More Treasures From the Past

I grew up watching The Simpsons. If you're like me, you might recall some of the general ideas from the earlier seasons, but simply don't recall a lot of the subtleties. I realize now that there were many jokes I just wasn't old enough to understand then.

My point is that The Simpsons actually had some political humor in it. I never realized back then. It was subtle, but now I can actually appreciate.

For example: There is an episode where Bart gets an elephant (which also happens to be the title of the episode). At one point, the elephant goes on a rampage through the town. In a bit of humor, you see the elephant go stamping into a GOP convention. The crowd cheers as the elephant runs through the room, but the humor comes from two banners hanging over the stage: "We know what's best for everyone!" and "We're just plain evil!"

At first, you think it's over, but then you see the elephant run into a Democratic Party convention across town. The crowd boos as it runs through the room. The banners over the stage: "We hate life and ourselves!" and "We're unfit to govern!"

Delicious.

My other favorite joke is from an episode where Bart and Lisa begin writing scripts for their favorite cartoon, but do so under their grandfather's name. Their grandfather ends up being hired by the studio, and Bart and Lisa discover what's happened. When they tell him what they've been doing, Lisa asks, "Grandpa, didn't you think it was weird that you were receiving checks for no reason?" He responds, "Well, I figured the Democrats were back in power."

I'd have never gotten that joke when I was 10.