#in order it's: John from the simpsons episode 'homer's phobia' (played by john waters)

[good-to-drive]

Beatles fans be like

[rpmemesbyarat]

There’s a TV Trope called “Very Special Episode” and in case you don’t want to click it and wind up on TV Tropes all night like I would, here’s what it is: Basically it’s when an episode or issue of a series chooses to depart from the usual subject material and instead focus an episode, usually far more serious in tone than typical, around some very heavy topical issue. Common ones include drug abuse, bullying, suicide, death, terminal illnesses,  and discrimination. For instance, Captain Planet features an episode that addresses the persecution faced by HIV-positive people and Why That’s Wrong, The Proud Family has an episode where Penny becomes friends with a Muslim girl whose family suffers discrimination for their religion and Why That’s Wrong, and so on. You’ve probably seen more than one of these. Some are done very well, others are extremely over-the-top and ham-fisted to a comical point, many are in-between.   But there’s a big problem that’s in many of the anti-bigotry ones. And I didn’t notice it until The Simpson’s Very Special Episode “Homer’s Phobia” in which Homer’s homophobia is cured when his life is saved by a gay man (played by John Waters) using the power of kitsch. At the end, the character says “Well Homer, I won your respect. And all I had to do was save your life. Now if every gay man could just do the same, you’d be set.” This line pointed out what was wrong with this scenario, and why it’s wrong when played completely unironically in similar “Very Special Episodes” in other series:  A bigot should not need to be done some great personal service by a member of minority group in order not to hate them. And you see this idea in a LOT of Very Special Episodes. The racist is saved by a blood transfusion from a black person, showing we’re all the same inside! A Muslim family helps a man stranded on the side of the road, despite the fact his bumper stickers are blatantly Islamophobic! A woman sticks up for the sexist at work who has bedeviled her unceasingly! And in all cases, the bigot turns around and realizes, wow, I was so wrong! Firstly, that’s not how it works in real life, as real-world bigots are very good at compartmentalization and cognitive dissonance, and can very easily believe “there are some good ones” among the groups they hate, or say something like “I like this person as an individual but the fact they helped me doesn’t change the fact that [insert bigoted belief here]” But even if this DID work in real life. . .why is the onus on the minority to personally help people who despise them in order to EARN not being hated? Why is it up to the oppressed to prove to the opressor that they don’t deserve to be persecuted? This validates the idea that you need a reason NOT to be bigoted, and you don’t owe it minorities to treat them decently unless they’ve done something to personally benefit YOU. That’s. . .really fucked up. And probably not what these episodes intended. But that’s how the message comes across, as The Simpsons points out even while technically doing the same thing in order to draw attention to this. This isn’t to say Very Special Episodes are bad or should not be done. Quite the opposite. Even the clunkiest, cringiest, most over-the-top ones are invaluable because they often will be the only exposure that some children will get to these topics in their households. But consider what message you WANT to send versus what message you ACTUALLY send.