The Simpsons Predicted Florida’s Ridiculous Censorship Of An Art Masterpiece Over 30 Years Ago
As The Simpsons predicted all the way back in Season 2, Florida is censoring images of Michaelangelo's David.
It’s safe to say that The Simpsons have had their finger on the pulse of pop culture and politics for well over 30 years. Heck, even Disney+ has their own “Simpsons Predict” collection locked and loaded for viewers who need a primer for all the times The Simpsons seemingly predicted the future. According to Aol., the streaming giant is probably going to have to add a new episode to the Simpsons Predict category after the state of Florida’s decision to censor images of Michelangelo’s David, which was a topic of debate in a season 2 episode.
The premise of the season 2 episode (“Itchy and Scratchy and Marge”) is a simple, yet effective one: Marge is on a crusade to censor TV violence, and in her quest to eventually censor all things deemed unwholesome, she is conflicted. Yes, she got violence off of television, but now the art that she believes to be important to our culture is being questioned. Though Marge’s intentions were pure, this particular episode of The Simpsons points out the hypocrisy in deeming raunchy television offensive, but being okay with a fully nude Michelangelo’s David being on display in a Springfield Museum.
Meanwhile, in present-day Florida, one can’t help but think of how The Simpsons already tackled the controversial topic of Michelangelo’s David being displayed fully nude in textbooks. But in this case, the consequences of censorship (or lack thereof) have real-life implications. After a handful of young students were said to be upset over images of Michelangelo’s masterful work, a charter school principal was actually forced to resign after the resulting backlash.
Though if there’s one thing The Simpsons writers have always been keen on, it’s making fun of the public outcry that happens when incidents like the Michelangelo’s David debacle happen in the real world. One parent went as far as referring to the statue as pornographic, which isn’t at all a far cry from Helen Lovejoy’s proclamation, “It’s Filth! It graphically portrays parts of the human body, which practical as they may be, are evil!” But by now, you should be familiar with the saying, “art imitates life, and life imitates The Simpsons.”
While it’s easy to say that The Simpsons “predicted” this incident, there are other factors at play here. The most important factor to consider is that The Simpsons have released 745 episodes to date, and they’ve lampooned literally every topic under the sun, including, but not limited to, the censoring of Michelangelo’s David. Is this a matter of some sort of writer’s room sorcery, or merely coincidence? For our sake, let’s hope it’s a coincidence, because Bill Gates’ suggestion to block out the sun very closely resembles the evil doings of Mr. Burns in the season 6 finale, Who Shot Mr. Burns?
Considering the fact that The Simpsons have been a satirical staple of modern America for over 30 years, we can only wonder if the legislatures knew that avid fans of the show would point out how censoring Michelangelo’s David would somehow circle back to the series. Since censorship has always been a hot ticket item, especially in our schools, we think it’s safe to assume that this is merely a matter of coincidence. Though we’re not above making a solid Simpsons reference when the opportunity presents itself!
