Bart-Mangled Banner

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"Bart-Mangled Banner" is an episode from The Simpsons' fifteenth season.

Plot

Homer and Marge take the kids to get their shots. Just before Dr. Hibbert is about to inject Bart, he escapes. After a chase through town, Hibbert finally outsmarts Bart and injects him. The shot, however, causes Bart's earholes to swell shut, making him temporarily deaf. Hibbert also tricks Homer into signing a malpractice waiver.

While at the Springfield Elementary School "donkey basketball game", Bart taunts a donkey with a carrot. After he places it in his shorts, the donkey takes it and rips off Bart's shorts (just like his famous line "Eat my shorts"). While Bart is bent over, the US flag is put up behind him and a photo is taken, which results in the crowd assuming that Bart is mooning the US flag. Shortly afterwards, the Springfield Shopper takes the story and completely turns it around, making it seem Bart deliberately mooned the flag. He and his family soon are hated by all of Springfield. Homer and Marge tried to clear up this misunderstanding, knowing that it was an accident, but everybody refuses to listen, knowing that they seem to mistrust Bart and his family.

The Simpsons are later asked to appear on a talk show and tell their side of the story. However, Marge says that she does hate Americans, even though she didn't mean that she actually hated all Americans. She also said that she's well-liked in Springfield, prompting the host to say that Springfield hates America. The US then turns their back on Springfield, so Mayor Quimby frantically decides to change the name of Springfield to "Libertyville." Everything in town is quickly patriotized; the traffic light colors are changed to red, white, and blue (red means go now), and everything costs $17.76. While at church, Lisa speaks her opinion about patriotism, and the Simpsons are taken into custody, in violation of the "Government Knows Best Act."

The Simpsons are taken to the "Ronald Reagan Reeducation Center", which houses Michael Moore, the Dixie Chicks, Elmo (who accidentally went to the wrong fundraiser), and Bill Clinton. With some help from the last-registered Democrat, the Simpsons escape the prison, but realize that the re-education center is actually Alcatraz Prison. While they are swimming to land, they are picked up by a French freighter and are brought to France. They are well adjusted, but still miss America, mainly because it's where all their stuff is. They then move back to the US dressed as 19th century immigrants from Europe where Homer speaks of plans of integration into America.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

  • Elmo hangs himself in prison.
  • The title is taken from a phrase Bart used in "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade", regarding the sabotage of Lisa's flag prototype.
  • In France, Marge wears the same Chanel suit she wore in episode 3F11 "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield"
  • When Bart & Lisa believe that they will be used as crash test dummies, Lisa closes her eyes and quietly says to herself "Please be Volvo". This is a reference to Volvo's excellent safety record, even though Volvos had been portrayed negatively in My Sister, My Sitter and I, D'oh-bot.
  • Apu renames his octuplets Freedom, Lincoln, Manifest Destiny, Coke, Pepsi, Condoleezza, Apple Pie, and Superman.
  • The Schoolhouse Rock parody is from the episode "The Day the Violence Died".
  • Though Superman was one of Apu's Liberty names, Superman was co-created by a Canadian.
  • This is the first episode to show New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks. As the immigration boat heads into Manhattan, one can see the World Trade Center has now been removed.
  • Moe says he is Dutch in this episode, but Szyslak isn't a name often heard in the Netherlands; most likely his mother is Dutch and his father is Polish.
  • For a brief moment while in France, Ugolin and César (from the episode "The Crepes of Wrath", in which Bart goes on exchange to France) are visible.
  • San Francisco and Oakland are geographically placed incorrectly. Facing south after leaving Alcatraz, San Francisco should be on the right (west) while Oakland should be on the left (east).
  • Libertyville is also the name of a Chicago, IL, suburb.

Cultural references

  • American Revolution - Everything costing $17.76 is a reference to the historical event, involving the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
  • Guinness World Records - President Clinton's "attempt" to smoke 100 cigarettes at once is a satirical look at records documented in the compedium of human achievements.
  • Inmates at the "re-education center" (housed at Alcatraz):
  • North by Northwest - The scene where Dr. Hibbert chases Bart in a cropduster is patterned after a scene in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
  • The O'Reilly Factor - The talk show in which the Simpsons go on to defend themselves, and the host's mannerisms, are inspired by the talk show.
  • Patriot Act – The "Government Knows Best" act is a spoof of the controversial 2001 legislation aimed at fighting terrorism in the United States and abroad.
  • Condoleezza Rice - Apu re-names one of his children "Condoleezza," after the United States Secretary of State, during the wave of dis-sentiment with the Simpson family.
  • The Sound of Music - The Simpsons' escape method from the "re-education center" and the Nazi solider alerting fellow troops as to their escape are similar to scenes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical (and subsequent movie adaptation).
  • "The Star-Spangled Banner" - The episode title is a play to the title of the National Anthem.
  • Volvo - Lisa's response to Bart's comment - wherein he fears that his parents will make them become crash test dummies - is a nod toward the automaker's reputation of crashworthiness of the automobiles.fr:Le Drapeau... potin de Bart
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