Clairvoyance and “The Simpsons” have been synonymous since the show’s debut in 1989. The American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening has been able to predict the future from Trump’s presidency to marijuana being legalized in Canada. The writers of the show have to think a year in advance because the episodes are aired one year after they’re shot. The predictions are concrete and eccentric to the audience.
Here are the instances where The Simpsons conjectures mostly came true:
Beirut Explosion
On Tuesday, a portside warehouse containing seized explosives exploded, as a result, sending shockwaves across the capital of Lebanon, Beirut. The casualties of the event are ineffable and the country is grieving amidst a double pandemic. Images and videos of a giant plume of smoke ascending upwards due to the treacherous explosion spread quickly on social media. There are a thousand views on one such version of the video on Twitter. According to netizens, it was similar to an image of The Simpsons episode. So, did the writers of the show foresee the future again?
In this video, the scene of Homer buying and lighting the M-320 firework is from season 7, episode 25. The mushroom cloud explosion comes from season 16’s Treehouse of Horror episode where Homer causes the Springfield Nuclear plant to explode. It has been edited and feigned to be true in the eyes of the netizens.
More importantly, the explosion in Beirut did not occur at a nuclear power plant. These viral “predictions” make no mention of Beirut, ammonium nitrate, the year 2020, or any other details specific to the catastrophic events in Lebanon. While it is true that “The Simpsons” showed fireworks in one episode and a large explosion in nuclear power plant, but it does not justify prognostication.
Osaka Flue is Coronavirus
In the season four episode “Marge in Chains,” in 1993 it predicted a global flu pandemic known as the “Osaka Flu”. It was spread by a Japanese factory worker who coughed on the package. Consequently, the package was received by Homer and he infected his family and the principal. Slowly the whole town of Springfield to America was infected which created mayhem and uncertainty. In addition, there was no cure, no sense of emancipation, certainly like coronavirus.
In this same episode, there is an unfair arrest that has severe repercussions. It leads to inexplicable civil unrest and mass rioting in Springfield. It is, in the same vein as George Floyd’s injudicious arrest and death which created a massive distortion of life in America amidst pandemic.
Reminiscing Word-craft of Rabindranath Tagore
Trumps Presidency
The eeriest prognostication of The Simpsons is of Donald Trump’s presidency back in 2000! Lisa Simson in the episode “Bart to the Future” refers to “inheriting quite a budget crunch from President Trump”.
Ebola Outbreak
After watching a 1997 episode of The Simpsons, theorists believed that it predicted the 2014 Ebola outbreak. It showed Marge reading sick Bart a book called Curious George and the Ebola Virus. Many argue the Ebola outbreak has been there for a long time, but the assumption is baseless.
Noble Prize for economic
MIT professor Bengt Holmstrom won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2016. Further, in 2010, The Simpsons episode “Elementary School Musical” it alluded that he was on the frontline to win.
From the faulty voting machine in the Presidential elections to The Beatles receiving a letter from their fan from decades ago, the show certainly predicted it all. In futuristic visuals of the show, it further showed there would be a zombie apocalypse in the world!
Do you think it can be true?
However, many people consider these mere coincidences, edited footage or blatant rumours. After all, this is so eerie that it is untamable to our constructed minds.
Inputs: Twitter, NDTV and Wikipedia
The Simpsons prediction of Beirut explosion full video
