In the clutches of a sect

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Episode of the series The Simpsons
title In the clutches of a sect
Original title The Joy of Sect
Country of production United States
original language English
length approx. 22 minutes
classification Season 9, episode 13
191st episode overall ( list )
First broadcast February 8, 1998 on Fox
German-language
first broadcast		 October 23, 1998 on ProSieben
Rod
Director Steven Dean Moore
script Steve O'Donnell
music Chris Ledesma ,
Dennis Sager
synchronization

 ►  Main article: Dubbing the episode

chronology

←  Predecessor
The poor vagabonds

Successor  →
The stupid UN club

The Joy of Sect (original title: The Joy of Sect , German about: The Joy of Sect ) is the 13th episode of the ninth season of the US , as animated series running sitcom The Simpsons and the 191st episode overall. David Mirkin came up with the idea for the episode, Steve O'Donnell was the lead screenwriter, and Steven Dean Moore directed.

In the episode, a sect appears in Springfield called the "Progressives". Numerous residents of the city, including the Simpsons, join it and live and work without contact with the outside world on a cult-owned farm. The skeptical Marge Simpson finally flees and tries to free her family from the clutches of the sect. The scriptwriters used the teachings and advertising strategies of various religious groups to characterize the progressarians. The episode joins a large number of episodes in the series in which religions are thematized.

The episode was first shown on February 8, 1998 on the television program of the US broadcaster Fox . The German-language premiere on ProSieben followed on October 23 of that year . Critics received In the Clutches of a Sect mostly positive; the episode was also able to place itself in some leaderboards. It has been analyzed and interpreted from religious , philosophical and psychological perspectives.

action

As usual for The Simpsons , In the Clutches of a Cult is a stand-alone episode with a completed plot. At the beginning of the family man Homer Simpson met two recruiters of the new religious movement Progressarians named Glen and Jane at the airport in his hometown Springfield . Homer and numerous other residents of Springfield are invited to show an informational film that introduces them to the religious movement and lasts for six hours. The film focuses on the leader of the movement, who is only addressed by his title. According to the film, he will lead the Progressives on board a spaceship to the planet Blisstonia , where they will find bliss . The proselytizing acts as brainwashing for most of the people present , making them worship and obey the leader. Homer is initially unaffected as he does not pay enough attention to the film. Further attempts to manipulate Homer follow; Finally, Glen and Jane succeed in singing the theme song for the television series Batman , replacing the word "Batman" with "Leader".

Homer joins the sect and transfers his property to the Progressives. He then moves with his family to a cult center, a lima bean farm . The cult followers living there are used for harvesting under the supervision of the cadre , while the leader lives in the so-called “forbidden barn”, where he supposedly also builds the spaceship. He only briefly shows himself to his followers and waves to them from a Rolls-Royce .

Progressarians are growing in power and popularity while the local Presbytery, which included the Simpsons, is losing membership. The sect buys into the local media companies and influences reporting. Jealous of the Führer’s tax exemption , Montgomery Burns , millionaire and owner of the local nuclear power plant, decides to found his own religion. He declares himself a god at a ceremony on a balcony of his power station. However, he does not succeed in winning followers.

Although Bart and Lisa initially behave rebelliously towards the Progressives, they eventually believe their teachings. Only her mother Marge can withstand the sect's attempts at manipulation and flees from the heavily secured farm. On her escape, she meets Pastor Timothy Lovejoy , her pious neighbors Ned Flanders and Willie , the caretaker at the school of their children, who have not joined the Progressives, in the Presbytery . With their help, they kidnap the rest of the family from the sect area. In Ned Flanders' basement they can dissuade the children from the faith by offering them bicycles that appear to be floating. Willie tries a professional deprogramming with Homer , which he initially resists until Ned Flanders offers him his favorite drink, duff beer - he was forbidden to drink beer in the progress arias. At the same moment, however, lawyers penetrate who claim Homer on behalf of the Progressives. He voluntarily follows them back to the sect area.

There it turns out, however, that Homer is no longer under the influence of brainwashing. He convinces the other followers of his new opinion that the sect is a fraud. Finally he opens the forbidden barn. To everyone's surprise, there is actually a flying object, apparently a flying saucer . The guide takes off the flying object and announces that because of the lack of trust no one but himself will reach Blisstonia. Those in attendance believe him and are dismayed that they have lost their chance at happiness. The flying object then disintegrates: behind a dummy spaceship, a pedal-operated construct emerges on which the Führer tries to escape with all the sectarian fortune that he has stolen from the small town residents. His spell on the crowd is now finally broken. The guide didn't get very far, he fell over the backwoodsman Cletus Spuckler's veranda . Cletus takes the money from him at gunpoint.

The episode ends with the Simpson family returning to their home. After Lisa remarked that it was "wonderful to be able to think independently again", the family watches Fox on television . To the words of the presenter, "You are watching the Fox Channel!", They respond monotonously: "We are watching the Fox Channel".

production

Emergence

David Mirkin , executive producer and creator of the episode

In the Clutches of a Cult is the second and final episode written by Steve O'Donnell . It is based on an idea by David Mirkin , the showrunner during the fifth and sixth seasons and during two episodes of the ninth season. Mirkin conceived the episode after hearing a show on the radio about the history of cults. He found the idea of ​​parodying cults very tempting because they were "weird, interesting and twisted". The episode was screenplayed by Mirkin O'Donnell, Jace Richdale and Kevin Curran . The original title, The Joy of Sect , suggested Richdale. Steven Dean Moore directed.

The name of the progressarians, originally "Movementarians", was chosen because of its unpleasant sound. For the conception of the sect, the scriptwriters were inspired by various new cults and religions, such as Scientology , Heaven's Gate , the Unification Church and Peoples Temple . Mirkin wrote the first draft of the series in 1997; around the same time, members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed mass suicide . The other authors saw strong parallels between the design and Heaven's Gate, such as the belief in the arrival of a spaceship. In addition, the progressarians, like the cult group, wore uniform clothing and sneakers. In order to accommodate suicides, some progressarian elements referring to Heaven's Gate were eventually changed. The final scene of the episode is, according to the producers, a criticism of Fox as "an evil, mind-controlling television station".

The show's producers initially vetoed an episode only about Scientology, fearing that the church would be sued.

synchronization

Ivar Combrinck was responsible for the translations into German and the synchronization at the time of the German production of the episode . "He took an average of one day to translate each episode." Combrinck's translations have occasionally been criticized for their accuracy and poor rendering of puns; however, there is no specific criticism of this episode in the national German press.

Nancy Cartwright , dubbing voice for Bart Simpson and a Scientology member

In In the Fangs of a Sect , in the original as well as in the German version, the regular voice actors of the ninth season gave the characters their voices; no guest speakers were used. In The Gospel According to the Simpsons, Pinsky points to the balancing act that the episode parodied Scientology, among other things, although Nancy Cartwright , the original voice actress for the character Bart Simpson, is a Scientologist.

figure Original speaker German voice actor
Homer Simpson Dan Castellaneta Norbert Gastell
Willie MacMoran Werner Abrolat
Barney Gumble Gernot Duda
Tingeltangel Mel Fritz von Hardenberg
Hans Mole Peter Thom
Marge Simpson Julie Kavner Elisabeth Volkmann
Bart Simpson Nancy Cartwright Sandra Schwittau
Lisa Simpson Yeardley Smith Sabine Bohlmann
Glen Hank Azaria Ivar Combrinck
Moe Szyslak Bernd Simon
The leader Randolf Kronberg
Cletus Spuckler Peter Musäus
Jane Pamela Hayden Mara winemaker
Timothy Lovejoy Harry Shearer Willi Röbke
Information film announcer
Ned Flanders Ulrich Frank
Kent Brockman Donald Arthur
Montgomery Burns Reinhard Brock
Waylon Smithers Hans-Georg Panczak
Edna Krabappel Marcia Wallace Manuela Renard

publication

In the Clutches of a Sect ranked 27th in the ranking of the television programs that had the highest reach in the US in the week of February 2 to 8, 1998 , with a rating of 9.6, which is about 9.4 million Spectators corresponded. It was ranked fourth based only on the programs that Fox aired that week; only the X-Files , King of the Hill and Ally McBeal had more viewers.

The German-language first broadcast took place on October 23, 1998 on ProSieben .

As part of the boxed The Simpsons - The Complete Season 9 , the episode was released on DVD in the United States on December 19, 2006. The DVD box was released in Germany on March 5, 2007.

Themes and motifs

Osho 1982, then still Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh , on one of his daily “drive-bys” in a Rolls-Royce past waiting sannyasins

In the episode, the scriptwriters addressed new religious movements using the progressarians, who represent a pastiche of different groups. Chris Turner, author of Planet Simpson , locates the fictional sect between the Church of Scientology and Raelism , with features of the Unification Church and Neo-Sannyas ( Osho ). The appearance of the "Führer" in the Rolls-Royce while the trailers are working in the fields, according to the screenwriter O'Donnell, clearly refers to Osho (see illustration).

FACTnet's Martin Hunt claims to have recognized a physical resemblance between the "Führer" and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard . For him, there are further parallels to the Church of Scientology in the “billions of years employment contract” that new progressarians have to enter into - the Scientologists' Sea Organization contract runs for a billion years - and the massive use of legal means and highly paid lawyers.

According to O'Donnell, the fact that the followers are being held in a camp against their will refers to Peoples Temple . The technique shown who want to leave the screening of the film, visitors information, to ask the public spotlight after her reason exerts unconscious peer pressure and -Think of which also of the Unification Church and Landmark Education reported COURSES. Chris Logan, in his contribution to The Psychology of the Simpsons, presents this technique as subtle pressure, in contrast to the external constraints such as barbed wires, land mines, guard dogs, crocodiles, and balloon guard drones that Marge has to overcome in her escape.

References to pop culture

The episode contains numerous references to pop culture. The episode's original title is an allusion to the title of the well-known guidebook The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort and the name of the airport bookstore "Just Crichton and King Bookstore" alludes to bookstores in airports or train stations, which are often only a bestseller - Limited supply of literature, in this case only books by Michael Crichton and Stephen King . Neal Hefti and Nelson Riddle theme song for the Batman television series from the 1960s is used to indoctrinate Homer. Likewise, the song I Love You, You Love Me , known from the children's show Barney and Friends , is used to brainwash babies.

The scene in which Mr. Burns presents his new religion is largely a parody of the promotional video for Michael Jackson's 1995 album HIStory - Past, Present and Future Book I. Another element comes from TV series number 6 : On their escape Marge is chased from the cult area by a rover found there . In a later scene, caretaker Willie scratches the stained glass window with his fingernails to get Marge and Reverend Lovejoy's attention, as does Quint in the film Jaws .

reception

Media criticism

Critics received in the clutches of a sect mostly positive. The user rating of the Internet Movie Database came on December 7th, 2013 with an average of 8.4 out of 10 possible stars.

On the website Quotenmeter.de Marco Croner wrote, the result was one of the ten best episodes of that time more than 450 published Simpsons episodes. He praised the fact that the jokes in the episode were "completely stupid" and in no way stood out in such a way that the plot seemed coherent. Croner also noted that Caretaker Willie was the episode's “secret star” in “trying to bring Homer back to reality”.

In an article in USA Today from 2006 was a cult in the clutches of the consequences Trash of the Titans , Krusty's Last Temptation , Homer and the turret , A woman for Moe and The stupid Uno club as an episode of the ninth Simpsons -Season highlighted, the original titles of which are "Kluge Wortspiele". The AV Club featured the episode in its analysis of the "15 Simpsons Moments That Captured Their Time Perfectly". For the DVD release of the ninth season, the Daily Mirror gave the episode a positive review because it was "very funny". Isaac Mitchell-Frey of the Herald Sun called the episode the highlight of the season. The Scottish Sunday Mail listed the episode on its Family Choice leaderboard, noting: “Ordinarily, a religious cult show would dictate doom and gloom. Only Bart from the Simpsons could make a comedy out of it, because he and his cartoon family are a cult in their own way ”.

Jeff Shalda described the episode in the Simpsons Archives as an example of the "good quality presented in The Simpsons ". In the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide , the episode is highlighted because it is unusual because of "a lot of good moments". "Burns' single-minded hope to be loved" is also "a nice twist". Nevertheless, the author complained that, as in other episodes, "the central joke is not strong enough to outlast the entire episode".

Interpretations

General

Chris Turner sees the Simpsons choir at the end of the episode an allusion to the "only real and fast growing quasi-religious cult of our time": television in general; but he also sees a “cult of pop”, which he describes as “a rapidly growing substitute religion that has filled the gaping hole in the social structure of the West that was originally occupied by organized religion”.

In The Psychology of the Simpsons, Chris Logan sheds light on the decision-making process to become a progressarian and explains the methods of recruiting. For him, the focus is on the charismatic leader, whose established authority is based on a religious organization or a strange being, in this case Blisstonia. The free will is given up by the acceptance of the "great" leader who is seen as an authoritarian figure, because "he has knowledge or skills that others do not have, but want". The authority of the Führer is also brought closer to the children with textbooks such as arithmetic according to the Führer and Science for Friends of the Führer . Logan also notes that Homer sees himself more and more as a member “not through his rational choice”, but “through the process of escalating commitment ”, which describes the individual tendency to feel obliged to an earlier decision.

The authors of an essay in the non-fiction book The Simpsons and Philosophy see Marge's dangerous escape from the farm "in a very excellent way [a representation] of what, according to Aristotle, makes a virtuous person ." Her bravery forms exactly the balance between the extremes of recklessness and cowardice, a "middle" which for Aristotle form the virtues of character.

Sect representation

In the historical source volume Religious Intolerance in America , the authors John Corrigan and Lynn S. Neal use the episode In the Clutches of a Sect as an introduction to the chapter on intolerance towards new religious movements in the United States , as this very vividly illustrates the stereotypical view of them Reflect movements. This view, which fuels intolerance, starting with the mostly negative term sect or cult , results in a categorization as not a “real” religion, mostly led by leaders who deviate from the norm and manipulate. The members of the progressarians are portrayed as sheep without a will, unable to withstand the false shepherd, as they are portrayed in real life by the media and seen in society. The attempts by caretaker Willie to deprogram Homer are an allusion to the deprogramming carried out at the end of the 20th century by members of the anti-cult movement , which mostly took place at the request of relatives or relatives and was the only means against brainwashing against the “cult - Victims "was viewed.

David Feltmate takes up this stereotypical point of view in the article The Humorous Reproduction of Religious Prejudice and analyzes three episodes from The Simpsons (In the Fangs of a Sect) , South Park (The League of Super Best Friends) and King of the Hill (Fun with Jane and Jane) , why this is good for humor . Feltmate argues that, in theory, humor is based primarily on three points: relief , superiority, and incompatibility . If one transfers this to the portrayal of new religious movements, it turns out that these movements believe in strange things (incompatibility), but one knows that, in contrast to the true religions, they are deceitful and therefore false (superiority), and through that Laughing at it gets you relief from your own fear of these sects who want to brainwash you or carry out other unimaginable acts of violence against you. Feltmate cites the literature professor Pauls Lewis , who specializes in humor , according to which humor is a way of dealing with the tensions in the social structure, which is filled with risks and has become increasingly individualized and differentiated.

According to Feltmate, these episodes of the series show why the stereotypical image of new religious movements is maintained: The humorous confrontation creates a protected space in which to be able to make fun of the movements without actually attacking an existing religious movement. This makes them popular with audiences and critics, because pop culture makes its contribution in the ongoing struggle for the validity of these movements as faiths and the question of their place in American society. The power structures that this stereotype supports would be unreflectedly reinforced by these episodes. How religions become the subject of humorous portrayal reflects concrete views on what social role a religion should take, which religions fulfill this task and which one should beware of, even if the portrayal uses incorrect clichés.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ engl. bliss = happiness
  2. ↑ The Presbyterian Church is a fictional Christian religious congregation in the Simpsons universe, whose name alludes to Presbyterians and Lutherans .
  3. ↑ Original English quote: "comical, interesting and twisted"
  4. ↑ Original English quote: "being the evil mind controlling network"
  5. ↑ Original English quote: "trillion year labor contract"
  6. ↑ German translation: "Nur-Crichton-und-King-Buchhandlung"
  7. ↑ Original English quote: "15 Simpsons Moments that perfectly captured their eras"
  8. ↑ Original English quote: "The Joy of Sect is hilarious [...]"
  9. ↑ Original English quote: “Normally, a show about religious cults would spell doom and gloom. Only Bart, of The Simpsons, could make a comedy out of it but then, he and his cartoon family are a cult in their own right anyway "
  10. ↑ Original English quote: "a nice twist to see Burns determined to be loved"
  11. ↑ Original English quote: "Another one where the central joke isn't strong enough to last the whole episode"
  12. ↑ Original English quote: "the true high-growth quasi-religious cult of our time"
  13. ↑ Original English quote: "Cult of Pop"
  14. ↑ Original English quote: "a fast growing mutation ersatz religion that has filled the gaping hole in the West's social fabric where organized religion used to be"
  15. ↑ Original English quote: "The Leader is great."
  16. ↑ Original English quote: "He has knowledge or abilities that others do not, but want"
  17. ↑ In the English original: "Arithmetic the Leader's Way"
  18. ↑ In the English original: "Science for Leader Lovers"
  19. ↑ Original English quote: "Homer is becoming a full-blown member of the Movementarians not by a rational choice, ... but through the process of escalating behavioral commitments"
  20. ↑ Original English quote: "excellent illustrations of Aristotle's virtuous personality traits in Marge"; literal translation: "excellent illustration of the Aristotelian character virtues in Marge"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Joy of Sect . The Simpsons.com. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  2. ^ Brandenberg, Eric J .: Multiple Emmy Award-winning producer / writer / director David Mirkin . In: Animation Magazine , December 17, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2011. 
  3. ↑ a b c d e f David Mirkin. (2006). DVD commentary for the episode “In the Fangs of a Cult”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Eleven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .
  4. ^ John Alberti: Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture . Wayne State University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8143-2849-0 , pp. 321 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Steve O'Donnell. (2006). DVD commentary for the episode “In the Fangs of a Cult”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Eleven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .
  6. ^ A b Mark I. Pinsky: The Gospel According to the Simpsons . 2nd Edition. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-664-23160-6 , pp. 202 .
  7. ^ Andreas Cüppers: "The Simpsons": Translator from Anrath , RP Online , November 22, 2011; Retrieved December 18, 2013
  8. ↑ Alexander Menden: The Gagkiller from ProSieben. Criticism of the German translation of the US cult series “The Simpsons” is increasing on the Internet . In: The time . 11/2001
  9. ↑ Emma Brockes: That's my boy . The Guardian. August 2, 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  10. ^ "The Simpsons" The Joy of Sect (1998) - Full cast and crew. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved September 9, 2013 .
  11. ↑ a b The Simpsons. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on September 9, 2013 .
  12. ↑ "The Simpsons" (9th season). In: serien-synchron.de. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012 ; Retrieved September 9, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Associated Press: CBS takes gold as Fox flexes muscle . In: Sun-Sentinel , February 12, 1998, p. 4E. 
  14. ↑ Release Info - The Joy of Sect (1998) . In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  15. ↑ The Simpsons - The Complete 9th Season . TV shows on DVD. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  16. ↑ a b c Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Da Capo Press, 2005, ISBN 0-306-81448-X , p. 269 .
  17. ^ A b Martin Hunt: Celebrity Critics of Scientology, Simpsons (TV show) . In: FACTnet . Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. 
  18. ^ A b c Alan S. Brown, Chris Logan: The Psychology of The Simpsons . BenBella Books, 2006, ISBN 978-1-932100-70-9 , pp. 211-212 .
  19. ↑ a b Bates, James W .; Gimple, Scott M .; McCann, Jesse L., Richmond, Ray; Seghers, Christine (Ed.): Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 . 1st edition. Harper Collins Publishers , 2010, ISBN 978-0-00-738815-8 , pp. 441 .
  20. ^ A b c Warren Martyn, Adrian Wood: I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0753504956 . (Online: The Joy of Sect . BBC . 2005. Accessed January 12, 2014.)
  21. ↑ M. Keith Booker : Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from the Flintstones to Family Guy . Greenwood Press, 2006, ISBN 0-275-99019-2 , pp. 66 .
  22. ↑ The Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 13 - The Joy of Sect (23 Oct. 1998) . Internet Movie Database . Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  23. ↑ Marco Croner: "The Simpsons": The ten best episodes . Oddsmeter.de . January 21, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  24. ↑ Mike Clark: New on DVD . In: USA Today , Gannett Co. Inc., December 22, 2006. Retrieved October 24, 2007. 
  25. ↑ Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, Scott Tobias: Features: Inventory: 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras . In: The AV Club , Onion Inc., July 23, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2013. 
  26. ↑ Staff: DVDS: NEW RELEASES . In: The Mirror , February 2, 2007, p. 7. 
  27. ^ Isaac Mitchell-Frey: Comedy - The Simpsons, Series 9 . In: Herald Sun , February 11, 2007, p. E12. 
  28. ↑ Staff: Family Choice: Today's TV highlights . In: Sunday Mail , Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd, March 15, 1998. 
  29. ↑ Jeff Shalda: Religion in the Simpsons . In: The Simpsons Archive . December 29, 2000 ( article online [accessed February 10, 2007]). Article online ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.snpp.com
  30. ↑ Matt Groening : The Simpsons Forever !: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family… Continued . Ed .: Scott M. Gimple. HarperCollins , 1999, ISBN 978-0-06-098763-3 , pp. 26-27 .
  31. ↑ Gerald J. Erion, Joseph A. Zeccardi: Marges moral motivation . In: William Irwin, Aeon J. Skoble, Mark T. Conard (eds.): The Simpsons and Philosophy: Getting Smarter with the World's Most Famous Television Family . Piper, 2009, ISBN 978-3-492-25239-3 , pp. 71-72 . (Original edition in Engl .: Gerald J. Erion, Joseph A. Zeccardi: Marge's Moral Motivation . In: William Irwin, Aeon J. Skoble, Mark T. Conard (Eds.): The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! Of Homer, Open Court Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-8126-9433-3 , pp.
     48-49 . )
  32. ^ John Corrigan, Lynn S. Neal (Eds.): Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History. The University of North Carolina Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8078-3389-6 , pp. 181-185.
  33. ^ A b David Feltmate: The Humorous Reproduction of Religious Prejudice: "Cults" and Religious Humor in The Simpsons, South Park, and King of the Hill. In: Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Vol. 24, No. 2, 2012, doi : 10.3138 / jrpc.24.2.201 , pp. 201-216.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 21, 2014 .