Review: The Simpsons “Lisa’s Belly”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Marge puts a hurtful word in Lisa’s brain, and Bart gets swole.

Our Take:

Do you have harmful words stuck in your brain and got a swole body? Well, you can thank The Simpsons for that. The last episode of the month before the show’s holiday break has Lisa’s behavior affected by a specific word, while Bart’s going through a massive change in his body.

The episode starts with a fun family trip to the Quiet Rivers water park. Unfortunately, Homer and the kids got sick from the toxic waters following a dangerous ride down the closed Devil’s Deluge slide. As a result, they all get temporary weight gain. Well, except Homer, whose weight still stays the same, which is probably for the best. The situation gets even worse for Lisa when Marge calls her “chunky”, affecting her brain and behavior. Meanwhile, Bart gets to hang out with the school bullies after lying to them about having steroids.

This is another episode that reflects on real-life problems, especially ones that involve ourselves. “Lisa’s Belly” explores not just body imagery but also how our descriptions of their bodies affect people’s feelings about themselves. Even if we don’t know it, it can be a dangerous mistake that could damage themselves and those around them. The episode did a solid job of portraying that scenario while providing some entertaining humor in the process. It’s the balance between comedy and drama that doesn’t offend its viewers but doesn’t take it seriously.

Lisa’s subplot served as the main focus in the episode as Marge struggles to figure out what’s causing Lisa to act like a baby. Although, it’s pretty apparent what Lisa’s problem was for us viewers. I found it to be more effective than Bart’s situation because it heavily reflects what kids went through growing up. Bart hanging out with the bullies isn’t without a few chuckles, but the segment is basically Bart being Bart and nothing else.

The best parts of the humor were the Quiet Rivers section and Marge’s sisters singing the “Who Gives a Crap” song to Lisa. Quiet Rivers was originally named Riot Rivers, a dangerous water park that Homer attended long ago. That served as an excellent callback to Action Park, another unsafe water park in New Jersey. What’s even better is that Johnny Knoxville wasn’t here to ruin the fun. The “Who Gives a Crap” song was nicely written and amusing. It’s mainly the show’s way of saying, “who cares what people say about you?” I think plenty of Simpsons fans will use that song as their main advice in the future.

Overall, “Lisa’s Belly” continues the show’s strength in delivering humorous yet relatable stories that deal with current issues. This is another episode that provided a healthy balance between comedy and drama in terms of representing real-life problems and mental health. No amount of harmful words can stop this season from chugging along smoothly.