What an Odd Thing to Say: How the Iconic Simpsons Scene Became a Meme

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Plus, how it relates to the viral TikTok sound
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Have you seen the trending Bart Simpson meme and wondered what it meant? It features Bart with a slightly confused look on his face, remarking, “What an odd thing to say.” Bart seemingly breaks the 4th wall after Homer unnecessarily restates the context in an upcoming scene. But how and why are people using this viral meme? Keep reading to learn all about Bart Simpson’s iconic reaction . Plus, find out why the phrase went viral on TikTok .

About the “What An Odd Thing to Say” Meme

This meme is taken from a 1993 episode of The Simpsons in which Homer restates an obvious plot point for the audience's benefit. Bart says, "What an odd thing to say," parodying TV shows that overexplain instead of trusting their audiences. As a meme, it's used to convey disapproval when someone asks a strange question.

Section 1 of 3:

“What An Odd Thing to Say” Meme Scene Explained

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  1. Bart breaks the 4th wall by commenting on Homer’s unnecessary exposition. The viral Bart Simpson meme is taken from Season 5, Episode 7, titled "Bart's Inner Child,” which aired in 1993. In this specific scene , Homer is driving the family to the Springfield Community Center to watch a lecture by fictional motivational speaker Brad Goodman. As they park, Homer restates what the audience just saw: “Well, here we are at the Brad Goodman lecture.” [1]
    • Lisa says, “We know, Dad,” but Homer needlessly elaborates further by saying, “I just thought we’d remind everybody. After all, we did agree to attend his self-help seminar.” Then, Bart casually chimes in with: “What an odd thing to say.”
    • This line is in reference to Homer’s explanation and setup of the scene during which he also breaks the 4th wall by saying the word “we” when reminding “everybody.” The audience is “everybody.”
      • The "fourth wall" is the invisible barrier between the fictional characters and the audience.
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Section 2 of 3:

Meme Origin & Usage

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  1. People use the meme to convey confusion, disapproval, or sarcasm. The meme was created due to the popularity of the scene from The Simpsons , which was highlighted on a Simpsons subreddit in 2012. The meme didn’t resurface again until 2021, when X user @iresimpsonsfans used the meme to poke fun at a lyric sung by Bono in the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?” Many use the meme or GIF similarly when confronted with something confusing, rude, or offensive. Here are some examples to help you figure out when to hit “send” on this meme: [2]
    • If someone makes a seemingly irrelevant negative comment about you or your appearance.
    • If you read a news update that doesn’t sound quite right, like this .
    • If you read a comment on social media that is wild and/or out of pocket, like this .
Section 3 of 3:

“What An Odd Thing to Say” As a TikTok Sound

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  1. A similar sound byte from 2010’s Alice in Wonderland has become a viral sound on TikTok. A trending sound on TikTok with over 200k posts features the exact same phrase, “What an odd thing to say,” with the song “Army Dreamers” by Kate Bush playing in the background. However, this iteration of the line was not delivered by Bart Simpson, although it still retains some ties to Disney. The trending audio clip is actually an excerpt from a conversation between Alice and Lady Ascot in the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland. [3]
    • In the distinct piece of dialogue from the film , Lady Ascot expresses disapproval at the fact that the gardeners planted white roses instead of Red. “You could always paint the roses red,” Alice replies. Lady Ascot then says, “What an odd thing to say.”
    • The sound has been used by TikTokers to share personal anecdotes in which they’ve been asked an inappropriate or strange question, or been told something confusing or offensive.
    • For example, Maya Kowalski (@ mayakowalsk1 ) famously used the sound to shine a light on how insensitive some people are about her past trauma, even after watching the Netflix special about her life.
    • Kowalski shared a clip of her mouthing the words on the audio clip with personalized text on the screen that read:
      • Maya: “Yeah, my family and I went through something really traumatic.”
      • Other person: “So cool that Netflix made a film about it!”
      • Maya: “What an odd thing to say.”
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Simpsons
      2. ↑ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bart-simpsons-what-an-odd-thing-to-say
      3. ↑ https://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/what-an-odd-thing-to-say/

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