By Lark Jones
On the night of November 8, 2016, many people can remember the shock of learning that Donald Trump was the next president of the United States. No one could have predicted a popular businessman and entertainer like Donald Trump winning the national presidency….right? Well, maybe not everyone. The Simpsons Show is an iconic aspect of pop culture and entertainment. They are known for many things, but perhaps most notorious for their spot-on predictions. These predictions include infamous and celebrated events in human history. The Donald Trump presidency was just one of many predictions that have left people both confused and intrigued. So, let’s dissect what is really happening here..are these predictions just funny random coincidences, or do the Simpsons know something that we don’t?
Not all of the predictions are as obvious as others. For instance, the first prediction is about one of the most tragic events in American history, 9/11. In the episode titled “The City of New York vs Homer Simpson”, the Simpson family is talking about taking a trip to New York City. Lisa is talking to Bart about a bus company’s supercenter fare that would allow the whole family to travel to New York together. This bus company is featured on a magazine, so Lisa holds it up to show to Bart. On the front page, in big print, it appears to look like it could read 9/11. There is a heading that reads nine dollars to show the price and to the right of the nine dollars is a picture of what appears to be the twin towers. On the very top of the page in big, bold heading is “NEW YORK.” This episode aired in 1997, so at that time many people associated the twin towers with NYC, so it would make sense to have the pictures of the twin towers on a magazine for the city. It just so happens that the number nine was next to it, so it looked like it read 9/11. Anyone can take whatever they want from this prediction, but it is important to remember the victims of this horrible tragedy and recognize how strong the city of New York is.
The Simpsons also featured some predictive programming on the west coast of the United States. In season 10 on an Episode titled, “When You Dish Upon a Star”, the Simpsons illustrated another small yet interesting prediction. In this episode the Simpson family is driving in Hollywood past the fox studio lot and seeing the sign that reads “20th century fox as a division of Walt Disney Co.”. This episode aired in 1998, on March 20, 2019, Disney and Fox officially merged. Many people think that a merge between Disney and Fox was predictable and most likely inevitable to happen.
This episode $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) was aired in 1993. Homer and Ned go to Las Vegas where they meet Gunter and Ernest. Gunter and Ernest are parodies for Roy and Siegfried. During the episode, in their performance they are mauled by the white tiger. In 2003, Roy was attacked by one of the white tigers during a performance, just like he was in the show. The attack was alarming and shocking for people to witness. While Roy didn’t die, he had massive injuries as a result of the attack. It is extremely interesting to see the Simpsons show so accurately illustrate Roy’s attack on their show. Many say an attack like this was going to happen at some point seeing as though a tiger is a wild animal. The point made is very true, but it’s also intriguing to examine how closely the prediction was to the real life event.
One of the most recent and famous predictions from the show has featured the current president of the United States, Donald Trump. It’s the year 2000, and the episode titled “Bart to the Future” airs on television. In the episode, time was fast forwarded to 2030. Lisa is now the president of the United States and she is speaking with her staff about current issues. While speaking she is quoted saying, “As you know we’ve inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump.” After Donald Trump won the presidency, this episode stomped many people and left a lot of questions. Did the Simpsons predict that Donald Trump was going to be president?
Could it just be that before Donald Trump became president it was so wild to even imagine him in such a position that the Simpsons made it a part of their show for comedy? Or the Simpsons trying to tell us something that we as a society don’t realize? Do the Simpsons reflect our culture in ways we don’t want to talk about? Or are these predictions just funny coincidences that are bound to happen? When it comes to predictive programming in shows, there are too many questions to ask. If there is one thing to know from the Simpsons, it’s that it is an iconic show that has constantly entertained its audience over and over. Who knows if the Simpsons production team can predict the future or if they are just really good at guesses. The possibilities are really endless. Whatever the case may be, this predictive programming shown from The Simpsons is a fun way to examine the themes that happen in our culture and reflect who we are as people.
