Difference between revisions of "D'oh-in' in the Wind/References"

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Cultural references

• The episode title is a pun on Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind".
  • Some have suggested that it is also a reference to the Trick Daddy song "Dro In the Wind", due to the marijuana reference in the episode. However, this song did not come out until four years after the episode aired.
  • The title might also be a reference to the Kansas song "Dust In The Wind", due to the song's contemplative nature and one of the episode's themes being Homer's quest for identity: for example, learning his middle name and trying out the hippie lifestyle.
• The chalkboard gag, "No one cares what my definition of 'is' is", refers to a deposition made by Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal.
• The end title for Mr. Burns' promo for the Nuclear Power Plant reads, "An Alan Smithee Film". From 1968 until 1999, this was a pseudonym used by directors who wanted to dissociate themselves from a movie they had lost creative control over.
• Seth's and Munchie's dog, Ginsberg, is named after the beat poet Allen Ginsberg.
• Seth and Munchie themselves may be parodies of:
  • Bartles & Jaymes, the wine cooler and malt beverage line; specifically, the men portraying Bartles and Jaymes in the product line's ads. The admen do have some similarities with Seth and Munchie, and both duos produce and sell beverages.
  • Ben and Jerry of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. This is the more likely possibility because Seth and Munchie have more in common with Ben and Jerry than they do with Bartles and Jaymes. Also, Ben & Jerry's most popular flavor is Cherry Garcia, which was named for Grateful Dead founder and frontman Jerry Garcia, and the episode contains some Dead references.
• Homer educates himself on hippie culture by watching an old Bob Hope performance, which also features Jill St. John and Phyllis Diller.
  • St. John and Diller both appear to be braless in that sketch, which is probably what gave Homer the idea of telling Marge to "at least lose the bra."
• When Homer tries to get Marge to go braless, saying "Free the Springfield Two", it is a reference to the 1960s protest slogan "Free the Chicago Seven".
  • It has also been suggested that it is a reference to Marc Emery and "Free the BC3", but the episode originally aired in 1998 and the slogan "Free the BC3" didn't really enter the public consciousness until well into the 2000s.

• Some things in the freak-out and after—such as Homer becoming "The Cosmic Fool", the psychedelic paint job on the car, and the juice being spiked (though inadvertently) with drugs—are loosely based on the antics of the Merry Pranksters.
• Homer greets Munchie with the phrase "Good Morning Starshine", a reference to the musical Hair. The song previously appeared in the Season 8 episode "The Springfield Files".
• Dr. Hibbert states that he is a doctor, not a gardener, a reference to Dr. McCoy's famous catchphrase, "I'm a doctor, not a ... " in Star Trek.
• In the closing credits:
  • The psychedelic version of the Simpsons theme is a knock-off of the Beatles song "Tomorrow Never Knows", performed by Yo La Tengo.
  • At the end of the credits Homer mutters "I buried Flanders," spoofing the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory from the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever".
  • Homer's muttering may also be a reference to psychedelic parts of many songs by The Doors where often Jim Morrison screams various phrases. Homer's saying "I buried Flanders" may refer to Morrison's "I am the Lizard King" at the end of "Not to Touch the Earth".

Songs

• During the Woodstock flashback, the song playing is "The Star-Spangled Banner", performed on electric guitar by Jimi Hendrix. The song ends just about when Grampa starts chastising Homer.
• Evidently inspired by Hendrix's rendition, Homer hums "The Star-Spangled Banner" when he rests his dirty feet on the dining room table next to Lisa's dinner.
• During the freak-out:
  • When the trio first leave the farm, "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock is playing on the car's tape deck.
  • Homer changes cassettes and puts on "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel (which seems to freak out Seth and Munchie).
  • Right after they arrive in Springfield, "Hair" by Cowsills is playing.
  • When they freak out Springfield Elementary School, they play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on kazoos.
  • "Uptown Girl" is playing again in the car when they get back to the farm.
• The song playing while Homer does his midnight harvest is "Time of the Season" by The Zombies.
• The song that plays while the town is tripping on spiked juice is "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.
• When the farm is raided, Homer sings "Uptown Girl" as the police brandish their nightsticks and advance on him, Seth, and Munchie.

Juice Hallucinations

• Groundskeeper Willie sees Duchess Sarah (referred to as "Fergie") beckoning to him and kisses her passionately. In reality, he's kissing a rake, cutting his face rather badly.
• Barney sees a three-eyed monster, which frightens him. He then throws down the bottle of juice and quickly drinks some Duff Beer in order to overcome it. A pink elephant marches through the door to Barney's aid and stomps on the monster. Barney's elephant resembles the pink elephant that Dumbo the elephant (the title character from the Disney animated film Dumbo) sees when he mistakenly becomes drunk.
• Ned Flanders is driving and sees the Grateful Dead Dancing Bears, Melody and Verse, and the Skeleton, also from the Grateful Dead, who says "Mornin' Ned." They are followed by the Marching Hammers from Pink Floyd's The Wall marching across the street and the Rolling Stones' "Lips & Tongue" which tells him to "Pucker up, Ned," and then attempts to kiss him, causing Ned to scream in terror. (Series creator Matt Groening has admitted to being a huge Dead, Floyd and Stones fan.)
• Abe and Jasper sit on a bench laughing goofily, in a scene taken directly from the MTV animated series Beavis and Butt-head.
• Lou laughs and spins in his chair at the police station, holding a bottle of the juice and saying, "The electric yellow has got me by the brain banana." Chief Wiggum takes a taste and discovers that it's spiked with peyote.

Trivia

• One of this episode's guest stars is George Carlin. In a previous episode, Krusty the Clown is told he is being sued by Carlin for plagiarizing "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television."
• Seth and Munchie bear striking resemblances to their voice actors Martin Mull and George Carlin, respectively.
• In the flashback to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, Abe yells to bring on Sha Na Na. If, as implied, Abe was at the festival for the full three days, he should know that Sha Na Na immediately preceded Hendrix. (Of course, Abe being Abe, it's entirely possible that he was booing Hendrix in order to bring back Sha Na Na.)
• It's implied in the end of the flashback that Abe enlisted Homer into the Vietnam War (or at least attempted to enlist him) as punishment for Homer's behavior at Woodstock. Homer, of course, was way too young to enlist, but again, Abe being Abe, that wouldn't have stopped him from trying.
• When Seth and Munchie talk about the profits from their business, Homer says that Peter Fonda must be spinning in his grave. Peter Fonda is still alive, but (Homer being Homer) it's entirely possible that Homer's self-education in hippie culture missed that detail.
• In the DVD commentary, Mark Kirkland mentions that because he was going through a divorce, Matthew Nastuk took over directing this episode for the first act.
• Yo La Tengo performs a psychedelic rendition of the theme song over the end credits.
• According to this episode, Seymour Skinner had been principal of Springfield Elementary for fifteen years^[1].

References

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