The build up to the 2008 election in the United States was an insane time, and there were few echo chambers that were as nuts as FOX News. Once again, the Simpsons dropped all subtlety to just make an absolute mockery of the wall of noise that was FOX News and their angles on the lead up to the election of Barack Obama. After getting his fix of FOX News, Marge has to apologise on his behalf as Homer becomes a wee bit extreme. He manages to rattle off four FOX/Republican talking points all in one sentence when he states Did you know that every day, Mexican gays sneak into this country and unplug our brain dead ladies, and again while its clearly satirical its not far from being almost verbatim what was going on in FOX News land at the time (and is still blathering today). The references to racism and homophobia are pretty obvious, but what might be forgotten to audiences that see this today is that the reference to brain dead ladies is a shot at the disgusting political exploitation of Terri Schiavo that FOX News anchors played up for months on end. It was a potentially controversial gag, but the Simpsons werent making fun of the victim they were making fun of a news industry that exploited that victim for collective outrage and commercial viability. In that sense not only was this a great slap in the face to FOX, but a very timely and important one to boot.
Contributor for WhatCulture across the board, and professional student.
Sports obsessed. Movie nerd. Wrestling tragic. Historical junkie.
I have only loved three things my entire life: my family, Batman, and the All Blacks.
