Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, episode 6, “Women in Shorts”
Although much of the surrounding episode worked,The Simpsonsseason 36’sBarbieparody proved that the show still struggles with a recurring issue.The Simpsonsis great at parodying movies. Anyone who has seen season 2, episode 5, “Cape Feare,” can attest thatThe Simpsonsparodying Martin Scorsese’s disturbingCape Fearis funnier than most entire feature-length movies, despite the episode’s tight twenty-minute runtime. However, not all the show’s spoofs work.The Simpsonshas even parodied unreleased movies, but this did not stop one season 36 segment from falling afoul of a recurring problem with spoofs.
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The animated sitcom, The Simpsons, has become a bona fide pop culture icon in its nearly 40 years on the air, and now it has been renewed again.
Season 36, episode 6, “Women in Shorts,” is an inventive, fast-paced anthology episode focusing on female supporting characters from the world ofThe Simpsonswho are all too often ignored and underused by the show. An indirect follow-up to season 7, episode 21, “22 Short Films About Springfield,” “Women In Shorts” fleshed out existing characters like Luanne Van Houten, Lindsay Naegle, andThe Simpsonsseason 36’s breakout starAgnes Skinner. However, one early sequence that parodied 2023’sBarbiefell flat as Superintendent Chalmers’ rebellious daughter Shauna met her childhood doll Malibu Stacy and immediately, brutally betrayed her.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Barbie Spoof Isn’t Funnier Than Barbie Itself
The 2023 Blockbuster Was Already A Self-Aware Comedy
In an early segment from “Women in Shorts,” Malibu Stacy enters the real world of Springfield to meet a child who plays with her, Shauna. Shauna denies playing with dolls and mocks Malibu Stacy, eventually beating her up while secretly apologizing to the sentient toy.The Simpsonsseason 36’sBarbieparody proves just how hard it is to parody a comedyas the sequence plays out much the same way as the equivalent scene from director Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed 2023 blockbuster. Admittedly,Barbie’s conflicted teen heroine Sasha only verbally rejects Barbie, but the main beats of the scene remain largely identical.
The same problem occurred in The Simpsons season 36’s Treehouse of Horror parody of Venom.
It is tough forThe Simpsonsto make the show’sBarbieparody work, since the movie already has a cynical, self-aware sense of humor that is ironically influenced byThe Simpsonsitself. The same problem occurred inThe Simpsonsseason 36’s Treehouse of Horror parodyofVenom, which featured fun animation from Stoopid Buddy Studios but not much else to recommend. LikeBarbie, theVenommovies are already infused with a sense of snarky, self-parodic wit that owes a debt to the Golden Age ofThe Simpsons, so it is tough for the show to parody them.
The Simpsons Has Fumbled Spoofs Of Comedic Media Before
It is hard to make fun of anything that already makes fun of itself. This is whyThe Simpsons’ spoofs ofSuccession,Multiplicity,Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse, and many more movies and shows have fallen flat over the years. In contrast,The Simpsons’ season 36’s Edgar Allan Poe parodywas a standout success from season 36, episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV.” This arguably makes sense since the segment parodied an author who, outside a few glib moments of black humor, is famous for their dour, dark writing. In contrast,The Simpsonsseason 36’sBarbieparody felt superfluous.
