[7.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] If you’d pitched to me, “The Simpsons tackles a black man questioning his racial identity” as the premise for an episode, I’d expect it to be a car crash. The show hasn’t shown the dexterity to handle a topic that sensitive with grace and humor in years, maybe decades.
But damn if this isn’t a solid outing for the show. Focusing on Carl’s insecurities on whether or not he’s “convincingly” Black enough, and it leading to him exploring his roots, works surprisingly well as a trenchant and even funny story for the show to tell.
One of the things I like about the episodes showrun by Matt Selman is that he picks up on something from the years when Bill Oakley and Josh Weisntein ran the show. He takes time to develop the secondary and even tertiary characters to give them more life and personality. I’ve watched this show for thirty years, and I couldn't tell you much about Carl. But that's an opportunity for The Simpsons. This episode takes the chance to develop and treats him like a full-fledged, well-rounded character.
His journey is a sympathetic one. The show explores how he’s in a somewhat delicate position as a Black man who was raised by Icelanders. His desire to impress a date, contrasted with how he feels out of touch with Black culture, is a nice inner conflict to drive the action.
The sort of B-story about Homer and the rest of the barflies being uncomfortable with discussions of race but trying their best to support Carl and give him the help he needs is a nice one. There’s some good laughs here, particularly in the discussion of Marge’s book club book. And this isn’t jerkass Homer. It’s supportive friend Homer, who is much preferred.
Bringing in Skip Gates to do Finding Your Roots with Carl is a nice way to address his struggles with his identity. Gates is surprisingly game, and the show finds some good gags for him, especially the running bit about people thinking they have the same skills their ancestors do.
The third act reveal of Carl’s rodeo dad does two things. One, it helps disabuse the audience of the notion of a whitewashed wild west, which is a public good. But two, it helps give Carl a connection to his parents and a culture he can be proud of, even if it’s not the one he thought. The conclusion is a little rushed and silly, but Carl becoming comfortable with who he is, and thus comfortable with his crush, is a nice place to land.
Overall, this is the sort of topic that I would have zero faith in the show to be able to pull off in 2023. And yet here we are. It makes me appreciative of the big swings the show’s been willing to take in Selman’s episodes, both in terms of the characters put into focus and the topics they’re willing to tackle.
Shout by MichiganMichaelBlockedParent2023-02-28T21:54:34Z
I miss Hank's Carl already...