Less than a minute in a show spanning thirty years was all it took to feed some deep seeded mania in The Simpsons viewers. Formerly, in the shadows for an extended amount of time, Sneed’s Feed & Seed has reached cult-like significance, with its disciples as earnest in spreading the word as Christ’s apostles. Our domesticated culture harbors a condescending view of rural America: uneducated, bigoted, poor, backwater people. Now, entering Homer’s vision, such thoughts are latent in our heads. Yet it is we — the audience — who are attacked. The words “City slicker”, “fancy German car”, “Gucci loafers”, “Park Avenue manicure”, invective bites at our character, what we represent. We are that urbanite consumerist drone with his imported products and delicate hands unknown to hard labor. This theme develops throughout the scene, with Homer’s blunders showing he is not more wise or capable in all regards to the farmers, but rather reflects how he merely responds with “What do you know?”, only to make yet another laughable mistake. “What do you know?” While at the time this seems simply ironic dialogue for comedic effect, it has an added deeper significance. It makes us — the audience — question: “What do they know”?
Sneed is embedded in our collective unconscious, the reasons undoubtedly nuanced. No, it cannot be simply because of the emotional contradiction we feel having our expectations be defied. Having one's views challenged leads to a catharsis, with Sneed being a mirror into our own subconscious. We live in a society where all our needs are easily taken care of. There is no direct connection between our cushy white collar jobs and providing for our very survival, we supplemented freedom for comfort. Our ancestors experienced struggle to survive, making this part of the human ethos. The industrial revolution and its consequences inverted our way of life. We no doubt feel a draw to return to the freedom and struggle formerly experienced by those who lived before us. Sneed represents a return to tradition. Such a desire manifests in most of modern society.
The conservatives wish to return to their idealized American decade, even though where we are now is the inevitable conclusion of it. The farmers themselves are no longer sustenance farmers; Sneed is selling to Homer to make extra money himself. Even those seemingly resistant to change have been dragged on the coattails of “progress”, so is this yearning for freedom a delusion? Perhaps, desire for freedom manifests in many ways. Some may progress among the fake hierarchy of the business world for this sense of control. Others may try to escape it all, plus homestead for their families. In more extreme cases, our desire for freedom manifests in extreme cathartic violence. All political violence is catalyzed by our desire to dictate our destinies. What do we have to show for it?
>and tomaccos
The System is resilient. The trends of “progress” show no signs of stopping. Maybe now, one can hope to stay away in the woods away from civilization, but it will not last. Civilization will come knocking on his doorstep as history has shown countless times before. It will not stop. It will continue until everything is a socially beneficial agent. You and I are already pigs, cogs and corks in the machine of the System. Import products, white collar jobs, probably on some drug to wire you into accepting your place in this insane hierarchy, sneeding in the face of true universal order. Now I ask you: What do you know?[8]
Full script[edit | edit source]
Chuck: Well, well! Look at the city slicker pulling up in his fancy German car.
Homer: This car was made in Guatemala.
Sneed: Well, pardon us, Mr. Gucci Loafers.
Homer: I bought these shoes from a hobo.
Chuck: Well, la-dee-da, Mr. Park Avenue Manicure.
Homer: I'm sorry. I believe in good grooming.
Cashier: You're not gonna grow nothin' on the old Simpson place. That's why your daddy abandoned it.