 |
| Homer's latest exploitative scheme not only works, but Homer is left completely unpunished for his motivations. How about that. |
Bart and Milhouse can't trick anyone in town anymore because they've all gotten wise. Fortunately for them they come across a tourist riding on the back of a turnip truck, and decide to take full advantage, pulling him into several pranks. Eventually the guy has enough and leaves town. Unfortunately, that guy is also part of a national morning program that chronicles his travels across America, and he gives a rather scathing review of Springfield, giving it his lowest score ever: 6/10. Within a month's time, tourism has completely died off and the town is in a dire situation. Mayor Quimby hosts a town meeting about fixing this, when Lisa makes a rather bold suggestion: allow gay marriage to occur in Springfield, that'll really boost tourism. Most of the town agrees, and it comes to pass.
Gay couples come to Springfield by the hundreds to get married, however Reverend Lovejoy refuses to perform gay marriages, citing the bible for his refusal. In frustration, Quimby notes that each gay marriage is costing Lovejoy about $200 per couple. Homer overhears that tidbit and decides to get in on the action. He goes online and quickly becomes legally able to provide wedding services, and so every gay couple in Springfield goes to him to get married. Afterwards, Homer decides to further open up his marriage services to allow anyone to marry anything.
All the while, Marge is happy with the whole process and is happy for the couples getting wed. However, she's visited by Patty, who wishes to use Homer's services. Marge is happy to hear this, until she learns Patty is marrying a woman named Veronica (a pro golfer in the LPGA)... thereby confirming that Patty is also gay, not that anyone is really surprised. That is, except for Marge, who is completely taken aback by Patty's outing despite several obvious signs throughout her life which pointed as such. Marge, now feeling somewhat betrayed that Patty kept this 'secret' for so long, starts acting hostile towards Patty who takes notice and tells Marge to only attend the wedding when she's ready to accept Patty for who she is.
Marge is still upset the day of the wedding, but as she wanders into the bathroom, she notices Veronica inside, however she notices that Veronica left the toilet seat up, and is also shaving, thereby mostly proving that Veronica is, in fact, a man. Marge keeps it a secret as now she's taking joy in the knowledge that Patty is really marrying as God intended, and attends the wedding. However, she sees how committed Patty is to her wedding vows, and soon guilt overrides Marge's dubious joy. She informs everyone about Veronica's secret, one Veronica did to gain entry into the LPGA. Patty breaks up the wedding, and the two reconcile. Homer's gay marriage scheme ends for some reason, and Patty gets back up with Selma to once again go out and find respective mates.
Quick Review
This episode garnered some controversy when it aired in 2005. Obviously most of this was because of the gay marriage theme, as well as some hype leading up to the episode as to who exactly would come out as gay (Patty). Right-leaning groups hated the the episode was going to 'force' it down audience's throats, though those who actually watched the episode were still happy that the episode featuring the usual gay-joke arsenal. Left-leaning groups loved the episode concept and apparently couldn't care less about the gay-joke arsenal used within.
Of course, with all this time spent addressing gay marriage within the episode, is there any time left for the show's intended purpose: comedy? The answer is: not really. Homer's role in this episode provides the most entertainment, however the late-blooming, unfunny plot surrounding Patty as well as the episode's central controversy hindered this episode from being, well, good.
Final Score: 6.4
No comments:
Post a Comment