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“The Simpsons” are the doh-racles of modern society.
If it happens on “The Simpsons,” it happens in real life — or so many fans seem to believe.
Over its 32 seasons, the prophetic animated series has been credited with predicting everything from 9/11 to the coronavirus pandemic. This year is no different as the Fox show has eerily anticipated some of 2021’s most groundbreaking events years in advance.
Richard Branson’s space flight
“The Simpsons” proved its psychic powers are out of this world after foretelling British billionaire Richard Branson’s maiden space voyage this past July.
Fans of the long-running series noticed that a scene from a 2014 episode was a dead ringer for footage released this past summer of the 71-year-old Virgin Airlines boss hovering inside his Virgin Galactic rocket.
In the prescient moment from the Season 25 episode, “The War of Art, an animated Branson can be seen leaning back and admiring a painting while floating aboard his interstellar spacecraft.
“How can ‘The Simpsons’ show predict every Damn thing?” one flabbergasted fan posted on Twitter, along with a photo juxtaposing the two nearly identical images.
Branson’s Virgin Atlantic responded by tweeting, “ ‘The Simpsons’ predicted it…” along with a clapping hands emoji.
However, as some critics pointed out, the Emmy-winning cartoon might not have been exactly clairvoyant in this case: The philanthropist had founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 with the goal of transporting tourists to space.
Ted’s not-so-excellent adventure
Thought predicting an interstellar voyage seven years in advance was impressive? “The Simpsons” was recently credited with foretelling Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent mid-crisis trip to Mexico nearly 30 years ago.
In a 1993 episode, entitled “Marge In Chains,” Springfield’s Mayor Joe Quimby was depicted broadcasting a press conference to alert citizens of a pandemic sweeping the town.
However, his PSA is cut short after the camera reveals that the politician is actually standing on a Caribbean beach in a bathing suit. He had tried to trick viewers into thinking he was at home by standing in front of an office setting while wearing just the top half of his suit.
Needless to say, social media was quick to analogize the scenario to Ted Cruz, who infamously flew to Cancun with his family in February as Texas dealt with a winter storm that left hundreds of thousands of people without power. The severe weather also resulted in a whopping 210 deaths
.
Cruz later admitted the trip was “a mistake,” but not before he was minced by the Twitter meme machine.
“Surely this has been said, but not abandoning your constituents to take a tropical vacation is such a comically low bar that it’s literally a ‘Simpsons’ gag,” wrote podcaster Jesse Brenneman.
Astroworld tragedy
In a more somber prognostication, “The Simpsons” has been credited with predicting the now-notorious Astroworld tragedy in November.
The connection came to light after the catastrophe on Nov. 5, during which a crowd crush broke out at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Texas, resulting in the deaths of 10 people.
Following the tragedy, Twitter users had circulated a “Simpsons”-inspired digital pic which depicted Lisa and Homer walking into a giant head similar to Scott’s “Astroworld” album cover. It was captioned “The Simpsons knew.” However, the image reportedly never appeared on “The Simpsons” and is actually fan art from 2018.
However, series diehards have discovered other parallels in the show, including a bit in which Marge, stuck in traffic, sees a sign reading “Roofi concert 5 miles” and exclaims, “Huh! This concert is oversold. It’s as if a music promoter acted unscrupulously.”
Kamala Harris becoming vice president
As if the Trump presidency prediction wasn’t eerie enough, the cartoon crystal ball is now being credited with divining another momentous political event: Kamala Harris becoming vice president.
Social media users invoked the 2000 episode of the seer-like comedy series, “Bart to the Future,” in which Lisa Simpson becomes the first female president of the United States.
And while this connection may seem rather tenuous on its face — as it’s not even the same position, Bart’s sister did sport the same purple ensemble that Harris rocked during the January 2021 inauguration, down to the pearl necklace and earrings.
The Capitol riots
“The Simpsons” has even predicted the same event on more than one occasion. Last year, fans credited two episodes for anticipating the Jan. 6 riots, in which an angry mob of Trump supporters vandalized and attempted an insurrection at the Capitol.
In the wake of the attack, Twitter user Francis Creaven shared a clip from the 1996 episode “The Day the Violence Died,” in which a Capitol Hill politician holds a freshly ratified, anthropomorphic amendment to the Constitution that permits the police to beat “those liberal freaks.” “Doors open, boys,” the amendment calls as a horde of gun-firing, bomb-throwing amendments holler and run up the government building’s steps.
Twitters users have also given props to 2020’s “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episode for forecasting the invasion. In the acclaimed episode, Homer falls asleep and dreams of voting, missing his actual opportunity to vote. The town then appears on Inauguration Day, in ruins, with security robots filling the streets. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear bearing flags reading “pestilence,” “famine,” “war” and “Treehouse of Horror XXXI.”
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