YMMV / The Simpsons S 7 E 24 Homerpalooza

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene where Otto sees his shoes "talking" to him is usually cut in syndication for this reason.
• Broken Aesop: Marge tries to bring out the Aesop that "it doesn't matter if you're cool to people, you need to be true to yourself" and Homer brings up "you don't need other people to tell you that you're cool", but Bart and Lisa shoot them both down and Marge just angrily says that it's impossible to tell what the hell youth wants these days. To further drive the point home, neither of the kids actually elaborate on their own point about what it actually takes to be cool. However, the last line does imply that Homer might be on to something.
  Homer: Maybe if you're truly cool, you don't need to be told you're cool.
  Bart: Sure you do!
  Lisa: How else would you know?
• Franchise Original Sin: The episode is often pointed to as the first major example of the show's propensity after the classic era for stories overly focused on contemporary culture and celebrities, including references that would be outdated before the episode even came out. It's still generally judged positively by fans however, due to the writing being fairly strong and Homer's central arc of trying to relate to his kid's interests being fairly timeless.
• Genius Bonus: Homer's insistence that "rock attained perfection in 1974." is a joke about how 1974 is widely regarded as the worst year in modern music history.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • When Homer is ranting to the teenaged clerk of a music store, he mentions Apple Computers, to which the teen asks, "What computers?" (This was right before Steve Jobs' return and the release of the iMac.) Twenty years later, Apple products are some of the most popular mobile and computing devices in the world.
  • In contrast, Blockbuster Video taking over the world seemed inevitable, now the franchise is dead, and the only store in the entire world exists in Bend, Oregon.
  • Lisa scolds Homer for his "old music" (although not to the extent of Bart). 2010s-era episodes would have her being constantly the one picked on for liking "ancient music" due to her love of jazz, even by her parents.
  • One of the gags involves Cypress Hill being accused of ordering an orchestra while high. Come 2023, Cypress Hill announced they’d perform with the San Diego Orchestra.
    • It became doubly hilarious the following year, when they announced they'd be performing with the London Symphony Orchestra.
• Memetic Mutation: "I used to be with it, but then, they changed what 'it' was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and what's 'it' sounds weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you..." Replace 'it' with whatever you want (preferably something you've become disillusioned with), and the line writes itself.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The episode focuses on the pop culture at the time, more precisely on alternative rock, hip-hop, and the first incarnation of Lollapalooza (here fictionalized as "Hullabalooza"), so there are several examples:
  • Among the episode's guest stars were The Smashing Pumpkins, one of whom, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, was fired from the band shortly after the episode aired.
  • Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan is seen with a full head of hair. In between the episode being animated and its air date, Corgan had shaven his head bald, and he has kept that look ever since.
  • In another scene, the record store clerk has no idea about Apple computers, one year before Steve Jobs returned to the company.
  • That said, the overall plot of the episode, about Homer feeling like he's out of the loop with current trends and desperate to prove that he's still 'hip', is one that will remain timeless; the fact that the trends in question are no longer relevant only makes the episode's central theme about how being cool is overrated stand out that much more. One scene in particular, a flashback in which a teenage Homer gets into a fight with his dad over the '70s rock music he listens to, has gained new currency in the internet age for this reason.
    Homer: You wouldn't understand, Dad. You're not 'with it'.
    Abe Simpson: I used to be 'with it', and then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it', and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you!
    Homer: No way, man. We're gonna keep on rocking forever! Forever! Forever! <cut to present day> Forever. Forever. Forever...
• Values Resonance: Abe Simpson's memetic rant about how trends have evolved past what he was comfortable with and left him in the dust is a quite timeless warning that pretty much every generation will have to face as they grow older and face how society evolves.

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