Debunked: Simpsons Syria 'premonition'...? [old flag]
- Thread starter BombDr
- Start date
BombDr
Senior Member.
Though not sure what conspiracy is being claimed as I was under the impression that CTers believed the US was supporting the Syrian opposition. So maybe Matt Groening is secretly an Assad fan....
I'm leaning towards co-incidence as the stars on the Jeep appear to be black...
Balance
Senior Member.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_oppositionThe "independence flag" of Syria, used before the Ba'athist coup in 1963, has been widely used by protesters as an opposition flag and has been adopted officially by the Syrian National Coalition and the Free Syrian Army.
I wonder if somone in the Simpsons PR office may respond?
BombDr
Senior Member.
Melbury's Brick
Senior Member.
It's like Syria's "old" flag, assuming the stars are red. From 1946-1958 so "before the Syrian opposition existed" is irrelevant....
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/sy-his2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iraq
(I think the idea that someone out there is planning events 10,20,30 years in advance and then "warning" us about it in cartoons etc. is among the most ridiculous of all the conspiracy theories.)
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/sy-his2.html
Old Iraqi flag also features "bars 'n stars"1946 (Independence) – 1958
Green-white-black horizontal tricolour with three red five-pointed stars pointing upwards, ratio 1:2.
Source: National Geographic, February 1951
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iraq
Likely that the Simpsons flag is an attempt at a generic middle eastern flag, given the subject matter of the clip.Iraq 1963–1991
(I think the idea that someone out there is planning events 10,20,30 years in advance and then "warning" us about it in cartoons etc. is among the most ridiculous of all the conspiracy theories.)
BombDr
Senior Member.
Who is to say the Syrian opposition didn't watch this and think that might be a good flag design for their group.
Who is to say that insurgent groups don't have a sense of humour...?
cosmic
Senior Member.
New Kids on the Blecch
Season 12, Episode 14
Aired Feb. 25, 2001
[Full episode link; the music video begins at 10:58.]
The stars on the flag look green to me rather than red. Given the song lyrics and original airdate, I think it's more likely a spoof of the Iraq flag, or as @Melbury's Brick said, perhaps just a generic mockup.
Season 12, Episode 14
Aired Feb. 25, 2001
[Full episode link; the music video begins at 10:58.]
With that bit of background established...Plot
After seeing 38-year-old Carlos Lopes in the 1984 Summer Olympics on TV, Homer decides to participate in the Springfield marathon to prove to Marge that he is fit. In the end though, Bart comes out as a surprise winner, by entering from a side alley near the end, wearing a stereotypical Italian costume as a disguise. Unfortunately, while receiving the trophy, a bird rips off Bart's fake moustache, causing an angry mob to chase after him. Cornered, he accepts a ride from a stranger to escape. The stranger introduces himself as 'L.T. Smash', who happens to be a music producer. Smash offers Bart a career as a member of a boyband known as "The Party Posse", as his stunt showed he has the right bad boy attitude. Bart accepts, and becomes the Party Posse's fourth member, joining Nelson, Ralph and Milhouse. The Party Posse quickly ascend to stardom, albeit using complex voice enhancers built by NASA. They perform at Springfield Elementary to high applause.
The band releases a single video, directed by Ang Lee, titled "Drop Da Bomb", which contains the chorus, 'Yvan eht Nioj'. Lisa's growing suspicion around The Party Posse eventually results in her discovering the line is a subliminal recruiting message to join the Navy, as 'Yvan eht Nioj' is 'Join the Navy' written backwards. In addition, while freeze-framing the video Lisa discovers that a recruiting poster featuring Uncle Sam was included in the video for a split second. Lisa sees that Otto has decided to join the Navy, and so goes to find L.T. Smash, where she discovers that he is actually Lieutenant L.T. Smash (The joke being that both his rank and name are the same; 'Lt.' is the abbreviation for the Navy rank of Lieutenant). He says he is working to recruit people for the United States Navy, and that bands have often been used for recruiting. Lisa points out her discoveries to Homer and Marge, but they dismiss her accusations as jealousy of Bart. The events come to a head when The Party Posse perform at a concert on an aircraft carrier, which only increases Lisa's suspicion towards the band. During the first song (which also contains subliminal messages), Smash learns from his superior officer that Mad Magazine's next issue will lampoon The Party Posse, calling them 'The Potty Posse', and thus the band will no longer have any recruiting power.
The stars on the flag look green to me rather than red. Given the song lyrics and original airdate, I think it's more likely a spoof of the Iraq flag, or as @Melbury's Brick said, perhaps just a generic mockup.
There's trouble in a far off nation
Time to get inlowlove formation
Your love's more deadly than Saddam
That's why I gotta drop da bomb
Last edited:
Lobster Johnson
Member
According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Syria, the flag was first adopted in '32 which predates the episode by a good 69 years but the report seems to suggest that it is a new design. Surely the animators wanted something generically Arabic and so through a bit of research chose this. I wonder why this ever made news?
List of Arab flags. Lots of three strips with stuff in the middle stripe going on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_flags
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_flags
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