(long) A review of "Moe'N'A Lisa (HABF19)"

[The long of it]

     "You shattered my dreams
      like a Duff tallboy
      in a bar brawl,
      and you jammed the jagged
      neck right up my heart's butt"

That's a quote from Moe Szyslak, in a kiss-off letter to Homer written after the latter forgets the former's birthday. To the casual reader, it might not seem like the stuff of poetry, but Lisa Simpson manages to see a certain rough beauty in it. And thus begins "Moe'N'A Lisa," tonight's episode. There's a good idea somewhere in here -- about how anything can be poetry, or about how a herd mentality can catapult even a mediocre talent to superstar status -- but like Moe's poetic abilities, the potential remains untapped.

Instead, what we get is a series of jokes about the Senior Olympics. The family goes there to support Abe, but the jokes are about as tired as the seniors. (Well, maybe not all of them. Abe wins a gold medal in the track event, and a band begins to play "The Star-Spangled Banner." Abe turns to them and shouts, "Turn that hippie crap off!") Fortunately, Abe's athletic adventures aren't the main focus of the story. In attending the Olympics, Homer accidentally misses Moe's birthday. He had promised to take Moe fishing, and for Moe, who has been starved for friendship most of his life, the broken promise is crushing. He writes an anguished letter to Homer, and Lisa is so impressed by Moe's writing that she starts to encourage his poetic side.

IN some ways, the Moe story mimics the time Homer became an avant garde artist, after he makes a mess of building something. So he becomes an artist by accident, and to some extent is a "find" because of his non-art background.

But this story also reminds me of Gregory Corso, who was one of the Beat poets but also seemed rather crude, in life and in at least some of his poetry. Not that I really know much about him, but the story reminds me that he and Moe were about on the same level. Gregory Corso died a few years back, fairly destitute.

Michael

snip

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/AABF15

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Homer: No, I'm just a nut who couldn't build a barbecue.

Snapping fingers may not make food appear.

snip

Homer became an artist in AABF15 almost as accidentally as Moe became a poet. But without Lisa's help. People being helped by Lisa and then being rebuked is a common theme is OFF episodes, too.

Mr. Museum