# That Simpsons scene **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [September 7, 2026, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886 "2026-09-07T23:06:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/1 "2026-09-07T23:06:25Z")
…where Homer leaves Flanders’ yard and sinks backwards through the hedge. Was that a reference to something? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/2 "2026-09-07T23:14:29Z")
My first thought was Terminator 2, particularly as the ensuing chase scene is a very clear reference to that movie. However, I don’t recall that the T-1000 ever backs into anything, just advances through (the bars at the mental institution). But then a (user-written) IMDb entry also asserts that it is a Terminator 2 reference: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773646/movieconnections/?ref\_=tttrv\_sa\_5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773646/movieconnections/?ref_=tttrv_sa_5) So… maybe it’s that? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/3 "2026-09-07T23:28:57Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > So… maybe it’s that? Not what this says: > **[The Full-Circle Journey of ‘Homer Simpson Backs Into the Bushes’](https://www.vulture.com/2019/06/simpsons-homer-backs-into-the-bushes-meme-gif.html)** > > The story behind The Simpsons meme that got so popular it was used by Homer himself. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/4 "2026-09-07T23:37:30Z")
That’s behind a paywall. Can you please summarize what it says? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/5 "2026-09-07T23:51:48Z")
If you spend any time online, you’ve seen it: a short GIF of Homer Simpson disappearing backward into a hedge, his eyes wide open — a visual “don’t mind me.” Taken from a 1994 episode of The Simpsons it’s generally used as a reaction to express embarrassment or the desire to disappear from an awkward social interaction, a longing for an exit so seamless that it’s like you were never there. But before it appeared on The Simpsons, and long before it took on its final form as a meme, the concept of inter-hedge travel was just an idea in the head of a sci-fi-obsessed kid running around the suburbs of northeast Philadelphia named David Mirkin. Mirkin, who was the Simpsons’ showrunner when the episode aired and still works on the show today, spoke with Vulture about the meme’s origin. "Him coming through the hedges was based on my childhood behavior of walking through hedges in my neighborhood. I would pretend that I was dimension-hopping,” Mirkin says. “You can only do it a few times before you leave a hole, and so I did tens of thousands of dollars of damage to people’s hedges I’m sure.” > **[The Full-Circle Journey of ‘Homer Simpson Backs Into the Bushes’](https://www.vulture.com/2019/06/simpsons-homer-backs-into-the-bushes-meme-gif.html)** > > The story behind The Simpsons meme that got so popular it was used by Homer himself. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/6 "2026-09-07T23:53:40Z")
^That’s an extended quote from the article, in case it’s not clear to anyone. I was about to post a similar excerpt. Also this: > Mirkin adds that another common misconception about the sequence is that people often think it’s a **[Terminator 2](https://www.textise.net/showText.aspx?strURL=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMark_Stockley%2Fstatus%2F1099814752367214593)** reference, which, he concedes, is an easy mistake to make considering the almost shot-for-shot Terminator homage that immediately follows, in which Homer robotically chases down Ned’s sputtering Geo as the Flanders family desperately tries to escape his affections. So it seems it’s an original creation, like Ricky Rouse or Monald Muck. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/7 "2026-09-08T00:11:36Z")
Thanks for the summary. I was willing to accept Terminator 2 as the origin. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/8 "2026-09-08T00:15:48Z")
I always thought it was a _Field of Dreams_ reference. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/9 "2026-09-08T14:08:30Z")
I’d say the imagery is more Field of Dreams than Terminator but neither quite captures Homer’s startling appearance from out of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/10 "2026-09-08T16:01:49Z")
Now I associate it with Sean Spicer trying to hide. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-simpsons-scene/1032886/11 "2026-09-10T18:48:02Z")
I like the parody where Homer and Peter Griffin keep appearing and saying “Meme” and “Not a Meme” [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ohIylGLiyGM](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ohIylGLiyGM)