Well, well, well, we’re back again with another The Simpsons Predicted The Future story, but unlike the coronavirus hoax, this one actually checks out. Well… Kinda.
After the death in custody of George Floyd, and the public outrage that followed it, statues of slave owners and Confederate monuments across America have been destroyed, beheaded or yeeted into deep bodies of water as people begin to realise that we *probably* shouldn’t celebrate people that have committed heinous crimes against humanity.
But in a move that is hardly surprising in 2020, life really do be imitating art. Specifically, a 1990 episode of The Simpsons.
In case you missed it, a statue of Christopher Columbus in Boston was beheaded on account of, you know, history. So far, this is the third statue of the controversial historical figure that has been destroyed, following one that was thrown into a lake and another that was torn down in protest.
“Given the conversations that we are certainly having right now in our city of Boston and throughout the country, we are going to take time to assess the historic meaning of the statue,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said of the statue’s destruction.
A Christopher Columbus statue in Boston was beheaded overnight https://t.co/oZVRStbQAc pic.twitter.com/ZxQqAlYcTl
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/MarleyNichelle/status/1270528576656273408
But if this is giving you some sort of weird deja vu moment, don’t freak out because you’re probably just remembering the season 1 episode of The Simpsons, ‘The Telltale Head.’
The eighth episode of the show’s first season saw Bart behead the statue of Springfield founder Jebediah Springfield to impress school bullies.
In the episode (warning: 1990 spoilers coming), Bart eventually regrets his decision and re-heads the statue after apologising to the angry mob. But if you fast-foward to season 7, we later find out that Jebediah is actually “nothing more than an evil bloodthirsty pirate who hated [the] town,” so maybe he should’ve been cancelled back in season 1.
However, the prediction falls short when you look at the reason behind the beheadings. In the show, Bart doesn’t really think about the statue and Jebediah’s significance, whereas in real life, protesters are well aware of Columbus’ history, which is why they’re tearing it down.
Obviously, this is all just a big ol’ coincidence and isn’t meant to minimise pain and hurt felt by the victims of Columbus and every other victim of racially-charged violence. The Simpsons and its jokes is all a bit of good fun, but racism and police brutality towards people of colour is not. If you’re interested in reading more about the George Floyd, police brutality and why you should care, here are just a few of our recent stories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFwqniQPqiQ&feature=emb_title
