In honor of the new Fortnite season, I have decided to look at as many episodes as I can in The Simpsons. Now I do know quite a lot about The Simpsons yet I have never watched the show nor interacted with the community that much. So if my opinions about Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire and Bart the Genius aren't the same as yours, I apologize for my naivity.
So without any further diddle daddling, here we go:
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Despite having aired over 35 years ago, I think this christmas special has aged decentally, but not perfectally.
To start with my likes: I like the character of Homer Simpson in this episode, sure he is clearly dumb but you can tell he really does care for his family despite the mistakes he makes. This makes Homer feel less like a character and more like someone you know (Your father or a friend of yours). Animation wise it's a bit off at points (Barney's hair is the same as his skin colour) but it's not bad, just rooky animation is how I would describe it. And despite being a Homer episode, I like how well characters like Bart, Mr, Burns and Ned Flanders are used (which is more impressive as this wasn't even meant to be the pilot). Bart basically kicks the plot into motion by draining Marge's Christmas fund and honestly I can see how Bart's thoughtline works out for a child as he thinks Marge would like the tattoo despite being something Marge hates no matter the context. As for Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders: I think they contribute to the plot enough to give you an idea on how they will be throughout the show: Mr. Burns is your typical greedy buiness man and Ned Flanders is the perfect neighbour and rival to Homer, Burns is used to help push Homers plot further and also adds tension by having Homer conceal his Christmas Bonus not being granted, and Ned's constant one upping of Homer shows how Ned has the "perfect holiday" (at least in Homer's eyes). So yeah I liked a lot, but what didn't I like.
Well the jokes have not aged that well, maybe it's because my humour isn't that of a old man, but these jokes feel outdated and honestly not that funny aside from a line or two. The only other one is that the episode does kind of get slightly repetitive: Like it's "The Simpsons get money, something bad happens, they lose the money, Homer tries to make up for it". Also it is kind of slow paced, feeling almost like a movie at points
But aside from that, banger opening: 7/10
Bart the Genius
For this episode, I think it's a mixed bag:
My likes starts with the relationship between Homer and Bart: It's realistic for a father to build up high expectations for his son after thinking he is a genius and bond with him more because of that fact. Heck even Bart (while never outright stating it) I think likely stayed at the school despite not getting anything for as long as he did was to keep the illusion so he could bond with his father and not lose their newfound connection. Not to mention this episode had a few funny moments here and there (gave birth to this gem)
But I feel like the school Bart goes to isn't all that fun: It's important for the story but honestly the joke about the kids being super smrt wears off super fast. Not to mention the ending was off imo, like in Episode 1 Homer was shown to deeply care for his family, so it's odd he would try and attack Bart for lying about his IQ and kind of destroys the message. Overall it's alright, but weaker then Open Fire
6.5/10
I hope I had a good review and decent points, if you agree or disagree, feel free to comment!