David Cooper
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BONUS! These Freaks
🕑 Added 2022-04-22 08:01:00 +0000 UTCThis was one of the more extensive bonuses we've come across, but I couldn't let these creeps pass by without acknowledgement.
I can't believe that in this scene, the family going from house to house and peering through neighbours windows are the least creepy family.
The family bears a resemblance to the family depicted in Norman Rockwell's "Freedom From Want":
The families do not correspond 1:1 so it is difficult to tell if it was intended as a direct parody of Rockwell. The painting depicts a family to aspire to, an arguably unachievable version of blissful family life that epitomises the American way of living, hashtag goals and all that. Maybe in this regard it is the centrepiece of the episode, showing a perfect family that the Simpsons can never be. And nor should they want to be. Rockwell painted life "as I want it to be", not necessarily as it is.
They are presented as idyllic, a model family to look up to, but those uniform smiles make me uneasy. Frankly, I have a strong suspicion that they are eating another family member.
This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.
