News from The Panda's Thumb: tonight, The Simpsons is all about the creationist pseudo-controversy, and Lisa gets arrested as an evilutionist. Let's all tune in!
I was unimpressed. There were a few good barbs thrown at the creationists, but in the end the matter is settled by something trivial (Homer looks like an ape; yet again, the lazy Simpsons trope of the stupid Homer resolves the story), and of course they caved and pandered to the false dignity of the dominant tribal superstition. Eh.
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Hey, what's with the picture? I thought creatures evolved upwards.
I approach the show with cautious optimism. The Simpsons have pulled in their horns on religion before, I hope they have the guts to go for the kill.
For some reason, I expect them to pander to the religious majority. We'll see how it goes.
Heh... "Now Lisa's the Ralph."
Flanders: We want you to teach alternatives to Darwinian evolution!
Skinner (confused): You mean .... Lamarckian evolution?
Okay, I haven't watched TV in a while.... How long has this six-bladed razor been around?
"This video will evade all your questions".
Heh.
That was awesome. I missed probably half of it, but the parts I caught made me laugh..
"Degree in Thruthiness"
I thought "Now Lisa's the Ralph" was the best line, with a close second of "Daddy, was Mommy a monkey? I don't remember", with third as "Bambi, who set the forest fire and killed your mother? Evolution? Oh, that's horrible!"
Pretty good, but gave evolution evidence short shrift, and the bit with Homer at the end was really funny, but a cop-out. It skewers well, but wouldn't convince anyone.
Well, it's only a twenty-minute cartoon, so it's hardly going to use in-depth debate. It's also a series, so each episode has to end with the status quo restored, so it isn't going to convince anybody of anything.
OTOH, it sounds as if the IDists got the short end of all the jokes, and as everyone who's a Simpsons fan knows, Lisa is the voice of truth in the show, so if she's an evolutionist, the script-writers have made their position adequately clear.
Say what you like, I bet Dembski & DaveScot didn't like it...
Lisa "We had a test today and all the answers were "God Did it"
I liked the bit where Creationism was explained as everything being "blinked" into existence, in an "I Dream of Jeannie" fashion.
I thought the funniest bit was the creationism exhibit at the museum with the Doobie Brother's "What A Fool Believes" playing in the background. But it could be because I just like the Doobie Brothers?
"I liked the bit where Creationism was explained as everything being "blinked" into existence, in an "I Dream of Jeannie" fashion."
That was in Family Guy, broadcast an hour later. Now the Family-Guy-is-not-a-rippoff-of-Simpsons ragers will be all over you. Duck!
> I liked the bit where Creationism was explained as everything being "blinked"
> into existence, in an "I Dream of Jeannie" fashion.
Uhm, I'd been drinking a little by that point, but wasn't that on Family Guy, where there was a literal Jeannie/genie "blinking" everything into existence? (Although the Creation Myth in the Simpsons also "blinked" everything into existence.)
I, too, was a little disappointed that they didn't manage to work in a least one or two actual thought-provoking questions during the trial.
Family Guy, OTOH, pretty well made up for it all with the typical crudeness describing the Big Bang.