I keep seeing this
list on clickbait sites of how ‘The
Simpsons’ predicted the future.
And I’m getting sick of it. The “predictions” are a huge
stretch and I don't think that the people who created this list watch much of the show, as they get some information wrong and don't cite the episode name.
Let’s go over every single one and see how much they miss
the mark (I fixed the spelling and grammar mistakes).
"Way back in 1998 the Simpsons had an episode where the
children of Springfield are crazy for a video game which centers around
"Virtual Yard Work". A little over a decade later children and adults
alike would be enthralled with games like Farmville and Farming Simulator."
Somehow, virtual reality is the same as tap games for your
smartphone, and “yard work” is the same as “farming”. This in no way predicts
the popularity of games such as Farmville. Why not use this as an example of
predicting virtual reality, like the Oculus Rift? It would make a bit more
sense. Oh and the children are crazy for this game? It was a 10 second joke and
never mentioned again.
"In a 1999 episode Homer creates a tomato/tobacco hybrid by
planting his crop with radioactive waste. After the disaster at Japan's
Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011, farmers throughout Japan began reporting
mutant tomatoes as well as other crops."
Radiation mutates living organisms? I had no idea! What an
accurate prediction made by the show!
"In a 2008 episode for The Simpson's annual Halloween Special
Homer is seen attempting to vote for Barack Obama but the machine continuously
registers a vote for Mitt Romney instead. This amazingly accurate prediction
came true during the 2012 Presidential elections when electronic voting
machines caught on cell phone video doing EXACTLY what The Simpsons had
predicted."
This isn’t as much “predicting the future” as it is “reflecting
on current society”. When electronic voting machines were introduced, there
were a lot of concerns about glitches and fraud. Heck, it was a major plot
point in the 2006 movie, 'Man of the Year'.
The segment was more of an extension of people’s fears in 2008 about the machines
than an actual prediction of what will happen.
"In a 1997 episode it is revealed that horse meat was the
secret ingredient in Springfield Elementary's food. This was a disturbingly
accurate prediction of the 2013 scandal involving horse meat being used instead
of beef in a variety of fast food restaurants."
Schools are not the same as fast food restaurants. Also,
this is from the 1994 episode, ‘Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song’, not
1997. Plus, “
Mystery Meat” is a common trope. It’s a joke, not a prediction.
"A 1998 episode of the Simpsons depicts the town inventor
"Professor Fink" as having invented hamburger earmuffs. As a
testimonial to the truly amazing predictive powers of even the silliest
Simpson's gags (or perhaps a testimonial to human stupidity), someone actually
invented this product in 2013."
Here’s the thing; life imitates art. ‘The Simpsons’ were at
the height of their popularity and quality when ‘The Wizard of Evergreen
Terrace” premiered. So it’s not surprising that someone might actually create
the product. Plus, they were real hamburgers in the show, not made of fabric
and whatnot. I’m surprised they didn’t talk about the person who actually
created
Tomacco. Same principle.
And it's Professor FRINK not FINK.
"In a 1994 episode the school bullies are seen trying to type
the words "Beat Up Martin" into an handheld Apple device which
repeatedly replaces it with the phrase "Eat up Martha". It wasn't
until over a decade later that the world began to entertain itself with
hilarious auto-correct fails."
That “handheld Apple device” was the Apple Newton, a failed PDA
from the early 1990s. The
handwriting recognition was an issue for the machine.
So, this is pretty similar to the voting machine prediction, just a reflection
of the current culture. If the internet was as prominent then as it is today,
we probably would have seen sites dedicated to “Newton FAILS”.
"Homer's older and more successful half-brother Herbert
Powell made his first appearance on a 1992 episode when he invented the
"Baby Translator". It wasn't until 2013 that an app for the iPhone
allowed parents to translate their baby's cries."
A phone app isn’t the same as a standalone machine, but I
guess it’s close enough. Wait, 2013 for the app? I see an
article from 2010
that says it was out. Of course, the same article from 2010 says it’s on sale
through November 11, 2009, so who the hell knows. I’m getting side tracked…
Wait, did they say Herb Powell’s first appearance was in the
episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"? That was his SECOND appearance, his first being "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" Watch the damn show before you write the article!
"In a 1995 episode the Simpsons gives a flash forward to show
the future of many characters. During one scene you see Lisa in her college
dorm room with her boyfriend. Her wall sports a poster for a 2010 Rolling
Stones tour jokingly called the "Steel Wheelchair Tour". Today the
band is still doing its rounds."
This seems to be a running joke for the group; they are
never going to retire and/or stop touring. Garfield made this same joke. Not
really an amazing prediction.
"In a 1996 episode several characters are seen using a state
of the art intercom. While the product isn't an Apple itself, it is an identical
match to what the original iPod looked like. It's so creepy one has to at least
entertain the idea that Steve Jobs saw this episode and filed it away for
future design ideas."
If you’re going to design an intercom in a cartoon, you’re
probably going to make the design as simple as possible (especially in the era
before high definition). So is it really that surprising that it’s just a white
box with one button and a speaker? Yeah, I’ll admit that it really does look
like an iPod (except much larger than the first one), but it’s just a
coincidence. Here’s an
intercom that looks similar.
"In 1993 there was an episode of the Simpson's depicting a
fictionalized version of Siegfried and Roy named Gunter and Ernst. During the
episode the pair are attacked and mauled by one of the tigers during a
performance. Ten years later the real life performers suffered the same fate."
Okay, this is pretty accurate. I remember thinking of this
episode when the incident happened. But when you take a wild animal out of its
habitat and make it perform on stage like that, I’m surprised this didn’t
happen sooner. This kind of thing seems to happen with performers working with
animals.
"In 2005 the Simpsons do another episode that gives a glimpse
into the future. During said episode Marge celebrates the fact that
"science has invented magic" by using a 3D printer to turn a
photograph into a cake. Today 3D printers create everything from cake to
functional human organs."
This one pisses me off the most. It makes me wonder if the
author even watched this episode. Marge takes a Polaroid picture and the
picture morphs into a cake. THAT IS NOT 3D PRINTING. Turning a picture
into an edible cake is NOT 3D printing. Please do some research into 3D
printing and come back to me and see if this still makes any sense.
"During a 2005 episode Homer is watching a Super Bowl between
the Broncos and the Seahawks. In 2014 this prediction actually came true,
although the result wasn't even close."
Again, this makes me wonder if the author even saw the
episode. This is from “Bonfire of the Manatees”, and Homer is not watching the
Super Bowl, he is watching a random game. ‘The Simpsons’ predicted two teams
from opposing conferences would play each other? Wow, what a surprise! Oh, and
the score wasn’t even close. If it was similar, then I would give them some
credit. But seeing as this “
prediction” was making the rounds before the game
was even played, it’s still stupid.
"This scene was cut from syndicated episodes of The Simpsons,
but it showed characters playing virtual games in the future using headsets and
motion tracking gloves. Thanks to new technology like the Xbox One's Kinect and
the Oculus Rift VR headset, this prediction came true!"
So wait, you do include an example of virtual reality games
in this list? Fine, they predicted it, but who hasn’t been predicting the idea
of virtual reality video games for the last 30 years?
"During a 1991 episode Ringo Starr is shown replying to fan
mail 50 years after he received it. While Ringo never actually did this, a pair
of friends who sent the Beatles a recording back in 1963 actually received a
thank you from Sir Paul McCartney himself in 2013!"
So, it's not even the same member of the Beatles we're talking about here. But this is probably the closest thing to an accurate prediction on this list, besides the tiger incident.
"In a 1995 episode it is shown that when Lisa gets to college
the librarians are robots. In 2011 the University of Chicago actually began
using robotic librarians in its futuristic library."
The “
robot librarians” in question are more like vending
machines than human
-like androids. These are not machines with A.I. and are
virtually indistinguishable from humans (with the exception of the fires
started by inexplicable tears), they are vending machines. This is a huge
stretch only made possible by lumping all types of robots together.
Wow. This list was really grasping for straws. And it doesn't help when they get their facts wrong.
