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Homer's Phobia

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"Homer's Phobia"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 8
Directed byMike B. Anderson
Written byRon Hauge
Original air datesFebruary 16, 1997
Episode features
Couch gagSomeone tries to download the family from "America Online", but finding it too slow, attempts to cancel it.[1]
CommentaryMatt Groening
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Ron Hauge
Steve Tompkins
John Waters
Mike B. Anderson
Episode chronology
The Simpsons season 8
List of episodes

"Homer's Phobia" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season, which originally aired on the Fox network on February 16, 1997.[2] It was the first episode written by Ron Hauge and was directed by Mike B. Anderson.[2] John Waters guest starred, providing the voice of the new character John.[2]

In the episode, Homer disassociates himself from new family friend John after discovering that John is gay. He worries that John will have a negative influence on his son, Bart. "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes, with the title being a pun on the word "homophobia". Originally, due to the controversial subject, the Fox censors found the episode unsuitable for broadcast, but this decision was reversed after a turnover in the Fox staff. It won four awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) and a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV - Individual Episode".

Plot

Needing money for a new clothes dryer, the Simpson family visits "Cockamamie's", an offbeat antique shop, hoping that it will purchase one of the family's heirlooms. While there, Homer meets John, the antiques dealer, who explains that a lot of the merchandise is there because of its camp value. Bart and Lisa are impressed with John, and Homer invites him to the Simpsons' house to see the campy items there. The next morning, Homer tells Marge that he likes John and suggests they invite him and "his wife" over. Marge hints that John is a homosexual, and when Homer finally understands he is horrified. Homer's attitude towards John changes completely, and he turns against him, refusing to join his tour of Springfield. The rest of the family join John and have a good time, and Homer is upset with the family upon their return. The rest of the Simpsons continue to enjoy John's company, especially Bart, who starts wearing Hawaiian shirts and dancing in drag. This makes Homer ill at ease, and he soon starts to fear that Bart is gay.

Homer endeavors to make Bart more masculine by forcing him to look at a cigarette billboard featuring scantily-clad women, but this fails to work. Homer then escorts him to see a steel mill’s muscle-bound workforce, only to find that the factory in question moonlights as The Anvil, a gay disco. A desperate Homer insists on taking Bart deer hunting with Moe and Barney. When they cannot find any deer, they decide instead to go to Santa's Village and shoot the reindeer in the corral. This backfires when the reindeer attack them. John, with the help of Lisa and Marge, uses a Japanese Santa Claus robot to scare off the reindeer and save the hunting party. Homer accepts John, more or less, and tells Bart, who is still unaware of his father's thoughts, that any way he lives his life is okay by him. After Lisa informs Bart that Homer thinks he is gay, he appears shocked. The episode ends with everyone driving off in John's car.[3]

Just before the end credits a dedication to the steelworkers of America is shown, reading "Keep reaching for that rainbow!"

Theme

The episode is a significant part of the show's exploration of LGBT themes.[4] Although there had been several references to homosexuality in the series up until then,[4] "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes.[5] In the prior episode "Simpson and Delilah" the character of Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) was shown kissing Homer, and the regular character Waylon Smithers is often shown to be in love with Montgomery Burns, albeit suggestively.[6] The later episodes "Three Gays of the Condo" and "There's Something About Marrying" would again center around homosexuality.[5]

Production

John Waters accepted his invitation to guest star in the episode instantly.

The original concept for the episode came from a piece of paper with a few lines of show ideas on it, that had been written by George Meyer.[7] One of them simply read "Bart the homo",[7] and Ron Hauge was selected to write the episode, with the story stemming from that line.

The idea of using John Waters as a guest star had been around for a while. Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had planned to use him in an episode that never took off called "Lisa and Camp", which revolved around Lisa "discovering the joys of all these campy things."[8] The two ideas were combined and became this episode, that was originally entitled "Bart Goes to Camp", but it was changed as "no one got it."[7]

The Fox censor was completely against this episode being aired. The normal procedure is for an episode's script to be sent to the censor, and being faxed back, stating a few lines and words that should be substituted.[8] However this episode came back with two pages of notes about almost every single line in the show, basically stating that they did not like the use of the word "gay", or the concept of homosexuality at all.[8] The notes ended with a paragraph which stated that "the topic and substance of this episode are unacceptable for broadcast."[8] Usually the censor notes are just ignored as the offending lines and problems are usually dealt with after the episode has been animated.[8] As the entire episode was deemed a problem in this case, it could not be solved.[8] The problems ultimately came to nothing as when the episode came back from animation in South Korea, the then Fox president had just been fired and replaced, with the censors being replaced as well.[8] The new censors sent back merely one line: "acceptable for broadcast."[8]

The "gay steel mill" scene was written by Stephen Tompkins. He originally pitched the idea that they would be longshoremen, but it was too much work to animate the lading of ships, so a steel mill was used instead.[9] Tompkins also wrote a different third act for the episode, which did not make it into the final cut. Instead of Homer, Bart, Barney and Moe going deer hunting and ending up at "Santa's Village", they would go back to the steel mill.[10] There, Homer would "attempt" to prove his overwhelming heterosexuality by having a human tractor pulling contest with some of the steel mill workers, but it was decided that it "didn't really service the story".[10]

John Waters accepted his invitation to be a guest star instantly, stating that "if it was good enough for Elizabeth Taylor it was good enough for him", but that (as he was playing a character, and not himself) "if they made him look like Richard Simmons he would have them killed."[11]

Cultural references

Numerous cultural references were made during this episode. The song "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory is played twice during the episode; the steel mill workers dance to it, and it is played in the background of the credits.[1] Homer's record collection includes music by the New Christy Minstrels, Loony Luau, The Wedding of Lynda Bird Johnson and the song "Ballads of the Green Berets" by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler.[1][2] The song that John picks out and he and Homer dance to is "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges, and the song that Bart dances to is "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" by Cher.[1] When John is introduced there is a plastic pink flamingo lying in the background, a reference to John Waters's film Pink Flamingos.[2]

Reception

The episode won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) in 1997.[12] Mike Anderson won the Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production,[13] and the WAC Winner Best Director for Primetime Series at the 1998 World Animation Celebration.[14] Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called it "a shining example of how to bring intelligent, fair and funny representations of our community onto television";[15] and awarded it the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV - Individual Episode.[16]

It was placed fifth on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episode list.[17] In 2003, USA Today published a top 10 chosen by the webmaster of The Simpsons Archive, which had this episode listed in tenth place.[18] It was again placed tenth on AskMen.com's "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes" list,[19] with The Screen Directory placing it fifth on their list.[20] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said: "Only The Simpsons could do this so tongue-in-cheek that nobody could get in a tizzy about it. Very good indeed."[1] IGN.com ranked John Waters's performance as the ninth best guest appearance in the show's history,[21] with The Phoenix.com also placing Waters ninth on their "Top 20 guest stars" list.[22] In his review of The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season DVD, Todd Gilchrist said that "Homer's Phobia" "certainly qualifies as one of the all-time greatest episodes."[23] When the episode aired, the production team received "very few" complaints about its content, with most of the response being positive.[10]

In 2002, Off the Telly writers Steve Williams and Ian Jones named "Homer's Phobia" one of the "five worst" episodes of The Simpsons. Stating that it "leaves such a nasty taste in the mouth", as Homer is "quite simply a bastard" throughout the course of the episode. The pair concluded by saying "this is a side of the show we'd not seen before, nor particularly wanted to see."[24] In June 2003, Igor Smykov sued the Russian television channel REN TV on claims that The Simpsons, along with Family Guy, were "morally degenerate and promoted drugs, violence and homosexuality." As evidence, "Homer's Phobia" was shown to the judge to prove that The Simpsons promoted homosexuality, and thus should not be aired again on the channel. The case was thrown out after one day.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Homer's Phobia". BBC. Retrieved 2007-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e Richmond, Ray (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. p. 228. ISBN 0-00063-8898-1. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ ""Homer's Phobia"". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  4. ^ a b Raju Mudhar, "Springfield's coming-out party; Cartoon to reveal gay character And it might not be Smithers," Toronto Star, July 28, 2004, pg. A.03.
  5. ^ a b "Springfield awaits its first outing," Calgary Herald, July 29, 2004, pg. E.2.
  6. ^ Stephen Kiehl, "Homersexual debate splits Springfield," The Ottawa Citizen, February 12, 2005, pg. L.7.
  7. ^ a b c Hauge, Ron (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Phobia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Oakley, Bill (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Phobia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ Tompkins, Stephen (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Phobia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ a b c Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh; Tompkins, Steve (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Phobia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ Waters, John (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Phobia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ "1996–1997 Emmy Awards". infoplease.com. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  13. ^ "25th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners". AnnieAwards.com. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  14. ^ Kenyon, Heather. "The World Animation Celebration: Pasadena's Festival". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  15. ^ "Homer's Phobia?". Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. 1997-02-21. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Alberti, John (ed.) (2003). Leaving Springfield: 'The Simpsons' and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. pp. p. 241. ISBN 0-8143-2849-0. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
  17. ^ "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. 2003-01-29. Retrieved 2007-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Paakkinen, Jouni (2003-02-06). "10 fan favorites". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Weir, Rich. "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes". Askmen.com. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  20. ^ "Simpson Episodes". The Screen Directory. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  21. ^ Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian. "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances". IGN. Retrieved 2007-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "The Simpsons 20 best guest voices of all time". The Phoenix.com. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  23. ^ Gilchrist, Todd (2006-08-14). "The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season". Retrieved 2007-03-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "IGN.com" ignored (help)
  24. ^ Williams, Steve; Jones, Ian. "FIVE OF THE BEST ... AND FIVE OF THE WORST". Off the Telly. Retrieved 2007-05-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ "Court Rules for Simpsons Cartoon". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
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