1 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: Hey, it's Emily and you're listening to stuff Mom never 2 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: told you. I am super excited to talk about today. 3 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: Lisa Simpson, the one and only feminist hero, feminist icon. 4 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: I would go as far as to say, I'm a 5 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: hero here here and heroic. She's a total I mean, 6 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: I think Lisa has collectively uh, I has my collective 7 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: projected hopes, dreams, ambitions and admiration on so many levels. 8 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: I am the first sudmit that I'm a big Simpsons fan. 9 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: It was on often in my in my household growing up, 10 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: we would plan dinner time around the Simpsons. Yeah seven 11 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: or you know something, sit dad and watch the Simpsons 12 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: and eat a family meal. Totally, dinner had to be 13 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: over by the time the new Simpsons was coming on 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: um and the Simpsons as a show is truly extraordinary 15 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: and rare in a lot of different ways. This is 16 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: not an episode all about the Simpsons. This is an 17 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: episode specifically about the character Lisa. And for those of 18 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: you who are like I hate the Simpsons, or I 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: hate cartoons, or you want to lump the Simpsons in 20 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: with Futurama and South Park and a lot of other 21 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: cartoons made for adults, don't tune out just yet. I'm 22 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: here to make the case that the Simpsons are very 23 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: unique and stand out in a truly different way, and 24 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: that Lisa Simpsons a big part of what makes the 25 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: Simpsons so great. So the Simpsons for those not familiar, 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: it's an American animated television sitcom starring the Simpson family, 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: which is Lisa and Bart, who are the youngest kids. 28 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: The dad is Horn. Maggie credentials under fire on the show. 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: They always forget about magic. That is of the I 30 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: am just she's absorbed the family dynamics of the show. 31 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: I watched it so much so. It was created by 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: Mac Groening Um. He conceded the characters in the lobby 33 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: of James L. Brooks's office and named them after his 34 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: own family members, substituting Bart for his own name, which 35 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: is really sweet um. It debuted as a series of 36 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show in April of nineteen seven. 37 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: So if you go back and watch those old Tracy 38 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: Ullman versions, they're they're drawn so jankly. They're not they 39 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: don't really look like the characters that we know and 40 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: love today. And The Simpsons debuted on Fox December seventeenth, nine, 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: and it was an early early hit on Fox. And 42 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: it was the first show on Fox to land in 43 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: the top thirty ratings in a season, and this was 44 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: in nine. Yeah, it was a runaway success. And the 45 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: Simpsons have stuck around. I think that a huge formative 46 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: part of many a millennials childhood because now they've become 47 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: the longest running American sitcom overall all sitcoms, which I 48 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: find fascinating. This isn't just the longest running cartoon, the 49 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: longest running American sitcom. Um Back in two thousand and nine, 50 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: it surpassed gun Smoke as the longest running American prime 51 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: time scripted TV series. Two so since when they debuted 52 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: on prime Time, the show's broadcast six hundred and eighteen episodes. 53 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: For those of you like me who spent your summer 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: binge watching them all thanks to f x X, do 55 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: you know that you can watch them all on demand? 56 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: It's insane. And they heard that they purchased the rights 57 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: for all of the Simpsons episodes to be played like 58 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: one after the other for a couple of million dollars 59 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: per episode. Yes, I remember very distinctly. FX f x 60 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: X was doing the Every Simpsons Ever marathon, and it 61 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: was a special time for me. I just love their 62 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: promos because if someone could just play their promos for me, 63 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: that would be great, because they were usually like mathematical arrays, 64 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: you know, it's not raised tessellations. Yeah, there's a lot 65 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: of weird Simpson Like, what's the word stoner art? Yeah, 66 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: you're probably looking for a more like intellectual term. I'm 67 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,839 Speaker 1: trying to think of the word psychedelic, but stoner arn't 68 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: totally encapsulates it. So here's why I think the Simpsons 69 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: are so great, and here's why I think Lisa Simpson 70 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: is so important because still today we have a dearth 71 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: of strong female characters on TV, and Lisa Simpson is 72 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: exactly that. She's a precocious eight year old daughter, a 73 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: perpetually eight year old daughter in the show, which is 74 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: part of what makes the Simpson so magical. And she's outspoken, 75 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: she's an activist, she's vocal, but she's also and I 76 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: think this is part of what makes her so appealing. 77 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: She's imperfect, she's human, she has her down days, she 78 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: has her ego and pride too, So we get to 79 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: see her as a strong female character in a daughter 80 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: role as strong as a little girl can be at 81 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: eight years old and then some, but also shown in 82 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: a pretty weak light in a world where air. Uh. 83 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: There really has been little forward movement for girls in 84 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: the media in over six decades. According to the Gina 85 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: Davis Institute on Gender and Media, for nearly sixty years, 86 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 1: gender inequality on screen has remained largely unchanged and unchecked. 87 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: Without an educational voice and force for change, the level 88 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: of imbalance is likely to stay the same or worse 89 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: in and that change is pretty bad when you looked 90 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: at the numbers, right being, Yeah, it's pretty bad of 91 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: film and TV narrators are male. The Institute's research indicates 92 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: that some groups see in some group scenes only sevent 93 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,840 Speaker 1: of characters are female. These absences are unquestionably felt by audiences, 94 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: particularly children, who learned to accept the stereotypes that are 95 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: represented there. So, you know, when they see these these things, 96 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: being women being underrepresented in media, they really accepted. You 97 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: think you grow up thinking that male identified people are 98 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: the norm, and that if you are not a male 99 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: identified person you are somehow abnormal because you don't see 100 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: yourself represented. Yeah, it's almost like I specifically remember not 101 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: always viewing myself as the main character in my life? 102 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,559 Speaker 1: Were you a side character? I was a supporting cast member, 103 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: And I don't I'm not saying that like that was 104 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: a thing I really intellectualized, but I definitely I think 105 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: it took a lot of growing up for me to 106 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: see myself as the protagonist of my own story because 107 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: as a woman, I think we're often defined by our relationships, 108 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: like I am with this person, I'm part of this family, 109 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: I'm part of this whereas men are literally presented as 110 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: the main character and a lot of stuff. Even amongst 111 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: the top grossing G rated family films, girl characters are 112 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: outnumbered by boys three to one, and so something that 113 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: Gina typically says Gina Davis and her research points out 114 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: is that if girls can't see it, they can't be it. 115 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: And I love the fact that I just want to 116 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: sort of set up the fact that talk about Lisa 117 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: Simpson is actually important and characters like Lisa Simpson are 118 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: more than just entertaining and wonderful, They're important. Yeah. The 119 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: research shows that you know, you need you People need 120 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: to see themselves represented on screen, whether it's Little Girls, 121 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: whether it's Transpolkes, whether it's people of color, It doesn't 122 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: matter who you are. In order to internalize that you 123 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: matter and that your stories matter, you need to see 124 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: those stories represented in books, on screen and all of that. 125 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: And so it's not just it may sound like it's 126 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: just throwaway pop culture, but it actually really makes a 127 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: difference in people's lives definitely. And some people might say, well, 128 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: you know, the Simpsons debuted in nine. That might have 129 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: been true then, but haven't things improved? And unfortunately they 130 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: haven't very much. Even though there's this great quote um 131 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: from a study called boxed in two thousand fifteen two 132 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: thousand sixteen Women on Screen and behind the Scenes in Television, 133 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: in which this Think Progress piece that unpacks that studies says, quote, 134 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: anyone paying attention to the television scene can probably rattle 135 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: off a fleet of high profile female writers, directors, and 136 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: show numbers. And I would add in characters, we've seen 137 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: more female characters, no doubt. However, laws In the author 138 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: of the study found that programs in our study featured 139 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: casts with more male than female characters. The women only 140 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: comprised thirty nine percent of all speaking characters, and most damningly, 141 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: the percentage of female characters featured on a broadcast network 142 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: program has not increased over the last decade. So we've 143 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: got a long way to go, y'all. We have not 144 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: come as far as maybe it feels like we have 145 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 1: when you actually look at the numbers. Right, So let's 146 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about why we love Lisa Simpson. Um. 147 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: I think this Babe article puts it perfectly, um, and 148 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: I love how they describe her. Lisa is a smart, talking, 149 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: musically talented, witty, anti capitalist, philanthropic, moral, feminist, and ecological 150 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: apostle which we have always had and will always need. 151 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 1: And I love that. Right. Growing up, Lisa was this 152 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: figure who was allowed to be political and activisty and um, 153 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: but still was this like sweet, precocious little girl. And 154 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: it was sort of subtle the way the writers wrote 155 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: her in right. They didn't pigeonhole her as an activist, 156 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: but she her activism sort of came out in everyday 157 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: exchanges in a way that it truly does in real life. 158 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: You know what I mean. It's just like having a 159 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: woke kid. Yeah, you don't. People don't really at least 160 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: people that I know, don't really walk around you know, um, 161 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,599 Speaker 1: proclaiming they're that they're involved in some sort of activist crusade. 162 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: It just comes out when you talk to them. And 163 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: I think over the years that we've gotten to know Lisa, 164 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: it's just sort of whether it's her. You know, vegetarianism, 165 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, when friends with salad, Emily, is that a Lisa? 166 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: That's a homewor quote? You know when friends with salad? 167 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: You know, when friends with salad. This is that you 168 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: can unpack as a vegan, you can unpack that whole episode. 169 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: Are you Gonna Marry a Carrot? Really good? You're pulling 170 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: all these like great quotes that I'm not picking out 171 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: at all. This is like my this was this is 172 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: a microclass of my whole life quoting the Simpsons and 173 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: people looking at me like I have three heads. That's 174 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: so sad because I love the Simpsons, but I don't 175 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 1: have the memory, Like I cannot remember quotes. There was 176 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: a time in my older brother's life when I think 177 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: he solely communicated in Simpsons quotes. That was his main 178 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,959 Speaker 1: We should talk, Yeah, shout out to Alex, Alex, call 179 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: me Alex. I also love the this Babe article because 180 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: they go on to say, listen, Lisa is the ultimate 181 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: role model, because although she has both the desire and 182 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: capacity to change the world, her strengths and talents are attainable. 183 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: She's relatable. She too, is fraught with insecurities and doubts 184 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: about her own self, image, and intelligence. All of these 185 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: serve to highlight and reinforce the issues that she challenges. 186 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: Most TV shows feature beautiful female characters who are flawless 187 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: in both their appearance and confidence. The Simpsons contested these 188 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: notions with Lisa to reassure and comfort your young girls everywhere. 189 00:10:58,120 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: I love that so much, and I think they put 190 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: it perfectly. I remember when Lisa was struggling with an 191 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: eating disorder in an episode where she's trying to be 192 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: a dancer. Um, I remember her starting to smoke. I remember, 193 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: and I think you know, growing up, I always had 194 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: this thing where I actually hated female characters who were 195 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: these perfect little angels. They had this great, shiny hair 196 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: that looked perfect all the time. They never messed up, 197 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:30,199 Speaker 1: they never did the wrong thing. Um. I mean one 198 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: of my favorite shows is The Gilmore Girls, and I 199 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: always felt that Rory Gilmore, as much as I love her, 200 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: was a little too perfectably and when she screwed up 201 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: it was as if the entire town was like exploded, like, 202 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: oh my god, Rory made a mistake. And I disliked 203 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: that Lisa got to be how we really are, right. 204 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: She was good and tried really hard and was really smart, 205 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: but also failed, also had an ego, as also had 206 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: her problem. It's just like all of us. And one 207 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 1: of my favorite things about Lisa. This says a lot 208 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: about I think us first of all, like this is 209 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: again I'm protecting all of my childhood self onto Lisa. 210 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: But there's an article um that in reading about Lisa, 211 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: just to be reminded of all of her awesomeness, I 212 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: was reminded that she's an overachiever and she's cool with it. 213 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: But obviously Lisa is like the class teacher's pet. Obviously 214 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: she's always raising her hand, she's always answering question, she's 215 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: always overperforming, but she gets grief for it. And that's 216 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: important because the show doesn't pretend like she lives in 217 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: a world in which women who overachieved are treated very nicely. 218 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 1: So I like that she's kind of a dork. She 219 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: kind of embraces it, you know, she wasn't ashamed of 220 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: being an overachiever. Lisa hat she joined MENSA. Remember that 221 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: episode she was the best musician in the jazz band. 222 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: She had a high I q. Um. You know, she's 223 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: sort of taught girls that it's never too early to 224 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: aspire to greatness and that effort is a worthy thing. Yeah, 225 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: I like. I like that so much. And I'm still 226 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: reminded of her quote, Um, why is it that a 227 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: woman that when a woman is competent and powerful they 228 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: call her a witch? Right, Like, that's exactly it. I 229 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: also love I mean, this really is. And I think 230 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: the two poles of Lisa something could not be more 231 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: Bridget and Emily because I I like that she was 232 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: a screw up sometimes let her ego get the better 233 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: of her sometimes. I'm reminded of the episode where, um, 234 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: she gets a new neighbor, Allison, who is better at 235 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: the saxophone, and so she drums up this like intense 236 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: competition with her and it actually ends up being terrible 237 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: for her, and I mean and she's like, oh, Alison's 238 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: actually fine. Um, Well, she like had a lesson about 239 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: female competition and not being the best at everything right, 240 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: and she kind of hated Alison. She steals her diorama 241 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: and replaces. It's like the parable what is that? Um 242 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,599 Speaker 1: Edgar Allan Poe story? That that right, because there's a 243 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: lot of guilt because she basically does something morally because 244 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: she's jealous and envious of this totally so called friend 245 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: of totally and identify with that so much because you know, 246 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: growing up something. When when I was studying literature and 247 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: unpacking these things at the academic level, one of the 248 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: things I noticed is that we don't celebrate things like meanness, pettiness, spitefulness, 249 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: and those are the everybody. It doesn't matter how nice 250 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: you are. Everyone is petty, mean, jealous, and we when 251 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: a character has those qualities, we write them off as 252 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: a bad And I'm so much I mean, I'm a petty, 253 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: spiteful person in all the ways, but I'm so much 254 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: more interested in characters that are real in these ways. Well, 255 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: I think that's the genius of the show writers is 256 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: that they allow these characters to be admirable and hilariously bad, right, 257 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: Like they're so bad it's funny. Um, They're complex in 258 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: that way. There are a lot of specific episodes in 259 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: which uh, Lisa wins our hearts over that we are 260 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: going to dive into right after a quick word from 261 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: our sponsors, and we're back and we're excited to dive 262 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: even deeper into our little analysis here of what makes 263 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: Lisa Simpson such a fun character. But before we go, 264 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: sort of episode by episode, there's this tension we want 265 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: to really underscore. That's a healthy tension. It's not a 266 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: huge part of the storyline, but this tension between Lisa's 267 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: sort of emblematic third wave feminism that might be most 268 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: resonant for millennials or gen xers, but Marge, on the 269 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: other hand, is really representative of second wave feminism in 270 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: a lot of ways. We see in some flashbacks from 271 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: college Marge that she definitely has attended her fair share 272 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: of feminist protests. At one point she burns her bra, right, 273 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: which I find hilarious and side note, that's not actually 274 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: a historical, historically accurate thing that feminists did, but the 275 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: reputation still stand, and Marge apparently burned her bra for 276 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: what that's worth, So we've seen that for sure. I 277 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: think what's funny is there's a healthy tension between the 278 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: two of them that was brilliantly broken down in this 279 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: article from bitch media dot Org called how Marge Simpson 280 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: raised Springfield's Favorite Feminist by Mary Grace Garris. So what 281 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: I love about this article is they really nicely highlight 282 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: this kind of healthy tension that that Lisa and Marge 283 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: sometimes have. And I see this reflected a lot in 284 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: UM the current the current feminist landscape, where you have 285 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: a lot of younger women who are really are younger feminists, 286 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: who are really advocating for this intersectional uh brand of 287 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: feminism that a lot of perhaps baby boomer generation feminists 288 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: might not be so familiar with. And so I think 289 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: you see a lot of that. There's this great quote 290 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: Lisa is indicative of that hand in many jars thing 291 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: that we tend to strive for. We're attempting to be 292 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: ultra inclusive, to strive a large personal accomplishments, and too, 293 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: for lack of a better term, have it all. Marge, however, 294 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: is an emblem of what happened to a portion of 295 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: baby boom or second waivers. She isn't preoccupied with a 296 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: lot of political issues, and while she does openly acknowledge 297 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: the inequality between the sexes on a basic level, it's 298 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: simply not a priority for her. UM and this quote, 299 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: I think really highlights that that sort of tension for me, 300 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: that you have a generation of feminists who are recognizing 301 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: the importance of advocating and speaking up on issues that 302 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: perhaps are not necessarily specific to your own self. So 303 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: whether it's issues of you know, um, trans women or 304 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: rural women or poor women or you know, disabled women, 305 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 1: understanding why it's important to advocate for those for women 306 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: who are not like yourself. Um, I feel like Marge 307 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: maybe we'll be cool with that on a certain level, 308 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: but it's not something that is a real priority for her. 309 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: She's like the idea of equality in general, but isn't 310 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: going to be out there, you know, making noise in 311 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: those kinds of ways. The ways at least definitely is right. 312 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: And Lisa's eco feminism, her vegetarianism sort of it Listits 313 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: a bunch of eye rolls from Marge, right. I feel 314 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: like Marge is the Betty Draper, like pre feminist revolution. 315 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 1: She probably read the feminist mystique and was all about it, 316 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's kind of funny in 317 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: how she is pro woman in a lot of ways, 318 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: but isn't an activist at all about it. And if 319 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: I mean to be clear, she's a housewife, right. She's 320 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: not that you can't be a feminist housewife, but I 321 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: find it an activist housewife or an activist housewife. Absolutely. 322 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: And the the labor that goes unpaid done by women 323 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: in the home, including Marge, often goes unappreciated, Which is 324 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: funny because this article goes on to say, quote, while 325 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,680 Speaker 1: her generation fought so hard to get into the workplace 326 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: and established their independence from men, something fell by the wayside, 327 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 1: i e. Getting pregnant with bart and she spends most 328 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: of her time making beds and cleaning up after Homer's mess. 329 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: She continues in this great article to say, for what 330 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: it's worth, Marge chose the life of a homemaker. Sure, 331 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: she'll get a one episode job every few seasons, like 332 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: when she became a police officer. Yes, when she became 333 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,360 Speaker 1: a painter, she painted that. Yeah, she's had some gigs. 334 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,680 Speaker 1: She's had some pretty cool gigs. I love it. Um, 335 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: she in the gig economy, Oh, large Simpson and the 336 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: gig economy. I love it. So while she'll get one 337 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: episode job every few seasons, and she has a sublimated 338 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: frustration about her family's lack of appreciation for her workload, 339 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 1: but most of the time she contently owns the domestic sphere. 340 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: Quote it must be exciting to make a different set 341 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,320 Speaker 1: of beds, Lisa deadpans in Summer of four ft two 342 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: when the family goes on vacation to a summer home. 343 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: I know you're joking, but it is, Marge replies, shippers ever, 344 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: I just love one of my favorite quotes. Actually, that's 345 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: one of my favorite episodes. So this is the episode 346 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: where where Lisa gets funky. She wears a different outfit 347 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: and she wants to be cool and Milhouse sees her 348 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: with with a backward hat and he says, it's Lisa 349 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: and she looks like Blossom. I say that probably once 350 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: a week. Is this what she wears? Sunglasses that are 351 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: like circular tied a shirt, backward hat and like broken socks. 352 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 1: Everybody has those moments, everybody has those summers. But that 353 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: we're going to try a new identity and like you 354 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: you what I love about the show is that you 355 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: do see Lisa try these things on and she she 356 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: finds herself and you get to watch it on screen, 357 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: just like we were saying before. It's great. Yeah, and 358 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 1: what's cool about this This article and that that sort 359 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: of identity shift that Marge goes through and that Lisa 360 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,360 Speaker 1: goes through is it's never a done deal. They're constantly 361 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: sort of fluctuating their feminist ideologies and they come come 362 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: to head on occasion. Um. I like how Lisa pushes 363 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: back on her mom sometimes and her mom sort of 364 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: rolls her eyes that are sometimes it feels a lot 365 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: like my mom and a lot of older second wave 366 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,239 Speaker 1: feminists that I know and have a kind of roll 367 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,679 Speaker 1: their eyes at um. Young feminists who maybe supported Bernie 368 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,160 Speaker 1: in the primary, for instance, and we're not feeling all 369 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: the uh, all the Clinton love and and the sort 370 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: of just fallen in line because you know, they felt 371 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: like they were expected to because she was a woman. 372 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: And I mean, it's it's definitely there's definitely attention there. 373 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: There's definitely attention. Um. This is a kind of a 374 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: throwaway line in an episode, but so Lisa, her vegetarianism 375 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: is a big thing on the show. And I remember 376 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: an episode where I think it's when they're getting a nanny. 377 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: Marge is explaining how to cook for Lisa, and she says, 378 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:30,680 Speaker 1: I've been trying to sneak a little bit of meat 379 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: into Lisa's food every now and right, And I thought 380 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: that was so funny, and it really kind of it's 381 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: a throwaway line, but it highlights that that sort of 382 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,479 Speaker 1: tension that Marge feels with Lisa, where she loves her, 383 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,439 Speaker 1: she loves how independent and fierce and you know, proud 384 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: she is, but she also wants to sort of bring 385 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,719 Speaker 1: her down to earth a little bit. And that is 386 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: exactly what my mother's reaction to my veganism was, by 387 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: the way, was to lovingly try to persuade me not 388 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: to become a vegan. So I feel like there's definitely 389 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: only The author in this article relates her mom's second 390 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: wave feminism to her experience of Marge versus Lisa on 391 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: these fronts that I find that so so perfect. So 392 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about um, Lisa's vegetarianism, because 393 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 1: it's the butt of a lot of jokes. Yes, do 394 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: you remember the episode where she becomes a vegetarian? I 395 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: don't really remember. It was yesterday. Doesn't like it right away? Right, 396 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: she was feeling like she was struggling, I think, yeah, 397 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: So in the episode this is a real old one, 398 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: Um she goes to this is when she's a meat eater. 399 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,920 Speaker 1: She goes to a petting zoo with her family and 400 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: she's having a great time. She's petting these lambs and 401 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: they're so cute and she loves them. And then she 402 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: goes home and she's on this high from petting all 403 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 1: the animals and her mom makes lamb chop and she 404 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: realizes and she's watching her family like tear into them, 405 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: like you know, Homer eats, and she thinks, oh, these 406 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: are the same lambs that I that I was just petting. 407 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: These could be the same lambs. And she has this 408 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: one of those great Simpsons dream sequences where it's actually 409 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: like like a lamb I'm on the plate bang at her. 410 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: And that's when she becomes a vegetarian. Her family is 411 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: totally against it, her dad in order to spite so 412 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: it's almost if you listen to our vegan episode, it 413 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: is the kind of thing where her family feels very defensive. 414 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: They feel like they're saying, you know, you are not 415 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: a good person because you eat meat. So Homer has 416 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: this huge meat party with a fuckling pig and blah 417 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: blah blah. I think it's a good episode. Well. According 418 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: to Bustles article on nine ways that Lisa is the 419 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: ultimate feminist. She actually finds sort of support and help 420 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: in some of famous like some of the world's actual 421 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: famous vegetarians, including Paul McCartney. Yes, she goes to the 422 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: quickie market because who is a vegetarian and he's hosting 423 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: like a vegetarian meet up or something. It's McCartney. Oh, 424 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: I see what you did there. You love your puns, Yeah, 425 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: she and that's one of my uh yeah, that's a 426 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: really good thing for that episode. And she makes I 427 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: will never forget. She brings in, um, what's that Russian 428 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: tomato soups? She brings in a pot of borsch to 429 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: this meat party, and she says it's borish and I've 430 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: got enough for everyone another classically sid I love it. 431 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: And I feel like the moral of the story is like, 432 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 1: you can have unpopular opinions, you can hold your values 433 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: close to your heart and live your life that way, 434 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: and it can be lonely at times, but then you 435 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: can also find a community of people who share your 436 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,159 Speaker 1: values and maybe Paul McCartney will be there, right, And 437 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: that's the goodness. That's like the wholesome goodness of the Simpsons. 438 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: As raunchy as that show can get sometimes, which I 439 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: know turns off some of my right wing relatives who 440 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: forbid their children from watching The Simpsons. Wow, they thought 441 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: it was like filthy, and it definitely has its dirty, edgy, 442 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: super hyper liberal moments, But at the end of the day, 443 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: I think there's always a wholesome lesson to be learned. Well, 444 00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: that's why. That's one of the things that I so 445 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,959 Speaker 1: I I should say, I'm someone who loves cartoons. If 446 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: it's a cartoon, I watch it. I'm that nerdy person 447 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 1: loves Carl Love, I watched them all. I love Futurama, 448 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: I love Bob's Burgers, I love Rick and Morty. Um. Really, 449 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: there's not If it's a it's a cartoon, I'm already 450 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: sort of sold. I love animation. Um. And So I 451 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,400 Speaker 1: think that's something that sets the Simpsons apart from shows 452 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: like Family Guy or shows like South Park, where I 453 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: do feel like the reason why I keep coming back 454 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: to it is this, not I don't want to say wholesomeness, 455 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: but that at the end of the day, each episode 456 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: it underscores that this is a family that really loves 457 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: each other and if they have each other's backs, and 458 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: that even if they fight, even if Bart chokes, you know, 459 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,120 Speaker 1: are a home or chart, they still really love each other. 460 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: And I something and this. People are gonna call me 461 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 1: out on this, and that's fine, It's just my opinion. Um. 462 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: The thing I hate about Family Guy, and I hate 463 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: a lot. I hate a lot about that show. But 464 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: the thing I don't like is how awful they are 465 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: to that to the daughter character Meg for no realities, 466 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: and she's just the punching bag of the show and 467 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: it's supposed to be funny exactly, And so the Simpsons, 468 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: I mean, this is Seth mcfarlan's like, go to Yes, 469 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,360 Speaker 1: that's his jam. He's not exactly what we might call 470 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: a feminist. I have a lot of bones to pick 471 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: with him, I guess I'll say, Um, but yeah, you 472 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: would never even if Bart, even if Bart and Lisa fight, 473 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,639 Speaker 1: even if Marge and Lisa clash, at the end of 474 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: the day, this is a show about a family that 475 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: really cares for each other and loves each other, and 476 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: it really that family dynamic. I feel like one of 477 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: the reasons why as a family we loved the show 478 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 1: is because that reflects our dynamic in my own family 479 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: right where we drive each other up the wall, We 480 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: make each other want to scream, We don't get along. 481 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: We have a million opinions, were always arguing, but at 482 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: the end of the day, we love each other. That 483 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: nobody's business will always be there for each other. And 484 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: I feel like I don't see that on shows like 485 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: Family Guy. True, I would agree. Let's take a quick 486 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: break and when we come back, we'll talk through some 487 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: of our other favorite moments of Lisa Simpson's feminism. And 488 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: we're back and we are loving talking about Lisa Simpson. 489 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: I feel like you and I are just quoting Simpson's 490 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: quotes back to each other, back and forth to each 491 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 1: other totally, which I could do all day. I could 492 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: do all day. You know, it's interesting Lisa doesn't actually 493 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: have a catchphrase quote yeah, like not eat my shorts, yeah, 494 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: or dope. Oh yeah, that's right. Marge has her Wait 495 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: what was that again? People are like, oh, my earbuds, sorry, 496 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: I p your eardrums. That's so true. Well, we don't 497 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: have a catch hrase either. True, So we got we'll 498 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: work on that and we'll get maybe Lesa will inspire 499 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: catch I honestly think we should try to include as 500 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: many Lisa Simpson quotes in our All Future Podcasts and 501 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 1: all everything and about it completely. So what is one 502 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: of your favorite episodes? That's a great question. There's so 503 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: many to choose from. My favorite is probably the episode 504 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:09,479 Speaker 1: where it's Lisa versus Malibu Stacy. Um, Malibu Stacey is 505 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 1: a it's kind of a Barbie esque doll figure that 506 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:18,120 Speaker 1: is very popular. Um fun fact in Springfield, Wayland. Smithers 507 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: is like this huge Barbie collector, which I love. But 508 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: that which one is? She's Mr Burns is uh that's 509 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: his first name. Yeah, I'm so familiar. I were on 510 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 1: a first name basis. Wow, that's a big deal for Smithers. Yeah, 511 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, is that his son? No? Wait, that's 512 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:36,719 Speaker 1: definitely okay. So what I love about that episode is, 513 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: again it really highlights this sort of feminist crusader that 514 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: little Lisa is. And so even though she loves Malibu Stacey, 515 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: she's so excited to get the new doll when it's 516 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: the talking doll. When you pull the string, it talks, 517 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: and so she's like, oh wow, I've been waiting to 518 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: hear her voice, hear her speak for this whole time. 519 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: She this is very Lisa. She builds a little model 520 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: you in diorama, and she sets her up at a 521 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: podium and she says, the world has been waiting to 522 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: hear your voice, Malibu Stacy, and she pulls the string 523 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: and Malibu Stacy says, don't ask me. I'm just a 524 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: girl like this weird laugh um, And Lisa's horrified, and 525 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: she says, you know a generation of little girls who's 526 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: going to think that this is what it means to 527 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: be a woman. And if not, she goes to the 528 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: creator of Malibu Stacy's house play voiced by Kathleen Turner. 529 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: So she's got this sultry voice, which I love, um, 530 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: and she works with her to create a new doll, 531 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: what she calls Lisa Lyon Heard and it's supposed to 532 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: be a talking doll who says things like believe in 533 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: yourself and you can do anything, um. And it's great. 534 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: And so it actually kind of has a bittersweet ending 535 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 1: because all these little girls are excited for this doll, 536 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: um for Lisa's doll to come out, and Malibu Stacy 537 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: ends up kind of stealing her thunder by they they 538 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: the company re releases the doll with a new hat 539 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: and so everyone goes boggers with a doll. But then 540 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: she sees one little girl pick up Lisa lionheart and 541 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: pull the string and she says, believe in yourself and 542 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: you can do anything. It ends on such a nice, 543 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: nice note. It's cute, and I feel like Barbie Company, 544 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: the Barbie Company, Mattel's ears must have been burning. This 545 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: was a while ago now, and I know that Mattel 546 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: did a major, major rebrand in the last couple of 547 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: years to be more inclusive and to be more feminist. Really, 548 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: and the Barbie said they were putting out. So it's 549 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: funny to see Lisa the Little Advocate have a voice 550 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: in that matter. Definitely, you can't draw a direct linear 551 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: connection between the two, but it's good to see that 552 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: they were calling out the creators of Malibu Stacy because 553 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: she said things like, let's mix a drink for the gentleman, right, 554 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: did you say some horrible stuff? And again, you really 555 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: that episode, there's a there's a tidbit where Lisa is 556 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: really annoyed at thinks the doll says. One of the 557 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: things that she says is let's just drown our sorrows 558 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: in a big bowl of strawberry ice cream. And so 559 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: when Lisa is trying to explain to Marge why this 560 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: is offensive, Marge says some something along the lines of, 561 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: you know, don't get so upset about that. How about 562 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: we all drown our sorrows and a big bowl of 563 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: ice creams? And she was like, Mom, you're saying the 564 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: same thing, is dog? Um yeah, So I just I 565 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: think that is so great, And I think you're right. 566 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: I think that. I mean, you certainly can't draw and 567 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: we're not trying to draw a direct correlation between that 568 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: episode and Mattel sort of becoming more inclusive. But you 569 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: know what, do you really have Mattel making Ava du 570 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 1: Varney Barbie dolls, which I own? Um, you know, if 571 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't for folks like the Simpsons, you know, Lisa 572 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: Simpson calling them out for for being a little bit shallow. 573 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. One of my favorite 574 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: like single lines that Lisa delivers was just a subtle, 575 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: subtle mention, um, when Marge becomes a police officer. And 576 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier in the show that we're going to 577 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: talk about this because it's one of those subtle, subversive 578 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: lines that the Simpsons creators give of to Lisa to 579 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 1: sort of deliver in the middle of a show that's 580 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: about something very different and in it. Um when Marge 581 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 1: becomes a cop, Lisa vocalizes her concerns about the prison 582 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: system while on a tour of on a tour led 583 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: by her mother of the Springfield police station. Um, So, 584 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: Lisa goes, Mom, I know your intentions are good, but 585 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: aren't the police the protective force that maintains the status 586 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: quo for the wealthy elite. Don't you think we got 587 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: to attack the roots of the social problems instead of 588 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 1: jamming people into overcrowded prisons, Which is like not a 589 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: line that any eight year old actually delivered, But I 590 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: love that they give it to her, and Lisa's not Lisa. 591 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: But Marge's response is to make her hand puppet exactly 592 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: like using a hand puppet to be like, hey, Lisa, 593 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: help me bite crime rough rough, which of course reminds 594 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: us all of Scruff mcgraff of our early years how 595 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: they started to educate our generation on the police. So 596 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: I just like those kinds of lines Man in Prime Time, 597 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: just delivered, just snuck it in there. I think it's 598 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: just a perfect example of how the show's creators use 599 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: Lisa as this voice of reason. I love it. And 600 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: speaking of prime time like buns coming, let's talk about 601 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: what a big role math played on the show. This 602 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: was surprising to me. I had no idea that all 603 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: of a lot of the creators of The Simpsons actually 604 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 1: have a really sophisticated math degrees. And one of the 605 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: things they talked about on the show is how Lisa 606 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: is the most sort of rational quote unquote in a 607 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: math way h character and how her kind of interest 608 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 1: in math and science and the stem fields can really 609 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: be a sort of good thing for girls. Um. I 610 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 1: found this great quote when I talked to school kids 611 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: about the mathematics hidden in The Simpsons. I always stressed 612 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: Lisa's character because she is such a great role model 613 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: for girls who might be budding geeks or nascent nerds. 614 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: And that's from Simon seeing the author of this really 615 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: great book, The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets, which I 616 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 1: love because there's a ton of math like subtly included 617 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: in The Simpsons since the very first episode, almost one 618 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: thousand percent of which has flown over my head because 619 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that like high level math jokes that 620 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: the Simpsons include just never quite makes sense to me. 621 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,919 Speaker 1: But what's less subtle is their use of Lisa as 622 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,719 Speaker 1: being the um, the character who uses math to her 623 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: advantage most often so. For example, she took her little 624 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: league baseball team to the championship with the help of statistics. 625 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: She became kind of like a bookie. Of course, I 626 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: think Homer ended up abusing her skills. She delivers a 627 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,719 Speaker 1: paper at the twelfth Annual Big Science Thing, which is 628 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: their school science fair, on airborne pheromones and aggression in bullies, 629 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 1: which I think is so perfect for the show. I 630 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: love it. I love it. And then she goes on 631 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: to use math to help improve Bart's golf game, and 632 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 1: when a bunch of benches fall on Lisa in the 633 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: school gymnasium at one point in an episode, Principal Skinner 634 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,759 Speaker 1: cries out, she's been so have the hopes of our 635 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: athletics team. I love it. UM Also sort of building 636 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: off of that, the show actually taps into real world 637 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: I guess math controversies. I don't know if you guys 638 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: remember Laurence Summers, who was the president of Harvard University 639 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: who at one point during its tenure, and I think 640 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: this actually led to him, you know, having to step down. 641 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:24,320 Speaker 1: He basically suggested that the lack of women in stem 642 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: fields was due to biology. He was opposed to other factors, 643 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,879 Speaker 1: and this caused a huge outcry and he stepped down. 644 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,760 Speaker 1: And so then later a year later, after this whole firestorm, 645 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 1: this was sort of um satirized on The Simpsons. The 646 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 1: episode is called girls Just Want to Have Some whim 647 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: pretty hilarious. Skinner declares, from what I've seen, boyzardous better 648 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 1: at math science, the real subject, and after a hate campaign, 649 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: he's replaced with a sort of feminist radical educator who 650 00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: kind of not only gets Lisa more involved in math, 651 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 1: but then sort of also indoctrinates her further into her 652 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,799 Speaker 1: feminist ideology. Right, But what I found so fascinating with 653 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: that is she basically ends up rejecting Melanie Lightfoot, the 654 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:13,160 Speaker 1: feminist educationalist as they call her, because she rejects that 655 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: she needs a different kind of math. So Melanie in 656 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,320 Speaker 1: that show and that in that episode, basically says, well, Lisa, 657 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: we want to teach you a more feminist version of math, 658 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 1: and Lisa, following in the footsteps of Sophie Jermaine the 659 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 1: great eighteenth century French mathematician who was forced to adopt 660 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,920 Speaker 1: a male pseudonym. Uh. She disguises herself and joins the 661 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: lesson intended for the boys, so they split boys and 662 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,080 Speaker 1: girls up for math teaching, which I think is absurd, 663 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: and in doing so, she proves that she is indeed 664 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: the best mathematician in the class um and and sort 665 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 1: of it leaves that episode in somewhat of unresolved territory, 666 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: like many right right, right right. So they didn't go 667 00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:58,880 Speaker 1: as far as to address things in that episode like 668 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,280 Speaker 1: the gender gap of women in math and what Lisa 669 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,640 Speaker 1: thinks it's due to. But when interviewed and asked that 670 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: question as to why the writers didn't make Lisa come 671 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: to a conclusion, they basically said they didn't want to 672 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: deliver some kind of simplistic or glib conclusion. Neither did 673 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 1: they want to get in what they called quote skinner 674 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: like trouble for coming down on either side of the issue. 675 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,720 Speaker 1: That's so funny to me, because I mean, the Simpsons 676 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:29,160 Speaker 1: always seems to other shows I feel like, get involved 677 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:31,239 Speaker 1: in controversy for saying the wrong thing or having the 678 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: wrong message. I don't feel like the Simpsons does that. 679 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,399 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I'm such an avid fan 680 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 1: that I probably wouldn't come across Simpson's hate. But I 681 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: bet his episode will in gender some dialogue on that. 682 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,319 Speaker 1: I'm sure they've gotten it wrong in the past. But 683 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,560 Speaker 1: at the end of that episode, girls just want to 684 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: have sums. Lisa declares, whatever the reason is, I'm glad 685 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: I'm a girl, and I'm glad I'm good at math, 686 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: which I think is It's kind of a nice way 687 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 1: to tie it up again. I love that their episodes 688 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: end with such a heartwarming, you know, a good message 689 00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: typically I love of now. One of my other favorite 690 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 1: components of Lisa is her musical talents. So not only 691 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:10,480 Speaker 1: is she a mathematical genius, but she's also a whiz 692 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,840 Speaker 1: on the saxophone. And this is important because the Financial 693 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,360 Speaker 1: Times found in two thousand seventeen that around nine seven 694 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:21,479 Speaker 1: percent of orchestra members in the horns section are male. 695 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: So Lisa playing the saxophone doesn't seem like a very 696 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,319 Speaker 1: radical thing um, but in fact it is. And it's 697 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:34,360 Speaker 1: such an anomaly that the writers actually made her play 698 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 1: the saxophone because they just thought it would be kind 699 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:38,879 Speaker 1: of funny to see an eight year old girl sort 700 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,960 Speaker 1: of wrestling with this unwieldy baritone saxophone, which is extra 701 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,680 Speaker 1: extra large, right, And what is the best part of 702 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:50,840 Speaker 1: this whole thing is that in a six article in 703 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: The New York Times, they basically came to the conclusion 704 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: that there was something of a Simpson's saxophone bump amongst 705 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 1: little girls. The more little girl were playing with sax 706 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,640 Speaker 1: because of Lisa Simpson exactly. They quote this grade school 707 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,239 Speaker 1: saxophone teacher, Cynthia Sykes, who remarked that quote. When the 708 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 1: show started, I got an influx of girls coming up 709 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 1: to me saying, I want to play the saxophone because 710 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,480 Speaker 1: Lisa Simpson plays the saxophone. She goes. I had no 711 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,760 Speaker 1: clue who this Lisa Simpson was, but I was relieved 712 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: to find out she had a permanent gig over there. 713 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 1: I love it. Bleeding Gums Murphy would be proud. So 714 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,280 Speaker 1: in case you thought we could get through one Sminty 715 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: episode without talking about Donald Trump, think again, Trump be 716 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:36,120 Speaker 1: aller Trump Alert trigger warning slash Trump Alert. He shows 717 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,200 Speaker 1: up in this one to um. The Simpsons actually kind 718 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 1: of predicted a kind of way Trump becoming president. In 719 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: the episode where Lisa's is having her future predicted she's 720 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 1: president of the United States, she calls herself the first 721 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,759 Speaker 1: straight female president of the United States, which that was 722 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: like a radical addition to that line totally that they 723 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: didn't have to include, but I love that they did totally. Um. 724 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: So she's speaking about her presidential predecessor and she says 725 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: to her cabinet, I know he inherited a mess from 726 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,880 Speaker 1: President Trump, and here we are seventeen and that's come 727 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,320 Speaker 1: to fruition. I know, I love this. It's the episode 728 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,640 Speaker 1: Bart to the Future and Lisa basically sits down and says, 729 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,040 Speaker 1: you know, I know we're tasked with cleaning up the 730 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:24,120 Speaker 1: national debt caused by the presidency of Donald Trump, which 731 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,200 Speaker 1: just makes me want to vote Lisa Simpson all the way. Oh, 732 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: I would totally vote Lisa Simpson. I would vote Lisa Simpson. 733 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 1: And then I would have my dream female character line 734 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: up with the Lisa Simpson as president VP VP. Maybe Daria, 735 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:43,799 Speaker 1: no exactly who it is, um Jody from Daria, the 736 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 1: black character who is very very into school. She would 737 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,759 Speaker 1: be my my VP. She would be a brilliant I 738 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:54,040 Speaker 1: think maybe Daria could be Um Secretary of State. Uh, 739 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:59,359 Speaker 1: maybe for calms director. This is really fun. Um Meg, 740 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:02,160 Speaker 1: oh Meg, I want met to get some love. Yeah. 741 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:06,960 Speaker 1: Maybe Department of Defense. Yeah, oh I like that. That's good. Um. 742 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,200 Speaker 1: The girl who played um Spinelli on the show Recess, 743 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: she might be Department of Defense her. This is fun. Remember, hey, Arnold, 744 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:16,799 Speaker 1: Oh do I helda gotta get her in the mix? 745 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:20,279 Speaker 1: Oh my god, Siminthy listeners, please tell us who else 746 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:24,280 Speaker 1: should be in the ideal Lisa Simpson for president cabinet? Um. 747 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:25,920 Speaker 1: I cannot wait to hear what you come up with. 748 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,680 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed this as much as we have. 749 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,359 Speaker 1: I feel like we could talk about Lisa Simpson all day, 750 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,280 Speaker 1: but she has hashtag goals when it comes to family 751 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,439 Speaker 1: dynamic like you were mentioning earlier before the break, and 752 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 1: just being an outspoken feminist no matter your age, no 753 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,879 Speaker 1: matter your size. She sort of proves that you can 754 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,320 Speaker 1: be more than what people expect from you. So we 755 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:52,440 Speaker 1: want to hear from you. Tell us your ideal cartoon character, 756 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:57,000 Speaker 1: presidential cabinet lineup. Tell us what Lisa Simpson meant for you. 757 00:41:57,239 --> 00:41:59,360 Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't watch Simpsons and you had a different 758 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:02,960 Speaker 1: you know cartoon feminist icon growing up. We want to 759 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 1: hear it all. You can get up with us on 760 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,480 Speaker 1: Instagram at stuff mom Ever Told You, on Twitter at 761 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 1: mom Stuff Podcast, or a good old fashion email at 762 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:22,480 Speaker 1: mom stuff at how stuff works dot com