The Simpsons is a well-known and beloved cartoon series that have been around for around three decades and over 600 episodes up to date. But, they're also best known for "predicting" a few real-life events, including Donald Trump being elected as the U.S. president--and now, fans are thinking the series has predicted the coronavirus crisis.
The Simpsons Did it Again!
Well, not totally the coronavirus pandemic, which is now wreaking havoc across the world with the United States recently gaining the top spot of most confirmed cases.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, a sharp-eyed fan noticed a clip from a 1998 The Simpsons episode that is eerily similar to what's happening today, specifically newsreader Kent Brockman who is reading the news from his home.
Brockman can be heard saying: "This is Kent Brockman reporting from my own home in accordance with the new curfew for anyone under 70."
In an eerily similar situation in the real world, a Channel 4 newsreader, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, is also forced to present the news from his own home last week as he isolates himself due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The eagle-eyed fan saw the similarity and shared the images from The Simpsons clip and of Guru-Murthy's news presentation.
I hate to say it, I really do, but The Simpsons has... I can’t actually. pic.twitter.com/mVw6PZnRVL — Scott Bryan (@scottygb) March 21, 2020
Did the Series Predict the Pandemic Itself?
Meanwhile, a few fans of The Simpsons have actually claimed that the cartoon series has actually "predicted" the coronavirus pandemic itself.
The Simpson episode in question is a 1993 episode entitled "Marge in Chains."
The episode revolves around the citizens of Springfield who were infected with a far-eastern virus known as the "Osaka Flu" when they ordered juicers from Japan.
However, Reuters reported that a few fans have actually edited images on social media, so it would seem like The Simpsons has actually "predicted" the coming of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Although many who have shared the images on social media have done so in good humor, a minority began implying that The Simpson prediction was actually evidence of a media-led conspiracy.
"Predictions" on Films and TV Shows
With the rise of the COVID-19 cases around the world, people began seeing eerie coincidences with TV shows and films.
As GamesRadar noted, many are beginning to think that films like Contagion, the Disney animated cartoon film Tangled, and a Netflix Korean drama series My Secret, Terrius have predicted the crisis we are facing today.
In star-studded film Contagion, a young woman goes back home from Hong Kong and brings a mysterious illness that has quickly spread throughout the world and caused a global health crisis--a lot like what we're dealing with today.
Meanwhile, Tangled is Disney's take on the infamous fairy tale involving Rapunzel, who was stuck in a tower and couldn't go out.
So, how did it predict the coronavirus pandemic?
Rapunzel's Kingdom is called Corona, and people see the similarities of Rapunzel being locked away in a tower to the quarantine we face today.
Lastly, an episode in the Korean drama entitled My Secret, Terrius, has mentioned a "mutant coronavirus" that attacks people's respiratory system.
However, the term coronavirus has already been used before to describe various strains.
