Simpsons Jokes Explained... somewhat
December 22, 2020 9:22 PM Subscribe
Simpsons' writer Josh Weinstein invited fans to ask about the jokes they never got and he'd take a swing at explaining them. This being the internet, he got a lot of responses. And yes, someone asked about Ralph Wiggum and sleep vikings.
Spoiler alert: He's really good at sleeping.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:05 PM on December 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:05 PM on December 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
Several of these (right off the top, the saying goodbye to a shoe) seem to be noodle incidents. Perhaps I am in the minority in being able to find references without clearly defined and explained referents funny.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:07 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:07 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
I find it calming that an actual Simpsons writer doesn't seem to have much more insight into the jokes than I do.
Also: Twitter: Worst. Platform. Ever.
posted by StephenF at 10:27 PM on December 22, 2020 [15 favorites]
Also: Twitter: Worst. Platform. Ever.
posted by StephenF at 10:27 PM on December 22, 2020 [15 favorites]
I feel so utterly vindicated. I mean, who the hell thinks being a viking means you're really good at a thing? That's crazy talk. A Shelbyville idea if you ask me.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:41 PM on December 22, 2020 [30 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 10:41 PM on December 22, 2020 [30 favorites]
Spoiler alert: He's really good at sleeping.
No ? Ralph dreams of being a Viking.
posted by Pendragon at 11:43 PM on December 22, 2020 [16 favorites]
No ? Ralph dreams of being a Viking.
posted by Pendragon at 11:43 PM on December 22, 2020 [16 favorites]
I am just really embarrassed on behalf of the shocking amount of people who, for the last twenty-ish years, when asked a question like “Are you good at [X]?” answered with “That’s where I’m a Viking!”
posted by ejs at 12:22 AM on December 23, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by ejs at 12:22 AM on December 23, 2020 [16 favorites]
CASE CLOSED
posted by thelonius at 12:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 12:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Twitter: Worst. Platform. Ever.
I don't get it?
posted by fairmettle at 1:19 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't get it?
posted by fairmettle at 1:19 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't get it?
Worst. Reference. Ever.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Worst. Reference. Ever.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Perhaps I am in the minority in being able to find references without clearly defined and explained referents funny.
The noodle incidents are one thing; but for jokes where people are split into two quite well-defined interpretations (vikings, goodbye to a shoe) I find the intention of the writer quite insightful given that there's clear answers.
posted by solarion at 3:32 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
The noodle incidents are one thing; but for jokes where people are split into two quite well-defined interpretations (vikings, goodbye to a shoe) I find the intention of the writer quite insightful given that there's clear answers.
posted by solarion at 3:32 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm mostly ending up with the belief that in many cases, the writer was wrong.
posted by kyrademon at 4:01 AM on December 23, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 4:01 AM on December 23, 2020 [9 favorites]
I will freely admit to being in the camp of To Be a Viking at s.t. = To excel at s.t. In fact, the alternative has never even occurred to me! Completely fascinating.
I think its Ralph's tone? It's basically a nonsense statement, but it seems to express an unusual sense of pride.
posted by voiceofreason at 4:36 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think its Ralph's tone? It's basically a nonsense statement, but it seems to express an unusual sense of pride.
posted by voiceofreason at 4:36 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Augh! Ralph has dreams about being a Viking, which he enjoys, but he does not understand the difference between dreams and reality, so he thinks "sleep" is a literal place he goes to when he "goes to sleep," and he is a Viking there! How is this so complicated?
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [41 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:44 AM on December 23, 2020 [41 favorites]
Faint of Butt: Exactly. Ralph not only has recurring dreams, but he misunderstands what sleep actually is. I never got how people arrived at the "Viking = great at something" interpretation, given that no one seemed to use the word this way before the episode aired.
Is there a way someone can add a note to the top of that thread from 2007 for the benefit of those coming across it in future years?
posted by Epixonti at 4:54 AM on December 23, 2020 [9 favorites]
Is there a way someone can add a note to the top of that thread from 2007 for the benefit of those coming across it in future years?
posted by Epixonti at 4:54 AM on December 23, 2020 [9 favorites]
There are a pair of incongruities in the statement that make it funny, to whatever extent one finds it so. The first is the obvious Ralph being a viking in any sense, as either excelling or marauding, or I else playing football for Minnesota's NFL team, are far removed from Ralph's usual persona, but the bigger incongruity is in Ralph's use of the word "where" to describe his vikingness as we don't tend to refer to sleep as a where but a when, so saying where instead adds a layer of ambiguity to Ralph's declaration that requires some level of sorting out, with either "excelling" or "the location where I'm a marauder" being possible because of the "where". Switch it to "sleep is when I'm a viking" and the incongruity disappears alongs with some of the funny.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:56 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by gusottertrout at 4:56 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
It’s ok, we can still have both interpretations.
Mike Scully “was in the room when it was pitched and laughed because I thought it meant he was great at sleeping”.
posted by ook at 4:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
Mike Scully “was in the room when it was pitched and laughed because I thought it meant he was great at sleeping”.
posted by ook at 4:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
How is this so complicated?
It's not -- I fully grasp how the joke is supposed to work. He's dumb and doesn't know know to play the language game correctly. Again, the authorial interpretation was just never apparent to me at all.
BUT there are like a lot of people who had a completely different, consistent interpretation, which seemed obvious enough that they needn't think any further. There is pretty clearly some facet of the joke's structure and delivery that invites this this bizarre -- and frankly, funnier -- way of seeing things. And that's a beautiful thing.
posted by voiceofreason at 5:05 AM on December 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
It's not -- I fully grasp how the joke is supposed to work. He's dumb and doesn't know know to play the language game correctly. Again, the authorial interpretation was just never apparent to me at all.
BUT there are like a lot of people who had a completely different, consistent interpretation, which seemed obvious enough that they needn't think any further. There is pretty clearly some facet of the joke's structure and delivery that invites this this bizarre -- and frankly, funnier -- way of seeing things. And that's a beautiful thing.
posted by voiceofreason at 5:05 AM on December 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
Yay! Even the writers don't know which way sleep-vikings goes!
posted by es_de_bah at 5:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by es_de_bah at 5:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Understanding humor without incorporating the intentions or biographical context of an author in the interpretation of the text in the wake of Barthes' seminal assertion that the essential meaning of a work depends on the impressions of the reader rather than the passions of the writer is where I'm a Viking.
posted by kyrademon at 5:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [41 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 5:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [41 favorites]
What will it take to collapse the wave function?
posted by carter at 5:18 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by carter at 5:18 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
BUT there are like a lot of people who had a completely different, consistent interpretation, which seemed obvious enough that they needn't think any further.
I maintain the majority, including Mike Scully, are trolls who enjoy how incensed people become over the idea of metaphorical Vikingness. Perhaps there are some folks who genuinely believe it, but it makes more sense as a meme.
posted by zamboni at 5:20 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
I maintain the majority, including Mike Scully, are trolls who enjoy how incensed people become over the idea of metaphorical Vikingness. Perhaps there are some folks who genuinely believe it, but it makes more sense as a meme.
posted by zamboni at 5:20 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
Maybe the difference is between people who have vivid dreams (and are more likely to think of dreams as a kind of place and where one could be a viking in a literal sense) and people who don't (and tend to think of dreams as a kind of activity). English at least supports both these interpretations: "in my dreams" vs. "during my dreams".
posted by Pyry at 5:22 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Pyry at 5:22 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ralph being a viking in any sense, as either excelling or marauding, or I else playing football for Minnesota's NFL team, are far removed from Ralph's usual persona
I'm too lazy to go look up examples, but I think there's always been a dark core to Ralphie's personality so it's not a surprise that he really likes the dreams where he takes a sword to murder people in front of their burning hovels.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:37 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
I'm too lazy to go look up examples, but I think there's always been a dark core to Ralphie's personality so it's not a surprise that he really likes the dreams where he takes a sword to murder people in front of their burning hovels.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:37 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
What I think makes the, rather ridiculous, notion of having to choose one or the other, as if both aren't viable, is that one reading appears to be more character driven, that Ralph is such a nitwit that he actually believes sleep is just another place he can go like any other, but there he is a warrior, and those who approach it more conceptually, where the idea of being a sleep viking is more inherently amusing, as fierce excellence in sleep is such a contradictory concept, as ferocity and sleep don't go together and claiming excellence in slumber is also an odd claim.
I sort of suspect looking at who reads it what way would say something about how each person thinks more generally.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:38 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
I sort of suspect looking at who reads it what way would say something about how each person thinks more generally.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:38 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
What will it take to collapse the wave function?
Science Vikings
posted by sammyo at 5:38 AM on December 23, 2020
Science Vikings
posted by sammyo at 5:38 AM on December 23, 2020
I was always confused about the Egg-man bit in the Stone-Cutters episode.
posted by es_de_bah at 5:39 AM on December 23, 2020
posted by es_de_bah at 5:39 AM on December 23, 2020
guys guys is this what its like to be writing midrash
posted by lalochezia at 5:42 AM on December 23, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 5:42 AM on December 23, 2020 [13 favorites]
What will it take to collapse the wave function?
Science Vikings
The vikings are both asleep and awake. We need to open their barrows to find out for sure.
posted by curious nu at 5:44 AM on December 23, 2020
Science Vikings
The vikings are both asleep and awake. We need to open their barrows to find out for sure.
posted by curious nu at 5:44 AM on December 23, 2020
claiming excellence in slumber is also an odd claim
I always took it as "literally, the only thing that Ralph is good at."
Wonderful thread. Reminds me how much I used to look forward to The Simpsons every week in college.
posted by jzb at 5:56 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I always took it as "literally, the only thing that Ralph is good at."
Wonderful thread. Reminds me how much I used to look forward to The Simpsons every week in college.
posted by jzb at 5:56 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
guys guys is this what its like to be writing midrash
Yes.
posted by dannyboybell at 5:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes.
posted by dannyboybell at 5:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
The Vikings are both asleep and awake. We need to open their barrows to find out for sure.
If you must do this, then at least do it quickly while it's still 2020. Then at least we'll be able to say, "whelp, I suppose it was inevitable someone would open the Science Vikings' burrows! 2020, eh?" rather than, "...and then, for some ungodly reason, we started 2021 by opening the Science Viking's burrows!"
posted by deeker at 5:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
If you must do this, then at least do it quickly while it's still 2020. Then at least we'll be able to say, "whelp, I suppose it was inevitable someone would open the Science Vikings' burrows! 2020, eh?" rather than, "...and then, for some ungodly reason, we started 2021 by opening the Science Viking's burrows!"
posted by deeker at 5:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Faint of Butt, you've cracked it!
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:04 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:04 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Usually I’m very on the side of Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom and generally the idea of diversity of thought, but theres something low key upsetting about the misinterpretations and over interpretations... it’s like finding out thousands of people were not only wrong on the internet, but wrong for decades.
posted by condour75 at 6:04 AM on December 23, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 6:04 AM on December 23, 2020 [11 favorites]
And I’m not sure why one of the prisoners is named Sardonicus.
posted by condour75 at 6:05 AM on December 23, 2020
posted by condour75 at 6:05 AM on December 23, 2020
But the ambiguity also lets you end up with extra backstory. Like, if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea? And who told him he was a Viking at sleep? Presumably it's some internal Wiggum language (in the vein of Springfieldian "cromulent") and implies that his parents tell Ralph his talent is...sleeping. As a result, Ralph has embraced that he is, in fact, a sleep Viking, and he's proud of it, when it's really just that his parents (slightly darkly) don't want to deal with him or (even worse) can find no other discernable talent.
Feels like the line loses some depth if you only envision that Ralph dreams of being a Viking and can't distinguish between reality and dreamland. Of course, the phrasing and delivery are perfect for fueling the ambiguity, so you can have it both ways, separately or together.
posted by ptfe at 6:14 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Feels like the line loses some depth if you only envision that Ralph dreams of being a Viking and can't distinguish between reality and dreamland. Of course, the phrasing and delivery are perfect for fueling the ambiguity, so you can have it both ways, separately or together.
posted by ptfe at 6:14 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
I always took it as "literally, the only thing that Ralph is good at."
I agree - and I think my firm attachment to the "wrong" interpretation is rooted in an urge to let Ralph have this rare source of pride in his life.
posted by Paul Slade at 6:17 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
I agree - and I think my firm attachment to the "wrong" interpretation is rooted in an urge to let Ralph have this rare source of pride in his life.
posted by Paul Slade at 6:17 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
The joke I've been laughing at for decades without really understanding it is "Or as the Indians* call it, MAAAIIIZZZE."
* cw: 1998
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
* cw: 1998
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
it’s like finding out thousands of people were not only wrong on the internet, but wrong for decades
For me, it is finding out thousands of people on the internet want to take away the one thing that Ralph perhaps has going for him in his life. Those who look closely can actually pinpoint the exact moments his heart breaks in two, over and over again.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
For me, it is finding out thousands of people on the internet want to take away the one thing that Ralph perhaps has going for him in his life. Those who look closely can actually pinpoint the exact moments his heart breaks in two, over and over again.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
I will freely admit to being in the camp of To Be a Viking at s.t. = To excel at s.t.
As with most folk etymologies, it's too good not to be true. The simplest conclusion is that the source material is incorrect.
posted by bonehead at 7:17 AM on December 23, 2020
As with most folk etymologies, it's too good not to be true. The simplest conclusion is that the source material is incorrect.
posted by bonehead at 7:17 AM on December 23, 2020
Like, if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea?
Well, exactly. Where could ANYONE possibly get that idea? There’s like absolute zero context anywhere in the universe to suggest that. It’s the ultimate non sequitur.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:23 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
Well, exactly. Where could ANYONE possibly get that idea? There’s like absolute zero context anywhere in the universe to suggest that. It’s the ultimate non sequitur.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:23 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one character says of another “he’s a Viking in the sack.” Makes sense to me.
I really don’t give a fuck which interpretation you support but both of them clearly make logical sense, and the smug literalists who insist they can’t fathom understanding a metaphor really get under my skin.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:35 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
I really don’t give a fuck which interpretation you support but both of them clearly make logical sense, and the smug literalists who insist they can’t fathom understanding a metaphor really get under my skin.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:35 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
There’s like absolute zero context anywhere in the universe to suggest that.
This is indeed a disturbing universe.
posted by ptfe at 7:36 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is indeed a disturbing universe.
posted by ptfe at 7:36 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Too bad I didn't have "relitigate the sleep Viking controversy" on my 2020 bingo card.
posted by neckro23 at 7:43 AM on December 23, 2020 [21 favorites]
posted by neckro23 at 7:43 AM on December 23, 2020 [21 favorites]
Hi, I'm from Metafilter and I could overthink a plate of sleeping Vikings.
posted by stevis23 at 7:50 AM on December 23, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by stevis23 at 7:50 AM on December 23, 2020 [13 favorites]
Where could ANYONE possibly get that idea?
I'm pretty convinced that the reason is that it's such a conceptually contorted expression, some folks fall back on the tone and body language clues to imbue the statement with some kind meaning. He just sounds like he's inordinately proud of his sleeping, so he must think that being a Viking means being good at a thing.
As to why such people -- who are not dumb people -- have missed the supposedly more obvious interpretation, I believe its because that one involves three, separate misuses of language that all occur in a single, very short statement:
1. He confuses "imagining being a viking somewhere" with "being a viking in an imaginary somewhere" (cf. Wittgenstein, "to imagine closing a door is not the same thing as to close an imaginary door")
2. He doubles up on the above predicament by saying "THAT is where" -- as if you could point to an imaginary place.
3. He's implicitly conflating sleeping with dreaming -- which is actually a bit subtle.
If you aren't immediately struck by all three of these, its easier to just assume he's talking a completely different language that you need to figure out by context.
posted by voiceofreason at 7:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
I'm pretty convinced that the reason is that it's such a conceptually contorted expression, some folks fall back on the tone and body language clues to imbue the statement with some kind meaning. He just sounds like he's inordinately proud of his sleeping, so he must think that being a Viking means being good at a thing.
As to why such people -- who are not dumb people -- have missed the supposedly more obvious interpretation, I believe its because that one involves three, separate misuses of language that all occur in a single, very short statement:
1. He confuses "imagining being a viking somewhere" with "being a viking in an imaginary somewhere" (cf. Wittgenstein, "to imagine closing a door is not the same thing as to close an imaginary door")
2. He doubles up on the above predicament by saying "THAT is where" -- as if you could point to an imaginary place.
3. He's implicitly conflating sleeping with dreaming -- which is actually a bit subtle.
If you aren't immediately struck by all three of these, its easier to just assume he's talking a completely different language that you need to figure out by context.
posted by voiceofreason at 7:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
Understanding humor without incorporating the intentions or biographical context of an author in the interpretation of the text in the wake of Barthes' seminal assertion that the essential meaning of a work depends on the impressions of the reader rather than the passions of the writer is where I'm a Viking.
Once again, we're back at the Valhalla of the author.
posted by ambrosen at 7:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Once again, we're back at the Valhalla of the author.
posted by ambrosen at 7:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
And here I was wondering how to spend the first day of my vacation.
posted by Epixonti at 7:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Epixonti at 7:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
The real question is whether a Sleep Viking could take flight from a moving treadmill.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:07 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:07 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
I really don’t give a fuck which interpretation you support but both of them clearly make logical sense
Except for the one that doesn't!
posted by thelonius at 8:08 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Except for the one that doesn't!
posted by thelonius at 8:08 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
okay what's the deal with "the chubbiest kickline in town" reference in the treehouse of horrors where homer is king kong? i recently watched all of the treehouses until they started sucking (i think i turned it off at season 8 or 9) and that joke was the one that made me go all "the past really is a foreign country." i have literally no idea why "chubbiest kickline" counts as something funny — my response to it was basically the same as my response to jokes in "i love lucy" that depend on understanding references to film stars from the first half of the 20th century.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:14 AM on December 23, 2020
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:14 AM on December 23, 2020
Like, if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea?
People who are great at things are often described as "kings". Perhaps Ralph, who is 8 years old, thinks a Viking is some variety of king.
posted by oulipian at 8:17 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
People who are great at things are often described as "kings". Perhaps Ralph, who is 8 years old, thinks a Viking is some variety of king.
posted by oulipian at 8:17 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
cf. Wittgenstein
The thing Wittgenstein said that still pisses me off was that we could all learn math here (in the seminar room he was talking in ) and then, if we left the room for the first time, we wouldn't know if math worked outside of it or not. But the sumbitch was a Viking, so who am I to doubt him?
posted by thelonius at 8:20 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
The thing Wittgenstein said that still pisses me off was that we could all learn math here (in the seminar room he was talking in ) and then, if we left the room for the first time, we wouldn't know if math worked outside of it or not. But the sumbitch was a Viking, so who am I to doubt him?
posted by thelonius at 8:20 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon: I took the joke to mean that (1) in the 1930s, the standard of female beauty in show business allowed women to be more zaftig than was the case at the time "King Homer" was made, and (2) let's parody that fact by pretending that back then, chubbiness was actually presented as an enticement when advertising a showgirl revue. Sort of like the ad for a soccer game that promised "Fast kicking, low scoring and ties? You bet!" - but for another time rather than another part of the world.
posted by Epixonti at 8:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Epixonti at 8:27 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm too lazy to go look up examples, but I think there's always been a dark core to Ralphie's personality so it's not a surprise that he really likes the dreams where he takes a sword to murder people in front of their burning hovels.
Burn 'em all!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:28 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Burn 'em all!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:28 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
While it’s never occurred to me before that this Viking thing was even a “thing,” I do love the alternate interpretation, as expressed well I think by ptfe above. I don’t *agree* with it (Occam’s Razor etc etc) but I do enjoy it.
posted by zoinks at 8:34 AM on December 23, 2020
posted by zoinks at 8:34 AM on December 23, 2020
While it’s never occurred to me before that this Viking thing was even a “thing,” I do love the alternate interpretation
I also hold the people with the wrong interpretation in a degree of grudging respect. There is a certain consistency to their views.
posted by ambrosen at 8:51 AM on December 23, 2020
I also hold the people with the wrong interpretation in a degree of grudging respect. There is a certain consistency to their views.
posted by ambrosen at 8:51 AM on December 23, 2020
Being wrong is where I'm a Viking.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
So many of these questions are just people not finding an absurdist non sequitur funny, and deducing that since it's supposed to be funny it must reference something. My taste in humor is the opposite--I'd generally prefer a non sequitur over some in-joke.
I spent too much time going through the thread and half of it reads like people trying to ruin perfectly good jokes to me.
posted by mark k at 8:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
I spent too much time going through the thread and half of it reads like people trying to ruin perfectly good jokes to me.
posted by mark k at 8:57 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
Setting Vikings aside for the moment*, did I miss it or was there never an explanation for the "saying goodbye to a shoe" joke?
*Bloody Vikings!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
*Bloody Vikings!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:59 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I like all of the explanations, but surely the idea that "being a Viking" at something, to a layperson, means being good at it doesn't need parsing? In our media, however rapacious or criminal we portray the Vikings, they're also inevitably coded as masculine*, capable, victorious, strong, "get er done", adventurous, etc., etc.
(Being just smart enough to be really dumb is where I'm a viking.)
* I don't think this is a positive quality, as such, but it certainly is in media, government, etc.
posted by maxwelton at 9:03 AM on December 23, 2020
(Being just smart enough to be really dumb is where I'm a viking.)
* I don't think this is a positive quality, as such, but it certainly is in media, government, etc.
posted by maxwelton at 9:03 AM on December 23, 2020
> I took the joke to mean that (1) in the 1930s, the standard of female beauty in show business allowed women to be more zaftig than was the case at the time "King Homer" was made, and (2) let's parody that fact by pretending that back then, chubbiness was actually presented as an enticement when advertising a showgirl revue. Sort of like the ad for a soccer game that promised "Fast kicking, low scoring and ties? You bet!" - but for another time rather than another part of the world.
well that's a dumb joke.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 9:28 AM on December 23, 2020
well that's a dumb joke.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 9:28 AM on December 23, 2020
Well, exactly. Where could ANYONE possibly get that idea? There’s like absolute zero context anywhere in the universe to suggest that. It’s the ultimate non sequitur.
The Underpants Monster
I've always taken the literal interpretation (that Ralph is an actual viking in his dreams), but the other interpretation always made sense to me because when I was a kid in Texas in the 90s, our school district's gifted and talented program was called the Viking Program (or something like that), and kids who got good enough grades were called Vikings. Don't know if they did this anywhere else, but this was a major urban school district.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
The Underpants Monster
I've always taken the literal interpretation (that Ralph is an actual viking in his dreams), but the other interpretation always made sense to me because when I was a kid in Texas in the 90s, our school district's gifted and talented program was called the Viking Program (or something like that), and kids who got good enough grades were called Vikings. Don't know if they did this anywhere else, but this was a major urban school district.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
When I think of Vikings I think of berserkers, which to me suggests not excellence as such, but more of a crazed, indomitable energy. This image of frenzied effort applied to the task of doing absolutely nothing, i.e. sleeping, is how I always figured the joke. That being as it may, I've always read the joke as hinting at some tragic self-awareness. With Ralph being perhaps one of the most maladjusted characters in the Simpsons universe, whether he's saying he's a Viking in his dreams, or whether he's saying he's really good at sleeping, either way he's saying he dreams of someplace better than what's out there for him.
posted by dmh at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by dmh at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
There’s like absolute zero context anywhere in the universe to suggest that. [Ralph the Viking is] the ultimate non sequitur.
I disagree. The secret sauce of the Simpsons is that even the non-sequitur is well thought out. I mean c'mon - a Viking is the complete polar opposite of Ralph in multiple contexts which makes it funnier.
If Ralph had said "sleep - that's where I'm Michael Jordan!" then you wouldn't have the Simpsons, you'd have Family Guy.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:34 AM on December 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
I disagree. The secret sauce of the Simpsons is that even the non-sequitur is well thought out. I mean c'mon - a Viking is the complete polar opposite of Ralph in multiple contexts which makes it funnier.
If Ralph had said "sleep - that's where I'm Michael Jordan!" then you wouldn't have the Simpsons, you'd have Family Guy.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:34 AM on December 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
you know what though something that people are missing out on with this is that ralph isn't saying something dumb, exactly, but saying something really smart in the wrong context.
sleep is awesome. it is super cool that we are able to dream and in our dreams we can be, like, vikings or whatever. i would pay money to reliably have dreams about sailing my longship to newfoundland or whatever (shoot, isn't that the kind of thing the most recent assassin's creed game is about?)
like, ralph's a dummy cause he ate his worm. but he's not wrong about sleep!
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 9:47 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
sleep is awesome. it is super cool that we are able to dream and in our dreams we can be, like, vikings or whatever. i would pay money to reliably have dreams about sailing my longship to newfoundland or whatever (shoot, isn't that the kind of thing the most recent assassin's creed game is about?)
like, ralph's a dummy cause he ate his worm. but he's not wrong about sleep!
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 9:47 AM on December 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
> "... did I miss it or was there never an explanation for the 'saying goodbye to a shoe' joke?"
The shoe joke explanation is also cursed.
posted by kyrademon at 10:03 AM on December 23, 2020 [12 favorites]
The shoe joke explanation is also cursed.
posted by kyrademon at 10:03 AM on December 23, 2020 [12 favorites]
What I think is really weird is yesterday when I, an avid non-user of Twitter, clicked on this, Twitter's algorithm somehow decided that the most salient thing about this thread, about which it should show me additional recommended content, was the name "Ralph." Not Ralph Wiggum the Simpson's character, just the name Ralph. I got pictures of dogs named Ralph, links to news items about Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia, even references to Ralphie from A Christmas Story. It just went on and on. Was the algorithm trying to make some kind of meta-joke? Like, "I, too, a mere recommendations algorithm, can humorously misunderstand what is important about a text!"
posted by biogeo at 10:03 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 10:03 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
Twitter also makes me ralph.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:08 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:08 AM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
did I miss it or was there never an explanation for the "saying goodbye to a shoe" joke?
Here. Again, simplest explanation is the correct one: Homer was thinking about a previous time he saw someone say goodbye to a shoe.
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
Here. Again, simplest explanation is the correct one: Homer was thinking about a previous time he saw someone say goodbye to a shoe.
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:09 AM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
Thanks, star gentle uterus. I suspected as much; but I also like the idea of the joke being that because of Homer's well-established short-term memory issues, he's recalling the act he literally just saw.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:33 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:33 AM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Wow, the 2007 version of this thread was angry as hell. Have we given up on getting mad about pop-lit-crit, or have all the fightiest users just moved on?
posted by skewed at 12:35 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by skewed at 12:35 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Or we've given up on getting mad about The Simpsons.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:42 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:42 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Getting mad about the Simpsons got boring. I'm really into this cup and ball now.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 1:13 PM on December 23, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 1:13 PM on December 23, 2020 [10 favorites]
So many of these questions are just people not finding an absurdist non sequitur funny, and deducing that since it's supposed to be funny it must reference something. My taste in humor is the opposite--I'd generally prefer a non sequitur over some in-joke.
So much this. I don't understand how these people actually found the show funny. I guess it just worked on multiple levels, one of them suitable for lifeless literalists, bereft of the lyrical whimsy of the absurd, who need their jokes to make sense and would like them to be explained.
(Also clearly a lot of people never saw any Windsor McCay).
posted by aspersioncast at 1:27 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
So much this. I don't understand how these people actually found the show funny. I guess it just worked on multiple levels, one of them suitable for lifeless literalists, bereft of the lyrical whimsy of the absurd, who need their jokes to make sense and would like them to be explained.
(Also clearly a lot of people never saw any Windsor McCay).
posted by aspersioncast at 1:27 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
> if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea?
Oh, come on. He got it from the internet like everyone else. It's been kicking around here for literally decades. Super-common usage.
posted by flug at 1:42 PM on December 23, 2020
Oh, come on. He got it from the internet like everyone else. It's been kicking around here for literally decades. Super-common usage.
posted by flug at 1:42 PM on December 23, 2020
I guess it just worked on multiple levels, one of them suitable for lifeless literalists, bereft of the lyrical whimsy of the absurd, who need their jokes to make sense and would like them to be explained.
In short, The Simpsons is a land of contrasts.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:43 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
In short, The Simpsons is a land of contrasts.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:43 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
It's buried a bit, but the shoe answer is in there:
To us it was obvious that by Homer saying "Yes, once" that Homer was referring to a previous instance where he saw a man say goodbye to a shoe but apparently a number of fans thought he was referring to having just seen Hank Scorpio throw his shoes (a case of overthinking a joke)
(Sorry, missed that it was already answered)
posted by Sibrax at 2:16 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
To us it was obvious that by Homer saying "Yes, once" that Homer was referring to a previous instance where he saw a man say goodbye to a shoe but apparently a number of fans thought he was referring to having just seen Hank Scorpio throw his shoes (a case of overthinking a joke)
(Sorry, missed that it was already answered)
posted by Sibrax at 2:16 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Wow, the 2007 version of this thread was angry as hell. Have we given up on getting mad about pop-lit-crit, or have all the fightiest users just moved on?
No, they're just over here on the Coronavirus thread, arguing about conflicting methodological approaches and, hence, conclusions as between virology and epidemiology... 😉
posted by deeker at 2:30 PM on December 23, 2020
No, they're just over here on the Coronavirus thread, arguing about conflicting methodological approaches and, hence, conclusions as between virology and epidemiology... 😉
posted by deeker at 2:30 PM on December 23, 2020
No, they're just over here on the Coronavirus thread, arguing about conflicting methodological approaches and, hence, conclusions as between virology and epidemiology... 😉
I think I accidently restarted the War of 1812 over there.
*Backs away slowly into bush*
posted by eagles123 at 2:34 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I think I accidently restarted the War of 1812 over there.
*Backs away slowly into bush*
posted by eagles123 at 2:34 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
The shoe joke explanation is also cursed.
posted by kyrademon
But it comes with a free topping!
posted by 445supermag at 2:35 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by kyrademon
But it comes with a free topping!
posted by 445supermag at 2:35 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
theres something low key upsetting about the misinterpretations and over interpretations.
This is tangential, but you've reminded me of a thing. Back in the 90sI was in a very famous TV show when the band Moxy Fruvous was a thing, they had a song called "Video Bargainville" about (as you might expect) a video store. One of the verses went thusly:
"So contrary to the desperate sign
Most patrons 'always please rewind'
And the clerks don't mind--they're very kind
The only stickler has resigned"
...at one point the Moxy Fruvous newsgroup (remember those?) was afire for weeks--weeks--with people poring over these four lines with metaphorical rhetorical microscopes and arguing furiously about their meaning. All these years later I can't remember how badly off-track some people got, but it was pretty astonishing.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:52 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is tangential, but you've reminded me of a thing. Back in the 90s
"So contrary to the desperate sign
Most patrons 'always please rewind'
And the clerks don't mind--they're very kind
The only stickler has resigned"
...at one point the Moxy Fruvous newsgroup (remember those?) was afire for weeks--weeks--with people poring over these four lines with metaphorical rhetorical microscopes and arguing furiously about their meaning. All these years later I can't remember how badly off-track some people got, but it was pretty astonishing.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:52 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Someone help me Twitter. For me that link goes to a long list of questions but I can’t find the answers. Is it just a bunch of comments in a disorganized soup?
posted by freecellwizard at 3:10 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by freecellwizard at 3:10 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
The one I needed explained to me was the sign on the store
https://static.simpsonswiki.com/images/b/bb/Sneed%27s_feed_and_seed.png
posted by fatbird at 3:22 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Sneed's Feed & SeedI went through several hints before someone spelled it out.
(formerly Chuck's)
https://static.simpsonswiki.com/images/b/bb/Sneed%27s_feed_and_seed.png
posted by fatbird at 3:22 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
The joke I've been laughing at for decades without really understanding it is "Or as the Indians* call it, MAAAIIIZZZE."
A bit of context.
posted by MrBadExample at 3:27 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
A bit of context.
posted by MrBadExample at 3:27 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
a plate of sleeping Vikings.
Please, everyone knows Vikings sleep in bowls.
Although I have to confess, the Sneed’s Feed and Seed had merrily sailed over my head until just about yesterday. Like, huh, why is Chuck’s Feed and Seed funny?
Oh.
Ohhhhhh.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:24 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Please, everyone knows Vikings sleep in bowls.
Although I have to confess, the Sneed’s Feed and Seed had merrily sailed over my head until just about yesterday. Like, huh, why is Chuck’s Feed and Seed funny?
Oh.
Ohhhhhh.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:24 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea?
This might be a very localized interpretation, but where I grew up (Texas) our elementary school classes were divided up into groups to learn each subject according to our ability (let's not get into issues about how that was determined). The groups were given names like Tigers, Stars, Bears, Racers... any kind of vaguely positive and fun appellation. And of course every kid quickly learned the hierarchy of groups for each subject. So naturally, after years of this kind of pedagogy when Ralph says “that’s where I’m a Viking!” then me and all my local friends assumed he was implying that despite likely being in the “slowest” of every group, he was in the top tier group when it came to... nap time!
posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:28 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
This might be a very localized interpretation, but where I grew up (Texas) our elementary school classes were divided up into groups to learn each subject according to our ability (let's not get into issues about how that was determined). The groups were given names like Tigers, Stars, Bears, Racers... any kind of vaguely positive and fun appellation. And of course every kid quickly learned the hierarchy of groups for each subject. So naturally, after years of this kind of pedagogy when Ralph says “that’s where I’m a Viking!” then me and all my local friends assumed he was implying that despite likely being in the “slowest” of every group, he was in the top tier group when it came to... nap time!
posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:28 PM on December 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Sleep Viking would be a great mattress brand name.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:30 PM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:30 PM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
I should add that the interpretation I had of Ralph’s comment involved zero conscious consideration. It literally never occurred to me once until opening this thread that Ralph might have meant that in his dreams he was a Viking!
posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:39 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:39 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
And it literally never occurred to me that there was an interpretation other than that in his dreams he was a Viking.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:20 PM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:20 PM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
I was unaware of the "viking" controversy, but it strikes me as the Simpsonistas' version of "Only Cat/your sister".
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2020
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2020
But the ambiguity also lets you end up with extra backstory. Like, if Ralph thinks "to be a Viking" means to be great at something, where did he get that idea? And who told him he was a Viking at sleep? Presumably it's some internal Wiggum language (in the vein of Springfieldian "cromulent") and implies that his parents tell Ralph his talent is...sleeping. As a result, Ralph has embraced that he is, in fact, a sleep Viking, and he's proud of it, when it's really just that his parents (slightly darkly) don't want to deal with him or (even worse) can find no other discernable talent.
This is where my interpretation always came from. All Ralph has going for him is sleeping.
posted by Anonymous at 6:37 PM on December 23, 2020
This is where my interpretation always came from. All Ralph has going for him is sleeping.
posted by Anonymous at 6:37 PM on December 23, 2020
I dunno, in all honesty I think that's ascribing too much self-awareness and agency to Ralph.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:20 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:20 PM on December 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
For me, the main thing is that Ralph is utterly incapable of metaphor. His cat's breath "smells like cat food." Poisonous berries "taste like burning." When a party invitation from Bart and Milhouse ends with the line "be there or be square," Ralph stays home saying "I want to be a triangle!" Or, jeez, when he says this lie: "Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and the baby looked at me!" That's a mind that has no idea what a metaphor is. Ralph is guileless and literal, and when he says he is a Viking in his sleep, he means he is literally a Viking.
Plus it's a better joke.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:58 AM on December 24, 2020 [13 favorites]
Plus it's a better joke.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:58 AM on December 24, 2020 [13 favorites]
I dare say that if someone dreams of being a Viking adventuring across the North Sea, you would have to admit that that someone is pretty good at dreaming. Furthermore, if that someone can remember those thrilling dreams of looting and pillaging the next day, you would further have to admit that they were quite excellent at the skill of dreaming.
Floor wax and a dessert topping.
posted by whuppy at 7:09 PM on December 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Floor wax and a dessert topping.
posted by whuppy at 7:09 PM on December 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sleep is not where Ralph Wiggum dreams of being a Viking. Sleep is where Ralph Wiggum is literally a Viking. Not a cartoon Viking. An actual Viking. That's because Ralph is the dream, not the Viking. Sleep is where Ralph is a Viking. Dreams are where the Viking is Ralph. Springfield is the story Valhalla tells itself in the restless hours before dawn after an eternal night of feasting and drinking. The dream of Springfield signals the coming of Ragnarök. Doh!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:35 PM on December 27, 2020
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:35 PM on December 27, 2020
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