Last night, I was lucky enough to catch a particularly compelling episode of "The Simpsons" titled "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". In the episode, Homer buys a computer and sets up a web page (with the tagline "All the Muck That's Fit to Rake) where, as "Mr. X", he begins posting about various problems and issues facing the town of Springfield. He starts off about a especially troublesome pothole:
% Later that night, Homer's Web page hasn't gotten a single hit. Lisa
% tells her father that a successful page has to offer people
% something, like jokes or opinions.
%
% Just then, the screech of car tires is heard outside. The car hits
% the pothole and the wheel comes off. It smashes through the front
% window and lands in front of the fireplace.
Homer: That lousy pothole. Why don't they fix it?
Bart: [walks in with a cookie and a glass of milk] I heard Mayor
Quimby spent the street repair fund on a secret swimming
pool for himself.
Homer: Get out. Who told you that?
Bart: Nelson.
Homer: Hmmm. That's the kind of dirt that belongs on my web
page.
Lisa: You can't post that on the Internet. You don't even know
if it's true!
Homer: Nelson has never steered me wrong, honey. Nelson is gold.
Bart: You know, it might have been Jimbo.
Homer: Beautiful, we have confirmation. [Lisa sighs in
exasperation]
Homer starts racking up the hits on his website:
% We switch to Principal Skinner at home. He is also reading Mr. X's
% scoop.
Skinner: Our mayor is corrupt? Mr. "X" has done this town a
great service, despite his poor grammar and
spelling.
Agnes: Seymour, are you looking at naked ladies?
Skinner: No, Mother.
Agnes: You sissy!
His site is even mentioned on the local news:
Kent: A new Internet watchdog is creating a stir in Springfield.
Mr. "X", if that is real name, has come up with a
sensational scoop.
Homer: [watching at home] Darn tooting!
Kent: But we must never forget that the real news is on local
TV, delivered by real officially licensed newsmen, like
me, Kent Brockman. Coming up: how do they get those dogs
to talk on the beer commercials? [a reporter in a big
cowboy hat appears] Cowboy Steve will tell you!
People begin wondering about the true identity of Mr. X:
Lenny: According to my uncle, Miss Springfield isn't as beautiful
as she seems. Word is she uses appearance-altering
cosmetics.
Moe: Oh my God, that's shocking.
Carl: The public should be warned. I wish Mr. "X" was here.
Homer: [slyly] Oh, I don't know, Carl, he might be closer than
you think.
Carl: Are you him? Are you Mr. "X"?
Homer: No.
Carl: But you talked in the real sly voice. Hey, hey,
everybody! Homer's Mr. "X".
Homer: I am not! ... [slyly] or am I?
Lenny: Are you?
Homer: No.
Homer breaks a big story about Mr. Burns selling plutonium to terrorists and Mr. X is rewarded for his efforts:
Woman: We'd like to award this years Pulitzer prize to Mr.
"X". Unfortunately, we don't know who he is, so his
cash award will be used to feed starving children.
Homer: Noooo! [runs down to podium]
Homer: I'm Mr. "X"! Gimme, gimme!
Woman: We'll need some proof.
Homer: [Homer puts Mr. "X" hood on head] Ta-Da!
Krabappel: He _is_ Mr. "X"! Hah!
Homer: Thank you folks, and now I'm off to expose more
secret conspiracies and ...
[walks into a pole, since he has the hood on his
head still]
Oh, I bit by tongue.
Homer finds, however, that now that people know that he is Mr. X, they will no longer have conversations around him. He finds himself in a bind:
Homer: Oh, nobody's visiting my web page anymore. My counter is
actually going down.
[we see a tumbleweed bounce across his web site, as his
counter rapidly decreases]
Lisa: Well, you can't post news if you don't have any.
Homer: That's a great idea! I'll make up some news!
Lisa: At least take off your Pulitzer prize when you say that.
Real news no longer holds any interest for Homer:
Nelson: Hey, Mr. "X", I've got a tip for you. They're dissecting
frozen hobos in Science class. And I've got the bindles
to prove it. [holds up some empty bindles]
Homer: Real news is great, son, But I'm getting a thousand hits
an hour with Grade-A bullplop.
(quotes from http://www.snpp.com/episodes/CABF02)
So anyhow -- draw your own parallels, coincidences, meaning, and import.
