During last night's Golden Globes, many of the celebrities present were seen wearing pins that said "Je Suis Charlie." When translated, the pins read "I am Charlie," referencing the recent terrorist attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It was a huge sign of respect coming out of one of Hollywood's biggest events - and yet, it was only the first of two major tributes that night.
Seeing as how The Simpsons is still produced like a standard sitcom (stories and episodes are all written and produced in advance), the show can't be as timely as something like South Park. Despite only having days to create something, the animators over at Fox went out of their way to make sure their tribute to Charlie Hebdo was seen by everyone last night:
The short, three-second animation was shown just before the final commercial break of last night's episode, and, like the buttons worn at the Golden Globes, says "Je Suis Charlie." In addition to paying respect to those that lost their lives during the attack, the image itself is also a reference to French culture, as the short loop was based on French painter Eugene Delacroix's piece titled "Liberty Leading the People."
#ParisMarch Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix pic.twitter.com/On7THb58yY
— alexis (@itsmealexis_) January 12, 2015
Aside from the tribute, the rest of last night's episode, titled "Bart's Best Friend," had nothing else to do with Charlie Hebdo. The script is known for being written by a pre-fame Judd Apatow, but there's a good chance that the epsiode will be remembered for something far more special than any script.
It was short, yes - but that doesn't make The Simpsons' tribute any less amazing. During times as tumultuous as these, even a short animation like this can make a huge difference in someone's life, and just knowing that someone supports you can make everything seem just a little bit easier.
