Thursday, July 22, 2004

Blackheart's Deal

I'd be able to devote everyday to "The Simpsons" if I wanted.  No other cultural phenomenon has given so much to my life; nothing else would be referenced in conversation with friends with such frequency.  I wish they'd never stop making episodes, but I know that day is coming.
 
The middle-old episodes are clearly the best.  Say, seasons 4-5ish.  Those are the classics, and contain so many beloved scenes.  One of my all-time favorite images is Homer shouting out the open window, "That wasn't part!!!" outwards to the open air.  Ring a bell?  Here are the scenes leading up to it (in case you've been living under a rock): Bart had won an elephant, Stampy, in a contest.  The family, unable to afford care for the animal, had been looking for someone to give Stampy away to and finally found a buyer...
 
 
Man: Mr. Simpson, I think you'll find this amount more than fair.
Lisa: Dad, I think he's an ivory dealer!  His boots are ivory, his hat is ivory, and I'm pretty sure that check is ivory.
Homer: Lisa, a guy who's got lots of ivory is _less_ likely to hurt Stampy than a guy whose ivory supplies are low.
Lisa: Mr. Blackheart?
Blackheart: Yes, my pretty?
Lisa: Are you an ivory dealer?
Blackheart: [laughs] Well, little girl, I've had lots of jobs in my day: whale-hunter, seal-clubber, president of the Fox network, and, like most people, yeah, I've dealt a little ivory.
Bart: Dad, you can't do this.  Stampy is my friend.
Homer: Don't worry, son.  I'll get you a new elephant.
Blackheart: I'll take that one too.
Homer: Done!
 
Blackheart: All right, I'll be back in the morning to pick up Stampy.
Homer: Here's the keys.
Blackheart: Elephants don't have keys.
Homer: Well, I'll just keep these then.
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Bart: Don't worry, Stampy.  I won't let Homer sell you to that ivory dealer.  You and I are going to run away together.  We'll keep to he back roads and make our way south.  Then, if I know my geography, it's just twelve miles to Africa.  OK, bud, very quietly: let's just sneak through --
[Stampy brushes him off and tromps off]
Stampy! [walks through the Flanders' yard]
Ned: [gasps] It's the four elephants of the apocalypse!
Maude: That's horsemen, Ned.
Ned: Well, getting closer. 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Lisa runs into her parents' bedroom, clearly distraught]
 
Lisa: Mom!  Dad!  Bart and Stampy are gone!
Marge: Oh my Lord!
Lisa: I bet it's 'cause of that horrible ivory dealer, [accusingly] Dad.
Homer: He took Bart, too?!?  That wasn't part of our deal, Blackheart. [yelling out the window] That wasn't part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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