The Homer They Fall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode in the eighth season of The Simpsons. Total Runtime: 22:47.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
After Bart obtains a gimmicky belt, he is attacked by Springfield Elementary School bullies and the belt is stolen. In response, Homer meets with the bullies' parents at the bar but is himself attacked. Despite the force used against Homer, he does not fall, and the bartender Moe is sufficiently impressed to arrange a boxing career for Homer. Though an unlikely athlete, the obese Homer does well, mostly facing underfed hobo opponents who cannot force Homer to fall. They eventually collapse due to exhaustion. Moe, however, puts the strategy in jeopardy by arranging a match between Homer and the physically powerful Drederick Tatum (a Mike Tyson parody). Despite a promise to Marge to stop the fight if Homer's life is endangered, Moe is prepared to have Homer endure three rounds. However, just seconds into the fight, it is clear that Homer is going to get killed. Homer's predicted death is only avoided when Moe finally decides to put their friendship first, and Moe airlifts the badly-beaten boxer from the ring using Fan Man's paramotor.
[edit] Trivia
- Paul Winfield played the real Don King in HBO's 1995 biopic Tyson.
- The announcer is played by legendary boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer.
- Above the boxing ring there is an advertisement for the Assassin shoes that Homer buys in the earlier episode "Bart's Dog Gets an F".
[edit] Cultural references
- The title of this episode alludes to the 1956 movie The Harder They Fall, the last film starring Humphrey Bogart. Its plot is the main inspiration for "The Homer They Fall". Bogart plays a washed up, cynical sports writer who agrees to lend his services to a criminal boxing promoter (played by Rod Steiger) by writing stories that make a star out of an untalented, naive Latino boxer whose fights - unbeknownst to him - are all fixed. When that system doesn't work any more and the boxer is about to be thrashed for good in what would surely be his last fight, Bogart's conscience reawakes. He helps the boxer escape to his home country of Argentina before the gangsters can take back all the money he won in his short-lived career. Moe's role in this Simpson's episode is in fact a combination of the roles played by Steiger and Bogart in the movie.
- The character of Drederick Tatum is based on real life boxer Mike Tyson and his many run-ins with the law. Just before the fight with homer, Drederick is seen walking to the ring with a group of shady looking characters walking behind him. This is also based on a real-life photo of Tyson.
- The character of Lucius Sweet is an obvious parody of Don King, a vicious boxing promoter. Homer even points this out with the line "He's one of the biggest names in boxing! He's exactly as rich and as famous as Don King, and he looks just like him, too!" King was also the manager for Mike Tyson.
- The montage of Homer's victories mid-episode spoofs Raging Bull. Some controversy has arisen about what song is exactly played during Homer's montage. DVD commentary of the episode has attributed the song to an original Alf Clausen composition. Some people alternatively have stated that it is "The Flower Duet" from Delibes' opera Lakme. However, their is no passage in "The Flower Duet" song that convincingly matches up with the boxing montage scene but it can be said that the song is done in the style and semblance of "The Flower Duet."
- A lot of the training sequences are based on the movie Rocky, including Homer running alongside Moe, Marge asking Moe not to let Homer fight and the line "You will always be a loser".
- At one point in the episode, the screen freezes and turns to a black and white view of one of Homer's boxing opponents falling out of the ring. This scene is a parody of the 1924 painting Dempsey and Firpo by George Bellows.
- Drederick Tatum's theme song is "Time 4 Sum Aksion" by Redman. It is the same song chosen by Mike Tyson for his first fight upon his prison release.
- Homer's theme song is "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War.
[edit] Quotes
- Homer: "Son, there's only one thing punks like that understand: squealing. You've got to squeal to every teacher and every grown-up you can find. Coming to me was a good start."
- Drederick: "I think he's a good man, I like him, I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children."
Reporter: "They do have a mother, champ."
Drederick:"Yes but I would assume that she would die of grief." - Dr. Hibbert: Well, sir, you more than meet every one of this state's requirements to box, wrestle or be shot out of a cannon.
Marge: [growls] That's what we get for living in a state founded by circus freaks.
Hibbert: You have an absolutely unique genetic condition known only as 'Homer Simpson's Syndrome.'
Homer: Oh, why me?
Hibbert: Oh, don't worry, it's quite beneficial. Your brain is surrounded by a layer of fluid 1/8th of an inch thicker than normal, it's almost as if you're wearing a football helmet inside your own head. Why, I could whollop you all day long with this surgical two-by-four without ever knocking you down...but I have other appointments. - Moe: "If you want to beat up my friend in my bar, there's a two drink minimum".
- Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, due to popular demand, we will forgo our national anthem. And now, LLLLLLLET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLE!!
- Homer: [gasps] You know Lucius Sweet?! He's one of the biggest names in boxing! He's exactly as rich and as famous as Don King, and he looks just like him, too!
Moe: Yeah, he was my manager. Back when I was Gorgeous, everybody wanted a piece of me. But somehow, I just never made it to the big time.
Homer: Why not?
Moe: 'Cause I got knocked out forty times in a row. That, plus politics. You know, it's all politics.
Homer: [glaring] Lousy Democrats. - Marge: Before you even consider this, I insist you consult a doctor.
Homer: No problemo. [pecks Marge on the cheek and walks off]
Marge: A competent doctor!
Homer: [off-screen] D'oh! - Moe: Okay, you're fighting a guy named Boxcar Bob.
Homer: Brawled his way up from the boxcars, did he?
Moe: Uh, no, not yet, he still lives at the trainyard. But he's a hungry young fighter. In fact, he's actually fighting for a sandwich. (Moe blows dust off of his boxing gloves and gives them to Homer) Homer, I want you to have my lucky mits. I hope you do better with them than I did.
Homer: [donning them] Gee, thanks, Moe. What's this?
Moe: Ah, that's the barbed wire. We, uh, we called that the stinger. They, they don't let you use that no more. - Barney: Man, you'd never get me into a ring. Boxing causes brain damage. [drinks varnish]
- Moe: Back then, they called me "Kid Gorgeous." Then it was "Kid Presentable." Then "Kid Gruesome." And finally, "Kid Moe."
[edit] External links
"The Homer They Fall" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
