Environmental Scan - Current interactive exhibits
From CIRCA
VTracker |
---|
Content inserted. (177 Occurances) |
Content structure inserted. (126 Occurances) |
Content style of a font changed. (10 Occurances) |
Contents |
Environmental Scan
MOMA NYC
Lisa wakes her brother Bart up to remind him that her birthday is nearing, and that he neglects or forgets it every year. Bart promises to get her a present this year. Meanwhile, their father Homer discovers that all of his white shirts have turned pink because Bart put his red hat in with the laundry. Homer has no choice but to wear a pink shirt to work and as a result, his co-workers poke fun at him. His boss, Mr. Burns, suspects him of being a "free thinkinganarchist". Homer is sent home with a 20-question psychiatric quiz that he has to fill in so that Dr. Marvin Monroe can assess his sanity. Homer is too lazy to finish the quiz on his own and lets Bart fill it in. When Dr. Monroe sees the results, he determines that Homer is crazy. Homer is sent to a mental institution, where he shares a cell with a large white man who pretends to be and acts like Michael Jackson. Not knowing who Jackson is, Homer believes him.
Homer's wife Marge comes to the institution and is able to convince his doctors that he is not insane. Homer bids farewell to Michael, who reveals that he is only in the mental institution voluntarily. Homer therefore decides to let him stay in his home. He calls and tells Bart that he is bringing Michael to stay for a few days. Against Homer's wishes, Bart tells his friend Milhouse and soon all of Springfield turns up outside of the Simpson family's home to see Michael. The level of excitement is deflated when Homer introduces Michael and they realize he is an impostor. The townspeople become angry at Bart and leave. At the same time, Lisa comes out of the house and is upset with Bart because he has yet again failed to acknowledge her birthday, because of his excitement over Michael Jackson's arrival.
After hearing Lisa writing an angry letter to Bart, the faux Michael convinces Bart to let him help. Together they write and perform a song for Lisa's birthday called "Happy Birthday Lisa". Lisa is thrilled and hugs her brother, saying that he has given her the best present ever. Seconds later, Michael reveals that his real name is Leon Kompowsky, and he is a bricklayer from Paterson, New Jersey. He explains that he had been very angry for most of his life, but found some peace in pretending to be Jackson because talking in Jackson's voice made him and everyone around him happy. Kompowsky bids farewell to the Simpsons and walks off down the road, singing Lisa's birthday song to himself.
Production
"Stark Raving Dad" was written specifically for
Michael Jackson, a fan of the show, who had called Groening one
night and offered to do a guest spot.<ref
name="Groening">Groening, Matt. (2003).
Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in
"Stark Raving Dad" was the final episode in the season two production run, but aired as the premiere of season three, over a year after it was completed.<ref name="Reiss"/> Michael Jackson was credited with pseudonym John Jay Smith in the closing credits.<ref name="fan"/> At the time, the producers of the show were legally prevented from confirming that Jackson guest starred, although many media sources assumed it was really him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Similarly, in season two, actor Dustin Hoffman had guest starred in the episode "Lisa's Substitute" under the name "Sam Etic". After "Stark Raving Dad", the producers decided that if a celebrity wished to guest star on the show, they had to be willing to be credited under their real name.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Jackson was a fan of Bart,<ref>Template:Cite
book</ref> and in addition to doing a
guest spot on the show, he wanted to give Bart a number one single.
He therefore co-wrote the song "Do the
Bartman", which was released as a single around the same
time that the episode was produced. Jackson could not take credit
for his work on the song due to contractual
reasons.<ref
name="Brooks">Brooks, James L. (2003).
Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, and the Fox network re-aired the episode on July 5 as a tribute to him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The producers had intended to air the episode on June 28, 2009, three days after Jackson's death, but could not resolve issues with syndication rights in time. The music video for "Do the Bartman" was aired on that date instead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The producers screened the episode first, and the only change made, which was unrelated to Jackson, was the blurring of a phone number.<ref name="VanSun"/>
Alternate opening
The January 30, 1992 rerun of the episode featured a brief
alternate opening, which was written in response to a comment made
by the President
of the United States, George
H. W. Bush, three days earlier. The show had previously had a
"feud" with Barbara
Bush when, in the October 1, 1990 edition of
Ontario Science Museum
Visitors to the exhibit can also interact with Papagiannis???s Wonder Turner, an AR experience where viewers physically rotate large cubes to reveal and create a new video composition. The cubes are equipped with black and white AR symbols which the software interprets and emits as video clips. Using the classic ???exquisite corpse??? format with four interchangeable heads, torsos and feet, rotating the cubes allows the user to create a wild variety of creatures ??? from a surgeon???s head, belly-dancing torso and penguin feet to a llama head, guitar-playing torso and trampoline feet, and other wondrous creations. An augmented video of the visitor with the transformed turner is simultaneously displayed on the screen.