Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons, season 36, episode 6, “Women in Shorts”
While much of the engaging episode worked, The Simpsons season 36 Barbie the parody proved that the show still struggles with a recurring problem. The Simpsons He’s great at parodying movies. Anyone who watched Season 2 Episode 5, “Cape Feare,” can attest to this. The Simpsons parodying the disturbing work of Martin Scorsese Cape Fear is funnier than most feature films, despite the short episode length of twenty minutes. However, not all of the show’s parodies work. The Simpsons it even parodied unreleased films, but that didn’t stop a segment from season 36 from running afoul of a recurring problem with parodies.
Season 36, Episode 6, “Women in Shorts,” is an inventive, fast-paced anthology episode focusing on female supporting characters from the world of The Simpsons which are often ignored and underutilized by the program. An indirect continuation of Season 7, Episode 21, “22 Short Films About Springfield,” “Women In Shorts” fleshed out existing characters like Luanne Van Houten, Lindsay Naegle, and The Simpsons season 36’s breakout star, Agnes Skinner. However, an early sequence that parodied 2023 Barbie It fell apart when Superintendent Chalmers’ rebellious daughter, Shauna, met her childhood doll, Malibu Stacy, and immediately brutally betrayed her.
The Simpsons Season 36 Barbie Parody Isn’t Funnier Than Barbie Herself
The 2023 blockbuster was already a self-aware comedy
In an early segment of “Women in Shorts,” Malibu Stacy enters the real world of Springfield to meet a child who plays with her, Shauna. Shauna denies playing with dolls and mocks Malibu Stacy, eventually hitting her while secretly apologizing to the sentient toy. The Simpsons season 36 Barbie the parody proves how difficult it is to parody a comedy as the sequence plays out in the same way as the equivalent scene from director Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed 2023 blockbuster. It is certain that BarbieSasha’s conflicted teenage heroine rejects Barbie only verbally, but the scene’s key beats remain virtually identical.
The same problem occurred in the Venom parody, Treehouse of Horror, from The Simpsons’ 36th season.
It’s difficult for The Simpsons to do the show Barbie parody work, since the film already has a cynical and self-aware sense of humor that is ironically influenced by The Simpsons itself. The same problem occurred in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror parody from season 36 Poisonwhich featured fun animations from Stoopid Buddy Studios, but there wasn’t much else to recommend. As Barbiethe Poison the films are already infused with a sarcastic, self-parodic sense of humor that owes a debt to the Golden Age of The Simpsonsso it’s hard for the show to parody them.
The Simpsons has struggled to parody comedies before
The Simpsons has messed up with comedic media parodies before
It’s hard to mock something that already mocks itself. That’s why The Simpsons‘ parodies of Succession, Multiplicity, Spider-Man in the Spider-Verseand many other films and shows have flopped over the years. In contrast, The SimpsonsSeason 36’s Edgar Allan Poe parody was a huge hit in Season 36 Episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV.” This undoubtedly makes sense, as the segment parodied an author who, aside from a few simplistic moments of dark humor, is famous for his dark and gritty writing. In contrast, The Simpsons season 36 Barbie the parody seemed superfluous.
- Release date
-
December 17, 1989
- Seasons
-
35
- Network
-
FOX
- Franchise(s)
-
The Simpsons