Line #6 Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E3ThePresidentWorePearls


1	'''Original air date:''' 11/16/2003
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3	'''Production code:''' EABF-20
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5	In this loose parody of the musical ''{{Music/Evita}}'', Lisa is elected student body president, but is unaware that the school staff plans to use her to their own ends.
6	----
7	!!This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
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9	* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: School president's approval is needed to remove classes.
10	* AdamWesting: Controversial documentary maker and Simpsons fan Creator/MichaelMoore, who has something of an appetite for accusations of factual flippancy, has a ten-second cameo appearance as himself, introduced as a "professional butt-in-ski" to offer rhetorical support to Lisa's student strike. He rather readily admits to Kent Brockman that he found his claim that "kids who don't have music and art are ten times more likely to fail in life and appear in one of [his] movies" from this source: "{{Your mo\|m}}ther!" He also provides extensive commentary about the episode on the Season 15 DVD.
11	* AdvertisedExtra: At least one TV guide describes the episode's plot as, "Creator/MichaelMoore supports Lisa's cause when she stages a revolt at school," but he only appears as a cameo with a few lines and does nothing for the plot. (Additionally, the revolt only happens in [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil the third act of the episode]].)
12	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Willie drinks on the job, drives his tractor while being "so drunk he can barely see", and soon winds up falling in the school swimming pool.
13	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: On a similar vein to GradeSchoolCEO being unrealistic, there is no real way whatsoever that Skinner's plan of using Lisa as the FallGuy for his corner cutting would fly; in real life, school presidents ''cannot'' do anything regarding the manipulation of school funding (especially the removal of classes). Of course, [[CrapsackWorld Springfield]] runs on the RuleOfFunny.
14	* BlatantLies: [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope On advice from their lawyers]], [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial the people responsible for the episode swear they have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Perón]].
15	* BribingYourWayToVictory: Nelson tries winning the Presidential election by offering answer keys to the students, but he loses support once Lisa makes an impassioned song encouraging people to vote for someone who will actually fix the school’s problems rather than helping them cheat.
16	* BrickJoke: Part of Willie’s ObliviousMockery of Milhouse is that he confides everything in the former. Later, Milhouse decides to [[IgnoredEpiphany tell Willie about his day]].
17	* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: When Homer was trying to cash his winnings at the school casino, he declared he wanted half of it in cash and the other half in cases to carry it.
18	* CardCarryingVillain: Skinner sings a song called "Evil Plan" while slashing programs from the school budget.
19	* CharityBall: The "casino" version. GoneHorriblyWrong because none of the adults cared to read the ads Martin had sent out well in advance and didn't know the casino didn't hand out money prizes--and [[{{Jerkass}} their reaction to finding this out (thanks to Homer getting angry when he found out)]] [[PowderKegCrowd was to erupt into a riot and smash everything]] is what starts the whole plot.
20	* ComicalOverreacting[=/=]DisproportionateRetribution: All the adults didn't take it well when Martin Prince revealed that the school casino was fake. To make it worse, Martin was forced to resign as class president while Skinner had to deal with the rental company whose equipment the adults trashed.
21	* ContinuityNod: When interviewed about the student strike, Bart revives (and expands) his "Skinner is a nut, he has a rubber butt" chant from "Lisa's Sax," making it about Lisa instead.
22	* CuttingCorners: Skinner decides to do just that, removing various study subjects and making Lisa the [[FallGuy fall girl]] for the deed.
23	* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: When Martin is telling Homer that the casino isn't real, he ends up announcing it to everyone there. In his defense however, he thought that it was only ''Homer'' who thought it was real.
24	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Martin gets the idea for the school to run a fake casino from an episode of Saved by the Bell but doesn't consider it may end the same way.
25	* DidYouDie: Willie tells Skinner and Chalmers a story about when he worked in a coal mine which collapsed, saying "No one made it out alive. Not even Willie!"
26	* DirtyCoward: Skinner for using Lisa as TheScapegoat for his budget cuts.
27	* {{Dissimile}}: Marge compares Lisa, once installed as president, to "Geraldine Ferraro... except she lost."
28	* FantasyForbiddingFather: Exaggerated. Homer shoots down all of Lisa's dreams, starting with going to a better school by arrangement with Skinner and Chalmers, because he is too lazy to want to perform any supporting actions.
29	* HiddenDepths: [[TheStoner Otto]] and [[LazyBum Krusty]] were class president of Springfield Elementary at different times.
30	* KickTheDog:
31	** Homer's responsible for the riot that happened in the charity casino. He also refuses to drive 45 minutes to take Lisa to a magnet school.
32	** Skinner manipulates Lisa into giving permission to be the scapegoat for his budget cuts.
33	** Groundskeeper Willie is pretty awful in this episode, threatening to throw sparkplugs at Homer if they go to the park, making fun of Milhouse in the teacher's lounge.
34	* LateToTheRealisation: It takes Chalmers mocking him for Nelson to realise that he didn’t win the election.
35	* MakeoverMontage: The school faculty gives Lisa one upon being elected, and as a parody of "Rainbow High," no less!
36	-->'''Teachers:''' Nails, dimples, ears, scrunchie\
37	Purse, lunchbox, teeth, Milhouse!\
38	''(Milhouse in a tux extends his arm to Lisa, who gives him a suspicious glare)''
39	* ManipulativeBastard: Skinner, who gets Martin to retire as student body president, has Lisa elected in his place and uses her as a scapegoat to get away with his EvilPlan.
40	* MisplacedRetribution:
41	** Everyone blames Skinner for the budget cutbacks because he's the one who has to make them, ignoring the school's ridiculously low budget, the government's constant budget cuts and the adults of Springfield refusing even minor tax increases to actually keep the school running properly.
42	** Martin is blamed for the disastrous casino night, even though it was the attendants' fault for not realizing that ''an elementary school'' (especially one as bad as [[SuckySchool Springfield Elementary]]) wouldn't be running a real casino.
43	* MusicalEpisode: From the moment Lisa accepts to run, the whole episode turns into a musical. Even Skinner gloating about his evil plan is done in a song called, well, "Evil Plan".
44	* NeverASelfMadeWoman: When Marge saw how Lisa was dressed up, she said Lisa looked successful and compared her to "the wife of a businessman."
45	* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope: Ends with a disclaimer that, on the advice of their lawyers, the makers have never heard of a musical about Eva Peron.
46	* SarcasmBlind: Marge as Bart sarcastically complimented Lisa for her actions as Student Council President.
47	* ShoutOut:
48	** One of the songs has Lisa saying "Let's [[Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen Olsen-twin]] me."
49	** Martin mentions that his idea for the fake casino [[SawItInAMovieOnce was based off an episode]] of ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' (probably a fictional one). Of course, the fact that ''the exact same thing'' (people rioting when it's discovered that they didn't really win anything) happened on the ''Saved by the Bell'' episode [[DidntThinkThisThrough didn't clue Martin about how the adults would react...]]
50	* SongParody: Being a parody of ''Evita'', this episode features parodies of several songs from said musical.
51	** "Don't Vote For Me, Kids of Springfield" is a parody of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina"
52	** "I Am Their Queen" is a parody of "Rainbow High"
53	** "Skinner's Evil Plan" is a parody of "Rainbow Tour"
54	** "A Tango Takes Two" is a parody of "Waltz for Eva and Che"
55	* StatusQuoIsGod: Skinner and Chalmers end the strike by sending Lisa to a magnet school. Just as Otto comments that the story has a happy ending, Homer abruptly drives up and protests against this development.
56	-->'''Homer:''' I'm not driving 45 minutes a day! You can't go to that school!
57	* TooDumbToLive: All the adults assumed that a casino run by ''children'' would have legitimate cash. They didn't even think to look at the flyer that was sent out.
58	* TookALevelInDumbass: After the Casino night, Homer is basically sidelined into doing non sequitur until the end, when he pulls Lisa out of the magnet school.
59	* VillainSong: Well, partially. During Lisa's big number, we get snippets of "Evil Plan" sung by Skinner revealing his true intent to manipulate her.
60	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Skinner wants to lower Springfield Elementary School's budget. A worthy endeavor, that. How does he plan to carry this out? By removing gym, music and art from the school's curriculum. Right, that won't hurt the kids at all.
61	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
62	** Martin disappears after the Casino Night fiasco.
63	** Nelson also stops making any further appearances after he loses the election.
64	** Averted with the eventual main plot, as a caption confirms that the school generated the funding to restore the creative arts by cancelling flu shots.
65	* WouldHurtAChild:
66	** When Homer was trying to cash in his winnings at the casino, he threatened Martin, saying "You think I won't manhandle a little boy?!".
67	** The repo man simply laugh at Milhouse's pain after they take the gym equipment away, complete with one of them literally taking the gym mat from under him just before landing.
68	* WouldntHurtAChild: Groundskeeper Willie won't turn the hose on the kids, he'd sooner turn it on himself.
69	* YankTheDogsChain: Lisa is transferred to a much better school by Skinner to get rid of the student strike leadership and Lisa is okay with it... but she never so much as puts a foot in the school because Homer stops in front of her, says that there is no way he will let her study here because he will ''not'' drive an extra half an hour every day to get her to the campus, and takes her away.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS15E3ThePresidentWorePearls