The War of The Simpsons - Cultural References

Cultural References

The way Ned Flanders prepares the cocktails at the party is similar to actor Tom Cruise's bartending stunts in the 1988 film Cocktail. Songs heard at the party include Tom Jones's "It's Not Unusual" (1965), Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love" (1967), and KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)" (1975). Homer's false memory of the party the following day (in which he imagines himself as being erudite and witty instead of drunk) is a reference to the Algonquin Round Table, a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. The "Mexican Hat Dance" song is heard when Marge turns on the radio in the car to mute the conversation between her and Homer so that the children cannot hear them fight. When Homer comes into the church late, while looking for his chair, a character who strikes a resemblance to Adolf Hitler is seen. In a flashback sequence, Bart remembers chasing away a screaming babysitter with the car as a toddler. This sequence and the music in it are references to a scene in the 1976 film The Omen, in which the Devil's child Damien makes animals shriek in terror as Damien approaches. The picture of General Sherman at the bait shop is a reference to the famous hoax picture of the Loch Ness Monster. John and Gloria are a reference to George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Homer's attempt at catching General Sherman, his bludgeoning of the fish and the line "I love you but I have to kill you" are all based on Santiago's fight with the marlin in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea. The battle between Homer and General Sherman is also reminiscent of Captain Ahab's battle with the white whale Moby-Dick in the novel Moby-Dick.