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"There's Something About Marrying" |
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Previous Episode References[]
- "Homer's Phobia":
- A controversial Simpsons episode about homosexual issues (being tolerant of gay people/gay marriage being legalized)
- A controversial Simpsons episode about homosexual issues that has come under fire in recent years (some critics think "Homer's Phobia" has stereotypical depictions of homosexual men and one scene that fetishizes lesbianism, despite its message about tolerance for homosexuals/most fans and critics think Veronica being depicted as a male-to-female transsexual and her being rejected for deceiving Patty perpetuates stereotypes about the transgender community and is hypocritical, considering how the episode tries to show homosexuality and same-sex marriage in a positive or neutral light).
- A Simpsons parent (Homer/Marge) is initially wary about someone in their family being gay (Bart/Patty)
- "Summer of 4 ft. 2": Marge is intolerant/ignorant of homosexuality (doesn't think boys can kiss other boys after Lisa says Gore Vidal kissed more boys than she ever will/is shocked to find that her sister, Patty, is gay).
- "Three Gays of the Condo": Julio appears
- "Much Apu About Nothing": Selma mentioning that she has been married and divorced several times.
- "A Star Is Burns": Springfield does something to repair its damaged reputation (have a film festival after being named the most backwards city in America/legalize gay marriage after Howell Huser writes a negative review about the town).
- "Treehouse of Horror III" ("Clown Without Pity"), "Bart After Dark", and "Jaws Wired Shut": Hints that Patty is a lesbian (instantly declared that she lost the last, lingering thread of her heterosexuality because she saw Homer naked [though the episode is non-canon and her declaring that she lost the last thread of her heterosexuality could be interpreted as her swearing off sex forever rather than switching teams]/was one of the Maison Derriere patrons when it's mostly men [including Smithers, whose sexuality was already in question]/is in the "Staying in the Closet" float at the gay pride parade [along with Smithers]/the flashback of Marge's childhood).
Trivia[]
- Because of the controversy over gay marriage in the United States of America in the past, this episode was given a Parental Discretion Advised warning before the show, the first time for The Simpsons. The episode was also rated TV-14 for suggestive dialogue (D) and sexual situations (S) because of this. In Australia, this episode was rated an M and included a "parental advisory: adult themes" warning for the same reason above.
- At the end, Lisa points out that Homer's marriage business is now over, with Bart asking why. This is a reference to every harebrained scheme Homer had concocted in the past, only to have it end for one reason or another, whereas Bart's "Why?" points out that nothing really got Homer to put an end to his business even though nothing bad happened to make Homer end it, yet in the episode after he is back working at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
- At the end of the episode the following characters are lined up at Homer's chapel: Captain McCallister (marrying a Dainty Lady figure), Comic Book Guy (marrying a life-sized cardboard cutout of Booberella), and Ralph Wiggum (marrying a tiger).
- In November 2005, nine months after the episode aired, South Park would also air an episode discussing marriage titled "Follow That Egg!"
- It remains unclear how greatly the episode contributed to greater same-sex marriage tolerance; even voters in the state of California were less inclined to legalize same sex marriage in 2010. However, ballot voting in November 2012 showed that by that point in time, attitude was greatly shifting towards support for same-sex marriage; voter in Maine, Maryland and the state of Washington would legalize same sex marriage on their ballots, while voters in Minnesota would reject a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Along with "There's Something About Marrying" and discussions about gay marriage in other tv shows, other subsequent events, like the morale which spread from the killing of Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda leaders from 2011 to 2012, may have contributed to greater willingness to support gay marriage as well. By November 2025, the even now-conservative U.S. Supreme Court, which even struck down the landmark 1973 abortion legalizing Roe v. Wade case in 2022, was less willing to hear challenges to a 2015 landmark of Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case which resulted in same-sex marriage being legalized at the federal level in the United States.
Cultural References[]
- The title is a reference to the 1998 film There's Something About Mary.
- The couch gag is a reference to the NHL hockey lockout of 2004, which shut down the entire 2004-05 NHL season.
- Veronica sings a couple lines of the Aerosmith song "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)".
- Blinky turns into the monster from the movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon".
- After Barney takes the beer, he says, "As the Roadrunner says to the coyote, meep, meep!".
- Howell Huser is a parody of long time public access host of "California's Gold", Huell Howser.
- Bart sees Huser as a perfect target because he literally just fell off a turnip truck.
- The song playing in the background as the gay couples celebrate their togetherness in Springfield is a parody of several Harry Belafonte songs, particularly "Jamaica Farewell" and his signature "Banana Boat Song". Although Belafonte is straight, his name is dropped in the line "I'm gonna marry my Harry in Springfield town."
- Homer's ceremony mentions gay marriage "in Massachusetts and Vermont, maybe Canada - stay out of Texas...", reflecting (somewhat) the legal status of same-sex marriage as of the episode's February 20, 2005 airdate.
- Massachusetts: same-sex marriage was legalized in May 2004 and at the time of airing, was the only state to do so.
- Vermont: while civil unions were recognized, same-sex marriage was not fully legalized until 2009.
- Canada: same-sex marriage had been legalized in 7 of 10 provinces and 1 of 3 territories. New Brunswick legalized it on June 23, and on July 21, 2005, the Civil Marriage Act established same-sex marriage nationwide.
- Texas: same-sex marriage was not legalized until the Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges established gay marriage nationwide in 2015.
- While making jokes about Patty's marriage, Homer references the 1955 Ed Wood film, Bride of the Monster, a b-movie featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- Patty calls Selma a "Twisted Sister". Twisted Sister is the name of a heavy metal band.
- The song "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)", previously featured in "Bart's Comet" is used again during the montage of the signs that Patty is a lesbian.
- Marge discovering that Veronica is a man is a reference to Chris Hillard discovering that Mrs. Doubtfire is his father in disguise from Mrs. Doubtfire.
Goofs[]
- Marriage laws in the United States prior to the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision were chosen by states, not cities.
- Reverend Lovejoy is unable to cite the book in the Bible condemning homosexuality (allegedly Genesis, Leviticus and others), yet in "Homer the Heretic", he is able to cite a completely random Bible verse of Homer's choosing from memory (Matthew 21:17).
- A flashback reveals that Patty knew she was a lesbian as a teenager, yet in "Principal Charming", she enters a serious relationship with Seymour Skinner (though it's possible to retcon the failure of that relationship as being due to Patty's struggle with her sexuality [since "Principal Charming" established that Patty "chose the life of celibacy" while Selma had it thrust upon her], as opposed to the stated reason she gave Seymour).
- There are a few instances in this episode where the lip sync does not match what they are saying.
- There are a few cuts where the characters were seen in the same spot as the previous shot.