The Songs of Johnny Go

GOOD WILL HUNTING simulator. Best movie-to-game ever?

This is probably the best chance as any to finally use this gif:





In similar news, Nathan Rabin--the very best writer on The AV Club--has decided to review every SIMPSONS episode ever, starting with the Christmas pilot. I'd long ago written that pilot off with the first season as nearly unwatchable, a rough curiosity at best but more notable for who it offended than any quality itself. But Rabin makes an extremely compelling and eloquent analysis for "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," an episode I haven't seen in about ten years but remember vividly:

"The Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" derives much of its pathos and humor from Homer’s thwarted attempts to be a good provider. Homer can’t afford a tree so he steals one from a lot. He’s humiliated by the indignity of life as an easily-agitated Santa impersonator, especially when he learns that after costume, training and Christmas fund charges he’s netted exactly thirteen dollars for his labors. There’s a heartbreaking moment when Homer looks at neighbor Ned Flanders’ elaborate Christmas display—a gaudy exercise in empty spectacle that seems to mock Homer's poverty—and simply hangs his head in shame.

Being a Christmas special, albeit of the warped variety, the first full-length episode of The Simpsons is unusually sentimental and nakedly emotional. At one point Homer tells Bart, “Sometimes your faith is all that keeps me going.” It’s a line at once jarring and deeply powerful, jarring because subsequent episodes suggest Bart has no faith, in his father or anything else, and deeply powerful because it’s so incongruously tender and vulnerable and sad.

Early on, Rabin recounts how he made Matt Groening deeply uncomfortable by admitting how THE SIMPSONS "had brought more joy and happiness into my life than anything else." What's weird is, pound for pound, when you consider just how much influence that show has had into pop culture as a whole, not to mention the years and years and years of quote-sharing and rousing renditions of "See My Vest"... I think that might hold true for me as well. THE SIMPSONS was one of the few constant joys for me during my darkest pre-teen, teenage, and college years.

When my old pal berkolounger--who I'm still waiting to see finally explode as a bold new talent in comics--did a web(tragi)comic about two brothers who can only communicate through SIMPSONS quotes, it definitely hit some personal notes, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

It seems strange, perhaps even a little sad to consider this, but I literally cannot imagine the kind of person I'd be if that show hadn't shaped my outlook and sense of humor (along with LOONEY TUNES, Mel Brooks, the Zucker Bros, and FREAKAZOID).

...

Oh hell, one more SIMPSONS gif that I won't be able to use anywhere else!

GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!!!

I go on one date last night, shunning the usually-abysmal Sunday night Fox line-up, and what oh what do I miss??



I WILL NEVER GO OUT ON A DATE AGAIN.

Oh who am I kidding, I want to meet a girl whose purse is a lunchbox.

Although Lisa identifying with the GHOST WORLD girls? She's alienated, but she's also still idealistic and isn't a selfish jerk. But thankfully, all of that was forgotten by the time we got to "Watchmen Babies: V for Vacation" and "Maus is in the Haus!"