Report on St Patrick's Day and the First Episode of the Simpsons' 20th Season

Résumé du document

In this report, I will discuss Saint Patrick's Day. My analysis will be built from the first episode of the Simpsons' 20th season. This episode is named "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes". I chose to analyze the first American event I saw in this episode, Saint Patrick's Day. Also named Paddy's Day, this Christian celebration which is on 17 March, celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In the USA, according to an article written in Wikipedia, "celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish". A lot of people, Irish and non-Irish, celebrate it by wearing green, eating Irish food, drinking Irish drinks such as Irish stout (in particular a Guinness, the famous Irish beer) or Irish whiskey. In this episode of the Simpsons, we notice the characters wearing green clothes: a green hat, a green dress and a green tee shirt with a clover on it. Traditionally, the persons who are caught not wearing green are affectionately pinched.

Extraits

[...] As we can see in the episode Pies and Idiot Scrapes”, people come with their children in the street to see the parade, to listen to Irish musicians and to look at Irish dancers. They like to look at this “folk dancing, where you don't move your as the Springfield mayor says in the episode! But there is no specific custom for children like there is for Halloween. In the evening, people can go to the pub where there are sometimes Irish bands. On this evening, Americans drink a lot of beer (more than usual). [...]

[...] It is the symbol which shows distinctly the importance of Saint Patrick's Day in the States. Finally, sport is everywhere in America. So, it would be curious if the St Patrick's mania would not be represented in the most popular sports. Indeed, few days before the 17th of March (the 17th included, of course), some NBA teams wear green jerseys to celebrate the St Patrick's Day (as a NBA fanatic, I already knew that). In baseball, a lot of teams celebrate it by wearing Patrick's Day themed uniforms”. [...]

[...] Summary of the episode At the beginning of the episode Pies and Idiot Scrapes”, the Simpsons are at the Springfield St Patrick's Day parade. This year, the mayor decided to organize the Springfield's first booze-free St Patrick's Day, which the Springfield inhabitants don't appreciate. But during the parade, the Northern Irish are suddenly face-to-face with the Southern Irish, and as everybody knows, the Protestants and the Catholics have hated each other for centuries. So, without alcohol, they start to fight and Homer gets charged for being involved in the fight. [...]

[...] But after a clash, Ned ends their collaboration and the two men continue their job separately. At the end, the bail bondsman asks Ned to pick up Homer because of his unpaid debt. Meanwhile, Marge begins working at an erotic bakery. Analysis I chose to analyze the first American event I saw in this episode, Saint Patrick's Day. Also named Paddy's Day, this Christian celebration which is on 17 March, celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In the USA, according to an article written on Wikipedia, “celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish”. [...]

[...] I think that if you are in the USA on Paddy's Day, you can feel the Irish spirit through many things. In France, St Patrick's Day is much less celebrated. It's a pity because it seems to be a very great celebration. References Internet links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_simpsons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day http://danseseniledefolk.free.fr/article.php3?id_article=490 Chat transcription I don't have a chat transcription because I interviewed six American students who are in Summer Program at the UTT. I asked them about their usual activities during St Patrick's Day and what they know about this celebration in general in the USA. [...]