TV
‘The Simpsons’ announces that Homer will never strangle Bart again because “times have changed”
In one of the latest episodes of ‘The Simpsons’, Homer puts an end to corporal punishment for Bart because society has changed and doesn’t see it in a good light.
The longest-running television show has just announced that it is putting an end to one of its most recurring gags. After 34 years on the air and more than 750 episodes, The Simpsons has decided that Homer will never strangle Bart again.
In the third episode of season 35, “McMansion & Wife,” Homer introduces himself to his new neighbor by shaking hands with the new character, who notices how firm the handshake is. “See, Marge, strangling the boy paid off.” When the audience looks at him, Homer clarifies, “Just kidding, I don’t do that anymore. Times have changed.”
Some viewers point out that this is not new, but dates back to episode 17 of season 22, “Love is a Many Strangled Things. In that episode, a basketball player, played by NBA star Kareem Abdul Jabbar, strangles Homer so that Homer can understand what it feels like to be “young, small and scared.” Homer was traumatized by the experience and was soon unable to do the same to Bart.
However, the gag reappeared shortly thereafter (and so little, in episode 24 of the same season). By that time, the voices condemning Homer’s physical punishment of Bart had begun to resound on social networks (see the tweet above, in which a user criticizes the fact that “took them long enough.”)
Criticism of Apu in ‘The Simpsons’
The last time Homer strangled Bart was in Season 31, and since then the controversies surrounding ‘The Simpsons’ had focused on Apu, the grocery store owner, a character whose role promoted stereotypes and even had a white voice actor behind him. After the documentary ‘The Problem with Apu’, Matt Groening and Fox had to take action: