"Lisa vs Malibu Stacy" is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season 'The Simpsons . It was originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 1994. In the episode, Lisa challenged the Malibu Stacy doll maker to create a less sexist doll. Together with the original creator of Malibu Stacy, Stacy Lovell, Lisa created the Lisa Lionheart doll in an effort to exert a positive influence on the young girls.
This episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. The plot of this episode is inspired by the Talk Barbie talking doll, which speaks to a brief phrase typical of American middle-aged teenagers. Kathleen Turner became a guest star in this episode as Stacy Lovell, creator of Malibu Stacy. It features cultural references to action figures such as Ken and G.I. Joe. Since airing, this episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The company earned a Nielsen rating of 11.6, and was the second highest event on the Fox network that week it aired.
Video Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy
Plot
Dr. Hibbert introduced the fragile Ben Matlock to a vibrant, elderly crowd at the Grand Opening Center for Geriatric Medicine. After seeing his idol being deployed to the ground by fans, Grampa became aware of his ungodliness and gave the family their legacy earlier. He left the family a box of old silver dollars they decided to spend at the mall soon. In the mall, Lisa sees the new Malibu Stacy doll in the toy store. Along the way home, Grampa keeps telling stories and spies on useless suggestions, keeping families away from him. Back home, Lisa was eager to hear what Malibu Stacy had said, but disappointed with her sexist phrases (such as "Do not ask me, I'm just a girl" and "Thinking gives you too much wrinkles"). Lisa is angry that no one else can see the doll's foolishness. He and Grampa sit at the kitchen table, bemoaning how they are treated because of their age while both decide to change, Grampa to get a job, and Lisa to find the creator of Malibu Stacy, Stacy Lovell.
Lisa visited Smithers, owner of the world's largest Malibu Stacy collection, and asked for help in finding Lovell, who was ousted from the Malibu Stacy company in 1974. Lisa cycled to Lovell's house and played one of the puppets through the intercom. The gate opens immediately. Lisa and Lovell decided to create a new doll, Lisa Lionheart, who was voiced by Lisa herself. The doll was released secretly, but Malibu Stacy executives held a meeting in which they agreed that the Lisa dolls were a real threat because it might hurt their doll sales. Meanwhile, Grampa is struggling with his new job at Krusty Burger, suffering flashbacks of war on a drive-in and losing his dentures making burgers. She soon became angry at the way senior was treated, and stopped. After a slow initial release, Lisa Lionheart suddenly gained popularity among Malibu Stacy fans after being featured on the Kent Brockman news event. At the mall, as the children, and Smithers, rush out to buy Lisa Lionheart, the Stacy Malibu cart with a new hat is playing right on the group walking path for the Lionheart show. Lisa begs them that it is the same doll with a "stupid, cheap" hat, but they all prefer to stick with Malibu Stacy, largely because of encouragement from Smithers, except for a little girl, who goes with the Lisa Lionheart doll. Despite the fact that his doll failed, Lisa felt the heart that his message was able to penetrate at least a little girl.
Maps Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy
Production
This episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. Before the episode aired, Malibu Stacy had appeared several times on the show as one of Lisa's puppets. The staff tried to come up with an idea for an episode by visiting companies in the Simpsons universe, and Oakley suggested an episode involving the Malibu Stacy company. The plot of this episode was inspired by the talking Talk Barbie Teen talking doll which caused controversy in the United States in the early 1990s. In July 1992, Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases including "Do we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", And "Want to have a pizza party?" Each doll is programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so no two dolls are likely to be the same. One of these 270 phrases is "Mathematics Class difficult!". Although only about 1.5% of all the dolls sold say that phrase, it causes criticism from the American Women's Association Women because they consider it demeaning to women. In October 1992, Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would no longer pronounce the phrase, and offered an exchange to anyone who had the doll do it.
Oakley and Weinstein decide to include Abe in the episode because they have an "obsession" with parents. Weinstein says they both "love them and seem to hate them" at the same time. He also said that they love to write for characters like Abe and Mr. Burns because of their "out-datedness", and because he and Oakley can use a dictionary to search for "long time slang". Executive producer David Mirkin finds it difficult to make Abe funny because he is a "boring and boring" character. He thinks that although "Abe does all these complaints, what makes her funny is that the things she says are actually funny in a boring and boring context." Mirkin thinks this is a "big challenge, and Bill and Josh do it very well."
When the episode was in production, Oakley's wife, Rachel Pulido, was an enthusiastic Barbie collector. Therefore, Oakley spends a lot of time going to Barbie conventions across the United States and meeting with many different collectors. At one convention, Oakley meets the man who has the largest Barbie collection in the world. The encounter between the two inspired parts of the episode where Lisa visited Smithers and it was revealed that Smithers is the owner of the world's largest Malibu Stacy collection. Kathleen Turner guest starred in this episode as Stacy Lovell. Mirkin thinks Turner is "really a game" when he appears in the recording studio to record his lines as he "nails" the lines very quickly. He adds that he enjoys directing it and he thinks he has one of the best shows ever on The Simpsons.
Cultural reference
At the start of the episode, Abe witnessed his idol Ben Matlock talking to a vibrant crowd of seniors at the Grand Opening Center for Geriatric Medicine. Ben Matlock is a character from the television series NBC/ABC Matlock , described by Andy Griffith and made by Dean Hargrove. The crowd cheered for Matlock by singing a slightly changed version of the song "We Love You, Conrad" from Bye Bye Birdie's stage music . The Homer dance on a giant piano key is hidden on the floor of a toy store, faking a scene from a 1988 movie Big i . Lisa wants Lisa Lionheart to have "the wisdom of Gertrude Stein, the intelligence of Cathy Guisewite, the tenacity of Nina Totenberg, the common sense of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the good appearance of Eleanor Roosevelt."
Stacy Lovell's husband list features action figures Ken, Johnny West, G.I. Joe, Doctor Colossus, and Steve Austin. Lisa's Story of Stork Malibu Stacy says a phrase that is considered demeaning to women is based on the line of Teen Talk Barbie dolls and how they cause controversy. During one scene in the episode, a Strip Malibu doll girl says "My Spidey Sense is a tingle! Whoever is calling the web-slinger?", References to practical jokes by the Barbie Liberation Organization in the early 1990s where the voice box spoke Barbie and GI Joe's toys are exchanged.
Reception
In the original broadcast, "Lisa vs Malibu Stacy" was ranked 23rd for the week of February 14-20, 1994, with a Nielsen 11.6 rating, equivalent to 11 million households viewing. This is the second highest event on the Fox network that week, following Beverly Hills, 90210 .
Since airing, this episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Colin Jacobson of the DVD Movie Guide thought the episode was "good but not great," though "more than a few powerful moments, like a cute Bart photo in a gay rights march." He added that "most of the year it will be an A-list program, but it's one of the lower five season lights though it generally has a high level of quality." The authors of this book Can I Believe It's The Greater and Better Better Upds Simpleons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, describe this episode as "Lisa in her best crusade, Homer at the stupid position and the Abe got all the best lines again, especially at Krusty Burgers.Karleen Turner's place as the original Malibu Stacy is amazing. "Janica Lockhart from The Easterner called the episode" classic "and added : "This episode takes a misogynistic view, but in a funny way, which can only be done by The Simpsons." Patrick Bromley from DVD Verdict gave episode A's value, and DVD Talk Bill Gibron gave it a score of 5 out of 5 This episode was one of Oakley's and Weinstein's favorites from their time as writers on the show. One of Mirkin's favorite jokes on the show is the scene in this episode where Abe cycled down the street, shouting, "Look at me, I'm acting young!" before Stacy's Lisa Malibu doll catches the bike's front wheel, sends Abe flying to the open graveyard.
In The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! Homer , Aeon J. Skoble quotes this episode as an example in his work entitled: "Do We Admire or Laugh at Lisa?". He writes: "The fact that the less intellectual puppets are preferred over the Lisa doll, though Lisa's objections make sense, shows the ways in which reasonable ideas can be made to take a back position to have fun and go with the flow. often played in the real world, of course: Barbie is the subject of perpetual criticism along the lines of Lisa's criticism of Malibu Stacy, yet remains very popular, and in general, we often see toys intellectual criticism that is considered a 'out of touch' or elitist.
References
Further reading
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Henry, Matthew (April 2007). "Do not Ask me, I'm Just a Girl: Feminism, Female Identity, and The Simpsons ". The Journal of Popular Culture . United States: Blackwell Publishing. 40 (2): 272-303. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2007.00379.x. ISSNÃ, 0022-3840. Ã,
External links
- "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" on The Simpsons.com
- "Lisa vs Malibu Stacy episode capsule". Simpsons Archive .
- "Lisa vs Malibu Stacy" on TV.com
- "Lisa vs Malibu Stacy" in IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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