The Joy of Sect
"The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult takes over Springfield, and the Simpson family become members.
Not to be confused with The Joy of Sets."The Joy of Sect"
Season 9
Episode 13
5F23
February 8, 1998
"Shooting paintballs is not an art form"[1]
Tiny versions of the Simpsons climb on the couch, and a normal-sized Santa's Little Helper comes up to the couch, takes Homer in his mouth, and runs off with him.[2]
Matt Groening
David Mirkin
Steve O'Donnell
Yeardley Smith
Steven Dean Moore
David Mirkin conceived the initial idea for the episode, Steve O'Donnell was the lead writer, and Steven Dean Moore directed. The writers drew on many groups to develop the Movementarians, but were principally influenced by Scientology, Heaven's Gate, the Unification Church ("Moonies"), the Rajneesh movement, and Peoples Temple. The show contains many references to popular culture, including the title reference to The Joy of Sex and a gag involving Rover from the television program The Prisoner.
"The Joy of Sect" was later analyzed from religious, philosophical, and psychological perspectives; books on The Simpsons compared the Movementarians to many of the same groups from which the writers had drawn influence.
Both USA Today and The A.V. Club featured "The Joy of Sect" in lists of important episodes of The Simpsons.
Plot[edit]
While at the airport, Bart and Homer meet recruiters for the Movementarians, a new religious movement, who invite Homer and many other Springfield residents to a free weekend at their compound. There, an orientation film tells that a mysterious man known as "The Leader" will guide Movementarians aboard a spaceship to the planet Blisstonia, with audience members being pressured to sit back down and continue watching by having a spotlight shone on them when they attempt to sneak out. The lengthy film brainwashes the attendees into worshipping The Leader, except for Homer, who was not paying attention. After failing to brainwash Homer through humiliation and nutrient deficiency (via low protein gruel), the recruiters succeed with a chant to the tune of the Batman theme song.
Almost all the townspeople join the cult, including Homer, who moves his family to the Movementarian compound. At the same time, Mr. Burns makes an unsuccessful attempt to start a religion of his own in order to achieve tax-exemption, and Kent Brockman's exposé pieces on the Movementarians are suppressed after the Leader becomes the owner of Channel 6's parent company. Though defiant at first, all the Simpson children are converted to Movementarianism. Marge is the only family member to resist, and escapes from the heavily guarded compound. Outside, she finds Reverend Lovejoy, Ned Flanders, and Groundskeeper Willie, who have all resisted the Movementarians, and with their help, she tricks her family into leaving the compound with her.
At the Flanders' home, Marge deprograms her kids by baiting them with fake hoverbikes and then works on Homer with a glass of beer. However, as a drop of beer lands on his tongue, he is recaptured by the Movementarians' lawyers. Back at the compound, Homer reveals to the other Movementarians that he is no longer brainwashed and attempts to expose the cult as a fraud, but upon opening the doors of the compound's "Forbidden Barn" he and the crowd are surprised to find an actual spaceship. However, the crude spaceship disintegrates as it takes flight, revealing The Leader on a pedal-powered aircraft fleeing with everyone's money. He subsequently crashes on Cletus Spuckler's property, who forces him to give over the money at gunpoint.
The Simpsons return home, where Lisa remarks how wonderful it is to once again be able to think for themselves. The episode ends with the family monotonously repeating the words of a Fox announcer: that they "are watching Fox".
Cultural references[edit]
When Marge attempts to leave the compound, she is chased by the Rover guard "balloon" from the 1967 television program The Prisoner.[2][17] Neal Hefti and Nelson Riddle's theme music to the 1960s Batman series is used in the episode to indoctrinate Homer.[2] When Mr. Burns introduces his new religion, most of the sequence is a parody of the promotional video of Michael Jackson's 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.[3]
Willie scratching his nails along the church window to get Marge and Reverend Lovejoy's attention is a reference to the 1975 film Jaws, in which the character Quint performs a similar action.[1] The Springfield Airport contains the "Just Crichton and King Bookstore", referencing Michael Crichton and Stephen King, authors famous for their airport novels, carrying only their works.[1]
Reception[edit]
In its original broadcast, "The Joy of Sect" finished 27th in ratings for the week of February 2–8, 1998, with a Nielsen rating of 9.6, equivalent to approximately 9.4 million viewing households. It was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files, King of the Hill, and Ally McBeal.[18]
In a 2006 article in USA Today, "The Joy of Sect" was highlighted among six other episodes of The Simpsons season 9, along with "Trash of the Titans", "The Last Temptation of Krust", "The Cartridge Family", "Dumbbell Indemnity", and "Das Bus".[19] The A.V. Club featured the episode in its analysis of "15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras".[12] The Daily Mirror gave the episode positive mention in its review of the Season 9 DVD release, calling it "hilarious".[20] Isaac Mitchell-Frey of the Herald Sun cited the episode as the highlight of the season.[21]
The Sunday Mail highlighted the episode for their "Family Choice" segment, commenting: "Normally, a show about religious cults would spell doom and gloom. Only Bart, of The Simpsons, could make a comedy out of it but then, he and his cartoon family are a cult in their own right anyway!"[22] Jeff Shalda of The Simpsons Archive used the episode as an example of one of the "good qualities present in The Simpsons", while analyzing why some other aspects of The Simpsons make Christians upset.[23]
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide commented that the episode was "an odd one" with "a lot of good moments", and went on to state that it was "a nice twist to see Burns determined to be loved". However, the book also noted that "The Joy of Sect" is "another one where the central joke isn't strong enough to last the whole episode".[2]
In a lesson plan developed at St Mary's College, Durham titled An Introduction to Philosophy: The Wit and Wisdom of Lisa Simpson, the episode is described in a section on "False Prophets" as applicable for "...studying the more outrageous manifestations of 'religion' or those simply alert to the teachings of Christ on the subject".[24]