Fattening Up Nelson? Good Plan

The Simpsons, S23E20

Homer got time off from work after Burns gave him a concussion, but he decided not to tell his family because they were all too uninterested in his stories to listen (or just generally mad at him).  He sent the time with his Dr. Cain, a movie character that he envisioned from the blow to his head.  With Cain's help, Homer learned how to be a better husband, but attracted the attention of a jealous husband with a gun.  The husband came after Homer again when he was romancing Marge on a date, but he was able to charm himself out of death with one of the techniques that Cain taught him.  Bart tried to get rid of Nelson's bullying by fattening him up with Krusty Burger food.  However, thanks to Lisa complaining to Krusty, Nelson was trained into an even more powerful bully than before.

Homer's story was mostly strange than it was funny.  I liked that he was hanging out with a movie character voiced by Bryan Cranston, but it was weird that a hallucination was giving him helpful advice (and being kind of creepy when he was watching Homer make out with Marge).  Before Homer started listening to an invisible man, I liked when he and Mr. Burns were discussing Homer's compensation for the concussion Burns had caused: 

[Burns] Fine.  8 weeks off with pay. 

[Homer screams]  

[Burns] That's a good thing.

[Homer] But you said it so mean.

Since that was about the only amusing thing in that story, I liked Bart's story slightly more.  My favorite line from it was when Bart was complaining to Milhouse about Nelson:

[Milhouse] My mom says bully only bully cuz they're scared. 

[Nelson] Your mom's next!

 I just didn't expect Nelson to be listening  their conversation, nor to go after his "creator" for a comment she had told her son.  Then he actually went to her and insulted her son and poured out her hair dye.

What I liked most about Bart's story was that he got the idea to fatten up Nelson from a Supersize Me spoof documentary that he saw in class.  That documentary was nothing too amazing except the part at the end where Decland had to have nuggets IV-ed into his arm to survive.  That was really gross!  But I applaud Bart for actually learning during class and coming up with a cruel, but effective plan to get Nelson out of his hair.  I mean, if you think about it, Bart was doing a nice thing for Nelson, who probably never uses the money he steals for food anyway.  If Nelson had just used the free coupons he had been given more sparingly, he could have eaten free food for a long time.  Instead, I'm sure that he probably blew through those coupons in like a week or two.  It's a sick plan to endanger someone's health like that, but Nelson, too, endangers children's health (though not to such a crippling degree).  I kind of wish that Lisa hadn't intervened because Bart's plan was working so well for everyone and in the end they all had to be pummeled by a ripped Nelson.  Good job, Lisa.  I don't think there was much of a lesson there at all, except that learning at school can be dangerous if you're evil enough.

Not one of the best ones this season, but not too bad for one that had a guest star.  Seeing Homer reinvent himself to make Marge a happier wife is nothing they haven't done a million times, so it wasn't the most inspired story, but I think that Bart's was a little more creative and enjoyable.  I just wish that there had been a more satisfying ending.  But at this stage of this show, you can't expect the writers to have deliver the complete package like viewers were accustomed to back in the day.

Bullying is Bad, M'Kay

South Park, S16E05

Stan took leadership of a video to combat bullying in schools after watching Butters struggle to do anything about his bully problem.  Stan's role as head of the cause got him fame, and Butters was just a means to inflate his ego.  When they went to the Dr. Oz show, Butters finally let out the rage against all the bullying he had been put through (including his participation in Stan's project and the hosts prodding him for information) and ruined Stan's movie production.  He ended up just as Kyle predicted, naked in San Diego (that joke went way over my head).

Wasn't quite sure what the parody or commentary was underlying this episode, but I heard it had to do with either (or both) a movie coming out that documented bullying or the Kony 2012 film.  I don't know much about those so that message was lost to me.  I did get that the creators were decrying those who basically use people like Butters for their own gain.  I didn't think that was Stan's intention until Kyle pointed it out and Hollywood got involved with something that was supposed to just be a school campaign.  And of course, nothing about the video or the campaign was really helping Butters stand up to his evil grandmother.

I liked that they didn't have your typical bully, or at least the one that you would expect.  Basically, they showed that anyone could bully anyone, even a seemingly sweet old lady.  I really liked the bathroom scenes where the bully would wait for their target, leaning against the sink.  The best of all was when Stan did it to Kyle.  I totally didn't see that coming.  Kyle was just as annoyed that Stan was resorting to such tactics as Stan was that Kyle wasn't supporting his video.  He brought a great point that if he wanted to just educate people, he should have put the video on the internet where exposure was possible without so much profit to be made.  Stan didn't have much to argue his point after that.

I wasn't too clear on why Butters' grandma wanted to make his life hell so badly, but it was a little sick.  I mean, family members bullying each other is nothing new, but it just seems worse when the bully isn't even your own size or age.  It made Butters look even less capable of defending himself against her--how could he really fight back against his grandmother (without getting in trouble with his parents)?  It looked like Butters was going to have to just suck it up until he had a late night talk with his grandmother about understanding her feelings.  It was great how Butters basically said that she could continue to treat him how she wanted, but one day she was going to die (soon, too), and he was going to keep living and being happy.  Way to go, Butters.  And all it took was kicking the crap out of Dr. Oz to get to that conclusion.  Guess Stan's failed campaign had a little meaning after all.

I liked how they handled bullying in this episode.  It didn't really offer a solution to the problem, but it did show how people make issues like that worse for the people involved and that sometimes people have to personally take care of their problems instead of having people rally causes for them.  I wish that I could understand the "hidden" jokes that they were making, but I was happy enough to enjoy a story about Butters in general.  I also didn't care for the song about San Diego (nor understood what the joke was all about), but it was just something at the end I could easily ignore.  After that Passover story, I think just about anything is a step up and welcomed.