"You know me, Marge.
I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals flaaaaaming."
This 1997 episode of The Simpsons doesn’t just mark a turning point for queer characters
on television -- it’s a turning point for homophobia on television as well.
With an unlikely appearance by cult filmmaker John Waters, the episode features a groundbreaking
depiction of intolerance, a crash course in camp, and a smarter conversation about queer
Americans than on any other show at the time -- all in a medium that was still thought
of as only being for kids.
All aboard and welcome to another episode of Matt Baume’s Culture Cruise, where we
take a look at LGBTQ themes in shows, movies, books, games, and more.
On today’s voyage, we’re going to Springfield -- a hell of a town -- to take a deep dive
into the episode Homer’s Phobia.
The cruise is made possible through the support of folks like Zachary Davis who pledge a dollar
or more a month on Patreon -- click the link in the description or visit Patreon.com/mattbaume
to help support the show.
Like everything in the 90s, it all starts at the mall.
The family is browsing at a kitschy store called Cockamamie's -- subtle -- and they
meet the owner, John, a pencil-moustached aesthete with a passion for peculiar objects.
"Inflatable furniture, last supper TV trays, or even this bowling shirt."
John loves anything that’s over-the-top.
And he loves the Simpsons because if they’re anything they’re over-the-top.
Sometimes literally.
“I have something I’d like to sell.”
“Please tell me it’s your hair.”
John the character is played by John Waters the director, and it is extremely weird to
see him palling around with a suburban nuclear family.
Consider the attitudes exhibited by his early works:
“The world of heterosexuals is a sick and boring life.”
“Filth is my politics, filth is my life!”
“Tell your mother I hate her!
Tell your mother I hate you!”
When this episode aired in 1997, it was surprising to see a queer character on any show.
But what was even more surprising is that The Simpsons managed to make John Waters look
positively wholesome.
He runs a store, he’s funny, he’s got taste -- and when he’s invited to their
home, it’s the Simpsons who are trying to impress him, rather than the gay guy trying
to make a good impression on the straights.
And impress him they do: when he pays a social call, it’s like he’s on a safari, entranced
by all their Americana.
"Ding dong -- that says it all, doesn’t it."
"The color scheme and the rabbit ears."
"I've got the exact same curtains only in my bathroom."
"Pearls on a little girl."
He’s right -- it is a little ridiculous that Lisa wears pearls, and why hasn’t anyone
ever commented on it?
John can see the family in a way they can’t see themselves.
“Homer, you are the living end.”
Homer's delighted by his new friend, but alas, the honeymoon can’t last forever.
And so we get the classic sitcom trope of the clueless heterosexual in denial.
"Didn't John seem a little festive to you?"
"Couldn't agree more.
Happy as a clam."
"He prefers the company of men."
"Who doesn't?"
This is nothing new -- shows have been squeezing comedy out of this setup for decades.
In the 70s:
"More like a marriage."
"A marriage -- oh but it couldn't be it can't be.
You and Cousin Liz was both g --"
In the 80s:
"I'm quite fond of you, Rose."
"I'm fond of you too."
And in the 90s:
"John is a ho...
mo..."
"Right."
"Sexual."
"Aaaaah!"
This revelation touches off a panic for Homer.
A man who just a few minutes ago was a fun new friend is now his enemy.
"And not because John's gay, but because he's a sneak.
He should at least have the good taste to mince around and let everyone know that he's
that way."
Homer can't even explain WHY he's so upset.
He just expresses a constant baseless disapproval -- not because of anything John did, but just
because Homer cooked up that disapproval all on his own.
“You liked John this morning.”
While Homer fumes back home, the rest of the family has a delightful outing with John.
For most of the world, spending time with gay friends is normal and pleasant.
It’s just Homer who’s got a problem.
He has rules when it comes to queer people.
He has expectations.
And John isn’t what he expects.
"I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals flaaaaaming."
In real life, this attitude wasn’t just isolated to a few Homers.
It was pretty common at the time -- the same year this episode aired, Ellen had her big
coming out episode, and people protested outside TV stations.
"I'm fed up with lesbianism being treated as a normal lifestyle."
Homer's homophobia isn't an exaggeration or satire.
It just WAS how a lot of people felt at the time.
Particularly about sitcoms.
After some breakthrough shows in the 1970s, in the 1980s and 90s there was a general scrubbing
of controversial social issues from sitcoms.
Queer characters were rare, outside of very brief cameos, and were usually a punch line,
the object of pity, or obscured in jokey innuendo.
“Hello Smithers.
You’re quite good at turning me on.”
“Um.
You should probably just ignore that.”
When queer characters did appear, it was usually on very special episodes where their queerness
presented a problem.
But with John, we’re getting a character who’s not only openly gay, but who doesn’t
use euphemisms, isn’t ashamed, isn’t tragic -- uniquely for a TV show of the time, John’s
being gay isn’t a problem.
The problem is homer’s phobia.
"Homer, what have you got against gays."
"It's not usual.
If there was a law, it would be against it."
Well first of all, there WAS a law.
In 1997, when this episode aired, many states criminalized homosexuality.
Second, when Homer says "it's not usual," what he means is that it's not usual TO HIM.
It's not what HE'S used to.
What he's really upset about is that the world is changing, and he blames the gays for making
his familiar world so...
"Queer?"
"Yeah and that's another thing.
I resent you people using that word.
That's OUR word for making fun of YOU!
We need it!"
There's a lot to unpack here, twenty years later, about terminology.
The debate about using the word queer continues to rage and that's going to have to be a topic
for another video.
For now, all Homer knows is that times are changing, John is openly gay, and that's not
something he's used to.
And his anxiety finds a focus in Bart.
"Bart, where'd you get that shirt?"
"I dunno.
Came out of the closet."
Later, watch Homer's face as Bart chooses a desert.
"Hmm...hmm...hmm...hmm!"
[Gasp]
He is terrified that Bart might be gay, especially after he catches Bart in a wig and heels.
And so Homer tries to force his son to be straight: first by making him stare at a sexy
cigarette ad, but that doesn't exactly work:
"I kind of want a cigarette."
"What's your brand."
"Anything slim."
Homer tries again by taking Bart to the manliest environment he can think of -- a steel mill
-- but that doesn't meet his expectations either.
"Hot stuff, coming through."
"Oh, my son doesn't stand a chance.
The whole world's gone gay!"
And then we're treated to another of my favorite sitcom tropes: gay bars as imagined by straight
people.
I have to say, this is one of the better depictions -- much better than the gay bar that's lit
like a dentist's office on Maude, or whatever's going on in this Dockers-heavy clip from 3rd
Rock From the Sun.
"Look at us!
We're fabulous!"
Homer is becoming increasingly aware that the world is changing.
Gay people are everywhere and nobody seems to mind except him and a few like-minded idiots:
"Whole modern world has a swishifying effect on kids today."
Homer’s phobia has isolated him from his family.
He’s let it come between him and his new friend.
There used to be a time when a dumb sitcom dad could freely express contempt for gays
in his own home:
“I never said a guy who wears glasses is a queer.
A guy who wears glasses is a four eyes, a guy who’s a fag is a queer.”
But now Homer’s got to hide in a bar with a handful of other bigots whose ideas about
gays are even worse than his.
In times past, Moe says, men were made straight by sending them to war.
But there's no war that they can send Bart to.
So Barney proposes the next best thing:
"Bart could shoot a deer.
That's like shooting a beautiful man."
So out they go to the forest, for some male bonding.
“Seems kind of gay.”
The trip is nearly a complete failure, until they stumble upon a bunch of penned-up reindeer.
Homer insists that Bart shoot one, but before anyone can open fire, the reindeer get agitated.
Suddenly these defenders of masculinity aren't so tough.
Homer is attacked and kind of half-trampled, but then John shows up in the nick of time
with a kitchy Santa robot that, through cartoon logic, scares the reindeer away.
"It's a miracle!"
"No, ultra-suede is a miracle.
This is just good timing."
Their lives are saved and Homer’s phobia is suddenly over.
At least towards John.
“I won your respect, and all I had to do was save your life.
Now if only we could get every gay man to do the same, you’d be set.”
Behind John’s sarcasm is a bitter truth about how some people rationalize their bigotry,
even to this day.
While most of the Simpsons can just enjoy John’s company, Homer can’t accept him
until he does him a favor.
And even then, he’s ok with John -- but only John.
He can accept one gay friend, but not gays in general.
And that was a not uncommon attitude back then as well as now.
For example, on one hand, Roy Moore says he’s okay having gay friends:
“I’ve had many friends who are homosexual.”
But he also said:
“Homosexual conduct should be illegal, yes.”
Let’s just be clear: if you think two adults should be arrested for falling in love with
each other, you’re probably not a great friend.
But that’s where we leave Homer at the end of the episode: he’s ok with gays that he
knows, like John.
And, potentially, one day, Bart:
“Maybe it’s just the concussion talking, but any way you choose to live your life is
ok with me.”
That’s a nice thing to say, setting aside the whole “choose” thing.
But at least Homer’s phobia has mellowed a bit.
And it only takes another eight years for him to be OK with gays, provided they pay
him.
“Queerly beloved, we’re here to join Patty and Veronica in matrimony.”
When the Homer’s Phobia episode aired back in 1997, there was a lot of hostility toward
queer people, in real life and on television.
It was common for LGBTQ characters to be mocked on TV, or to be a source of trouble -- if
they appeared at all, which was rare.
But by depicting John the character as well-adjusted, calm, and trouble-free, the show doesn’t
just invert what John Waters the person was typically known for.
It inverts what audiences expected at the time from queer characters.
He wasn’t tragic or ridiculous.
Instead, it’s Homer’s bigotry that’s the problem.
The episode makes it clear: if you think there’s something wrong with gays, then there might
actually something wrong with you.
Land ho!
We're pulling into port -- thanks for joining me, and thanks to everyone who makes the Culture
Cruise possible with your pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon -- folks like Zachary
Davis.
You can visit Patreon.com/mattbaume or click the link in the description to help make the
show possible.
Let me know in the YouTube comments what culture you'd like to visit on future episodes.
Or tweet at me @mattbaume -- I read all the comments and I love hearing your thoughts.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to practice my affectations.
Bonsoir!