# Does anyone else get weird vibes from the Simpsons "Bart Sells His Soul"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007 "2003-08-13T20:35:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gjorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/1 "2003-08-13T20:35:50Z")
For some reason, the Simpson’s episode of “Bart Sells His Soul” seems very weird to me. For those who can’t guess, this is the episode where Bart sells his soul to Millhouse. Oh, and Moe opens a family restaurant. I just don’t get it. There’s something weird, I might even say wrong, about this episode. Does anyone else feel this, or am I just crazy? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/2 "2003-08-13T20:36:55Z")
Um…how’s about telling us what specifically bothers you? ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/3 "2003-08-13T20:53:46Z")
**Gjorp** , are you familar with the works of Pablo Neruda? ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/4 "2003-08-13T20:54:07Z")
It’s never bothered me for religious reasons, if that’s what you mean. I think the dream sequence is pretty funny. (“Now it’s time to end this dream. Don’t forget the standard scream.”) ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/5 "2003-08-13T21:01:33Z")
Well, Bart does sound like a girl when he’s asking God for his soul back. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/6 "2003-08-13T21:20:21Z")
I still say the Hubbards should have gone to Professor P.J. Cornucopia’s Fantastic Foodmagorium and Great American Steakery. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/7 "2003-08-13T21:24:24Z")
If anything, I thought that episode was particularly amusing, though I’m a stone-cold atheist. “Way to breathe, no-breath.” “You’re pretty uppity for someone who eats bugs all day.” “Cover me Sarge, I’m going after Bart’s soul! AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH! If the Ayatollah can’t have it, no one can!” “Okay, Milhouse’s grandmother lives on 182nd, and I’m on 3rd…” “Alf’s back. In pog form.” “As my breakfast burrito is rapidly congealing, I’ll be brief.” “Please do not bang your head on the counter. It contains a rare _Mary Worth_ in which she advises a friend to commit suicide. Thank you.” ---
**Author:** ![Gjorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/8 "2003-08-13T21:38:08Z")
No, I’m not talking anything religious here. I’m a stone-cold atheist myself. I suppose _wrong_ was the wrong world. Maybe, it was _off_. I’m sorry, I can’t describe what exactly it is about the episode. Clearly, no one else finds it a weird show. Though, something that just came to me, it seems a bit like a dream to me. When I watched it, it felt as if I was dreaming the episode, not watching it (though I was not dreaming it, I got all of the above references). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/9 "2003-08-13T21:42:26Z")
Okay, as long as we’re analyzing vaguely-defined feelings of strangeness, can anyone tell me why I feel momentarily dizzy when I’m getting on or off a stalled escalator? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/10 "2003-08-13T21:43:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, Bart does sound like a girl when he’s asking God for his soul back. Bart IS a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/11 "2003-08-13T21:48:28Z")
No, the weird one is the one where Bart is freaked out by his fiendish “clown bed” and Rod and Tod’s grandmother. “Can’t sleep … clown will eat me … can’t sleep … clown will eat me…” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/12 "2003-08-13T21:50:03Z")
As much as I like this episode, I will admit it _is_ pretty odd. After all, a story about one boy selling his soul to another boy for $5 is not a standard sitcom plot. Still, you have to give the Simpsons kudos for both the originality and execution of the story line. Of course, if you _really_ want to talk about weird vibes, check out the Simpsons ep about the skeleton of an angel being found at a construction site. I’d like to know where they came up with that idea. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/13 "2003-08-13T22:08:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NDP \* > \*\*Of course, if you _really_ want to talk about weird vibes, check out the Simpsons ep about the skeleton of an angel being found at a construction site. I’d like to know where they came up with that idea. \*\* Now that episode’s just plain crappy. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/14 "2003-08-13T22:40:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aaslatten \* > \*\*Now that episode’s just plain crappy. \*\* Ow, my freakin’ ears! ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/15 "2003-08-13T23:14:43Z")
What’s weird about that episode is after Bart is done praying, Lisa shows up behind him with the piece of paper and says something like, “I heard you praying last night…” Last night? It was five seconds ago! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/16 "2003-08-13T23:17:55Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by aaslatten_ > **Now that episiode’s just plain crappy.**. Except for one line: “Why??? **Why** was I programmed to feel pain???” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/17 "2003-08-14T00:15:26Z")
The one time I thought Bart was creepy as opposed to bratty was the teacher’s strike ep. Marge was right, there was something really unwholesome about the boy. “Hello Mother, dear.” ---
**Author:** ![finette6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@finette6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finette6)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/18 "2003-08-14T02:57:32Z")
There is something odd about that episode. I think it is the consistent air of menace, which alternates with absolute hilarity (think “In the Garden of Eden, by I. Ron Butterfly” as a hymn). The bit with the kids chanting about hell, the aforementioned dream, the bit where Bart is trying to get Ralph’s soul, then flees into the night (complete with slit-shaped irises), the way the street-cleaner guy laughs before he crashes into the subway, and tons of others are just plain creepy. It’s one of my favorite episodes, maybe because of this wierd creepiness that makes the jokes seem almost literally hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Tambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr\_Tambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Tambo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/19 "2003-08-14T03:55:55Z")
Isn’t this episode one of the ones that’s “non-canon”, so to speak? Like the Treehouse of Horror episodes, or some other ones, it’s more a Simpsons fantasy than an episode within normal continuity? ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-get-weird-vibes-from-the-simpsons-bart-sells-his-soul/195007/20 "2003-08-14T03:57:53Z")
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