Difference between revisions of "The Regina Monologues/References"

Revision as of 19:43, February 5, 2013

Cultural references

• The Vagina Monologues — The episode title is a pun on Eve Ensler's play; Regina is substituted as the Latin word for Queen.
• When the thousand-dollar bill that Mr. Burns withdraws from the ATM floats toward the Simpson home, the music from Forrest Gump plays briefly.
• Hertz Rent-a-Car - The Simpsons rent a BMW Mini Cooper from an "'Ertz" rent-a-car branch, a parody of the Hertz corporation.
• James Bond - The series is parodied twice: in the scene where former Prime Minister Tony Blair greets the Simpsons, then blasts off on a jetpack à la Thunderball (the 007 theme plays); and in the scene where Homer spots Bart and Lisa from the London Eye, pulls a lever and the whole car detaches from the Eye, before skimming across the River Thames.
• The Brady Bunch - The first act plot — where Bart happens upon a $1,000 bill and Marge subsequently tells him to advertise for its rightful owner — is inspired by the 1970 episode "The Treasure of Sierra Avenue."
• British Newspapers - After Homer is arrested and sent to the Tower of London, British tabloid newspapers are seen with various headlines; center-left tabloid The Mirror, center-right broadsheet The Times and tabloid The Sun .
  • The Times and The Sun are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
  • All of the newspaper shots are complete with correct typefaces, except the Daily Mail.
• "The Cherry Orchard" — The play, written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, is used as a sly dig at Joe Millionaire, where star Evan Marriott admits he does not have a cherry orchard, much like in the show where he admits he was not a millionaire.
• "Harry Potter" - When J.K. Rowling is met by the family, Lisa tells her that she shows deep infatuation with the titular character. After asking what would be the ending of the series, Rowling sarcastically replies that the character will grow up and marry Lisa, which is exactly what she wanted to hear.
• Macbeth curse — The old theater superstition is parodied when Sir Ian McKellen is repeatedly injured after Homer repeatedly mentions the name of the Shakespeare play ("What, Macbeth?").
• Museum of Modern Art — The "Museum of Modern Bart" is an obvious pun.
• New Zoo Revue — Homer's insistence that The Queen's real name is Henrietta R. Hippo (thanks to the monogram on the Her Royal Highness' night bag although the Queen is "Her Majesty", not "Her Royal Highness") recalls the hippo character on the 1970s children's TV show.
• National Lampoon's European Vacation — The scene where Homer endlessly circles the roundabout spoofs a similar scene in the 1985 movie, where Clark Griswold keeps driving around the roundabout adjacent to Lambeth Bridge.
• Partridge Family 2200 A.D. — Bart's "Moon Party" sequence is likely a reference to the 1970s Saturday morning cartoon. Also appearing: Star Wars character R2-D2 (playing the bass).
• Sir Walter Raleigh - The tunnel leading from the Tower of London to the Queen's bedroom in Buckingham Palace may be a reference to a rumour that Raleigh carried out an affair with the never-married Queen Elizabeth I. This could also be a reference to the Michael Fagan incident, where an unarmed man broke into the Palace and surprised Queen Elizabeth II in her bedroom.
• Trainspotting — Bart and Lisa run through town on a sugar high as Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" plays in the background. When Bart and Lisa are running they go by the same route used by Ewan McGregor at the start of the film most notably as they go down the stairs (despite the stairs being in Edinburgh, not London). The scene ends with Maggie crawling across the ceiling of a lolly house and her head spins around like the baby in the withdrawal scene.
• The scene between Lord Daftwager and his "lover" is a parody of the premise of the musical My Fair Lady.
• Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs is mentioned by Homer when he questions the yellow card given to Giggs.
• In complimenting his half-sister, Homer says "You make Dame Edna look like a dude". Dame Edna Everage is a famous character of male comedian Barry Humphries.
• Homer sees Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page from the London Eye and calls him "one of the greatest thieves of American black music ever to walk the Earth," a reference to Led Zeppelin's frequent and frequently sued-over practice of "borrowing" of music, themes and lyrics from American blues music.
• The line "Feel the drunken wrath of Chuck Shadowski" heard in the Hockey Dads game is a sly reference to "Big Chuck" Schodowski, a Cleveland TV personality most recently co-host of the Big Chuck and Lil' John show.
• Trading Places - the two wealthy gentlemen who suggest a wager after meeting Bart and Lisa who are just coming down from there suger high.
• Judi Dench - When the Simpsons are on the tourbus, they go to a restaurant called "Judi Dench's Fish & Chips".

Trivia

• The chocolate shop clerk claims that British chocolate is sweeter than what Bart and Lisa are used to in America. However British chocolate actually contains less suger than the American variety, although it has a higher milk and cocoa content.
  • He also refers to it as 'candy', whereas in Britain it would be referred to as 'sweets' or simply 'chocolate'.

Goofs

• Queen Elizabeth II sentences Homer to death for hitting her carriage. But in 1998, the death penalty for treason was abolished and, in 2002, completely.

References