Time to weigh in on the most polarizing episode of the season... which, in all honesty, I expected going in. This episode presently has the lowest IMDB user rating of any Simpsons episode outside of Lisa Goes Gaga... and I suspect it will even topple that giant before all is said and done.
First off, yes, this episode makes fun of both toxic masculinity and radical feminism. Yes, it can do both these things while still remaining unmuddled in its messaging and focused on telling a central story.
Was Bossy Riot given more sympathetic treatment over the Boys Rights Association? Sure was. Predominantly due to Milhouse's hilarious interpretation of what boys and girls are allowed to get away with and his warped sensibilities. That... and the Bossy Riot girls' cause of social equality isn't imaginary; it's actually something that exists. Feminism took its shots as well, largely conveyed over their outrage over trite nonsense like manspreading, herstory and pocket availability (Lisa was the butt of much of this) and Brockman's segment had some good material delivery as well (Gal Qaeda, Lard Lady Nonuts... Amram's inherent gift of punnery should hopefully energize the lazy attempts we've seen out of the rest of the writing staff of late). Bart's attempt to placate both sides with his "it doesn't matter if it's boy guts or girl guts, guts are guts" speech I felt helped convey the underlying message prior to the delightful send-up of Saving Private Ryan.
Why did Lisa choose to join up with the Bossy Riot girls at the end? Didn't they try to destroy Itchy & Scratchy? Bart and Lisa never disagreed with Bossy Riot's principles or ideals. They disagreed with them going too far and putting something they love in harm's way. Bart was pretty much happy to have a blank check to create mayhem after being spurned by his friends and Lisa's only issue was with Bart for standing up for feminism without having a full understanding of the plight of girls and women (and he turned this around on her brilliantly by referring to her as an ally that was content to remain on the sidelines). Women trot this line out against so-called male feminist allies all the time. To have Bart wield it against Lisa was masterful. This was the best line in the whole episode, IMO.
Furthermore, kids are kids. They're going to forgive and forget versus holding petting grudges. They largely disagreed with Milhouse and he'll be back to being Bart's sidekick again next week like clockwork.
What I'm seeing in this thread, on Reddit, Twitter, on various Discords and other forums is a number of people fixated on what the episode could have been or how it could have told a different story or utilized the Itchy & Scratchy property differently... in a flailing attempt to justify a reaction of "I did not like this episode and I feel I need to latch on to a good reason why". I'm also seeing a number of people who know exactly why they didn't like this episode and referred to it as... let me type this out correctly... "pollitical angry lesbian femenist bullshit". Hmm...
[MENTION=65363]Nitsy[/MENTION] came up with the best callout while I was crafting this response.
-Bossy Riot are “fighting against misogyny" by pulling pranks on random men? Alright. Surprised that Lisa seems to be so sympathetic given the lack of a link between their actions and their cause. They're just doing what Bart does but with a "feminist" twist. It's not much of a cause that the rational Lisa should be interested in.
You're not wrong. That's precisely what they were doing. I would contend that Lisa was won over to their side by how the media glamourized the idealism behind their civil disobedience. There's a story to be told about how media framing skews one's perception of celebrity or otherwise heinous actions and it would have been a nice rebuttal on Bart's part to point out what you said, but I'd say he put her in her place just fine without needing to tap that well.
I also echo his sentiment with regards to this episode lacking nuance. But then, that's hardly unusual for modern Simpsons... including the episodes that stand out from the pack. There was very little nuance in Steal This Episode, for one example. Hell, there was very little nuance in BlacKkKlansman, either. And that got nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
And yet - taking this back to my opening - seeing how we had a clear narrative with no hastily unresolved sideplots and clear delineation of every character's motivations, perhaps it is this struggle with nuance that is leading to such polarizing reactions to this episode. Or perhaps people just wanted to hear
a different message from this episode (that also lacked nuance) than the one it delivered.
We have 713+ episodes of The Simpsons (a show that supposedly should have ended 500 episodes earlier) and we can't have one with a closing message that says "The Patriarchy is a Wiener"? I suppose not because now it's going to be the worst reviewed episode of all-time on IMDB by online Simpsons fandom. Makes ya think.
As for me, I consider this to be the strongest debut lead script for any staff writer since Dan Vebber's The Book Job back in Season 23... and I tweeted as much last night. I look forward to seeing what Amram brings to the table next when Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion airs later this fall.
Tell ya what, though... I'll come up with one criticism for this episde that hasn't been mentioned ANYWHERE else.
Milhouse had 10 friends over for his inaugural BRA meeting but Luann only said he had 8 friends. Lewis and Dolph were somehow removed from the scene that immediately followed that line whereas all 10 boys were clearly shown in all of the scenes leading up to it. The fault for that faux pas lies with either the animation team and/or the quality control department. Whoopsie daisy!
Bonus points for the obligatory inclusion of Daria on Lisa's "Cartoon Women's History" timeline.
