# Obscure joke on tonight's "Simpsons" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088 "2004-03-08T05:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/1 "2004-03-08T05:40:53Z")
When they changed the Toys “R” us sign and Milhouse’s expression was a reference to this WWII photo: [![](http://store1.yimg.com/I/zhemgang_1775_28812524) ](http://store1.yimg.com/I/zhemgang_1775_28812524) I have to admit, a lot of response to humor is self-congratulatory: “oh clever me, I get that reference!” until I remember all the student loan money I had to borrow to be able to appreciate some jokes. Doubly bitter, since my wife, who opted for a GED, can invent obscure jokes like “Hey, you know Goya’s ‘Clothed Maja’ & ‘Naked Maja?’ What if they discover a ‘furry Maja’ or a ‘full-body tattoo Maja?’” ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/2 "2004-03-08T14:15:59Z")
I was wondering about that. Thanks! I can paypal you a dime to help offset that student loan. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CaptBushido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CaptBushido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptBushido)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/3 "2004-03-08T14:19:12Z")
Mind giving some historical context on that photo (moreso than just “WWII”), Mr. Well-Educated? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/4 "2004-03-08T15:37:09Z")
Nice catch. I realized they were parodying something but I didn’t remember what. I think I probably catch around 70% of the obscure references in The Simpsons, and realize that something is a reference (but not know to what) for about half the rest. OTOH, maybe I’m missing _lot_ more than I think I am… . How would I know? My favorite in recent years was the “Maggie crawling on the ceiling” reference to “Trainspotting” last season. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/5 "2004-03-08T16:36:28Z")
Are you complaining there are too many obscure references that you can’t get? How boring do you want the Simpsons to become? ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/6 "2004-03-08T16:40:10Z")
> [@CaptBushido](#): > > Mind giving some historical context on that photo (moreso than just “WWII”), Mr. Well-Educated? Well, I’ve never seen this as a photograph. I’ve always seen that guy in film. He’s French, and is crying as the Allies enter Paris. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/7 "2004-03-08T17:29:51Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > Well, I’ve never seen this as a photograph. I’ve always seen that guy in film. He’s French, and is crying as the Allies enter Paris. So they’re tears of joy? Or do you mean the Nazis? ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/8 "2004-03-08T17:35:11Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > So they’re tears of joy? Or do you mean the Nazis? Yes, tears of joy. He’s French, so he’s all misty-eyed now that the Allies have retaken Paris. Of course, an American or Englishman wouldn’t have let the Nazis in their capital in the first place, but I digress… ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/9 "2004-03-08T19:17:53Z")
I don’t have a reference handy, but I am almost certain that the situation is entirely backwards. The man is a French citizen crying as the _Wehrmacht_ parades through the streets of Paris and through the Arc d’Triomphe. Look at the expressions of those around him, they’re not happy people. If anyone can find a cite from the original time period, I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/10 "2004-03-08T19:42:40Z")
Tears of pain and sorrow. Profound pain and sorrow. Here’s one reference, and with a larger picture (click thumbnail): [http://www.acepilots.com/ww2/pictures.html](http://www.acepilots.com/ww2/pictures.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/11 "2004-03-08T19:45:45Z")
Actually, I believe that you ARE right and I got it backwards… French guy… Paris… Wehrmacht coming in, not leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/12 "2004-03-08T20:20:27Z")
> [@CaptBushido](#): > > Mind giving some historical context on that photo (moreso than just “WWII”), Mr. Well-Educated? 😉 Usually it’s spliced in with film of the Germans marching through the Place de l’Etoile, although I doubt the same cameraman took them. I don’t remember from seeing the footage if they actually marched under the Arc de Triomphe. No, I’m not complaining about the obscure references the writers sometimes slip in under the radar. My point is, if you accept the proposition that hubris is a vice, then me going “Ha Ha - I get that cultural reference” is almost as bad as Beavis going “HeHe - he said titmouse!” But it gave me further cud for rumination on how our cultural education is received almost entirely from mass media. Pop culture is the only culture. People my age will recognize that Marilyn Manson’s antecedent is Alice Cooper, but can look no further back to the Grand Guignol, Revenge dramas of the Restoration, and, of course, gruesome, anti-Semitic Passion Plays of the middle ages. Ancient history can only go back 60 years, so instead of the myth of Zeus raping Europa, we use Kirk Douglas raping Natalie Wood for the same cultural function. Instead of Abram passing off his wife Sarai as his sister and essentially pimping her out so they could pass through safely to their promised land, we have Ava Gardner fellating Harry Cohn so Frank Sinatra can get the part of Maggio in “From Here to Eternity.” “Mr. Well-Educated?” How I wish that were true! Maybe I just have my head stuffed with a higher grade of straw (ref. T.S. Elliot). “Mr. Well-Educated!” Smiley when you call me that (ref. Owen Wister). ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/13 "2004-03-08T21:04:37Z")
I was sure I was the only one who got that reference. _Thanks for bursting my bubble, Mr. Smartypants._ ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-joke-on-tonights-simpsons/233088/14 "2004-03-08T21:46:37Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > Instead of Abram passing off his wife Sarai as his sister and essentially pimping her out so they could pass through safely to their promised land, we have Ava Gardner fellating Harry Cohn so Frank Sinatra can get the part of Maggio in “From Here to Eternity.” Um… cite? I thought Sinatra was asked to take the part after Eli Wallach dropped out to do a Broadway show, and his screen test was so good they kept it in the final cut of the movie. No question that oral sex from Ava Gardner would be a powerful inducement… it’s just that I never heard that story…