Season 27 of The Simpsons made a hilarious mockery of Donald Trump. In just one episode the show portrayed their lack of support for the Republican Party’s candidate. The story featured Homer attending the launch of Trump’s campaign, which results in him getting caught in the politician’s hair and being sent on a surreal journey. It’s amidst this hallucination that Homer is paid $50 dollars to support the candidate, the same way as other actors are hired to appear as followers.
The scene includes key elements that ridicule some of the businessman’s low blows. Homer crosses a sort of Bermuda Triangle, a Miss Universe sash, a cancelled NBC pass, and a Macy’s card that says “Get Lost” appears. Besides satirizing Trump’s hair, the show’s co-creator James L. Brooks, admitted it was impossible to overlook the chance to take a shot at the candidate. However it could only be done through Homer’s unique, wisecracking, fun way.
That has not been the only time The Simpsons has parodied hits, misses, or just the personalities of highly relevant figures. Politicians, movie stars, and even visual artists have starred in entire episodes of one of the most successful shows of all times. It’s no wonder that it’s been on for 28 seasons.
Twenty three years ago, it was Yoko Ono’s turn to be mocked as only this series knows how. As expected, the artist and John Lennon’s widow could not sit idly by. Instead she issued a response two decades later.
The Japanese artist is the curator for the One More Story… exhibit, which is based at Iceland’s Reykjavik Museum Of Art. Yoko Ono has been tasked with following up on pieces exhibited at the museum, some of the works are hers, while others have been commissioned to other artists. But this woman created a special piece to prove she is capable of being self-deprecating or sending a retaliatory mock towards The Simpsons.
Those who had the chance to sit in front of the screen in 1993 to watch the show, will remember the day when Yoko Ono walked into Moe’s Tavern to order a cocktail. This drink required a plum floating over boiled perfume and served in a man’s hat. That was the show’s joking translation of her eccentricity.
The parody was not as literal as it seems since it all starts with Homer’s barbershop quartet, The Be Sharps, an obvious parody of The Beatles. In that same episode Barney arrives at Moe’s with his girlfriend, a conceptual Japanese artist, who then orders an unimaginable drink. So the joke of the hat with the perfume and the plum could be seen as a comical coincidence that could made Ono smile. Or not.
What nobody expected was that the mind behind One More Story… would remember to a tee the episode where she was portrayed as a woman of unique exotic tastes. There is a white pedestal and the center of the gallery inside the Reykajavik Museum of Art, where a hat sits, full of perfume, and a floating plum. Besides being a humorous, Ono’s piece serves as hindsight on her work and life in general.
For this exhibit, the artist made a special request to a group of collaborators. “Let’s have fun doing this together,” Ono remarked. Which leaves no doubt that the curator turned a 23 year-old joke at her expense into a work of art.
Source: W Magazine
Translated by María Suárez
