Do The Simpsons Predict The Future?

Tanmay S. Redhu | CSED

With 28 seasons and counting on the air, The Simpsons is undeniably a television phenomenon. Both the longest-running American sitcom and animated program, the critically acclaimed cartoon is widely recognised as one of, if not the, best shows of all time for its humorous satire of everything from politics and pop culture to everyday family life.

Fox's long-running "The Simpsons" has had a knack for foreseeing future events. The popular animated series did it once again in regards to its own fate as it was confirmed Thursday that Walt Disney Company purchased 21st Century Fox assets in a $54.2 billion deal. "The Simpsons" predicted this would occur in 1998, however.

In another episode, Bart and Lisa found out 3-eyed Fish in the lake where nuclear dump was wasted. It’s possible in real life, right? If you read in the news tomorrow, it’s not that Simpsons predicted it.

After looking at this picture, people say that Simpsons predicted 9/11. If an artist is asked to draw an image of New York City, they will look for the buildings which defines NYC. These are, Empire State, World Trade Center, 40 Wall Street, Plaza Hotel etc. So, an artist, just from his instincts used two towers representing World Trade Center, along with a $9 price. It doesn’t mean he/she predicted 9/11.

There are so many other instances like this. For example, Ebola Virus has been going around as an incurable and uncontrollable disease from 1976. Breaking Bad, an American TV show, had a line in it with Ebola in it. It doesn’t mean Simpsons or Breaking Bad predicted it. It was always there and these shows somehow managed to cover it previously.

Another great example of this is them predicting Donald Trump becoming President of the United States of America. Trump, as crazy as he may be, is a cunning businessman. Those who know even a little of Trump’s business endeavours and reputation would not doubt his business acumen. Also, he was always a minor politician from the beginning. The Simpsons showed him on TV and then he decided to run for Presidency. It is again a mere coincidence. The episode aired in 2000, which makes it seem eerily prescient, but did you know that Donald Trump ran for president in 2000? He sought the nomination of the Reform Party in a campaign that ran from October 1999 to February 2000. So it’s not like The Simpsons’ use of Trump as an aspirant to the Oval Office was fabricated out of thin air.

That wasn’t even Trump’s first flirtation with the presidency. Back in 1987, there was a movement to draft Trump to run for the Republican nomination.

They again showed Trump campaigning when he announced his candidacy in June 2015. However, it should be noted: predicting something like Trump campaigning for the election is not impressive in light of the fact that they also had an episode where Lisa was the first female president (thus predicting Hillary Clinton as President), meaning they would have been right either way. What would have been interesting is that if ‘covfefe’ was seen anywhere on Simpsons.

The Simpson “predicts” everything for two reasons: (1) because they write about everything; (2) because eventually if you wait long enough, even the most absurd possibility becomes plausible. I know we all want them to be right, but alas! There is such a thing as sheer coincidence.