The Day the Earth Stood Cool
This is for [MENTION=21074]Financial Panther[/MENTION]
Since the beginning of the show, The Simpsons has been a cool thing to watch; maybe it's the dysfunctionalism of the family that attracted people, maybe it's the advent-grade jokes, maybe it's the old fashioned references that nobody could get. Regardless, The Simpsons attracted a cool audience and it's only until now that this show has lost it's cool; "The Day the Earth Stood Cool" is about cool people and as an episode based on cool people it seems to be The Simpsons attempt to actually seem cool, it seems like irony has finally come back to kick The Simpsons butt.
That's not to say that the episode is bad, in fact it has a cool concept and it actually seems like they did the research; though most of it seems like it came straight out of the pages of the Starbucks Coffee down the street, much of it seems like they actually went to alternative rock concerts, to local coffee shops and to art walks all around Los Angeles and possibly the Inland Empire metro area. As you watch the episode, you see things like the fixation on old fashioned items and the perseverance of knowledge such as which toys are rip offs and what's hip and not hip and these things are actually done in a pretty decent matter; in fact, I'm actually impressed. I've been downtown a few times to get the references they planted in us and these references, they don't get in the way; they seem to enhance the sort of mood that this episode has. And the people, finely done, I seem to have met people like that in my travels, who provide an atmosphere of mystery and rebellionious all in one while still managing to be friendly. They could of taken the easy way out by making the characters cliches but I'm glad they didn't, nicely done.
There's actually a sense of development that comes from the plot, you can see the guest star of the evening and Homer coming together; doing things trying to be hip, actually wanting their kids to like them and look up to them; these are all things that have been done before on the Simpsons but here they feel fresh and reinvigorated. We actually feel compelled to watch the episode and try to get invested in it, in the relationship, in the friendship, in the misadventures and in the revelations themselves. It may not be a road of twist and turns but there are some surprises that truly surprise you ranging from the sudden beatdown to the perilous situation and we actually see a meaning in the behaivor of the cool family, that they want the best for their children, that they want the best of their lives, that they don't want to be ordinary and really, who can blame them. Listening to alternative rock, drinking coffee, living in pimped up houses, hanging around in industrial centers. It all seems cool.
However, it's not the classic people make it out to be; there are many points in time where the writers seem to run out of steam and go back to what makes them safe. The moral of the story felt too obvious, that being cool is fun and all but it destroys what makes a family a family and everyone shouldn't have to be forced to do things that they feel uncomfortable with and there are a lot of things, breastfeeding (which is a running gag by the way), sweaty scarfs, calling things lame. I can understand if people feel disgusted or awkward around this stuff, there are definitely people out there in real life who understand that the formula way is the way to go but that disgust shouldn't lead to a lack of subtly. I shouldn't have to hear Homer praising the benefits of a non cool household and I certainly shouldn't have to suffer through the obvious come ons such as the meeting with Flanders. Additionally they seem to just reference instead of making a true comment; take for instance The Onion, it's a popular saterical newspaper right, a newspaper that confused people; so how do they do it, they just show the person being confused and hope that it lands with the cool audience watching this. We get that hipsters love hemp, we get that they love alternative rock, we get that they like organic stuff, is there anything original that you can do with that?
The ultimate lowpoint in the episode has to be Homer himself who seems to be acting a combination of meta and genuinity, a poor combination of that. Every action that he does, it's like he screaming out "Hey, look at us, we're cool. We're cool because we do these things. The audience knows that I'm not cool by doing these things but I do them anyway because I think they're cool" and more times than not it comes out. The words that he says, the actions that he does, he even sprouts out things old people know and do to try to make it seem natural, guess what; it didn't work. That's not to say there are some good things about the acting, Homer really seems kind and friendly in this, wanting to gain the admiration of his neighbor, wanting to have someone to turn to in times of need; his voice actor successfully uses several vocal inflictions such as compassion and excitement in order to reflect that state of mind, captivating us as an audience, drawing us in; during those few times, he actually seems like the best character of the episode but most of the time, he's doing that combination which doesn't work and because of that it drags the episode down a lot.
So the question to be asked is this, is this a great episode? No. It's an okay episode that's watchable and somewhat enjoyable. They actually seem like they did their research and some parts of the plot just grab you with a force unseen in like ever; for once in their lifetimes, the Simpsons actually seem cool but they try to hard to be cool, much of the episode is filled with reference after reference and no biting satire at that; if they just went further with the shows humor than maybe, maybe this might be the best episode of the season but as it stands, it's an episode that's wastes more potential than it uses.
6.5/10