Bart Simpson may be the infamous El Barto, purveyor of rude humour and advocate of shorts-eating, but deep inside his spiky-haired exterior is a little boy with weaknesses and feelings that he would never openly acknowledge. In Bart Gets An F, Bart is finally forced to care about his grades when the school psychiatrist suggests he repeat the fourth grade. He makes an honest effort, leaving behind the answers-stealing, procrastinating ways of the past. He does well for a while but soon finds himself becoming distracted. The day before the test, Bart sits down and prays for a miracle, and he gets it in the shape of a snow day. Frustrated that he cannot join the rest of the town in their fun, he forces himself to study for the test after Lisa guilt trips him. But despite his best efforts, he fails the test by one point. Mrs. Krabappel turns away having expected the result, but looks back at Bart in surprise when he starts crying. He vents about how much he really tried, comparing his efforts to George Washington at Fort Necessity, earning an extra credit point from his amazed teacher. Bart Gets An F shows us perhaps the most human side of Bart Simpson, and helps us to understand that human beings are never one-dimensional if you look close enough. The scene where Bart breaks down in front of Mrs. Krabappel gives children who struggle in school an honest image to relate with, and as a viewer you can't help but feel sorry for him.
Sarah is a twenty-something film school graduate and mother-to-be from Arizona. She loves to write and is currently working on a novel that may be finished sometime in the next fifty years. Doctor Who, Star Trek, Final Fantasy, and Supernatural are among her various obsessions.
