[4.5/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Homer gets raped by a panda.
I repeat, Homer gets raped by a panda.
It’s funny (but, as Ralph once put it, not “ha ha” funny) -- for a long time this was, by acclamation, the absolute nadir of The Simpsons. Forget jumping the shark, being sexually assaulted by a Chinese bear was the point of no return for what had once been the greatest television show of all time. The series’ tether to reality had become so frayed, its sense of even half-decency so shattered, that its major comic set piece for the episode was a dose of forced interspecies intercourse.
And yet, somehow, this insane thing has looped back around to being kind of hilarious for me. Not on its own merits. There’s nothing actually funny about a large panda bear grabbing a human man and riddling him with “panda love” while he scratches, screams, and cries for help. But there is some “laughter of the damned” to be had at the fact that some of television’s most acclaimed writers, penning one of television’s most acclaimed shows, decided that this, this was something that needed to included in The Simpsons, that this was funny. The meta absurdity of the mere inclusion of this completely bonkers “gag” mysteriously wraps around to being hysterical when you contemplate how demented it is that a billion dollar studio produced his dose of ill-considered insanity and distributed it to millions of homes. What a strange world we live in.
I’ll admit, I look back on “Homer vs. Dignity” with a strange sort of affection. It is one of the most reviled episodes of the show there’s ever been, and rightfully so. But close to a quarter century later, when the dust has settled, The Simpsons has churned out hundreds more episodes of questionable quality, and the conversation has largely moved on, this particular installment, deranged though it may be, feels much more harmless, even a touch endearing, in how awful it is. Time is a funny thing folks. It can turn even your most loathed pieces of entertainment into something you look back on fondly, if only for once being worth your ire.
In truth, it’s still worth your ire, however defanged “Homer vs. Dignity” may feel today after years of being one of the fandom’s favorite punching bags. Even if you can set aside the panda rape (now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d write), it’s just not a good episode. There isn’t much in the way of story here, just a thin premise that exists to make way for Mr. Burns to coax his “prank monkey” Homer into a variety of stunts, most of which aren’t as bad as the ursine assault that made this one infamous, but none of which are, you know, actually funny. An episode with a basic concept that makes room for great gags can absolutely succeed, but the gags have to genuinely be great for that approach to work, and this one’s fall far, far short.
To the extent there’s any actual story or character here, it centers on Homer debasing himself to provide for his family, and Lisa urging him to internalize that he can’t put a price on his dignity. There’s something there, but the writers have no interest in it until nearly the end of the episode, at which point it’s effectively too late to flesh it out in any meaningful way. There’s a rushed build to restore Homer’s character and make him Santa Claus, but by the time he has to decide whether to accept Burns’ millions to throw fish guts on expectant children, or step away and hold onto his dignity, the show’s been too much of a flimsy gag-fest for the choice to come with any weight.
Not for nothing, Lisa’s point is a little odd in the context of what we actually see. I don’t mean to take this ridiculous car crash of an episode too seriously. But while Homer should indeed, think twice about subjecting himself to an amorous panda or puncturing hundreds’ of kids’ image of Santa, maybe pretending to be a giant baby in a stadium bathroom is worth being able to afford vaccinations for your kids? As my wife put it, that’s putting more thought into this episode in fifteen seconds than the writers did the entire time they made, but still.
Nevertheless, “Homer vs. Dignity” is not without its loony charms. The bit where Lenny gets pudding, and then fish guts, jammed in his eye, despite specific instructions from his physician not to allow either, is an amusing shot and chaser. Likewise, the uptight dowager from fellow black mark episode on The Simpsons’ record fainting at the sight of Homer as a baby and then him in the nude is likewise an absurd but amusing one-two punch. Springfield getting C-tier parade balloons is worth a chuckle. And after Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, replete with a song-and-dance number, there’s something retroactively rib-tickling about Smithers’ Malibu Stacy musical.
But for the most part, the episode earns its reputation as a real low, if not necessarily rock bottom, for the series. Most of the gags are tiresome (woe be to whoever came up with Homer singing “Spanish Eyes”) or meh (e.g. Skinner telling Edna “don’t be tardy” during lovemaking for some reason). And more than anything, this one just feels shoddy, with a thin plot and minor character stakes that both crumple under the weight of middling-at-best gags. There’s even a trademark pointless celebrity cameo, with Leeza Gibbons as herself commenting on the Thanksgiving Day parade and somehow sounding completely unconvincing.
There isn’t the energy, either in the fandom writ large or your humble reviewer, to rant and rave about even a bewildering installment like “Homer vs. Dignity” anymore. It’s transcended being an episode and become simply a part of the lore of The Simpsons, an infamous misfire that nevertheless comes with a certain place of...well not pride, but less shame, in the hearts and minds of diehard fans.
At some point, even the worst episodes stop being episodes in the popular imagination, especially in the wake of three hundred more outings following to dull the senses and cloud the mind. Suddenly an installment that provokes a reaction is worth something on that alone. The abject failures become almost charming in how ill thought out and downright wrong they are. You come to almost like episodes like this one, if not for what they are, then for what they represent for you: your trucking through this impossibly long-lived show, through good times and, in this case, very very bad. It almost earns “Homer vs. Dignity” a place in your heart.
And then you remember -- Homer was raped by a panda.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-11-17T06:34:32Z
[4.5/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Homer gets raped by a panda.
I repeat, Homer gets raped by a panda.
It’s funny (but, as Ralph once put it, not “ha ha” funny) -- for a long time this was, by acclamation, the absolute nadir of The Simpsons. Forget jumping the shark, being sexually assaulted by a Chinese bear was the point of no return for what had once been the greatest television show of all time. The series’ tether to reality had become so frayed, its sense of even half-decency so shattered, that its major comic set piece for the episode was a dose of forced interspecies intercourse.
And yet, somehow, this insane thing has looped back around to being kind of hilarious for me. Not on its own merits. There’s nothing actually funny about a large panda bear grabbing a human man and riddling him with “panda love” while he scratches, screams, and cries for help. But there is some “laughter of the damned” to be had at the fact that some of television’s most acclaimed writers, penning one of television’s most acclaimed shows, decided that this, this was something that needed to included in The Simpsons, that this was funny. The meta absurdity of the mere inclusion of this completely bonkers “gag” mysteriously wraps around to being hysterical when you contemplate how demented it is that a billion dollar studio produced his dose of ill-considered insanity and distributed it to millions of homes. What a strange world we live in.
I’ll admit, I look back on “Homer vs. Dignity” with a strange sort of affection. It is one of the most reviled episodes of the show there’s ever been, and rightfully so. But close to a quarter century later, when the dust has settled, The Simpsons has churned out hundreds more episodes of questionable quality, and the conversation has largely moved on, this particular installment, deranged though it may be, feels much more harmless, even a touch endearing, in how awful it is. Time is a funny thing folks. It can turn even your most loathed pieces of entertainment into something you look back on fondly, if only for once being worth your ire.
In truth, it’s still worth your ire, however defanged “Homer vs. Dignity” may feel today after years of being one of the fandom’s favorite punching bags. Even if you can set aside the panda rape (now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d write), it’s just not a good episode. There isn’t much in the way of story here, just a thin premise that exists to make way for Mr. Burns to coax his “prank monkey” Homer into a variety of stunts, most of which aren’t as bad as the ursine assault that made this one infamous, but none of which are, you know, actually funny. An episode with a basic concept that makes room for great gags can absolutely succeed, but the gags have to genuinely be great for that approach to work, and this one’s fall far, far short.
To the extent there’s any actual story or character here, it centers on Homer debasing himself to provide for his family, and Lisa urging him to internalize that he can’t put a price on his dignity. There’s something there, but the writers have no interest in it until nearly the end of the episode, at which point it’s effectively too late to flesh it out in any meaningful way. There’s a rushed build to restore Homer’s character and make him Santa Claus, but by the time he has to decide whether to accept Burns’ millions to throw fish guts on expectant children, or step away and hold onto his dignity, the show’s been too much of a flimsy gag-fest for the choice to come with any weight.
Not for nothing, Lisa’s point is a little odd in the context of what we actually see. I don’t mean to take this ridiculous car crash of an episode too seriously. But while Homer should indeed, think twice about subjecting himself to an amorous panda or puncturing hundreds’ of kids’ image of Santa, maybe pretending to be a giant baby in a stadium bathroom is worth being able to afford vaccinations for your kids? As my wife put it, that’s putting more thought into this episode in fifteen seconds than the writers did the entire time they made, but still.
Nevertheless, “Homer vs. Dignity” is not without its loony charms. The bit where Lenny gets pudding, and then fish guts, jammed in his eye, despite specific instructions from his physician not to allow either, is an amusing shot and chaser. Likewise, the uptight dowager from fellow black mark episode on The Simpsons’ record fainting at the sight of Homer as a baby and then him in the nude is likewise an absurd but amusing one-two punch. Springfield getting C-tier parade balloons is worth a chuckle. And after Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, replete with a song-and-dance number, there’s something retroactively rib-tickling about Smithers’ Malibu Stacy musical.
But for the most part, the episode earns its reputation as a real low, if not necessarily rock bottom, for the series. Most of the gags are tiresome (woe be to whoever came up with Homer singing “Spanish Eyes”) or meh (e.g. Skinner telling Edna “don’t be tardy” during lovemaking for some reason). And more than anything, this one just feels shoddy, with a thin plot and minor character stakes that both crumple under the weight of middling-at-best gags. There’s even a trademark pointless celebrity cameo, with Leeza Gibbons as herself commenting on the Thanksgiving Day parade and somehow sounding completely unconvincing.
There isn’t the energy, either in the fandom writ large or your humble reviewer, to rant and rave about even a bewildering installment like “Homer vs. Dignity” anymore. It’s transcended being an episode and become simply a part of the lore of The Simpsons, an infamous misfire that nevertheless comes with a certain place of...well not pride, but less shame, in the hearts and minds of diehard fans.
At some point, even the worst episodes stop being episodes in the popular imagination, especially in the wake of three hundred more outings following to dull the senses and cloud the mind. Suddenly an installment that provokes a reaction is worth something on that alone. The abject failures become almost charming in how ill thought out and downright wrong they are. You come to almost like episodes like this one, if not for what they are, then for what they represent for you: your trucking through this impossibly long-lived show, through good times and, in this case, very very bad. It almost earns “Homer vs. Dignity” a place in your heart.
And then you remember -- Homer was raped by a panda.