It’s a semi-common theme in TV that when you’re angry, the right place to be is sitting on the toilet. Married with Children comes to mind, but I’ve seen it elsewhere, including on The Simpsons. Why the association between being mad and crapping? Maybe I just can’t relate?
Perhaps just a place to get away from the situation.
I think that this is more a TV meme than something that happens much in real life, so let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Maybe we need to define “semi-common” because I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. When did it happen on The Simpsons?
OK, so I’m not the only one. I mean, I watched Married with Children and the Simpsons, and while I have no doubt that the OP is reporting correctly that it’s happened on both shows, it’s not anything that I’ve seen enough in my television viewing history to register as a semi-common trope.
I’ve never seen this either. Can you give some more specific examples?
Simpsons example: “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace”. Homer tries to emulate Thomas Edison and becomes an inventor. He demonstrates four of his inventions to the family, including the “La-Z-Man Reclining Toilet Chair”. At the end of the episode, he has cause to be angry at Edison’s heirs for stealing two of his ideas and declares through gritted teeth “At least I’m sitting in the right chair…”
There’s also a Futurama moment where Hermes encourages Fry to “take a rage dump”. I’m not really sure what the genesis of this concept is or its real-life utility, truth be told.
It was on that Simpsons episode where Homer idolizes Thomas Edison. He invents a recliner that doubles as a toilet, and at the end when he finds out that his electric hammer invention got credited to Edison whose wealthy heirs made alot of money from it, he angrily grumbles something like “let’s just say I’m sitting in the right chair”, which is his recliner-toilet.
I guess I can’t really think of where else I’ve seen the correlation between being angry and crapping besides Married with Children. Something makes me feel like it was fairly common, but I’m shy on real examples.
Props to Bryan for calling out the right episode.
When did it happen on MWC? The bathroom was Al’s escape, that’s why he built a private one in the garage. But I don’t remember specific correlation between him being angry and immediately going to the bathroom. The time he got angry was when Peg took the interior decorating class and turned it pink.
A good dump always makes me feel better. I get a chance to sit and think. Takes a load off my mind, and I can relax and breathe deeply. For this relief, much thanks!*
Two and a Half Men seems to use a lot of toilet jokes. Barging in on someone when they’re sitting on the throne reading the newspaper definitely gives you an advantage over them.
*Hamlet. Act One, Scene One.
Not quite the same thing but at the end of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, during the track entitled “The Trial”, the judge says:
“The way you made them suffer, your exquisite wife and mother, fills me with the urge to DEFECATE!”.
Seems like Archie Bunker would also have used this trope, as well, but I have no specific situation in mind.
It may be the thing of being unable to escape. If the character usually avoids confrontation or angry fights, the spouse may wait until their cheeks hit the seat to start the fight. The pooping party isn’t going anywhere for a while; they’re stuck in that fight. Or it may be the only time the spouse can get their partner in one place, not busy with anything for any prolonged period of time. Maybe they’re usually working or watching TV (and thus occupied), but on the toilet, it’s just a man and the can.
Not sure how valid these points are; I haven’t seen the specific episodes mentioned, so I’m just speculating.
And why do they call it taking a dump, anyway? They should really call it leaving a dump. After all, you’re not taking it anywhere!
Beavis: Check this out, too. [imitates Andy Rooney again]How come they call it taking a dump and not leaving a dump? I mean after all, you’re not really taking it anywhere.
Yeah! Funk dat!
The closest I can remember is the episode that introduced Bea Arthur as Maude. Archie had the runs, and Maude fed him Cream of Wheat with cheese as a remedy. Archie was yelling at Maude, then paused, looking sick. “Cream of Wheat and cheese, huh? Wrong again Maude!”
He then runs up the stairs.
Yeah, but that judge (in the film, anyway) was literally a walking, talking asshole, so…
funk dat!