In Marge We Trust
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"In Marge We Trust" is episode 22 in season eight of The Simpsons. The episode introduces the fictional character Mr. Sparkle, who is the mascot of a fictional brand of dishwashing detergent from Japan.
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[edit] Synopsis
Homer Simpson takes Bart and Lisa to the Springfield dump after church and finds a box of Japanese dishwasher detergent whose mascot, Mr. Sparkle, looks suspiciously like Homer.
Meanwhile, Marge becomes concerned with Reverend Lovejoy's lack of enthusiasm about helping people. She begins working for the Church as "The Listen Lady", listening to people describe their problems. Her popularity in Springfield subsequently skyrockets. Reverend Lovejoy, however, realizes his inadequacy and begins to feel depressed.
Homer, disturbed by the box of Mr. Sparkle, contacts the manufacturer in Japan for information. He is sent a promotional video for Mr. Sparkle, which consists mainly of a very bizarre TV commercial. At the end of the video, however, the answer is revealed: as it turns out, the manufacturer is the result of a joint venture between two huge Japanese conglomerates (Matsumura Fishworks and Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern) whose mascots are a fish and light bulb, respectively. Their promotional video shows the mascots merging to become Mr. Sparkle. "There's your answer, Fishbulb," Bart quips.
One day, Ned Flanders calls Marge for help. Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney are hanging around outside the Leftorium, and he's worried that "they could start slacking any minute." Marge suggests that he shoo them away. Unbeknownst to him, they're about to leave, but when he comes out and asks them to, they get a different idea. When Ned calls Marge again, he's standing on a chair while the three boys circle him on their motorbikes. She tells him to "lay down the law." One of them snips the phone cord, and Marge assumes that Ned has hung up.
When Ned is discovered missing, Marge realizes that she may be partially responsible. She goes to Reverend Lovejoy for help. No longer feeling useless, he seeks Ned out and with some crafty detective work, finds him at the zoo. Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney have abandoned their pursuit, but now Ned has a whole new problem: he's trapped in the baboon exhibit. While the Simpson family watches in horror, Reverend Lovejoy performs a dramatic rescue, complete with kiddie train and gymnastic combat.
Now that he feels useful again, Reverend Lovejoy rediscovers his passion for his work. The episode ends as he regales his congregation with the tale of Ned's rescue.
[edit] Trivia
- Reverend Lovejoy's church sounds are an ambulance, a bird (which sounds like a hawk cry), and a disco whistle.
- Much of the Japanese dialogue in the episode is poorly pronounced/translated and unintelligible to a Japanese listener. His first piece of dialogue, for example, in the original Japanese is, Aka ni taishite burei da. Yogore ni yoberu. Honki da yo, but literally translates as, "With respect to dirt [I] am rude. [I] can call out filth. [I] am serious!" The three women also refer to him as a hōmu rogo ("home logo"), the Japanese term for a corporate logo.
- There is a real-life exterior-cleaning company based in British Columbia, Canada that calls itself "Mr. Sparkle". [1]
- The fake Fruity Oaty Bar commercial in the film Serenity is partially inspired by Mr. Sparkle. The octopus featured in the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial can be seen as a toy in the background of the original Mr. Sparkle commercial.
- Mr. Sparkle also appears as one of the Collector Cards in The Simpsons Hit and Run.
- A bit of the Mr. Sparkle commercial (where the reporter is talking to the cow) is shown during a break of "Seizure Robots" during the episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo".
- A deleted scene contained on The Simpsons season eight DVDs reveals that Jasper Beardley preceded Reverend Lovejoy as minister at the Simpsons' church in Springfield.
- Marge hits Bart for the first time in the series.
- During the course of the opening church scene, participants in the congregation are seated in different places throughout the church. They also appear to be wearing different clothing. This suggests that segments of the scene were recycled from other episodes.
[edit] Cultural references
- The episode title is a play on the United States' national motto, "In God We Trust".
- The "futuristic text" on the Mr. Sparkle box is katakana, a Japanese syllable-based alphabet used for foreign loan words. The box's main caption, ミスタースパーコル, transliterates as Misutā Supākoru, "Mister Sparkle" in Japanese syllables. However, we should note that the usage of the katakana "スパーコル" for "sparkle" is highly unorthodox in true Japanese context. The correct transliteration for Sparkle in Japanese is スパークル(Supākuru).
The words in the speech bubble, however, are ハワークリーン!, which transliterates as Hawā kurīn!, or "Hower clean!". This is an animation error as it should say パワークリーン! (the first syllable having a handakuten accent), which translitarates as Pawā kurīn!, or "Power clean!".
- In the 1970s flashback, Flanders refers to an "accident" he suffered while dancing the Bump; in fact what happened was the purpose of the dance.
- Skinner and his mother fall out after watching Mel Gibson's directing debut, The Man Without a Face, in which Gibson plays an artist with a half-disfigured face.
- The Japanese businessman in the Mr. Sparkle corporate video is bathing in a sentō, a communal bath. He tells the watching "American investor" that he (the investor) is interested in distributing Mr. Sparkle in his "home prefecture" referring to the jurisdictional divisions of Japan, as opposed to "home state".
- The point-of-view shot of the bullies circling Ned on their bikes parodies a famous scene from the film Black Rain.
- In the zoo, one of the signs says "Habitat for Huge Manatees", a spoof of Habitat for Humanity International.
- During the Itchy & Scratchy episode, a sign reads "Aujourd'hui: le bombe atomique" (Today: the atomic bomb) with a picture of a French flag at the bottom. The fact that the tests are conducted by France is a reference to Jacques Chirac's 1995 decision to run nuclear tests at Mururoa before the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was to be signed (although it should be noted France conducted its tests underground, not atmospheric tests as depicted in the episode).
[edit] External links
- "In Marge We Trust" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
