History SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped / TheSimpsons

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* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E6MoaningLisa Moaning Lisa]]": "Don't try to bottle up your emotions. If you want to be sad, be sad. You will always have your family or friends to help see you through your crisis." Also, when a loved one is feeling depressed or despondent, the ''worst'' thing you can do is try to cheer them up, as it will only make them feel worse, because it's the nature of those kinds of conditions that they can't "just snap out of it." What Lisa needed was for her emotions to be ''validated'' and it's only when Marge tells her she has an absolute right ''not to be happy'' does she legitimately feel better.
-->'''Marge''': It's okay Lisa, [[StepfordSmiler you don't have to smile now]].\\
'''Lisa''': But I feel like smiling!
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E9ItchyAndScratchyAndMarge Itchy & Scratchy & Marge]]" shows us exactly what happens to a show if it deviates from itself in order to please the MoralGuardians. Marge also learns that censorship necessarily breeds hypocrisy, TV shows (or any form of media) shouldn't be censored just because someone doesn't like it, standing up for what you believe in sometimes isn't worth the trouble (especially if it destroys the livelihood of everyone else around you), and no matter what choices you make, there's always going to be consequences.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E2MrLisaGoesToWashington Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington]]": Idealistic belief in the political system can lead people to turn a blind eye or not notice political corruption happening under their noses, but that doesn't mean the system won't try and fix that corruption once it's genuinely aware of it. In other words, 'the price of freedom is eternal vigilance'.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E9HomerBadman Homer Badman]]": [[ManipulativeEditing Editing news for entertainment purposes]], [[WitchHunt as well as over-the-top or wrongful accusations]], can destroy peoples' lives, and you shouldn't believe everything you hear on TV.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E5LisaTheVegetarian Lisa the Vegetarian]]":
** You shouldn't try to force your beliefs on those who choose not to follow your lifestyle. Even Music/PaulMcCartney and Apu said so.
** Using extremism as a form of activism only discredits the cause and does more harm than good. In order to truly support a cause; find equilibrium and perform your activism in moderation.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E14TheItchyAndScratchyAndPoochieShow The Itchy And Scratchy and Poochie Show]]": Don't change art in an attempt to please others, because you may end up destroying perfectly good material in the process.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E8LisaTheSkeptic Lisa the Skeptic]]": People have a right to their beliefs, no matter how silly you may find them, and intolerance cuts both ways.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E17LisaTheSimpson Lisa the Simpson]]": Lisa's TV speech about putting your brain to good use and not letting it go to waste is ''very'' powerful.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E1LardOfTheDance Lard of the Dance]]": Don't rush to grow up. Enjoy your childhood while you still have it.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E18IAmFuriousYellow I am Furious (Yellow)]]" and "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy Huricane Neddy]]": Anger is a healthy and natural emotion to have and being angry doesn't automatically make you a villain if you a have a justifiable reason to be angry but it must be controlled and monitored in a healthy way.
** For Ned, he bottled-up his anger because he never saw his anger as just or fair towards people who had earned his ire (such as Homer stealing his possessions under the excuse of "borrowing"). When Ned reaches his breaking point, he berates the Springfieldians for failing to build him a proper house and he needlessly lashes out at them again for being incompetent, selfish, slovenly. When Ned finally calms down, he commits himself to psychatric hospital because he saw his own anger as unhealthy and a sign of mental illness (despite his anger having some merit). When the doctors speak to him, they tell him that it's unhealthy for Ned to bottle-up his anger like that and he needs to process his anger in a healthy way and in short, controlled bursts.
** For Homer, he has violent anger issues and when he learns how his actions effect others and how his anger had made him a laughing stock on the internet, his first response is to bottle up his anger for the rest of his life. While Homer did need to do something about his anger, his suppressed rage instead came out on his body as boils that could have killed him if Bart didn't set him off with his prank.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E19GirlsJustWantToHaveSums Girls Just Want to Have Sums]]": Segregation doesn't solve gender inequality, feminism is about equality for both sexes and there has to be a balance between both sides.
* As despised as it is, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E18TheBoysOfBummer The Boys of Bummer]]" shows us that [[FelonyMisdemeanor shaming someone for a minor offense]] can have [[DrivenToSuicide detrimental effects on their psyche]].
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E19TheSquirtAndTheWhale The Squirt and the Whale]]": A true animal activist respects the natural order of ''all'' animals and [[PredationIsNatural their instincts]], and it is wrong to protect one animal if it means killing another.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS26E16SkyPolice Sky Police]]": Don't depend on your faith to solve problems and you can't categorize situations as an act of God. Situations can only be resolved when you do something about it.
-->'''Marge''': God's plan? God isn't some video gamer up there controlling us like we were [[VideoGame/PacMan Pac-Men]] and VideoGame/{{Dig Dug}}s. God isn't Sky Police. God didn't do this. I lied to my husband and made my kids lie, too. We did this.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E01TheSerfsons The Serfsons]]": The episode gives a lesson about death and the afterlife. Death is a painful inevitability of life and it's best to mourn and grieve than try to selfishly control the fate of another. You're entitled to your beliefs, as long as you respect the faiths of others.
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answer to immigration because it's not a black and white scenario that can be resolved easily.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E1BartGetsAnF Bart Gets An F]]" shows off a rare side of school in media: even if you study your hardest and try your best, you can still fail. That said, progress is still progress no matter how small, and should be celebrated.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E17HomerVsPattyAndSelma Homer Vs. Patty and Selma]]": If someone is a {{Jerkass}}, being rude back is not a solution. Be kind to that person. The episode centers around Homer's fractious relationship with Patty and Selma, with the latter insulting him at every turn. [[spoiler: When he saves them from being demoted, they [[HumblePie quickly apologize]] and reluctantly forgive their debt to him]].

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E15HomersPhobia Homer's Phobia]]": Parents should be more tolerant of their children's sexual preferences (so long as it's not something abhorrent or illegal).
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E5TheCartridgeFamily The Cartridge Family]]": As controversial as the gun-control argument may be, the episode does point out that guns are not toys and that people who do not use them responsibly should not own them at all.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E3SleepingWithTheEnemy Sleeping with the Enemy]]": Eating disorders and insecurities about your looks aren't [[CompressedVice compressed vices]]. They don't go away in 20 minutes and sometimes will stay with you for life.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E7MypodsAndBoomsticks Mypods and Boomsticks]]": Demonizing Muslims is wrong. Given how many TV shows, in light of certain events, seem okay with portraying Arabs and Muslims as unrepentant terrorists (in fact, Homer believed his Muslim neighbors were okay until Lenny and Carl showed him an {{expy}} of ''Series/TwentyFour'' that depicted a Muslim as an unrepentant terrorist), anything that challenges anti-Muslim sentiment was welcome at the time the episode aired. The episode even notes the similarities of the plight of Muslims today to the persecution Jews had to go through decades ago.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E21ComingToHomerica Coming to Homerica]]": Putting the issue of racism aside, a country might not be able to [[OverpopulationCrisis handle mass migration because it might already have enough problems taking care of its own citizens (jobs, healthcare, crime, homelessness, etc).]] On the other hand, people who migrate to other countries might be trying to escape mountain-sized problems that can't be solved easily, or they are trying to support/protect their families. Long story short, the episode shows that there isn't a clear answer to immigration because it's not a black and white scenario that can be resolved easily.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS26E13WalkingBigAndTall Walking Big & Tall]]": There is no such thing as a perfect body image, being obese and underweight carry health problems that can turn fatal. Albert was right about protesting a shop that promoted impossible and anorexic body images but he still died of a heart attack caused by overeating. You shouldn't promote or shame either body type but you still need to consider either yours or their health.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E01TheSerfsons The Serfsons]]": The episode gives a lesson about death and the afterlife. Death is a painful inevitability of life and it's best to mourn and grieve than try to selfishly control the fate of another. Nobody has the definitive answer about happens after death and everyone responds differently about the subject. You're entitled to your beliefs, as long as you respect the faiths of others.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E8LisaTheSkeptic Lisa the Skeptic]]": People have a right to their beliefs, no matter how silly you may find them, and [[NotSoDifferent intolerance cuts both ways.]]

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E18IAmFuriousYellow I am Furious (Yellow)]]" and ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy Huricane Neddy]]'': Anger is a healthy and natural emotion to have and being angry doesn't automatically make you a villain if you a have a justifiable reason to be angry but it must be controlled and monitored in a healthy way.

** For Ned, he bottled-up his anger because he never saw his anger as just or fair towards people who had earned his ire (such as Homer stealing his possessions under the excuse of "borrowing"). When the town did repair his house, it falls apart again which causes Ned to become enraged at everyone for not just just failing to fix his house but for having other flaws that had nothing to do with his house falling apart. When Ned finally calms down, he commits himself to psychatric hospital because he saw his own anger as unhealthy and a sign of mental illness. When the doctors speak to him, they tell him that it's unhealthy for Ned to bottle-up his anger and he needs to vent so he can process his anger in a healthy way.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E18IAmFuriousYellow I am Furious (Yellow)]]": Anger is the most natural emotion and you should learn how to control it rather than suppressing it to prevent yourself from becoming a laughing stock or from seriously hurting yourself or others.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E1BartGetsAnF Bart Gets An F]]" shows off a rare side of school in media: even if you study your hardest and try your best, you can still fail. That said, progress is still progress no matter how small, and should be celibrated.