Fear of Flying
I must admit that my understanding of mental illness is lacking. I certainly know enough to know that a lot of conventional portrayals of "crazy" are pretty unhealthy to our understanding of mental health. This means accepting a lot of the art I love like Psycho and, like, 85% of Batman stories, despite the quality of the stories, is skewing views of mental illness into something that turns people into alien monsters rather than something that requires support, understanding and attention. Even a lot of stories focusing on people dealing with therapy with good intentions can inadvertently cause problems by featuring problems that get a quick fix at the end of an episode or story arc. I'm sure there are points where therapy might be able to end after some time of it providing an important service but a lot of times its "I'm cured.", which I feel is rarely to never the case. Of course, I'll concede my ignorance if anyone wants to contend any of these statements. But I feel while the Simpsons simplifies things and some of the elements of portrayals within the episode that feed into less charitable portrayals, "Fear of Flying" is an episode that does a lot of good beyond simply being funny.
In this episode, Homer is kicked out of Moe's for a prank and in his effort to find a new bar ends up in an airport bar for pilots. After being forced onto a plane and made to fly due to mistaken identity, Homer causes damage to a plane and to avoid a PR incident, the airline gives the Simpsons a free trip. However, while on the plane, Marge reveals she has an intense fear of flying. Marge and Homer try to ignore it but Marge's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, causing disruption within the family until both are forced to admit that Marge needs therapy. Eventually, she gets it and after some sessions, Marge discovers the route of her problem was that she has shame regarding her father being a "stewardess". Marge then finds herself ready to overcome her fear of flying.
This is an episode that is one I can't simply condemn the core of as I can Homer Badman. I think this has positive things to say about the healing power of therapy, which is something America seemed to be pretty fascinated by in the 80s and, to a lesser extent, the 90s. Marge tries to ignore it, finds it unhealthy and finds far more benefit in figuring things out with a therapist. But there are also clichés that are outdated and wouldn't fly anymore: the idea that a few 1 hour sessions over the course of, I'm guessing, a month (tops) can "cure" a major mental issue. The show seems somewhat aware that there's much more for Marge to deal with and Homer, fearful for any negative conclusions Marge comes to about him, rushes Marge out of the room. This is probably because the show doesn't want to have to deal with it week after week. But that's a silly fear as they don't HAVE to. They can just say she's still going at the end of the episode and without seeing it, we can assume she is going in perpetuity, maybe occasionally acknowledging it the way they do with Marge's gambling.
I am not fully prepared to expound on any definitive opinion on the portrayal of Marge in extreme anxiety mode. Again, I don't know enough about mental illness to know how realistic the portrayal is and what is "cruel for laughing at" or "I can relate to this and laugh at it". Like, I suspect its swings a little closer to the former, because even though we are extremely sympathetic towards Marge, there's also "aren't the symptoms of Marge's pain making her act silly"? But while I think it is more the former, I can definitely see the possibility of someone seeing themselves in this and being able to find humour in it and relating to it. Still, Marge muttering under her breath like that probably is something more of an unhealthy portrayal.
I suspect one of the best aspects of the episode, aside from the humour, is probably Homer. That's the part I can relate to, even though Homer's behaviour is negative throughout. I'm a really insecure person and I am constantly worried about what people think about me. This isn't any sort of serious mental illness, its neurosis and some self-absorption. While I certainly wouldn't try to be skewing the negative, I can see myself as someone trying to fish for what was discussed because I'd be afraid of the truth and what I might learn what someone else is saying about me, even though it wouldn't be any of my damned business and would be between my hypothetical SO and their therapist.
I still think the episode is more positive than negative. Marge's "eureka/rosebud" moment is comedic and simplistic but I do feel like it can at least reflect a real source of pain, a strong feeling of shame from a young age, even if it is over something that should be seen as trivial. Marge finds ignoring things makes things worse and tackling things head on in a safe place can be something extremely helpful. I feel while I wouldn't trust most of the current writers to get a good episode out of this, I feel another therapy episode, one that digs into the fact that one of our funny characters needs to talk to someone, could be good. The most obvious candidates are Marge and Lisa, but even Bart and Homer would be good to show that some of their wacky behaviour may have connections to something they really need to be dealing with (Homer flat out says as much as in the second episode with Mona Simpson, where he states that his overeating isn't just a quirk, its a compulsion related to his feelings of abandonment). I feel like with a renewed focus on mental health, many comedy shows feel more comfortable tackling it in a way intended to be helpful such as Bojack Horseman and uh... Pickle Rick, I guess? I didn't see it. Anyway, this episode may have aged a little weird but overall it is a strong and compassionate episode, even if it mishandles at least a few things.
Jokes I missed before:
Not really a "joke" but I only recently realized the title is a reference to a famous novel known for its second wave feminist themes. Its weird to use that title based on a common phrase with no pun or anything in it.
Other great jokes:
Mt. Lushmore is a pretty great name.
"Jokes on them, I'm still alive."
"Crisitunity."
"Where's my wallet?"
"Right here dad!"
I love Cartwight's delivery here and the expression on Bart's face.
"Hello sir, would you please leave without a fuss right now?"
Sometimes you don't need the original cast to make a joke work but not only does a dark take on cheers work best with the original cast, George Wendt is great as sad, scary Norm. Reminder that George Wendt is a very funny, amazing actor.
"Wait a minute... this lesbian bar doesn't have a fire exit! Enjoy your deathtrap, ladies!"
I love that the joke is that Homer isn't bothered by the nature of the bar because he's pretty progressive but he's really concerned about fire safety. However, the capper to that joke aged *badly*.
At first I thought it was "Crazy Clown" airlines. Then this watch "Kwazy Clown." I checked the closed captioning "Quasi-Clown." I love it.
"Marge, what's wrong? Hungry? Sleepy? Gassy? Gassy? It's gas, isn't it?"
"Can't talk. Keeping myself in a state of cat-like readiness."
"Uh... neat."
"Ya see! Ya see! *I* just left *my* first sessions and *I* haven't opened *my* mouth yet."
I love Zwieg's proclamation that the Monkees, that most manufactured band of the era, where about political and social upheaval. They all generally seemed like good people, though. One of them spent a season as Arthur on The Tick.
"Danger, Danger, My Hooks Are Flailing Wildly!"
"This might not be the best time to mention this but your last cheque bounced."
"Wait, wait, I'm remembering something."
"Yes, there's still the matter of."
"I was a little girl..."
Marge's "rich tapestry"
Other notes:
We never do learn more about Mrs. Bouvier's bean farm.
Seriously, I do want to self-educate so if anyone who knows more about mental health wants to educate me about what I've discussed, PLEASE do. More than Homer Badman, this is an episode I feel weird about discussing because I don't know how equipped I am for it.
Also, this is a great song. It deserves to be Homer's favourite.
