The Revelation of Maude Flanders
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Yeah, it's pretty common for even very unpleasant people (like Maude) to get glorified upon death. For some reason, it's taboo to "speak ill of the dead" (unless they're the grand scale of evil...Hitler, Stalin, etc.)
Eh... you know, Bob. To each his/her own, but I thought the later Simpsons episodes, like just past Season 11, just felt so dry to me. There are some gems, I myself liked "The Book Job", but seasons 1-9 had a lot of heart. Genuine heart that made the Simpsons humans instead of walking punchlines.
Then again, I am that one guy who likes "The Principal and the Pauper" so... what do I know?
As for Maude, she always the religious fundie, considering her family. It's kind of amazing how it's changed how Ned is received. At first, he seemed to be the guy to envy, since he always outdid Homer in the early seasons. But, after losing both Maude and Edna, he's seen in a completely different light.
Then again, I am that one guy who likes "The Principal and the Pauper" so... what do I know?
As for Maude, she always the religious fundie, considering her family. It's kind of amazing how it's changed how Ned is received. At first, he seemed to be the guy to envy, since he always outdid Homer in the early seasons. But, after losing both Maude and Edna, he's seen in a completely different light.
I always thought of Maude and Flanders being the two sides of religious fundamentalism that the showrunners wanted to make fun of: Ned was a pushover so determined to live up to his ideals of nonviolence that he barely had a spine, while Maude was the wrath and judgement of thosewho know how people should be living their lives: The worst interpretations of the New and Old Testaments, respectively.
Funnily enough, I think it was Lisa who was the first person on the show to have a really spiritual side, unlike the Flanders and Lovejoys who were set up as hollow caricatures for the writers to mock.
Funnily enough, I think it was Lisa who was the first person on the show to have a really spiritual side, unlike the Flanders and Lovejoys who were set up as hollow caricatures for the writers to mock.
You really only just noticed this now, Bob? It was pretty obvious from the early seasons onward that Maude is supposed to be mean-spirited.
I grew up watching the SAME few seasons of the simpons over and over gain as a kid (the only ones the network had I imagine) so older simpsons is more fresh in my mind
but yeah, I guess maude is like another Lovejoy....a busybody
but yeah, I guess maude is like another Lovejoy....a busybody
Razhem said:
"In Marge in Chains, she's all too eager Helen Lovejoy (the more unambiguously-catty of the show's female foils) in spreading gossip about Marge's accidental shoplifting arrest."
This sentence is impossible for me to understand. What's it supposed to say?
This sentence is impossible for me to understand. What's it supposed to say?
Yeah, I actually thought that was the point of the "Saint Maude" stuff - that she was a fairly awful person, but her death (and Ned's devastation over it) forces everyone to pretend she was a better person (if only for Ned's sake).Avaholic03 said:
I was kind of hoping the newbie reviews of Doctor Who would become a regular feature, since I really liked last week's.
As for this...hmm, I guess. I mean, we all know that nobody ever speaks ill of the dead, but I wouldn't call Maude a horrible person. She didn't really have a personality, she was just another one of Springfield's ignorant masses; at the very least she seemed like a loving wife and mother in that sickeningly sweet 50s housewife sort of way. She was the archetype Marge was created to parody, but played straight to act as a foil. Of course she was going to be part of the "think of the children" rabble; what else would she do?
It's interesting that her death happened at around the time that Ned became more of a stereotypical intolerant Christian fundie. Perhaps he was picking up the slack that Maude dropped; as Rodd and Todd said in one episode "we think you need to find a new mommy".
As for this...hmm, I guess. I mean, we all know that nobody ever speaks ill of the dead, but I wouldn't call Maude a horrible person. She didn't really have a personality, she was just another one of Springfield's ignorant masses; at the very least she seemed like a loving wife and mother in that sickeningly sweet 50s housewife sort of way. She was the archetype Marge was created to parody, but played straight to act as a foil. Of course she was going to be part of the "think of the children" rabble; what else would she do?
It's interesting that her death happened at around the time that Ned became more of a stereotypical intolerant Christian fundie. Perhaps he was picking up the slack that Maude dropped; as Rodd and Todd said in one episode "we think you need to find a new mommy".
"Huh. I'm almost sort of looking forward to Maude getting killed off" That's a horrible thing to say. Please expand on the Big Picture and give her hell. She's got it coming.
My beef with the more modern Simpsons was that I didn't really like the visual stylistic change, especially post-Movie (I don't know it well enough to pin point a Season specifically). Not just that, but the composition - in the latter episodes that I've seen, the plot seems to revolve around the wacky antics of a plastic family unit, as opposed to the earlier episodes which were full of character development, and stories that focused on the individual.
I can also see where other critics are coming from when they talk about change in humour. Once upon a time, slapstick humour in The Simpsons was largely confined to Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake. The more recent episodes that I've sat through have effectively turned Homer into a walking target for these jokes. They can be funny, sure, but it's a different show now.
It's the opposite of South Park, which went from the purile first two seasons into a mature and enjoyable show in later seasons (mature in content, not in humour). South Park dropped off during season 15 or so, when they tried to lampoon every celebrity that they could. Family Guy has never held up to repeat viewings for me, American Dad wasn't palatable on first viewing for me, and The Cleveland Show was underrated. I'm too English to appreciate King of the Hill properly.
I can also see where other critics are coming from when they talk about change in humour. Once upon a time, slapstick humour in The Simpsons was largely confined to Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake. The more recent episodes that I've sat through have effectively turned Homer into a walking target for these jokes. They can be funny, sure, but it's a different show now.
It's the opposite of South Park, which went from the purile first two seasons into a mature and enjoyable show in later seasons (mature in content, not in humour). South Park dropped off during season 15 or so, when they tried to lampoon every celebrity that they could. Family Guy has never held up to repeat viewings for me, American Dad wasn't palatable on first viewing for me, and The Cleveland Show was underrated. I'm too English to appreciate King of the Hill properly.
I still think people have very selective memories on the Simpsons. My recollection of the earlier stuff was filled with lots and lots of physical slapstick humor (even the whole "Homer strangles Bart" running gag), and much of the first several seasons had loads of Homer getting physically destroyed for comedic effect.Verlander said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlDWsWXCen0
Thank you! So many people say that the Simpsons hasn't been good since x season when they haven't even actually seen an episode since that season. They're basically just saying, "That show is still on? Well it can't possibly be as good as when I used to watch it!" I find that the same thing also happens to lesser extent with Spongebob Squarepants.MovieBob said:
Also, I did not know that Edna Krabapple's voice actress died, though I do remember there was a lot of publicity about Ned getting remarried.
The thing with that clip is that Homer ends up bruised, bloody, and broken as a result of it. It makes you cringe because it's a realistic depiction, despite being a cartoon. Whereas more recently...Trishbot said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNPtDbykp0
...he walks away fine like it's an episode of Looney Toons.
One of my most vivid memories of a Simpson's episode "from the past" never even occurred. I had come down with an insane fever one night and kind of passed out in a not-quite-unconscious state on my then-girlfriend's bed. She made me comfy then put on the Simpsons of which I became aware of bits.... but in my hand, built up this entirely new episode that had Wiggum chasing Mr Burns with dogs and a water hose over a hill.
When I woke up later, I was asked if I had managed to sleep and I explained that I had been kind of awake, recounting the episode. It was of course at that point when it was brought to my attention that this had never occurred.
/randomfact
When I woke up later, I was asked if I had managed to sleep and I explained that I had been kind of awake, recounting the episode. It was of course at that point when it was brought to my attention that this had never occurred.
/randomfact
I've been rewatching all the episodes that people considered to be part of the great seasons, and compared to current stuff, it's the same, just that the topics that are used are different because of what's changed over the years. Simpsons had lots of slapstick all the time, with the first few seasons being a little less heavy. Simpsons is what it's always been, an episodic series which each episode takes something that is making fun of a person/event/company/etc. and make an episode surrounded about it. I remember watching a more current season that was basically making fun of hipsters. It's a show that makes fun of things to try to make a semblance of a point.Trishbot said:
While I think some characters have had better changes over time, Lisa has been a bit of a problem for me. Maybe it's because I don't know kids that are like her, assuming they even exist, but it always bothered me that she has a moral objection to everything. It gets to the point that I usually don't care for episodes centered around her because it's centered around political/philosophical rants. I liked her in earlier episodes where she was more mature for a kid, but was still a kid so she didn't always have to be the walking moral machine.
As for the Flanders overall, they are more there to mock Christians to an extent. They are usually there to show their viewpoint and then get shot down by being shown to be idiots, at least the Lovejoys. I think overall, Ned has been the one that was more balanced. He may have certain opinions that are viewed wrong these days, but he was more respectable about things.
Simpsons overall doesn't really have great characters, but they use the characters well to give some nice scenes. One that is always painful to watch is the episode that Bart is for once trying to pass the test. The stuff near the end is actually painful to watch because of the struggle he's going through.
So basically Bob just posted a character piece about a woman who has beliefs contrary to his own, who has demonstrated in going out of her way to do what she feels or knows that shes doing the right thing, to him she is the villain, and hes perfectly content with her dying so that the world is rid of her for the better.
...Oh boy
...Oh boy
She was quick to spread the word when she discovered that Marge had robbed the Kwik-E-Mart.Queen Michael said:
Oh, I just read the sentence, I guess I filled in the gaps myself. Damn brain!
OT: Maybe it's because I religiously (pun intended?) watch the first 10 seasons over and over, but I've always found Maude to be mean spirited rather than find her to be like that in retrospect. Still, it seemed like a waste of a character to kill her off (though I know why they did).