| 1.
In “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington,”
Lisa is beaten in the national finals of Reading Digest’s
patriotic essay contest by an adorable immigrant boy named Truong
Van Dinh. The (apparently) full text of Truong’s winning
essay, “USA A-OK,” is as follows: “When my family
arrived in this country four months ago, we spoke no English and
had no money in our pockets. Today, we own a nationwide chain
of wheel-balancing centers. Where else but in America, or possibly
Canada, could our family find such opportunity? That’s why,
whenever I see the Stars and Stripes, I will always be reminded
of that wonderful word: flag!”
2. In “You
Only Move Twice,” the Simpsons move to a posh,
high-tech enclave called Cypress Creek. Bart is put into a remedial
class at his new school, where he’s “surrounded by
arsonists and kids with mittens pinned to their jackets all year
round.” Among these misfits is a boy named Gordy. Bart asks
the kid why he’s in the remedial class. “I moved here
from Canada, and they think I’m slow, eh?” says Gordy,
in what might well be the broadest parody of a Canadian accent
in the history of American pop culture.
3. In “Lisa
Gets an ‘A’,” Lisa is uncharacteristically
negligent in her schoolwork after becoming addicted to a video
game, and winds up having to cheat on a test. Her perfect grade
earns Springfield Elementary a government grant, but at the ceremony
at which the grant is bestowed, Lisa insists on announcing that
she cheated. The assembled students start to boo Lisa for losing
the school its grant, but State Comptroller Atkins (who later
turns out to be Otto the bus driver in disguise) cuts them off
and defends Lisa. “What she just did took courage,”
says Atkins. “And where I come from — Canada —
we reward courage.”
4.
In “The Bart Wants What It Wants,”
Bart embarks on a tumultuous romantic relationship with Greta,
the daughter of action hero Rainier Wolfcastle. In the episode’s
final act, Bart and the rest of the Simpsons travel to Toronto,
where Wolfcastle is shooting a movie, and where, obviously, Canadian
references abound.
5. In “The
Bart of War,” Bart and Milhouse wind up in separate
troops of two rival Boy Scout–like organizations, whose
fierce competition comes to a head when Bart’s scouts botch
a version of the American national anthem and incite a riot at
a Springfield Isotopes baseball game. To staunch the flow of bad
blood, Sideshow Mel makes a suggestion: “Let us end this
mindless violence and join our hands in song.” Captain
McCallister — Springfield’s beloved crusty sea captain
— immediately agrees. “Aye,” he says. “Not
a hymn to war, like our national anthem, but a sweet, soothing
hymn, like the national anthem of Canada.” The assembled
throng promptly joins hands to form the shape of a maple leaf
and sings a rousing rendition of “O Canada.”
Excerpted from Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece
Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Copyright
© 2004 Chris Turner. Published by Random House Canada. Reproduced
by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved. |