The Simpsons and the Counterculture: Seasons 6-10 – History Archives

After analyzing the first five seasons of The Simpsons and discovering all the countercultural references contained in its episodes, in this article we continue with this analysis. This time, with another five seasons of The Simpsons. References to the Beat Generation, the hippie, feminist or punk movements continue to be characteristic of many of the episodes. In this way, the popular culture and the counterculture of the 1960s, often separated by a fine line, hide between the adventures of the Simpsons.

In this article we will look for the references from the sixth season, which began in 1994, to the tenth season, which ends in 1999. Therefore, this is the continuation of «Baby on board»: The Simpsons and the counterculture, which includes the five first seasons of the series. With the tenth season we end the 1990s and begin the 21st century. But, despite the chronological difference with the sixties, there are still numerous references.

Season 6: The psychedelic rock era on The Simpsons

In the previous article we already highlighted the many references to the Beatles on The Simpsons and, as we can see, this season starts off strong. Already in 6×01: Bart of Darknesson a day of suffocating heat, some wax Beatles appear melted in a scene that, according to the museum guide, represented the band in its appearance in the ed sullivan show. This was the first time the British had crossed the pond and played in North America.

However, the most popular scene in this chapter (and one of the most famous in the Simpsons) is that of a hippy singing with a guitar in front of a store. The hippies had a characteristic aesthetic. According to some authors «some adopt the mendicant style and go almost naked; others display Oriental spending or wear saris’ (Labin 1970: 26-27), traits seen in the one appearing in this chapter.

Krusty also announces that he is going on vacation and instead they will put on classics from the show, like one broadcast in 1961. However, the 1960s were a boom economical in that every American had a television at home. This is reflected in The Simpsons. Magazine MAD appears again, this time in the hands of Bart himself.

Now him peace symbol It is no longer only used to remember the Sixties decade or the Hippie movementbut also the Feminist movement. In chapter 6×09: Homer, bad man, he is accused of sexually harassing the babysitter. One of the protesters against Homer wears earrings with this symbol so frequently used in the series.

In chapter 6×10: The grandfather against sexual impotence this symbol is used again in a movie that Homer is watching on television. In case the long hair, the clothes, the volkswagen beetlethe city of San Francisco and the psychedelic aesthetic were not enough to identify the scene, the car has the symbol painted in bright colors. However, the hippies saw the light in San Francisco (Labin, 1970: 25). The city (and the state of California in general) were a hotbed in which hundreds of musical proposals emerged and coexisted, hand in hand with the countercultural movements. rock (Guillén and Puente, 2007: 46). San Francisco’s open-minded tradition had begun as early as the 19th century, and the Simpsons echoed its vibe.

“Since its construction, San Francisco was an open city in which behavior deemed deviant or scandalous by 19th-century standards was not only tolerated, but often even admired. Since the end of the 19th century, the city has become “the first bohemian enclave in the country.” Artists, painters, novelists, actors are found here…” (Gaillard, 2010: 40-41).

In the scene in which Marge and Homer look for books for the marriage and try to hide from their children about the books they consult, there is also a curious nod to the sixties. The book that the couple formed by the Simpsons picks up at random so that Bart and Lisa don’t see them looking at the Kamasutra is by the famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. His work was characterized by high sexual content, which has come to be considered pornographic. John F. Kennedy He also appears giving one of his speeches on television and little Homer saying to his mother: «Do you know who I am? President Kennedy.”

But music has always been key throughout the series. In this season, musical references -not only to the Beatles- are also present in the Simpsons. This time, they come from the hand of Marge. In the 6×11: Fear to fly, Marge reminisces about her first day of school at the psychologist. On the school bus she carries a sandwich box The Monkees and is criticized by another girl who did not like the band. After this confession, her psychologist tells her: «The important thing about the Monkees was their lyrics, Marge. They spoke of rebellion, and of social and political upheaval!». Psychedelic rock was the main supporter of the hippie counterculture, the song of freedom in the face of the stagnant music scene of the early 1960s (Guillén and Puente, 2007: 18).

The sixth season ends again with Marge and another musical reference. In the 6×23: Springfield Connectionthe matriarch of the Simpson family joins the police force and, when she finishes her training, appears wearing a T-shirt of the legendary Hard Rock Cafe. This café is famous for being, as well as a restaurant, a museum of objects and garments used by music stars. In any of the locations distributed around the world, we can see signed guitars, outfits used by various characters or even records.

Season 7: Radical Activism, Hippies and Yippies

The seventh season does not start with too clear references. Perhaps we can relate Radioactive-man to the flashy 1966 Batman movie.

This forgotten film returned to memory thanks to the characteristic dance starring the superhero. In 7×02: Radioactive-man, the hero and his assistant, Fusion Kid, star in a fight scene and then a dance scene, just like in the Batman movie. The music of the scene is also very similar.

The Beatles, always protagonists, appear in 7×05: Lisa the vegetarianbut represented only by Paul MCCARTNEY and his wife Linda. The couple is a vegetarian, as is Lisa as of this episode. Interestingly, there is a legend that Beatles songs played backwards had hidden messages. Here, McCartney says: “Linda and I support animal rights. What’s more, if you put “Maybe I’m Amazed” backwards, you’ll hear a great recipe for soup.” This song is also the one that plays at the end of the episode.

But the great episode of this season is, without a doubt, 7×08: mother simpson. Homer’s mother, who was believed dead, appears in this episode for the first time. When asked why she runs away from the police, she says: “This story started in the sixties…”. In the flash back, Homer’s baby room has a peace symbol, just like in his teenage room in other chapters. Mrs. Simpson falls in love with a player she sees on TV to the rhythm of “Sunshine of your love” (1967) by Cream. In the background, a psychedelic aesthetic appears.

Mona Simpson, to escape from her life as a housewife, ended up in the University and participating in radical protests within the Hippie movement. His comrades had long hair, round glasses and scarves in their hair. This group boycotts a laboratory while “All Along The Watchtower” (1968) is playing. Jimi Hendrix.

Because of this way of being, he ends up getting along with Lisa better than with any other member of the family. We have already seen that Lisa has beat and hippie attitudes throughout the series. They hand-dye T-shirts in psychedelic aesthetic colors and Bart puts it on and says, “Look at me Grandma, I’m a hippie!” while he ruffles his hair and continues: “Peace, freak out, bomb Vietnam, Nixon president, up people!”. Mona Simpson then tells them: «I love to see that the spirit of the sixties continues in you children» while Maggie dances painted with peace symbols very much in the psychedelic style or, as they would say in Spain, ye-yé. Homer’s mother ends up leaving the episode by escaping in a colorfully painted motorhome to escape Mr. Burns.

In the 7×12: Team Homer, MAD magazine appears on several occasions. This time they call her by her name, unlike in other chapters where she only appeared briefly or as a non-explicit reference. Skinner returns to remember the horrors of Vietnam. In this same chapter uniforms are implanted in the school and, thanks to the rain, they turn rainbow colors with a fade (known as stamping). tie dye) very similar to the one on Mrs. Simpson’s t-shirts from 7×08.

The peace symbol reappears in the comic shop in 7×18: The day the violence died for the 75th anniversary of Itchy and Scratchy. It is shown again in 7×21: 22 short films about Springfield. It is a topic of the hippie that the series uses in a very recurring way.

In 7×18 they end up replacing Itchy and Scratchy with other cartoons. They show a hippie burning an American flag and then being beaten up by riot police. This individual bears a strong resemblance to Abby Hoffmana radical activist of the sixties and seventies founder of the Youth International Partycommonly known as yippies. They were radically politicized hippies. One of the best known acts of this group was the protest of the 1968 Democratic Convention In Chicago.

“The yippies they did not waste the opportunity to perform before such an audience and, among other things, threatened to pour LSD into the Chicago water supply (Vinen, 2018: 155)».

Another funny reference to the hippie movement appears in 7×20: bart on the road, when Bart drives with his friends across the country and they decide to take a hippie. The name of this chapter can also refer to the work of the writer of the beat generation Jack Kerouac, on the road (1957). However, the title of the chapter in its original version is bart on the road. Another clear reference beat of this chapter we find it when Bart and his friends go to see the movie of naked lunch (1991). This movie is based on the homonymous book, the naked lunch (1959), from William S Burroughs. In one of the last scenes, Milhouse says to Bart: “Bart, can we pick up that hitchhiker?”, but in the Latin version he says: “Bart, can we pick up that hippie?”.

Homer continues to demonstrate his good taste in music at 7×24: Homerpalooza. In this episode, the children complain about their father’s taste in music. When he goes to the record store, his favorite bands are classified as old and he remembers that he promised to “rock and roll forever.” Here you can see his teenage room again, with the peace symbol and posters of Led Zeppelin either pink floyd.

For…