Line #10 Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E15BlameItOnLisa


1	'''Original air date:''' 3/31/2002
2
3	'''Production code:''' DABF-10
4
5	The Simpsons go to Brazil to find a lost orphan after Lisa confesses that she ran up the phone bill with calls to her sponsored orphan.
6
7	!! Tropes:
8	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In ''Simpsons Confidential'', John Ortved's oral history of the show, former showrunner Mike Reiss [[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FFlhDhjA3d4C&lpg=PA231&ots=BGVCOaTerl&dq=the%20simpsons%20confidential%20mike%20reiss%20%22there%20are%20no%20wild%20monkeys%22&pg=PA231#v=onepage&q=the%20simpsons%20confidential%20mike%20reiss%20%22there%20are%20no%20wild%20monkeys%22&f=false describes the Brazilian Tourist Council's complaint]] about this episode:
9	-->"When the Simpsons came to Rio, they encountered grinding poverty, rat-infested slums, pickpockets, kidnappers, and wild monkeys. [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne There are]] ''[[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne no wild monkeys]]'' [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne in Rio]]."
10	* BabyFeverTrigger: Lisa's video of the Brazilian orphan she sponsors briefly makes Marge consider having another child.
11	* BaitAndSwitch: "The Simpsons are going to Antarctica!... Next year. This year, Brazil."
12	* BlindfoldedTrip: Parodied. After Homer is kidnapped, we see him on a boat with a bag over his head.
13	-->'''Homer:''' Where are you taking me?\
14	'''Kidnapper #2:''' Shut up... and take that stupid bag off your head.\
15	'''Homer:''' No. It smells like cinnamon.
16	* CableCarActionSequence: After Homer gets kidnapped, the family and the kidnappers agree to do the hand-over on two cable-cars. Naturally, throwing the money over is a lot easier than Homer jumping over; when he does, the cable snaps. The kicker is that [[InvokedTrope it turned out to be Homer's idea in the first place]].
17	-->'''Kidnapper #1:''' We should make our transfers in a safer place!\
18	'''Kidnapper #2:''' It was Homer's idea. [[LimaSyndrome You say no to that face]].
19	* TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires: Downplayed; while several references are made to Brazilian NationalStereotypes, at one point they also mention the fact that it's one of the few non-Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Bart gets told by Marge that their main language is Portuguese, which makes Bart learning Spanish rather useless. However, Brazil still gets erroneously conflated with several Hispanic stereotypes, such as showing Brazilians dancing Congo, a Caribbean dance that isn't particularly popular in the country.
20	* ChekhovsGag: At various points in the episode, Bart watches an overly-sexualized Brazilian kid's show, ''Teleboobies.'' It turns out that the missing Ronaldo ran away from the orphanage and joined this show as one of its puppeteers.
21	* ChekhovsGun: Lisa warns that getting into an unlicensed cab is something you never do in Brazil. Doing so is exactly how Homer later gets kidnapped.
22	* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
23	** Homer's shirt shows Uncle Sam devouring the world with the phrase "Try And Stop Us" and he doesn't understand how the lifeguard realized he's American.
24	** When Homer entered an unlicensed taxi, the driver pulled a gun and told him it was an abduction. Homer then asked if that meant he wouldn't have to pay for the ride.
25	** Homer's kidnappers tell him they've sent his family their ransom note:
26	--->'''Kidnapper #2:''' If your family wants to see you alive again, they would be wise to pay.\
27	'''Homer:''' Oh, I don't know, they've been seeing me alive for free for a long time.
28	* ComicalOverreacting: Homer's reason for choking Bart is even flimsier than usual.
29	-->'''Homer:''' Boy, did you make a prank call to Brazil?\
30	'''Bart:''' No sir, I didn't.\
31	'''Homer:''' [[https://frinkiac.com/video/S13E15/7oB6JmiI2oglegmDAynIW_w1Zr8=.gif CHOKE ON YOUR LIES!]]
32	* ContinuityNod: Bart mentions that after the trip to Brazil, he'll have visited every continent. Bart went to Europe [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E11TheCrepesOfWrath as a foreign exchange student]] and the rest of the family went there when [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E11TheBartWantsWhatItWants Lisa lost her balloon.]] The family has also been to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Asia]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E16BartVsAustralia Australia]], and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E17SimpsonSafari Africa]]. The family will eventually visit Antarctica [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E19ATotallyFunThingBartWillNeverDoAgain under less than ideal circumstances.]]
33	* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Ronaldo said he had the money to help the Simpsons because he didn't have parents to take it from him, like so many child stars in America do.
34	* DressCode: Parodied. At one point, Homer and Bart visit a beach that requires them to wear ludicrously skimpy bathing suits.
35	* {{Expy}}: The Brazilian kidnappers are a lot like César and Ugolin from "The Crepes of Wrath", though [[AffablyEvil they're a lot friendlier]].
36	* {{Fanservice}}: Xoxchitla (a parody of Brazilian entertainer Xuxa) and her children's television programme, "Teleboobies". She wears skimpy outfits and is the source of many [[BoobBasedGag breast-centric gags]].
37	* FanDisservice: Homer's fat, lumpy butt in a Brazilian Speedo (which rides into his ass crack), which causes one woman to make a cross sign with her fingers, another to blind herself by throwing sand in her eyes, and another to stick a jellyfish on her head.
38	* GoofySuit: Ronaldo wears one when acting on "Teleboobies," in the role of Flamenco Flamingo (complete with stilts to give him the long legs flamingos are known for.)
39	* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: While the Simpsons are in Rio it's Carnaval season. Of course, it is!
40	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: During the cable car ride, Marge comments that the tension is killing her, so Bart switches the music player in the cable car to another theme, but Marge says that [[SoundtrackDissonance it's making light of the situation]], so they switch to another theme which satisfies Marge.
41	* LimaSyndrome: When Homer is kidnapped in Brazil, Homer's captors develop a friendly rapport with Homer while lampshading Homer's Stockholm Syndrome. They even follow his suggestion for the location of the ransom exchange and compile a scrapbook as well.
42	-->'''Kidnapper 2:''' We should make these transfers in a safer place.\
43	'''Kidnapper 1:''' It was Homer's idea. ''[opens scrapbook]'' You say "no" to that face.
44	* MatingDance: Marge and Lisa walk by a samba school, showing [[https://frinkiac.com/caption/S13E15/752168 several suggestive dance pairs]], with an instructor claiming they want to push things even further.
45	-->'''Dance Instructor:''' This is where we invented the lambada and the macarena. Now we are working on our most powerful dance: the ''penetrada''! It makes sex look like a church! \
46	'''Marge:''' I don't think my daughter should be hearing this. \
47	''[Marge and Lisa walk away]''\
48	'''Dance Instructor:''' You cannot protect her forever! [[BigStupidDoodooHead You stupid lady!]]
49	* MistakenForGay: Marge goes to the police to report Homer's kidnapping, but the police officer tries to flirt with her instead, convincing himself she's using the kidnapping report as an excuse to see him. When a wounded man barges in shouting he's been shot, the officer tells him he doesn't swing that way.
50	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: Homer wears a "Try to Stop Us" T-shirt with Uncle Sam devouring the world on it.[[note]]It's the image featured at the trope's page.[[/note]]
51	* NationalStereotypes: Several references are made to Brazilian national stereotypes: soccer, sweet drinks, the favelas, bikini bottoms, Copacabana Beach, the Amazon, the Christ the Redeemer statue, the fact that it's one of the few non-Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, the conga, the Lambada, the samba, spider monkeys, the anaconda, the Carnival of Rio, entertainer Xuxa (or at least an {{Expy}}), ''Literature/TheBoysFromBrazil'', ''Film/BlameItOnRio'', the song "Aquarela do Brazil", the more open sexuality compared to other countries and the cable car over Sugarloaf Mountain.
52	* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: It's revealed that the businesswoman[=/=]TV executive Lindsey Naegle keeps changing jobs because she's a sexual predator.
53	* NotMeThisTime: Homer instantly assumes Bart made the call to Brazil, possibly due to ''Bart vs Australia''.
54	* ParodiesForDummies: The tape series Bart learns Spanish from is called "Spanish for Dummies".
55	* SexyDiscretionShot: Implied when Bart turns the TV back on to Teleboobies.
56	-->'''Xoxchitla:''' On top of! Beneath! On top of! Beneath! ''(Bart, Lisa, and Marge get shocked expressions)''
57	* ShoutOut:
58	** Homer asked [[Series/TheFlyingNun a nun to fly carrying him]].
59	** Homer tries to jump from one cable car to another, just like Jaws in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.
60	* ShownTheirWork: For all of their flaws on Brazilian culture and life, the writers ''did'' get one thing right: Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, not Spanish (in fact, Brazil is one of four South American countries in which Spanish is not the main language. The others are Guyana[[note]]whose official language is English, though Spanish, Portuguese, and a lot of indigenous languages are recognized and spoken, and Guyanese Creole is considered the country's national language[[/note]], Suriname[[note]]whose official language is Dutch[[/note]] and French Guiana[[note]]whose official language is French, obviously[[/note]]). The episode also acknowledges Rio has some vast urban forests instead of making the kidnappers go to UsefulNotes/TheAmazonRainforest.
61	* SubvertedKidsShow: "Teleboobies".
62	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: A Brazilian waiter looks like the Costington employee who always says "Yeeeesssssssss" (only here, he says "Siiiiiiiimmmmmmmmm," which is Portuguese for "Yes").
63	* SwarmOfRats: The family come across multicolored rats running through the slums, painted by the government so tourists wouldn't be offended.
64	-->'''Homer:''' Ooh, they look like Skittles!
65	* TakeThat: There's a joke aimed at [[StageMom Stage Parents]]. Ronaldo has a job on "Teleboobies" that gives him an ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount, which he uses to pay Homer's $50,000 ransom out of gratitude towards Lisa. When asked if he can really afford it...
66	-->'''Ronaldo:''' I make as much as Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle. And because I have no parents, my earnings remain unstolen.
67	* TuttiFruttiHat: The hotel room's amenities include one of these, which Bart puts on. Then Homer opens the minibar to find its contents arranged into a similar hat, which he puts on.
68	-->'''Bart:''' ''I'm Chiquita Banana and I'm here to say!''\
69	'''Homer:''' ''I will eat this Toblerone and I will not pay!''
70	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The orphan Lisa sponsored couldn't send her a letter because he didn't know which state Springfield was located in.
71	-->'''Lisa:''' It's kind of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out.
72	* ZanyScheme:
73	-->'''Marge:''' Homey, what are you going to do?\
74	'''Bart:''' ''[[[GoodLuckGesture crossing his fingers]]]'' [[GenreSavvy Crazy scheme, crazy scheme, crazy scheme...]]\
75	'''Homer:''' Get me tools and beer!\
76	'''Bart:''' YES!

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS13E15BlameItOnLisa