Summary and response of “she used to be my girl”, an episode of The Simpsons

Chloe is a famous journalist who covers Mayor’s scandal instead of being cheated by a puppy like other newsmen in Springfield. Actually she was Marge’s partner in high school journalism and both of them had potential. But they made different choice: Chloe chose to go off to journalism school while Marge stayed in Springfield with Homer because she was pregnant at that time. Marge feels jealous of Chloe because her husband looks stupid and her daughter Lisa is fascinated by Chloe. One night, after drinking half glass of wine, Marge can’t hold her emotion anymore and fights with Chloe. Although she explains to Lisa later, she won’t let Lisa go with Chloe to women’s conference. So Lisa escapes from house and hides in Chloe’s car to go to conference. In the half way to women’s conference, Chloe is asked to cover Mount Springfield eruption. Lisa and Chloe get trouble. They are trapped in lava. At that time, Marge saves Lisa using mother love and Chloe is saved by her ex-boyfriend.

There are several symbols in this episode and I would pick some of them to interpret.

1.      Puppy: The Mayor uses puppy to placate local newsmen. It represents some politicians use sensational stuff to gain sympathy and transfer public attention from their scandal to other harmless thing.

2.      Evergreen Terrace and Chloe’ single life: When Marge is asked where she lives, when Chloe is asked her special someone, they both pretend coughing because they are not satisfied with current situation and do not want others know. These represent the flaws in their life.

3.      Chloe’s bowl: It represents Chloe’s fascination. Not only Lisa is attracted by Chloe, but also Marge can’t deny it. It is the reason why Marge fights with Chloe later.

4.      Women conference: In the women conference, no matter what Homer says, he is hissed by other women. So Homer is very confused what women want. It is a satire to some feminism.

5.      The strange dance: In this episode, Chloe talks about a dance the Chinese government makes dissidents perform before they shot them. It represents misunderstanding of American to China.

This episode mainly discusses women’s role in society and their choice. Marge and Chloe represent two types of women. One is housewife, who takes care of family, chose her sweetheart and children rather than career, like Marge. The other is Independent female, like Chloe, who chooses her professional career. The episode does not make a judgment about which one is better. Marge has many unsatisfactory staff in her life so does Chloe. And in the end both of them seem to find something important. It is hard to say Marge made a bad decision because she has a happy family but Chloe doesn’t, although Marge herself feels jealous of Chloe. So what the role women play in society? I think no one can answer this question. Only every individual woman know what she wants.