Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Blazed and Confused
Being an educator can be trying at times and getting kids to listen and focus isn't easy. I sometimes let kids know I will have to talk to their parents if they don't put on their snowpants in minus 10 weather or if they are throwing stuff across the room but I don't like having to be the person who tells everyone what to do. It's about finding the balance of where you can be lenient and where, for the sake of safety or making sure the child is behaving responsibly that you need to show that you do need some respect. But I see how easy it can be to influence in a bad way or cause harm. I want them to know they do need to follow the rules but while I want them to realize I am serious, I don't want them to fear me. Mostly.
In this episode, Bart gets a new teacher who proves to be cruel and bullying to Bart. Bart wants to get revenge and in investigating him, learns that he is to ignite a giant effigy at an event called Blazing Guy for alternative types. Bart manages to reroute Homer's ill-fated family vacation there. Marge is initially turned off by the weird artsy stuff but comes around thanks to some drug-laced tea. Bart manages to get his revenge and his new teacher reacts so badly, he threatens Bart, causing him to get fired.
Caroline Omine is one of the Simpsons writers of this era I often like as much as I don't. I feel like for every bad episode, she has a good one and vice versa. LucaS wasn't very good but Dial N for Nerder was. Strong Arms of the Ma starts surprisingly real and then gets nasty in all the wrong ways in the second half. I think Omine has some good instinct and grasps on character stuff but can fall victim to problems a lot of these episodes face; lack of focus. And this is a doozy in that department. It doesn't feel as disjointed as some but I feel like it winds up saying nothing about Bart's teacher's abuse of power, the Burning Man event or the weird world of a student encountering a teacher in their off-hours.
I think a lot of the problem is that I don't think this show knows much about Burning Man, except from an outsider's perspective of "check out the weirdos". Keep in mind, I'm the same way. I have no idea if I would find it magical or obnoxious or maybe a bit of both. Heck, the Wikipedia page makes me think there's a lot of themes in there that didn't come out except "weird art stuff". Heck, in the introduction area, it also mentions that it used to be for Bohemian types but in the modern era it's a haven for influencers and the Silicon Valley elite. That seems like a really fascinating thing to comment on, something that might have started with good intentions being a playground for rich gloryhounds. But really, I came away with a tired gag of "what if Marge got fucked up?", like every drug makes you hallucinate magic frogs and 60s album colours.
It also doesn't help that the episode's villain is a complete cipher, just some two dimensional creep who, for reasons unknown, loves "Blazing Guy". He's a tightly wound guy and it seems like this is where he can be something else but he really doesn't seem different and we get little insight. The fact that the abuse of literally shocking Bart and shaving his hair seems absurd that he just gets away with it and if there was a commentary about how abuses by teachers are hard to uncover, I don't think it's doing a good job of it. And it's a real waste of Willem Dafoe, who is doing decent work. But as over the top as he can be, he tends to be able to craft his whacked out characters well, but here, there's just so little to glom onto. Blazed and Confused is an episode about a festival with lots going on behind it, seemingly good and bad but no interest beyond the surface level stuff.
Being an educator can be trying at times and getting kids to listen and focus isn't easy. I sometimes let kids know I will have to talk to their parents if they don't put on their snowpants in minus 10 weather or if they are throwing stuff across the room but I don't like having to be the person who tells everyone what to do. It's about finding the balance of where you can be lenient and where, for the sake of safety or making sure the child is behaving responsibly that you need to show that you do need some respect. But I see how easy it can be to influence in a bad way or cause harm. I want them to know they do need to follow the rules but while I want them to realize I am serious, I don't want them to fear me. Mostly.
In this episode, Bart gets a new teacher who proves to be cruel and bullying to Bart. Bart wants to get revenge and in investigating him, learns that he is to ignite a giant effigy at an event called Blazing Guy for alternative types. Bart manages to reroute Homer's ill-fated family vacation there. Marge is initially turned off by the weird artsy stuff but comes around thanks to some drug-laced tea. Bart manages to get his revenge and his new teacher reacts so badly, he threatens Bart, causing him to get fired.
Caroline Omine is one of the Simpsons writers of this era I often like as much as I don't. I feel like for every bad episode, she has a good one and vice versa. LucaS wasn't very good but Dial N for Nerder was. Strong Arms of the Ma starts surprisingly real and then gets nasty in all the wrong ways in the second half. I think Omine has some good instinct and grasps on character stuff but can fall victim to problems a lot of these episodes face; lack of focus. And this is a doozy in that department. It doesn't feel as disjointed as some but I feel like it winds up saying nothing about Bart's teacher's abuse of power, the Burning Man event or the weird world of a student encountering a teacher in their off-hours.
I think a lot of the problem is that I don't think this show knows much about Burning Man, except from an outsider's perspective of "check out the weirdos". Keep in mind, I'm the same way. I have no idea if I would find it magical or obnoxious or maybe a bit of both. Heck, the Wikipedia page makes me think there's a lot of themes in there that didn't come out except "weird art stuff". Heck, in the introduction area, it also mentions that it used to be for Bohemian types but in the modern era it's a haven for influencers and the Silicon Valley elite. That seems like a really fascinating thing to comment on, something that might have started with good intentions being a playground for rich gloryhounds. But really, I came away with a tired gag of "what if Marge got fucked up?", like every drug makes you hallucinate magic frogs and 60s album colours.
It also doesn't help that the episode's villain is a complete cipher, just some two dimensional creep who, for reasons unknown, loves "Blazing Guy". He's a tightly wound guy and it seems like this is where he can be something else but he really doesn't seem different and we get little insight. The fact that the abuse of literally shocking Bart and shaving his hair seems absurd that he just gets away with it and if there was a commentary about how abuses by teachers are hard to uncover, I don't think it's doing a good job of it. And it's a real waste of Willem Dafoe, who is doing decent work. But as over the top as he can be, he tends to be able to craft his whacked out characters well, but here, there's just so little to glom onto. Blazed and Confused is an episode about a festival with lots going on behind it, seemingly good and bad but no interest beyond the surface level stuff.