‘The Simpsons’ showrunner on the show’s prophetic powers

It’s becoming all too common now that we can see our unfathomable present predicted far too accurately in Matt Groening’s The Simpsons. 

The most notable act of prophecy was Donald Trump’s rise to power which was predicted in an episode from March 2000, where Lisa had become the first female president (in a shockingly similar outfit to Kamala Harris inauguration) and had to repair Mr. Trump’s mess. Sounds all too familiar doesn’t it?

In 1998, the show predicted that its own company, 20th Century Fox would become part of the Walt Disney empire and that indeed happened in 2019. (But who doesn’t want to see Groundskeeper Willy fight Iron Man?)

Following the rampage through the Capitol building on the 6th of January this year, the world looked to The Simpsons again as it predicted a world full of riots on Inauguration Day on the 20th January of 2021. Though the world didn’t collapse, it certainly felt like it could at any moment. 

In a recent interview NME had with show writer Al Jean, he unpacks all these wild ‘coincidences’ and how they happened. 

Jean puts simply: “One of our writers, the guy who predicted Donald Trump as President, said it best: ‘If you write 700 episodes, and you don’t predict anything, then you’re pretty bad. If you throw enough darts, you’re going to hit some bullseyes”.

So maybe it can be chalked up to mere chance. However, one prediction that even haunts the writers is their alluring to the 9/11 attacks. 

“The 9/11 one is so bizarre… There was a brochure reading $9 a day with an 11 styled up like the towers. That was in ‘96, which was crazy, like this insane coincidence. But mostly it’s just educated guesses. Stanley Kubrick made the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and there’s Zoom and iPads in it – but that’s because he had futurologists helping construct what the world might look like in 30 years time”. 

Jean goes on to suggest that perhaps another Simpsons movie could happen in the future. As exciting as this prospect is… is it worth the risk?

Watch below and decide for yourself whether you preferred The Simpsons version of Trump’s reign or real life:

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