Watch This Space

Author: SHEILA SELES

Last Sunday night homosexuality held the spotlight on television. Apparently, sex does sell, and same-sex sex sells even better. The most hyped coming out occurred on the smartest show on television -"The Simpsons."

The episode unfolds in typical "Simpsons" fashion. The writers take us from point A to point Z so quickly and seamlessly that we have no idea how we got to the end of the episode from the beginning. At the start of this episode, Bart and his best friend Milhouse torment a TV travel show host, who eventually gives Springfield a severe tongue-lashing and all but kills the town's tourism industry. To revive tourism the town decides to legalize gay marriage because they reason that gay people have a lot of money. This idea bothers Homer for about half a second until he realizes that he can make big money marrying same-sex couples. He gets certified as a minister on the Internet and makes a gay marriage business in his garage.

The Fox network, which airs "The Simpsons," has been advertising their "gay episode" for what seems like months now. They promised that one "Simpsons" regular would come out of the closet and television critics and fans immediately began to place bets on which character it would be. Of course in its brilliant self-referential fashion, Sunday's episode addressed most of the speculations about Springfield's newest gay resident. Martin Prince, Bart's ridiculously urbane 8-year-old classmate, was one of the favorites for gay speculations. During the episode, Martin answers curious fans when he's accused of being gay on the playground, "I'm not anything yet!" Homer then tries to drum up some gay marriage business from his inseparable buddies Lenny and Carl - another couple that garnered a lot of gay speculation. Marge then urges Homer to "give them time." These are the kind of in-jokes that endear "The Simpsons" to loyal fans and TV junkies alike.

So, the million-dollar question - who came out of the closet? As it turns out many speculators were right. Marge's sister Patty is a lesbian. This wasn't really much of a surprise to "Simpsons" aficionados. While her twin sister Selma has been married three times in the 16-season course of the show, Patty has remained single and blatantly uninterested in any man who is not Macgyver. When Patty comes out to Marge, Marge acts like she has dropped a huge bomb. At this moment, Homer speaks for "Simpsons" fans everywhere when he quips, "Hey, Marge. Here's another bomb - I like beer."

Predictability aside, last Sunday's "Simpsons" provides the insightful and messy social commentary that has kept the show on the air for 16 seasons. While most mainstream real-life debate about gay marriage has focused on moral questions, on "The Simpsons" no one in Springfield, except for the idealistic Lisa, seems to have a legitimate moral position on the issue. The business owners in town - notably Apu decked out in short shorts - love the idea of gay marriage for the revenue it brings in, not because of any human rights concerns. Homer supports gay marriage for similar monetary reasons.

The show uses Homer's garage-business to lampoon conservative arguments that gay marriage will dissolve marriage to the point where anything can marry anything. (Homer does allow people to marry anything and even quotes a "diaper fee for chimp brides.") Of course, Homer is the extreme, but he points to an issue of social importance - the institution of marriage (gay or straight) has become a commodity. The recent shotgun Vegas weddings and subsequent annulments of Nicky Hilton and Britney Spears prove that any man and woman who can afford the fee can get hitched. Where's the sanctity in that?

The show does seem to come down on the side of tolerance even if it leaves the larger moral questions untouched. Marge eventually comes to terms with Patty's sexual orientation saying, "Just because you're a lesbian doesn't make you less of a bian (being)."

The tough questions raised by this rather gimmicky episode prove that "The Simpsons" hasn't lost its edge. I hope that as long as American culture has problems, "The Simpsons" will be there to make us laugh at ourselves. Here's to 16 more seasons.