Bart the General
| "Bart the General" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| File:Bart the General.jpg | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 |
| Directed by | David Silverman |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Original air dates | February 4, 1990 |
| Episode features | |
| Couch gag | No couch gag |
| Commentary | Matt Groening James L. Brooks David Silverman |
"Bart the General" is the fifth full length episode of The Simpsons' first season, which premiered on the Fox network on February 4, 1990.[1] The episode deals with Bart's troubles with the school bully, Nelson Muntz. Bart chooses to go to war with Nelson and this lead cultural references of classic war movies. The episode written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman.[1]
Plot
Lisa bakes a batch of cupcakes for her teacher and Bart demands one. She says no, and Bart calls her a butt kisser. After a apology on the school bus, Lisa gives Bart the cupcake she dropped on the floor when the bus jolted, and he eats it none the wiser. When they get off the bus, Lisa's cupcakes are snatched by one of Nelson Muntz' buddies, when she was going to offer her friend Jamie one, who, after Bart asks for them back, stomps on them. Bart jumps at the rug-rat and tries to subdue him, but to no effect. Nelson shows up and holds Bart up by the scruff of his neck, questioning his bravery. Bart persists to struggle and accidentally hits Nelson on the nose. Nervously, Bart attempts to shrug it all off, but he does not get out of it that easily. After school, Nelson beats Bart to a bloody pulp and dumps him into a trash can, which he then rolls down a hill, stopping at his front door.
At home, Bart goes into the bathtub and Homer comes in, blasting a hair dryer into his face to dry his tears. Bart tells Homer and Marge about the bully, and Homer advises Bart to fight dirty, while Marge suggests that he tell Principal Skinner. Homer pressures Bart to fight, while Marge suggests reasoning with Nelson. Bart chooses Homer's advice, and he has Bart face a punching bag. Disapproving of Bart's fighting skills, Homer jumps on top of the bag and shakes it around in an attempt to beat it up, going as far as biting a piece off, while Bart looks on, disgusted. Homer then reassures Bart that he should "fight dirty," saying that it is okay every now and then. Bart confronts Nelson and at first throws mud in his eyes which enrages Nelson. Bart tries to fight but is once again, mauled by Nelson. This time, he turns to the toughest member of the Simpson family, Grampa Simpson, as suggested by Lisa.
Grampa introduces Bart to Herman, a veteran who runs an army surplus store. Herman declares war on Nelson and instructs Bart on a full-assault strategy, while Bart considers Herman crazy. Bart gathers other kids from school who have been traumatized by Nelson and enlists them as troops. After a long and tedious training program, the troops go marching one by one. Cornering Nelson and his buddies, they commence firing intense numbers of water balloons. Terrorized, the buddies surrender. Nelson is taken prisoner, but he threatens to kill Bart as soon as he is released, and Bart will have to untie him sometime. So afterwards, Herman drafts an armistice, which Bart and Nelson agree to sign. Marge enters with cupcakes, and peace prevails. The episode ends with a disclaimer Bart gives about reasons of why wars are never justified.
Production
This episode was running too long to use the normal opening sequence. It did therefore not feature a chalkboard gag or a couch gag. Instead they just cut to image of the Simpson house.[2] David Silverman was the director and was kind of stressed, because he was doing storyboards for this episode while also directing "Bart the Genius".[2] Originally, he had planned to use the song "War" by Edwin Starr in the episode. The plans were dropped, when they decided that the song did not really fit the story.[2] The episode had problems with the censors, who did not want the characters to say "family jewels" on prime time television.[3] The producers ignored the notes and "family jewels" remained in the episode.
Two new characters were introduced in this episode. The first one is Nelson Muntz, who remains a frequently used recurring character.[4] The second is Herman who has been used less.[4] The design of Herman except for only having one arm was inspired by the look of the writer John Swartzwelder. The voice was partly inspired by George H. W. Bush and performed by Harry Shearer.[3] The original idea with Herman was that every time he would be shown he would have a different story to why he only has one arm.[3]
Cultural references
The episode featured several references to war films. Several lines of dialogue, Bart slapping one of his soldiers for "being a disgrace" and the music are lifted directly from the film Patton from 1970. Fox owned the rights to this film, so it was no problem to use the soundtrack.[3] The marching sequence is a nod to Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket from 1986.[4] and the The Longest Day from 1962 is also referenced.[2]
Reception
Matt Groening notes on the commentary track that he finds it strange how controversial this episode seemed at the time of its release. Today, they would go a lot further and to him this episode now seems harmless.[3] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said: "Some good lines and setpieces aside - we love Bart's fantasy of death at Nelson's hands - this episode nevertheless feels a bit unsure of itself, particularly towards the end."[4] In a DVD review of the first season David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5 and adds "Another episode that helped to propel Bart's popularity into the stratosphere ...".[5]
Use in scientific research
"Bart the General" and Seinfeld's "The Tape" were used in a Dartmouth College experiment to study brain activity in relation to humorous moments in television shows. The results were published in a 2004 issue of the academic journal Neurolmage. The researchers noted, "During moments of humor detection, significant [brain] activation was noted in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus ... and left inferior frontal gyrus".[6]
Notes
- ^ a b Richmond, Ray (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. p. 21. ISBN 0-00-638898-1.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d Silverman, David (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the General" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d e Groening, Matt (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the General" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Bart the General". BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Grelck, David B (2003). "The Simpsons: The Complete First Season". WDBG Productions. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ qtd. in Keay Davidson. "So these scientists go into a lab to see what's funny ... - They find gender differences in how humor affects brain". San Francisco Chronicle. November 21, 2005. A1.
External links
