The Joy of Sect
"The Joy of Sect" | ||
---|---|---|
Couch gag Tiny versions of the Simpsons climb on the couch, and a normal-sized Santa's Little Helper comes up to the couch, takes Homer in his mouth, and runs off with him.[2] | | |
Commentary | Matt Groening David Mirkin Steve O'Donnell Yeardley Smith Steven Dean Moore | |
"The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult takes over Springfield, and the Simpson family become members.
David Mirkin conceived the initial idea for the episode, Steve O'Donnell was the lead writer, and Steven Dean Moore directed. The writers drew on many groups to develop the Movementarians, but were principally influenced by Scientology, Heaven's Gate, the Unification Church ("Moonies"), the Rajneesh movement, and Peoples Temple. The show contains many references to popular culture, including the title reference to The Joy of Sex and a gag involving Rover from the television program The Prisoner.
"The Joy of Sect" was later analyzed from religious, philosophical, and psychological perspectives; books on The Simpsons compared the Movementarians to many of the same groups from which the writers had drawn influence.
Both USA Today and The A.V. Club featured "The Joy of Sect" in lists of important episodes of The Simpsons.
Plot
While at the airport,
Almost all the townspeople join the cult, including Homer, who moves his family to the Movementarian compound. At the same time,
At the Flanders' home, Marge
The Simpsons return home, where Lisa remarks how wonderful it is to once again be able to think for themselves. The episode ends with the family monotonously repeating the words of a Fox announcer: that they "are watching Fox".
Production
The episode was the second and last episode written by Steve O'Donnell and was based on an idea from David Mirkin. Mirkin had been the show runner during seasons five and six, but had been brought back to run two episodes during the ninth season. He said he was attracted to the notion of parodying cults because they are "comical, interesting and twisted".[3] He conceived the episode after hearing a radio show about the history of cults whilst driving home one night.[4] The main group of writers that worked on the episode were Mirkin, O'Donnell, Jace Richdale, and Kevin Curran. The episode's title "The Joy of Sect" was pitched by Richdale.[3] Steven Dean Moore directed the episode.[5]
Aspects of the Movementarians were inspired by different cults and religions, including
Themes
Chris Turner's book
In
In Pinsky's The Gospel According to the Simpsons, one of the show's writers recounted to the author that the producers of The Simpsons had vetoed a planned episode on Scientology in fear of the Church's "reputation for suing and harassing opponents".[7] Pinsky found it ironic that Matt Groening spoofed Scientology in spite of the fact that the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright, is a Scientologist,[7][8] having joined in 1991.[9] Pinsky notes that Groening later "took a shot at Scientology" in Futurama with the fictional religion "Church of Robotology".[7] Groening said he received a call from the Church of Scientology concerned about the use of a similar name.[16]
Cultural references
When Marge attempts to leave the compound, she is chased by the Rover guard "balloon" from the 1967 television program The Prisoner.[2][17] Neal Hefti and Nelson Riddle's theme music to the 1960s Batman series is used in the episode to indoctrinate Homer.[2] When Mr. Burns introduces his new religion, most of the sequence is a parody of the promotional video of Michael Jackson's 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.[3]
Willie scratching his nails along the church window to get Marge and Reverend Lovejoy's attention is a reference to the 1975 film Jaws, in which the character Quint performs a similar action.[1] The Springfield Airport contains the "Just Crichton and King Bookstore", referencing Michael Crichton and Stephen King, authors famous for their airport novels, carrying only their works.[1]
Reception
In its original broadcast, "The Joy of Sect" finished 27th in ratings for the week of February 2–8, 1998, with a
In a 2006 article in USA Today, "The Joy of Sect" was highlighted among six other episodes of The Simpsons season 9, along with "Trash of the Titans", "The Last Temptation of Krust", "The Cartridge Family", "Dumbbell Indemnity", and "Das Bus".[19] The A.V. Club featured the episode in its analysis of "15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras".[12] The Daily Mirror gave the episode positive mention in its review of the Season 9 DVD release, calling it "hilarious".[20] Isaac Mitchell-Frey of the Herald Sun cited the episode as the highlight of the season.[21]
The Sunday Mail highlighted the episode for their "Family Choice" segment, commenting: "Normally, a show about religious cults would spell doom and gloom. Only Bart, of The Simpsons, could make a comedy out of it but then, he and his cartoon family are a cult in their own right anyway!"[22] Jeff Shalda of The Simpsons Archive used the episode as an example of one of the "good qualities present in The Simpsons", while analyzing why some other aspects of The Simpsons make Christians upset.[23]
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide commented that the episode was "an odd one" with "a lot of good moments", and went on to state that it was "a nice twist to see Burns determined to be loved". However, the book also noted that "The Joy of Sect" is "another one where the central joke isn't strong enough to last the whole episode".[2]
In a lesson plan developed at St Mary's College, Durham titled An Introduction to Philosophy: The Wit and Wisdom of Lisa Simpson, the episode is described in a section on "False Prophets" as applicable for "...studying the more outrageous manifestations of 'religion' or those simply alert to the teachings of Christ on the subject".[24]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 978-0-00-738815-8.
- ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Joy of Sect". BBC. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mirkin, David. (2006). Commentary for "The Joy of Sect", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Brandenberg, Eric J. (December 17, 2004). "Multiple Emmy Award-winning producer/writer/director David Mirkin". Animation Magazine. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
- ISBN 0-8143-2849-0.
- ^ a b O'Donnell, Steve. (2006). Commentary for "The Joy of Sect", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ ISBN 0-664-22419-9.
- ^ a b Brockes, Emma (August 2, 2004). "That's my boy". The Guardian. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ National Public Radio. Archived from the originalon April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Turner 2005, p. 269.
- FACTnet. Archived from the originalon January 13, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Koski, Genevieve; Josh Modell; Noel Murray; Sean O'Neal; Kyle Ryan; Scott Tobias (July 23, 2007). "Features: Inventory: 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ISBN 0-8126-9433-3.
- ^ ISBN 1-932100-70-9.
- ISBN 978-0-06-098763-3.
- ^ Groening, Matt. (2003). Commentary for "Hell Is Other Robots", in Futurama: Volume One [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. "I did get a call from a Scientologist who had somehow gotten hold of the script."
- ISBN 0-275-99019-2.
- ^ "CBS takes gold as Fox flexes muscle". Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press. February 12, 1998. p. 4E.
- ^ Clark, Mike (December 22, 2006). "New on DVD". USA Today. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ Staff (February 2, 2007). "DVDS: NEW RELEASES". The Mirror. p. 7.
- ^ Mitchell-Frey, Isaac (February 11, 2007). "Comedy – The Simpsons, Series 9". Herald Sun. p. E12.
- ^ Staff (March 15, 1998). "Family Choice: Today's TV highlights". Sunday Mail. Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd.
- ^ Shalda, Jeff. (December 29, 2000). "Religion in the Simpsons". Online. The Simpsons Archive. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- ^ Taylor, Tessa (2004). An Introduction to Philosophy: The Wit and Wisdom of Lisa Simpson (PDF). St Mary's College, Durham: Farmington Institute. pp. 30–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2011.
General and cited sources
- OCLC 670978714.
Further reading
- Gray, Jonathan, S2CID 143311566. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2007.)
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