Gamblor’s World

The term Gamblor was coined by the brilliant writers of The Simpsons.  In a brief half hour the writers illustrate why governments promote gambling in their communities locally and nationally (the pretense is to resuscitate moribund economies with the added bonus of kick-backs to every level of government) as well as what can happen to innocent consumers (in this case Marge) who have no idea about the addictive potential of Electronic ‘Gaming’ Machines (EGMs) because EGMs do not carry warnings like what are found on cigarette packages regarding the addictiveness of nicotine and the negative impacts on health from tar and all the other poisons found in cigarettes.   The aim of this blog is to inform. 

 

Throughout the world, many activists are engaged in challenging the prevailing government and corporate wisdom that gambling, especially on slots, video lottery terminals, or over the internet, is harmless ‘entertainment’.  Each day, someone with a gambling problem thinks about or commits suicide - do people who are entertained by a product kill themselves leaving a wake of grief for their families?

 

Read on for the roots of Gamblor -

 

from:  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gamblor

The personification of Marge’s gambling problem as named by Homer in The Simpsons.

Homer: The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it’s time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!

from the episode:  $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)

Episode synopsis

 Springfield is suffering an economic slowdown, so the townspeople decide to legalize gambling. Mr. Burns builds a casino on the waterfront, and hires Homer as a blackjack dealer.

 When Marge finds a quarter on the floor at the casino, she starts gambling and keeps winning. Soon she is addicted. Lisa worries about her, and makes her promise to help her with a costume for the upcoming Geography Pageant at school.
 

But when Marge doesn’t show up to help her, Homer goes to the casino and confronts her. Marge admits she has a gambling problem and leaves the casino with Homer.

---

Memorable quotes

Homer: (wearing glasses) The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side!
Man: (in a cubicle) That’s a right triangle, you idiot!
Homer: D’oh!

Lisa: Dad, you shouldn’t wear glasses that weren’t prescribed for you.
Homer: Lisa, just because you’re ten feet tall doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do.

Quimby: I propose that I use what’s left of the town treasury to move to a more prosperous town and run for mayor. And, er, once elected, I will send for the rest of you.

Barney: Man, that’s classic compulsive behavior. Wow, free beer!

Homer: Marge, we need to talk. You’re spending too much time at the casino and I think you may have a problem.
Marge: I won sixty dollars last night.
Homer: Woohoo! Problem solved!

Lisa: I’m not a state, I’m a monster!
Homer: No, Lisa. The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it’s time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!

Burns: Ah, my beloved plant. How I miss her… Bah! To hell with this! Get my razors! Draw a bath! Get these Kleenex boxes off my feet!
Smithers: Certainly, sir. And, uh, the jars of urine?
Burns: Oh, we’ll hang onto those.

Homer: You promised Lisa to help her with her costume. You made her cry. Then I cried. Then Maggie laughed… she’s such a little trooper!

Homer: Marge, I want you to admit you have a gambling problem.
Marge: You know, you’re right, Homer. Maybe I should get some professional help.
Homer: No, no, that’s too expensive. Just don’t do it any more.

---

Did you spot

• Along with several hats, a hair brush and false teeth are thrown into the air at the town meeting.
• Bart’s black board gag for this episode is ‘’I Will Not Say Springfield Just To Get Applause,'’ however, everytime Springfield is mentioned at the town meeting, everyone cheers and applauds.
• Homer’s photographic memory details himself with huge muscles; Marge in a blue dress and green hair; Apu with three heads; and an alligator in a suit.
• In Bart’s casino, a poster displays gambling odds, which includes the odds of Bart getting his own TV show at 1000-1
• Homer’s recital of Pythagoras’ Theorem is incorrect for three reasons: first, he said an icosceles triangle instead of a right-angled triangle (pointed out by the man in the cubicle); second, it’s the sum of the squares, not the square roots; and third, it’s not any two sides, it’s the sum of the two shortest sides.

---

References/parodies

• The full title to this episode is a take on the film Dr. Strangelove (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)
• The porno movies, Sperms of Endearment and I’ll Do Anyone are spoofs on the movies Terms of Endearment and I’ll Do Anything, both produced by James L. Brooks, executive producer of The Simpsons.
• The scene with Homer at the blackjack table parodies ‘’Rain Man.'’
• Burns’ germ phobia, as well as other elements of his deterioration, refer to Howard Hughes.
• Homer’s ‘’Sum of the square root'’ line is a parody of The Wizard of Oz, when the scarecrow gets a brain.