Monday, March 23, 2009

Homer, The Economist and Indonesia


In The Simpsons episode "Catch 'Em If You Can," Homer was traveling by air and got upgraded, with his wife Marge, to First Class. As they were enjoying living the life of the jet-setting upper class, Homer told Marge, "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?"

When Marge asked his opinion, Homer simply replied, "It is!"

Someone at The Economist had a good sense of humor. Four days later, with its customary dry wit, The Economist magazine alluded to the quote, and published an article about Indonesia referring to the "crossroads". The title of the issue was "Indonesia's Gambit". About seven months later, an Economist editor told me, The Economist ran a cover headline reading "Indonesia at a Crossroads."

The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, according to a Wikipedia entry. They include father Homer, mother Marge and their children Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show usually lampoons American culture, society and television.

My son, Norman Harsono, is a big fan of the series. He usually watches the series on Star TV.

Crossroads means an intersection of two or more roads. It also means a point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences. Many editors, including those at The Economists, like to use this word.

-- A fictional story that I learned from Simon Long, Asia editor of The Economist magazine

9 comments:

JO said...

Just wondering that Homer likes to read newspaper as well :).

Thanks for sharing Brother :)!

ucupz malmsteen said...

nice post

tump's said...

That's true... But now is more than 10 years from the 1998 bloody reformation. 10 years and we still going nowhere.
Which way we should use? We still have no good leader. In this election we only can choose the bad from the worst.

Johan Tampubolon said...

Sorry to disagree with tumpal.
We're not without significat progress.
At least, there's more people that has been informed (not just aware) on making Indonesia a better place. Please stop whining. Complaints are acceptable, but, not to nurture. Complaints are to be processed; to learn from; and is a valuable intelligence data (and of course a feedback too! :D) to map the problem we're facing.
By always trying to fix it; By not giving up; By keep spreading up the spirit to make Indonesia better, are stances we should use toward complaints! Practice what you preach! :)

Eki said...

Bung Andre,
Saya sangat mengagumi tulisan dan gaya tulisan Anda. Saya banyak belajar darinya.

Akan jadi kehormatan bagi saya jika Bung Andre berkenan sekedar mampir ke blog saya, E.Q. Says dan memberi komentar; apalagi kalau juga berkenan memberikan link.

Salam hormat,
Eki

andreasharsono said...

Eki,

Terima kasih untuk komentarnya. Saya coba klik blog Anda namun ia diblokade. Tampaknya, blog Anda tak bisa dibuka oleh orang yang tak Anda setujui.

Unknown said...

wah, simsons again, that film was funny, I like it,

Imron Rosyadi said...

Bung Andre, saya baru membaca tulisan anda dan kemudian buka Wikipedia tentang The Simpsons.

Tampaknya paragraf berikut:
"The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge and their children Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show usually lampoons American culture, society and television."

adalah milik Wikipedia. Ada baiknya itu tetap dikreditkan pada mereka.

Saya suka baca tulisan dan blog anda.

andreasharsono said...

Imron,

Terima kasih untuk mengingatkan saya. Saya akan tambah keterangan alinea tsb saya ambil dari Wikipedia.