Season 2 Episode 22

“Blood Feud”

Mr. Burns needs double-O negative blood, and only Bart can supply it. Now, Homer wants some gratitude for Bart’s donation.

Giving

(5.10-9.38)

Homer is incredibly annoyed with Mr Burns after he does not give a reward to Bart for giving him blood.

Why do we good things for other people? Do we expect a reward for it or do we do it because it’s the right thing to do. Jesus reiterated the law of the Old Testament that said to “love your neighbour as you love yourself”. This is known as ‘the golden rule’ and each religion has a version of this. The only reason Homer convinced Bart to give blood was so that they would get a reward. How compassionate are our young people? We need to show them the importance of compassion and why we should be like the good samaritan and help those who need it without expect something in return.

Season 2 Episode 21

“Three Men and a Comic Book”

In order to earn enough money to purchase the very first Radioactive Man comic book (valued at $100), Bart takes a part time job with a neighbor. However, after discovering that working is for chumps, Bart enters into a partnership with Martin and Milhouse.

Ambition

(4.50-8.21)

After seeing the first issue of “Radioactive Man”, Bart vows to do whatever he can to do buy the comic, which means working.

Are your young people ambitious? By that, I don’t mean are they just looking to get a well paid job when their older. To the rest of the western world, teenagers serve little purpose. They have no voice, no ambition. At least, that’s what they’re told anyway. We need to help show our young people that they can have a voice. That what they say, matters. We need to help them realize that they have something to offer this world but they need to be ambitious about it. What are there dreams? What are they passion about?

Trust

(16.23-20.58)

Bart, Milhouse and Martin put their money together to buy the comic but each one of them wants to take it home. They decide to stay in Bart’s treehouse but their mistrust threatens the safety of the comic book.

The boys learn a simple lesson in this episode of “The Simpsons”. If they had trusted each other a little more the comic would not have been destroyed. Do your young people trust each other with their possessions or are we all too scared to share?

Season 2 Episode 20

“The War of The Simpsons”

After being embarrassed by Homer during a house party, Marge signs up for Reverend Lovejoy’s marriage retreat at Catfish Lake. However, Homer has fishing on his mind, and the only sitter they could get at the last minute is Grandpa Simpson.

Relationships

(11:32-14.08,19:37-20:46)

Rather than focus on his marriage, Homer goes out to try and catch the fish. After six hours he finally catches it and brings it back to land but Marge is waiting for him. To save his marriage he gives up the fame he would receive from the villagers and throws the fish back into the sea.

Relationships are hard. They need work. Homer finally realizes that he has to give up certain things in order to keep his marriage going. He realizes that there are more important things than what he wants to do. What do your young people know about relationships? What have they been taught at school? These two clips are an excellent way to start a session on relationships.

Season 2 Episode 19

“Lisa’s Substitute”

Lisa’s regular teacher falls sick, and gets replaced with a substitute teacher who changes the face of learning for Lisa. Meanwhile, Bart runs against Martin, the class brain, for president of his class.

Role Models

(5:25-7:55)

The Class substitute Mr Bergstrom is clearly an inspiration to Lisa. He teaches in an unconventional style and makes the class (especially Lisa) feel appreciated.

What role models do your young people have? They don’t even need to be good role models as we also have people that we look to know what no to do. I chose not to drink a lot of alcohol when I was younger because of the effect it had on my older brother. Role models are a great thing to have as it in encourages us to go further.

As youth workers it’s also important to realize the positive and negative effect we can have on those we work with. How will you inspire your young people today?

Popularity

(8:38-9:24)

When Homer congratulates Bart on winning a school debate, Bart shrugs it off by saying it’s just a popularity contest. Homer replies by asking, “Is there anymore important than popularity?”

Is there? It’s the beauty of ‘The Simpsons’ that in the space of a few seconds, they can throw out a question that can have you thinking for hours. I’m sure I don’t have to labour the point about the celebrity self-seeking culture we live in. Everybody wants their time in the spotlight. I was watching X-factor on Saturday night ( yes, I like it) and what stood out me most was how the contestants answered the question, “what’s your ambition?” Almost everyone answered that they wanted to be famous. So is Homer right? Is popularity the most important thing?

The beatitudes are something I don’t hear very often in church. At the start of his career, Jesus summarised his manifesto in 8 short punchy ‘Blessed are’ statements. The focus was on the poor, the meek, the peacemakers. This was Jesus announcing the upside down kingdom. He showed us that life is not about fame and popularity but about what we do for others. That’s what’s more important than popularity.

Season 2 Episode 18

“Brush with Greatness”

While Homer tackles his weight problem, Marge takes up painting, a skill which she gave up due to an obnoxious art teacher in high school, and ends up being commissioned to do a portrait of Mr. Burns.

Persistence

(0.51-2.40)

Bart and Lisa hound Homer until he agrees to take them to’ Mount Splashmore’.

What things do we fight for? Bart and Lisa wanted to go to the water park and they were going to do everything it took to convince their dad to take them there. They pestered him day and night until he said yes. Do we only fight for things that we want or will we choose to fight for things that are important for other people? I’m not going to go on and on about the poverty and injustice that seeps across our land but the point remains the same? Are there things in your local community that your young people can get involved in? Are there ways in which they can make a difference? This is an excellent theme from ‘The Simpsons’ that is relevant to our young people today. Are we ‘good news’ to the world?

Season 2 Episode 17

“Old Money”

When Abraham ‘Grandpa’ Simpson inherits one hundred and six thousand dollars from his deceased sweetie, he decides to give it to people who need it most.

Money

(10:01-13.15)

“Grampa” Simpson inherits $100,000 but finds no happiness in it. He decides to give it away to those who need it most.

I wonder what you would do with $100,000? What would your young people do with that kind of money? Grandpa Simpsons realizes that the money doesn’t make him happy but he can make other people happy by giving it to them. This episode of ‘The Simpsons’ shows us the power that money has and how we can make other people’s lives better by giving. Are there groups or charities your youth club could give money to?

Season 2 Episode 16

“Barts’ dog gets an F”

After chewing up Homer’s new $125 sneakers and the Bouvier family quilt, Santa’s Little Helper is enrolled in an obedience school.

“Heritage”

(7.38-8.22,14:14-14.45)

Marge shows Lisa a quilt that has been passed down through five Simpsons generations. Each one sews another patch on to it and then passes it on to their children.

This is a strange theme but as I’m trying to find something in each of ‘The Simpsons’ episodes, I thought I would go with this. Do we care about our heritage? Where we have come from? I speak of our own families as well as the Church. With the last surviving british soldier of world war 1 now dead, people have been worried that these stories will not be passed on. That the future generations will know nothing of what these people gave up.

The Jews are big on heritage. They wanted their descendants to know about the mighty works that God had done and these stories were passed down orally for hundreds of years before they were written down in what we now have as the bible. Scripture Union recently released a book about the ten bible stories they feel need to be passed on to the next generation. How engaged are your young people with their heritage? And I mean that in the broadest sense possible. And for the young christians…shouldn’t we be reminding them of the story that they are part of?

Season 2 Episode 15

“Oh Brother Where Art Thou?”

Fearing death, Grandpa Simpson tells Homer that he has a half-brother. This half-brother, Herbert Powell, is a carmaker in Detroit, and wants Homer to design a car for the average man to save his car company.

Trust

(14.50-15.20, 19.59-21.46)

Herb trusted Homer to design him a successful car but it ultimately cost him everything.

Have you ever trusted someone and been let down? Have you let someone down after they trusted you? So often when we give the  “bible talk” we say how important it is to trust God but the reality is, many of our young people may find it hard to trust God because of their own experience. This episode of “The Simpsons” helps to show us that we have to be careful about our trust. Does trusting God mean that we throw away our own conscience? Or is there another meaning to trust that we don’t explore?

Season 2 Episode 14

“Principal Charming”

Homer sets up a date between Principal Skinner and Marge’s sister, Selma. However, it ends up being Skinner and Patty.

Sacrifice

(19.30-22.00)

Patty gives up her relationship with Principal Skinner so that her sister is not left alone.

We live in the world of the individual. We live in order to make ourselves happy. But things were not always like this. There used to be an emphasis on community. Where people did things out of respect for their family and friends. We had a duty to serve those around us. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Patty’s decision may seem strange to some but she was thinking about her sister more than she was thinking about herself. How often do we think about other people? Jesus call to “love your neighbour as you love yourself” isn’t just about being nice to one another. It’s about putting other’s needs before yours. Is this something your young people know much about? Is this something they see being done by other people?

Season 2 Episode 13

Homer VS Lisa and the 8^th Commandment

In 1220 B.C., Moses received the ten commandments from God, among which was Thou Shalt Not Steal. In present day Springfield, Homer gets an illegal cable hook-up, which Lisa refuses to watch, for fear of losing her soul.

The 10 Commandments

(1.20-2.40)

At the start of this episode of “The Simpsons” we are transported to Mount Sinai where Moses is about to read out the ten commandments. When he starts to read them out it turns out that everyone is guilty of at least one of them.

In this episode, the ten commandments are seen as a list of rules that spoil the party. Everyone was having a good time up until they were read out. Do your young people know why they were give in the first place? Are they still relevant today or can we drop some of them? Obviously the rest of the episode goes into the ‘do not steal’ commandment but it is an interesting questions to raise with your young people. If they were to choose ten commandments to live by, what would they be?

Stealing

(2.43-5.10)

Homer gets free cable from a dodgy salesman and convinces his family that it’s not really stealing.

Is there anything your young people think is okay to steal? Is it ever okay to steal anything? We generally think that robbing banks or shops is something that is wrong but will happily steal small things ie pirate DVDS, stationary equipment from school or work. Is this ever justified?

Hell

(6.05-7.16)

In the Sunday School class the children learn about hell and how to steer clear of it by obeying the 10 commandments.

Although I don’t think hell should ever be a huge focus with your young people, “The Simpsons” do bring it up so it’s important to say something about it. What is clear is that the Sunday School teacher makes stuff about hell and says the only way to escape it is to obey the ten commandments. Is this true? Is this what the bible says? I guess what is more important is how we understand hell. We have to make sure what we are saying is true and not just made up. What do your young people think hell is? By our actions can we bring hell to earth? I think this may be a more interesting way of using this clip from “The Simpsons” to talk about the theme of hell.