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| That's a lot of people Nelson found the time to bully. |
In Bart the General, we are introduced to Nelson Muntz, the "beat you up" bully archetype who rules the schoolyard with his iron fist. Bart gets himself on Nelson's bad side, and is "forced" to get beaten up by Nelson every day after school. Homer tries to teach Bart dirty fighting, but to no avail. Bart then goes to see Grampa, who refers him to Herman Larson. Herman, who lost his right arm by sticking it out of the bus as a child (which references a similar tale in Homer's Odyssey, boy a self-reference just five episodes in!). Herman understands Bart's plight, kinda, and agrees to help by instigating a full-blown war against Nelson and his cronies. Bart recruits practically the whole school it seems, and they "saturate" Nelson and pals with water balloons until he submits. Upon the threat of pain upon Nelson's release, Bart has Nelson agree to a 'peace treaty', which makes Nelson a figurehead bully in essence.
Quick Review
Bullying has gone through its share of examination in recent years. That's... all I'll really say about it because its really taken some weird turns in that process. The old "that guy who beats you up for one reason or another" bully archetype isn't as pervasive as some would like you to believe, but its a simple, straight to the point type that is easy to depict on TV, not like that "person who gets you by telling everyone you are an embarrassment to everyone" bully archetype that just isn't as fun and is surprisingly much more effective in real life.
Bart the General is another solid episode overall. Homer's attempts to show Bart how to fight bullies (and his subsequent 'reaction' within Bart's thought bubble once it begins to fail) and Grampa's character coming into form were the funniest moments of the episode, and Herman's dedication to his art was also good for a few laughs. There was no real 'classic' moment from the episode to really boost its score, but it was still a good episode to watch.
Its weird though, thinking about it. Nelson throughout the series is considered to be "Bart's bully", and that's obviously the case in this episode. In future episodes, though, main bullying duties go to Jimbo and his pals (who haven't been introduced into the series at this point). Meanwhile Nelson, who still gets in a few good punches here and there, is seen more often spouting his trademarked "ha ha" at another's expense, though he doesn't develop that specific phrase for another season or two, I believe.
If only there was an episode on how to deal with those psychological bullies. Those are the real threats.
Final Score: 7.1
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