e

he

the

was

Despite Krusty's reaction, the Falklands conflict was a trivial affair that had little lasting effect on the British psyche; any England/Argentina rivalry comes mainly from the 1986 World Cup. Some people just.find kicks in the balls funnier than others do.

"Heiner Burdon" wrote in message news:44f9353a$0$19624$[email]...

us

why

that

The football! His Groin! It just works on so many levels!

Yep, happened to me too.

It's great watching an old film and realizing "that Simpsons episode from season two parodied this very scene!" Doesn't happen so much in the newer episodes unfortunately, the references are very much more direct - to the point of being able to tell what is being parodied or referenced to whether you've seen it or not most of the time.

same here. maybe the references in the new eps are just so new they dont register untill later. im sure the people behind Simpsons, having used up all the old classics, define the new classics...

"harry.michaels" wrote in message news:[email]...

Which episode was based on the plot of Citizen Kane? The film is mainly a biopic, and you don't find out what Rosebud was until the end (although a different cartoon ruined the ending for me, just as the Universal Studios tour blew the ending of Psycho). In 'Rosebud' you know what Bobo is from the start, and it's mainly about Burns' attempts to retreive it.

The Shining was at least one film ruined for me by the Simpsons.

No clue! I haven't actually seen Citizen Kane, although I can't match the knowledge of the plot I have to any Simpsons episode, unless it's one from the past few years, in which case I wouldn't have seen it.

I think the Bobo episode was the Citizen Kane episode.

Burns lying in bed, he drops the snow whatever (suddenly I can't remember what they are called), and says "Bobo...".

That's the way Citizen Kane starts, which leads to the reporter trying to uncover what "Rosebud" is/was, which ultimately is a reason to go through the life of Kane.

They rarely make an episode that is identical to a movie. Indeed, plenty of times they are passing references, rather than an actual attempt to even parody a movie. Bits of "2001" show up in a number of episodes, but we've yet to see "The Simpsons do 2001".

Likewise, there is one of the Halloween specials that ends with a reference to "When Worlds Collide" (the book or the movie, take your pick), the one where they get into two giant spaceships. But the rest is nothing like the movie or book.

Michael