The first eight seasons of The Simpsons represent an absolute tour de force of quick-witted comedy. All the more impressive is that the show’s earlier seasons still hold up today, a remarkable feat which speaks to the sheer level of talent involved in putting those first few magical seasons of the show together.
In a somewhat bizarre tale, a Reddit user by the name doobieschnauzer decided to see what it’d be like to watch episode after episode while high on LSD. So off he went on a ridiculous binge where, for two days straight, he consumed LSD and watched innumerable episodes of The Simpsons back to back to back.
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Heading to Reddit in the midst of this transformative experience, doobieschnauzer — bless his soul — shared his experience and imparted some of the wisdom he picked up along the way.
Buckle up, it’s a strange, twisted, and ultimately comical ride. The full text of his post is pasted below, with his take on Springfield and Shelbyville being especially apt and thought-provoking in today’s conflict-ridden world.
The Simpsons is the greatest comedy show ever made. The Simpsons is the story of all of us.
When the martians come down and ask for Our History, I’m handing them all the seasons of The Simpsons on DVD, or whatever they watch stuff on.
We are all Bart–We all feel unappreciated, because people decide to focus on our flaws instead of our talents. We’ve been influenced by bad people, and been a bad influence. We all seek thrills that hurt us and those around us.
We are all Lisa– We all feel unappreciated when we try to be the voice of reason and intelligence, and the people we love ignore us. We all feel like we’re getting nowhere, despite our gifts. We all feel like we’re trapped with people that’ll never get us.
We are all Marge– We all feel unappreciated when we try to voice concern, and the people we love write us off as a nag. We all feel like we’re being smothered by our loved ones, to the point that we’ll never develop our own personality.
We are all Homer–We all feel unappreciated when we don’t deserve to. We’re all mercurial and willfully ignorant. We all try to numb the pain of a life that’ll never satisfy us, to the point of hurting our brains.
We are all Maggie (thank you for reminding me allthereis_isnothing)– We all feel unappreciated because we feel unheard and easily forgotten. We all have talents that we feel no one can see. And, if you do as many drugs as I do, you probably fall down a lot.
They all never quite fit in, no matter how hard they try. They’ll all never change.
We all have bad parents, we’ll all be bad parents (the ones of us that have kids), and we all find romance in codependency.
Springfield is a human brain. Each inhabitant is a perfect representation of another piece of us.
Shelbyville is another human brain. We hate each other for no reason, even though we’re exactly the same.
The Simpsons evolved American society. They got us talking about corruption on both sides of American politics, gay rights, good and bad parenting, good pet ownership, the ethics of vegetarianism, the tropes in our entertainment, and just about everything else.
The best animators (like Brad Bird) and the best comedy writers worked on The Simpsons, so their template acts as a perfect example for how to write comedy and animate–to the point that EVERYONE’s “ripped them off”.
But the beauty of The Simpsons is that they “ripped off” everything they did. The beauty of The Simpsons is that we are all the same, and everything’s been done before, so you might as well create and express yourself freely.
We are Springfield. We are Simpsons. Matt Groening is a God. Dan Castallaneta, Yeardley Smith, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Hank Azarea, and Harry Shearer are some of the best satirists, improvisers, and voice actors who ever lived.
Drop acid and watch The Simpsons everybody. Now is the time of The Simpsons. God bless The Simpsons.
NOTE: As a superfan I can’t claim a definite “favorite episode” but the episode Bart Gets An F is definitely one of the best. The first episode of season 2. It perfectly illustrates all the frustrations felt by all creative, stupid, and flawed people. What’s one of your favorites??
