Simple Simpson
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"Simple Simpson" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. The episode aired on May 2, 2004. The concept is mainly inspired by (and parodies) the 2002 Spider-Man movie, though it contains elements of other superheroes as well.
[edit] Plot
Homer watches a commercial about a contest that will allow the winner, the finder of a golden ticket, a trip to "Farmer Billy's Bacon Factory", and is intrigued by the commercial. Although Homer buys a surplus of bacon from the Kwik-E-Mart, he is only able to find a silver ticket, which allows him to judge the upcoming placement competition at the county fair. At the fair, Lisa's entry in the place setting competition is wrecked by the Rich Texan, angering Homer, who decides to teach the Rich Texan a lesson. Recalling a warning from Chief Wiggum that he will be arrested if he commits another felony assault, Homer disguises himself as a masked superhero, "The Pie Man", and throws a pie straight into the Rich Texan's face, leaving the crowd laughing. The next day, Lisa is seen drawing her favorite superhero - Pie Man. After Homer hears that the Comic Book Guy has ripped off Bart and Milhouse, he arrives as the Pie Man (with a newer look) and throws a pie in the his face. Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek, whom the Comic Book Guy invited for tea and some chit chat, suddenly shows up and is turned off by the pie on his face. This humiliates him in front of the kids and he runs away in tears.
The next day, the family watches the news and discovers that the Springfield Children's Hospital is going to be turned into a cosmetic surgery clinic. Homer worries about the plight of the sick children. That same evening, two sick and coughing children are pushed away from the hospital by Mayor Quimby. Chief Wiggum, believing that the Pie Man must be stopped because he does not do bike safety lectures, plans to capture him at the event. The Pie Man shows up, pie at the ready. Lenny (who tried to warn Homer), the Pie Man fans, and the other crowd members run for safety because the cops open fire, with Lou hitting Homer in the arm. Homer manages to escape rather flamboyantly. At home, Lisa enters the kitchen and sees Homer, still disguised as Pie Man. Lisa figures out that he is actually her father. Homer, unmasked, brings blindfolded Lisa to his Pie Cave (a.k.a. the basement) but Lisa is not surprised. He promises Lisa (who does not want him to get hurt again) that he will stop his pie avenging. At the power plant, Mr. Burns is particularly cruel to his employees. He whips Lenny and Carl, so that they will eat faster and return to work, and docks Homer a day's pay for being late and fat. Out of his mind, a pie starts telling Homer to throw him when more desserts join the talk and they argue to be thrown. Even though he remembers his promise to Lisa, Homer makes another appearance as Pie Man. Mr. Burns shuts down the showers as soon as Pieman came and splats Burns in the face. However, after watching the video surveillance cameras, Burns sees that Pie Man has tired from his escape and fallen asleep on a couch. Turning around, he sees Pie Man sleeping on the couch in the room. Burns and Smithers lock him in the employee detention center, and unmask him. Burns makes Homer his personal hitman and threatens to reveal his identity to the rest of the city if he does not comply.
His first task is to pie himself, then a girl-scout. Mr. Burns and Smithers come to the town square in disguise to Homer to show that his next assignment is throw a pie in the face of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher, the Dalai Lama (who Mr. Burns said did something to his Chinese masters). However, at the Dalai Lama's show, Homer - disguised as Pie Man - can not go through with it since Lisa is present and is Buddhist herself. He reveals his identity to the public, but no one believes he could possibly be Pie Man, they all think he is just too dumb and greedy. The Dalai Lama then flies out of the building safely, and to give another lecture at Buffalo, New York. Pie Man is now free from Mr. Burns's control for good. Later, we see Homer and Marge snuggling in bed, and Marge says that she believed that Homer was the Pie Man (namely because it couldn't have been anyone else in the suit). While she laughs at this, Homer makes his way to the roof and states that Pie Man will return, along with his trusty sidekick, the Cupcake Kid (a.k.a. Bart). However, they are soon subjected to a great injustice by Marge...cleaning out the gutter.
[edit] Censorship
- When this episode was first broadcast in Asia on the Star World channel on November 6, 2005, all scenes mentioning or showing the Dalai Lama were cut. This act of censorship was to appease the predominantly Buddhist viewers of East, South, and Southeast Asia with regards to any view of mocking the Dalai Lama.
[edit] Cultural references
- Homer's costume is similar to Superman's costume minus the mask, gloves, underwear, black boots, and weight.
- Bart's superhero ego Cupcake Kid is a parody of Robin.
- The part where Homer makes his costume is a parody of Peter Parker from Spiderman doing the same.
- Homer's secret lair is a parody of Batman.
- Homer's assignment briefing is a reference to Mission: Impossible.
