Bart vs. Australia

In the bathroom, Bart notices that the water in the sink always drains counterclockwise . Lisa explains that water never flows down a path other than the southern hemisphere due to the strength of Coriolis , but Bart does not believe her. To make sure of this, Bart makes phone calls to various countries in the southern hemisphere. Lisa says these are costly international calls, so Bart decides to make a call at the expense of whoever he calls. He decides to call Australia , in which a little boy answers the phone. Pretending to represent the International Sewer Commission, Bart is informed that water flows clockwise in the toilet and sink. Frustrated, Bart asks him to go and check the neighbors' toilets. The call takes six hours because the boy lives in the outback and Bart forgets to hang up. Later, the boy's father pays $ 900. Father calls Bart and demands that he pay, but Bart only laughs at him. Unfortunately for Bart, his father’s neighbor is a federal member of parliament and reports Bart’s crime to the Prime Minister , who is resting on a nearby pond.

After a long series of ignored letters, Australia accuses Bart of fraud. The U.S. Department of State wants to send him to jail in order to appease the Australian government, but Marge is furious about the idea. The department dwells on Bart publicly apologizing to Australia. The family travels to Australia, and lives in the American embassy, ​​which is equipped with all the amenities that are in the US, including special modified toilets in which water flows counterclockwise, overcoming the Coriolis effect. Marge, Lisa and Maggie begin to study the local culture.

After Bart apologizes, the parliament says they want to give him an additional “thrashing” punishment, which involves hitting her buttocks with a huge boot several times. Bart and Homer run away and, taking Marge, Lisa and Maggie along the way, they run to the American embassy. After a long confrontation, the governments of the two countries resolve the conflict by compromise: one kick from the prime minister, made at the gates of the embassy with an ordinary boot. Marge opposes the idea, but Bart agrees. However, Bart evades the blow, and shows the Australians the buttocks with the inscription "Do not touch me." The Simpsons family flees and flies away by helicopter. Looking down at Australia, they see that the bullfrogs began to overpopulate and destroy Australian ecosystems because of the Bart frog, previously left at the airport but later arriving in Australia thanks to the kangaroo . Looking at the devastation, the family notices the destruction caused by the introduction of alien species into new conditions, and begin to laugh at the misfortune of the Australians, not knowing that the koala is hanging on a helicopter. The camera zooms in on the koala, ending with a close-up of his eyes, making it clear that America will face a fate similar to Australia.

• The story refers to the punishment of a cane on the buttocks of 18-year-old teenager Michael Fay in Singapore
• The episode perpetuated a popular myth that the strength of Coriolis affects the movement of water flows in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In fact, the Coriolis force affects the global change in weather conditions. The amount of water in the toilet or sink is too small to affect the Coriolis force.
• When Bart speaks with the boy’s father on the phone, he says: “It seems your child is chewing a dingo, ” referring to the case of Azaria Chamberlain , whose ten-week-old child was eaten by a dingo.
• The bullfrogs that invaded Australia and destroyed all crops are a reference to aga toads , originally introduced to Australia to protect sugarcane from cane beetles, but which have become pests in the country.
• When the Simpsons family goes to an Australian pub, Bart plays with a folding knife on the table and a person asks him: "Do you call it a knife?", Takes a spoon from his pocket and says: "This is a knife." The scene refers to the famous scene from Dundee, nicknamed the Crocodile , in which Mick Dundee is threatened by several thugs with folding knives, takes out a Bowie knife and says: “This is not a knife, this is a knife!”
• Wes, one of the characters in the 1981 movie Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior , is visible in the Australian crowd chasing the Simpsons to the American embassy.
• During a buttock demonstration, Bart sings the US Anthem .
• The Simpsons ’flight from the embassy by helicopter is a reference to Operation Gusty Wind - the evacuation of American citizens during the fall of Saigon in 1975.

In its original American broadcast, the episode was 56th, with 9.1 million Nielsen ratings. This was Fox's fourth highest-rated show of the week. Since then, the episode has been used by the University of California as an aid in sociology to study production and show cultural objects, in this case, in the satirical episode of the cartoon and try to tell the audience about aspects of primarily American society, and, to a lesser extent, about others societies. ^[one]

The episode received mostly positive reviews. Verdict DVD guide Ryan Kiefer wrote in his sixth season review: “All the Australian hits you expected are here. Bart's international incident was hilarious from top to bottom. The phone calls he makes to other countries (in particular, Buenos Aires ) are fantastic. This is one of the best episodes. ”And put him A +. ^[2] Vanity Fair called the episode the second of the best episodes. ^[3] The episode was nominated for an Emmy in the nomination “Outstanding Personal Achievements in Mixing Sounds in a Comedy Series or Special Issue”, losing to the series “Crazy About You”. ^[four]

Australia's reaction

The episode received a mixed rating in Australia, fans of the "Simpsons" called the episode a mockery of their country. Shortly after the broadcast, the Simpsons received 100 letters from viewers who were offended by the episode. They also received letters from people who complain about the Australian accent that Australians speak in the episode because they think it looks more like a South African one . The Simpsons screenwriter and producer Mike Reiss wrote that the episode in Australia is unloved, also saying that when the Simpsons travel to another country, the country the Simpsons come to fiercely accept the episode. He mentioned that they were reprimanded in the Australian parliament after the episode aired. ^[five]

James Joyce of The Newcastle Herald said he was shocked when he first saw the episode: “Who are the Americans trying to trick? I agree, Australia has its drawbacks, like any other country. But laughing at it in person, taunting our legacy, is undoubtedly not right. It confuses and makes our country degrade, and also makes us look like complete idiots. ” The authors of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Weren Martin and Adrian Wood, wrote: “It’s best if you watched the episode with the Australians who will be upset by their image. After the attack on the French, this vicious, unkind, insulting and surprisingly funny episode that kills Australian culture with the creators of The Simpsons. ” ^[6]

The Simpsons executive producer David Mirkin responded to criticism in an interview with The Newcastle Herald, saying, “We love it when the Simpsons travel with the whole family, and that was the beginning. Australia was a fantastic choice because there are many unusual visuals. And this country, which is actually very close to America, is very synchronous with it. We are so alike, but still there are all these fantastic differences that have long been intertwined. This was done very inaccurately, because it was done on purpose. It turned out that this was our evil side: we will take our knowledge of Australia and we will show it in order to stimulate the audience and annoy them at the same time. ”Despite the fact that the episode is criticized for ridicule of the country, the episode also received positive reviews from Australians. Jim Shambrey from the Australian newspaper The Age called it the funniest episode of The Simpsons.

• “Bart vs. Australia » at The Simpsons.com
• “Bart vs. Australia " on TV.com
• Bart vs. Australia on the Internet Movie Database