Lisa episodes are often dismissed as boring and preachy. This is in part because post-Golden Age, the character was reduced to the writer’s liberal mouthpiece, but I can see it based on how so many of her Golden Age episodes are more downbeat, less wacky, and more often than not about her standing up for her ideals, which is a lot less fun than delving into a ridiculous sugar scheme. At the same time, I don’t think there’s a character I identified with more growing up, and I know I’m not alone in that. Lisa is an iconic feminist character, one that scores of women idolised as girls, and what’s interesting is how many men identified with her too – her cleverness, her idealism, her philosophical outlook, and her emotional sensitivity are definitely something I saw in myself when I was a kid. This might sound like I’m downplaying the feminist qualities of her existence, but I think there are very few female characters who are held up as admirable heroes by women and men the way Lisa is (especially up to the early Nineties). Like, I’ve heard of women who identified with Han Solo’s loveable rogue qualities growing up and didn’t even think about the fact he was male; I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a man who grew up wanting to be Princess Leia the same way. Lisa is a case where women want to be her, and men also want to be her.

Much of it must come down to the fact that, yes, Lisa is the writer’s mouthpiece, but not in the sense that she repeats liberal talking points – rather, in the sense that the way she lives her life is the way the crew create the show. She takes in books and television and history and news and turns herself into a melting pot, merging all those ideas into a clear set of principles to live by. And she has compassion for others, seeing the things that make them happy and unhappy, and wants to help them get what they want without infringing on others. In a lesser story, this would turn her into a Mary Sue, but the show also has the wisdom to not let her get away with anything, and “Lisa The Vegetarian” is one of the greatest examples of that kind of uniquely Lisa story. I know her vegetarianism stuck at the request of Paul McCartney, but it honestly feels so true to the character; it seems right that she would play with a lamb, and then find herself thinking of it when she’s eating lamb chops later – to find she can’t not think of it. If you like, this is one of the aspects of the show’s ‘think things through’ ethos it hasn’t explored yet – when thinking something through reveals something grossly offensive about your world that you never considered.

It makes this one of those delightful cases where it feels like a story I always loved seemed to tell my life story before I lived it, because it shows the common life story of a leftist and the near-universal story of an idealist. This isn’t like “Lisa Vs Malibu Stacy” or “Mr Lisa Goes To Washington”, where her already-formed ideals hit up against an insurmountable obstacle. This is discovering new information that creates an entirely new ideal that wasn’t there before, like discovering that women are held to an unfair standard or that your government is committing atrocities. Her arc is being frustrated that her newfound vegetarianism is hitting up against a society pretty dug-in about the whole meat-eating thing and being shocked and outraged that people can’t see what she’s seen. Idealism is a difficult path; I’m delighted to have gotten to watch the growth of the current brand of leftism from a scattered social group to a powerful movement, to have been shocked by what worked as new rules have been written and a new social contract drawn up, and to see all different kinds of idealists. There are some who only seem to become bigger in the face of criticism and aloneness, responding to threats by becoming even tougher and more rigid. I’ve seen idealists like this snap injustice in half; I’ve seen idealists like this get burned up and destroyed; I’ve seen idealists like this who were just fuckin’ assholes. Of course, some idealists cycle through all three.

Lisa is different. She’s too compassionate and empathetic to really be able to destroy people in the name of her ideals; it’s significant to me that it’s seeing herself through Apu’s vegan eyes that changes her mind. Her ideals are about creating the most happiness; destroying barbeques and insulting her father is exactly as ineffective at executing her ideals as doing nothing, and it throws in a whole lot of negative emotion on top of that. Lisa’s conclusion is to take solace in the fact that she lives by her ideals, and in knowing her loved ones will support her choices (“Oop! I mean a veggieback ride!”) even if they don’t live by them themselves. This is a kind of idealism I’m drawn to, especially as I’ve solidified my beliefs in the last few years; finding the middle ground between abrasive, assertive, and inactive, and recognising that Good and Evil are never and will never be clearly defined in a way that everybody agrees with. I think this is one of the reasons I think Lisa will do okay when she gets older – she’ll never be consumed by her ideals, and wherever she goes, she’ll find people – if she really were eight years old in 1994, I can picture her being some Mara Wilson-esque writer/activist today. If there are idealists out there who destroy injustice, the Lisas of the world build something new in its place. 

Chalkboard Gag: The boys room is not a water park.
Couch Gag: The family walk in as greyish blobs, and are then coloured in by industrial robots.

This episode was written by David S Cohen (who would later be known professionally as David X Cohen) and directed by Mark Kirkland. David Mirken had recently become a vegetarian himself and remarked that many of Lisa’s experiences were based on his own. The joke about Homer not realising bacon, pork, and ham all came from the same animal was based on John Swartzwelder marvelling over the versatility of pig meat. The McCartneys were animated slightly differently than most Simpsons characters in that they have coloured irises instead of just dots. Groening considers “You don’t win friends with salad” to be one of the highest points of the show, and Mirken, Kirkland, Groening and writer Ian Maxtone-Graham all consider it one of their favourite episodes of the show.

Marge not getting everyone’s cynicism at Storytown Village is hilarious, and so true. Homer gets some really great characterisation too, being hurt he wasn’t invited to a family meeting. The “It’s just a little [x]! It’s still good, it’s still good!” is the most iconic line, but I got a big laugh out of the timing of “It’s gone,” / “I know.” The gap in the lines is short enough that he really is just sadly accepting what he already knew. The whole Meat Council filmstrip sequence is great, perfectly conveying how it feels to watch people seem to swallow propaganda – and let’s face it, that is basically exactly what kids do. And the filmstrip is more detailed than ever, with faded colours and scratches in the film that make it truly feel like something that’s been sitting in a closet for a few decades (it reminds me of The Venture Brothers).

There’s nothing that more efficiently conveys the depressing inadequacy of the education system than “Just try to sleep while the other children are learning.” Though Ralph does get a great moment of superiority later with “I can’t believe I used to go out with you!” There’s a really great subversion-of-the-gag gag where Homer way over-oils his BBBQ, only to not have the massive explosion you’d effect.

The scene with the McCartneys contains about half a dozen references to Paul’s career, and the episode ends with a modified version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” which, true to the joke, contains a recipe for lentil soup (I have not tried it and cannot comment on how ripping it is). McCartney found the backmasking joke highly amusing.

Iconic Moments: 3. “You don’t win friends with salad.” | The whole Meat Council filmstrip gets quoted a lot. “If it could, a cow would eat you and your whole family!” | “It’s just a little [x]! It’s still good, it’s still good!”
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