The Darkest Joke in the History of “The Simpsons”

“The Simpsons” — for the twelve people who haven’t heard of it — is the longest-running animated sitcom of all time. It’s won numerous Emmy’s, spawned a hit movie, and even inspired the name of an actual, factual baseball team. (Albuquerque Isotopes, anybody?) At its peak, “The Simpsons” was the biggest thing on television — and in many ways, it’s still popular; I don’t care what anybody says, I get a kick out of the new episodes.

The humor on the show ranged from juvenile sight gags, high-brow math jokes, and everything in between. There was truly something for everybody. And over the — checks calendar — 3 decades+ of entertainment, it’s managed to slip in a dark joke or two (Frank Grimes, I’m looking in your direction). But today, I’m going to discuss what is easily the darkest moment in the run of the entire show… or should I say, the darkest moment in the run of the entire show so far?

The moment in question comes from season 5, episode 11: “Homer the Vigilante.” In this one, Homer, the buffoonish family patriarch, becomes… well, a vigilante (as advertised). He and a group of his friends go on a rampage of hoe-down inspired sack-beatings in an effort to clean up the town and thwart a cat-burglar played by Sam Neill. (Seriously, it’s a wild episode from start to finish. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.)

Now for the all-important part. The joke itself. Let’s set the scene. After another day of hard vigilantism, Homer discusses his work at the family dinner table:

Homer: So, I said to him, “Listen, buddy, your car was upside-down when we got here. And as for your grandmother, she shouldn’t have mouthed off like that.”

That’s it. That’s the whole joke. Doesn’t seem so bad on its surface, right? As a child, I certainly didn’t think so. Heck, as an adult, I still considered it a case of Homer being his loud-mouthed and clumsy self, and thought nothing more of it. On its own, it was just an amusing little anecdote.

Then I read a little story called, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

This short story, written by Flannery O’Connor in 1953, tells the tale of a southern family on a road trip to Florida, where a serial killer, named “The Misfit” is running loose. Through a series of misfortunes and accidents mostly caused by the family’s selfish grandmother (involving secret cats and forgotten back roads), their car winds up flipped over in a ditch. Naturally, the Misfit and his gang show up to lend a hand.

At first, the serial killer wants nothing more than to offer aid. Apparently even serial killers can show off their southern hospitality. But of course, old Granny can’t let that slide, and announces to the world, and to her family, that the man right there in front of them is none other than the Misfit. This forces the killer to take action. Violent action. As in, he-murders-the-entire-family-and-finishes-it-off-with-three-bullets-to-Granny’s-heart action.

Wow.

Scholars with much better literary analysis skills than myself have dissected this story for years, interpreting the themes of grace, selfishness, forgiveness, and my personal favorite, the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As if the steps the grandmother took throughout the entire story points to a latent intention that she WANTED her and her family to be brutally murdered by the Misfit. Honestly, check out some of these interpretations for yourself. They’re quite interesting.

With the many analyses of it (or maybe despite it), “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” has become a well-known story in American literature. It’s been reference in several pieces of popular culture over the years. Bruce Springsteen — the Boss himself — mentions it by name in one of his songs. (Called, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Pretty on-the-nose, if I do say so myself.) He even quotes the Misfit in the last verse of his song, “Nebraska.” Pretty cool, huh.

The Boss isn’t the only one who knows the power of the story. It’s also been referenced in “The Simpsons,” which brings me, meanderingly, back to my point. Armed with our new literary knowledge, when we hear Homer reference his day of vigilantism, it takes on a much, much darker undertone:

Homer: So, I said to him, “Listen, buddy, your car was upside-down when we got here. And as for your grandmother, she shouldn’t have mouthed off like that.

Oof. Homer is the Misfit. It’s the only thing the joke could have implied (or should I say “implode?”). And that means he just got done brutally murdering an entire family earlier that day, then went home to talk about it at the dinner table. That’s pretty dark. And the beauty of the whole thing is they snuck it right in there, on a Prime Time television show, with few people even realizing it. A dark joke that nobody even realizes is a dark joke? The golden years of “The Simpsons” truly were the height of comedy.

Now, I’ll sit here and wait patiently for them to make a good “Hills Like White Elephants” joke.

A man can dream.