"MyPods and Boomsticks" is the seventh episode of the
twentieth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. It first aired on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
in the United States on November 30, 2008.
In the episode,
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
becomes suspicious of
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
's new
Muslim friend, Bashir, and decides to invite his family for dinner. When Homer offends them, he goes to their home to apologize but discovers what he believes to be a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
plot to blow up the
Springfield Mall. In the episode's subplot,
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
gets a MyPod (a parody of
iPod) and racks up a large bill.
The episode was written by
Marc Wilmore
Marc Edward Wilmore (May 4, 1963 – January 30, 2021) was an American television writer, producer, actor, and comedian. He wrote and performed for shows such as ''In Living Color'', ''The PJs'', ''The Simpsons'', and ''F Is for Family''. Wilmore ...
and directed by
Steven Dean Moore with
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...
of ''
24'' guest-starring as Bashir's mother, Mina.
It is the first episode of ''The Simpsons'' to have
Islam portrayed in a large role. It was the most watched show on Fox on its original airing, and received fairly positive reviews from television critics. Its commentary on
Islamophobia
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.
The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
in the United States proved to be controversial, however.
The episode's theme was praised by the
Council on American–Islamic Relations
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide. Through civil rights actions, media relations, civic enga ...
and the
Muslim Public Affairs Council
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a national American Muslim advocacy and public policy organization headquartered in Los Angeles and with offices in Washington, D.C. MPAC was founded in 1988.
According to the organization’s website ...
, and Aghdashloo was given an award by the latter organization for her role.
Plot
At the Mapple Store,
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
interrupts a video message from company founder Steve Mobbs and insults the company's user base. Fleeing from the Mapple customers, he runs into a
Muslim boy from
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
named Bashir and befriends him. Homer is impressed by Bashir's manners, but
Lenny,
Carl and
Moe convince him that
all Muslims are terrorists. He invites Bashir's family over to dinner in an attempt to expose them, but openly offends them, causing them to leave.
Later that evening, while going to their home to apologize, Homer catches a glimpse of Bashir's father working with
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
in his garage. He goes home and has a nightmare featuring the
Genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...
of ''
Aladdin'', who transforms the "decadent,
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
society" into a stereotypical
Islamic republic. Shaken by the dream, Homer eavesdrops on Bashir's father speaking about his work in building demolition, but misinterprets it and believes he is a
suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
. As soon as Bashir's father departs for work, Homer convinces the mother to invite him so he can apologize. He hacks into the family's
laptop and discovers a diagram of demolition plans for the Springfield Mall.
Homer rushes to the mall to warn the shoppers and sees Bart standing near a detonator with Bashir and his father; he attempts to save the day by throwing the dynamite in the river. It actually turns out that the old mall was slated for destruction. Realizing his mistake, Homer apologizes, and the Simpson family throws a "Pardon My Intolerance" party for Bashir's family.
In a subplot,
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
obtains a MyPod from
Krusty the Clown
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
at the Mapple Store. She becomes obsessed with the device and racks up a
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1,200 bill. She goes to Mapple's undersea headquarters and begs Steve Mobbs to consider a reduced payment plan. Mobbs offers Lisa a job at Mapple to help with her bill. Much to her chagrin, the job is standing on a street corner dressed as a MyPod, handing out Mapple pamphlets and telling people to "Think Differently".
Cultural references
![Steve Jobs Headshot 2010-CROP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg)
The episode features numerous parodies of
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
and its products. Apple is portrayed as Mapple, with the MyPod, MyPhone, MyTunes, MyCube, Mapple Store and Brainiac Bar referring respectively to the
iPod,
iPhone,
iTunes,
Power Mac G4 Cube,
Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...
and
Genius Bar
The Genius Bar is a technical support service provided by Apple Inc. inside Apple Stores to support the use of its products and services. The locations provide concierge-style, face-to-face support for customers from "Geniuses" who are specially t ...
. Later episodes of the show also feature a MyPad, a reference to the
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
.
The CEO of Mapple is Steve Mobbs, a parody of Apple Inc.'s then-CEO
Steve Jobs.
The scene where
Comic Book Guy
Jeff Albertson, commonly known as Comic Book Guy, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the second-season episode " Three Men and a Comic Book", wh ...
throws a sledgehammer at the computer screen is a reference to the
"1984" Apple commercial.
The episode also features numerous references to films and pop culture. The scene where Homer is on a flying carpet is a parody of the film ''
Aladdin''; the
Genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...
also makes an appearance, in which ''The Simpsons'' regular cast member
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
reprises his role from the
''Aladdin'' television series, ''
The Return of Jafar
''The Return of Jafar'' (sometimes marketed as ''Aladdin: The Return of Jafar'' on re-release) is a 1994 American direct-to-video animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Television. It is the first sequel to the 1992 fi ...
'', and the ''
Kingdom Hearts''
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
series.
Steve Mobbs operating a series of holographic screens with his hands is a reference to the 2002 film ''
Minority Report''.
The music in the episode features
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979)
was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...
's song "
Lovin' You
"Lovin' You" is a song recorded by American singer Minnie Riperton from her second studio album, ''Perfect Angel'' (1974). It was written by Riperton and Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the album's fourth s ...
" and
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
' "Moon Dreams", while the episode's ''Itchy & Scratchy'' cartoon features
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's "
Symphony No. 5" and the
Alicia Bridges
Alicia Bridges (born July 15, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter who co-wrote and performed her international hit " I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" in 1978.
Early years
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina and raised in the small Cle ...
song "
I Love the Nightlife
"I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" is a popular disco song recorded by American singer Alicia Bridges in 1978. It went to number two on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Dance Club Songs, National Disco Action Top 30 (now the Dance Clu ...
".
The title itself is a pun on the 1971 Disney musical fantasy film ''
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' is a 1971 American live-action animated musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Bill Walsh for Walt Disney Productions. It is loosely based upon the books '' The Magic Bedknob; or, How t ...
'', directed by
Robert Stevenson.
Reception
"MyPods and Boomsticks" was the most viewed show on Fox the night it was first broadcast, with roughly 7.8 million viewers and a 4.4
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
.
Television critics
The episode was generally praised by critics.
Robert Canning of
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
praised the episode; as a whole, he called the episode funny and strong and "gave the now familiar 'suspected terrorist' plot a Simpsons twist", but called the remainder of the Mapple storyline less impressive.
Canning ends his review by saying that minus Lisa's involvement after act one, it was a decently funny episode of ''The Simpsons''.
He gave the episode a rating of 7.6/10.
Critics praised the episode for its jokes, but claimed that the episode should have been released earlier in the decade, especially when the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
and introduction of Apple products were more relevant.
Daniel Aughey of ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corpora ...
'' also praised the episode for its consistent story and funny jokes. Aughey explained certain jokes in the episode that he enjoyed and explained how the "A-Z" plots play well with the jokes.
Both Heisler and Aughey commented that the episode should have been done earlier, Heisler thinking the theme was dated and Aughey calling it "one step behind", both feeling the Islamophobia theme would have been more current closer to the beginning of the 21st century.
[
Writing for '']The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', Steve Heisler gave the episode a C−. He was perplexed why all names relating to the Apple company were slightly changed, but references to other brands such as Old Navy were not.
In addition, the episode was featured on ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
''s Five Best TV quotes of the week with Bart's line of "Wow, all these years I've been patting lambs when I should have been shoving them in my mouth." being picked.
Reception of theme
''The Simpsons'' is noted for its religious themes, primarily the Protestant faith of most characters, but has also featured episodes based around Judaism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism. However, this was the first to have a plot involving Islam. In 2000, Religion writer Mark I. Pinsky contacted the show's staff while writing ''The Gospel According to The Simpsons'' to inquire why there was not an episode involving Islam. He was told that this was because they did not know enough about the faith, but were intending to make an episode.
In a June 2015 article for CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
after several controversies regarding depictions of Muhammad
The permissibility of depictions of Muhammad in Islam has been a contentious issue. Oral and written descriptions of Muhammad are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions. The Quran does not ...
, Pinsky noted "MyPods and Boomsticks" as a satire of Islam that is "wise, and well within the show's tradition of portraying an unfamiliar faith in a knowing way, with a relatively light hand, while at the same time defanging a widespread religious prejudice".[
David Feltmate, a writer on religious topics, mentioned the episode in his book ''Drawn to the Gods: Religion in The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy'', alongside the '' South Park'' episode " The Snuke" and the '' Family Guy'' episode " Turban Cowboy". He wrote that all three of those animated sitcoms treat Islam in the same way as they do ]new religious movement
A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...
s, interpreting them through widely held stereotypes, in this case terrorism. However, in his opinion, "MyPods and Boomsticks" is the one example in which Islam is hated at the start of the episode but not at the end.
The Council on American–Islamic Relations
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide. Through civil rights actions, media relations, civic enga ...
praised the episode and sent a commending letter to Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
. The Council's Executive Director Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad (Arabic: نهاد عوض) is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Early life
Nihad Awad was born in Amman New Camp, a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. He studied at Se ...
wrote that "Because of its acceptance in popular culture, comedy is often one of the best vehicles for challenging stereotypes and intolerance. Fox and Matt Groening are to be congratulated for tackling the disturbing phenomenon of Islamophobia."
In April 2009, The Muslim Public Affairs Council
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a national American Muslim advocacy and public policy organization headquartered in Los Angeles and with offices in Washington, D.C. MPAC was founded in 1988.
According to the organization’s website ...
gave an award to Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...
, the voice performer of Mina. The organization said that "The episode sends a powerful message through humor about the danger of ignorance and prejudice rooted in false assumptions". Wilmore's writing of the episode was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series at the 40th NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
. The award went to Erica D. Montolfo for the " White Coats and White Lies" episode of ''The Game''.
References
External links
*
{{The Simpsons episodes, 20
Television episodes about Islam
The Simpsons (season 20) episodes
2008 American television episodes
Cultural depictions of Steve Jobs