Repost from the Moviebob thread:
Being autistic on The Simpsons is one of my weaknesses in life so I gotta point out how stupid Bob is in his interpretation of "Homer's Enemy."
The point of "Homer's Enemy" is to affectionately mock how zany the show had gotten after being on for nearly a decade. In seasons 1 & 2 of The Simpsons the plots were rather down to earth. Homer had to deal with getting fired from his job and how the depression drives him to attempting suicide. Bart has an emotional breakdown over finding out that he failed a History test that decides whether he has to repeat the 4th Grade. You get the point.
Frank Grimes serves as a comedic "What If?" of how a more down to earth Season 1-2 era character would react if put into the modern era show. He loses his fucking mind because the show now is over the top absurd. Swartzwelder intentionally lampshades this by doing what Simpsons rarely did by directly referencing past episodes: Homer being friends with Gerald Ford, going to Space, and even winning a Grammy. All this while working a day job as a Nuclear Technician.
When everyone at the funeral starts laughing over Homer sleeping it's not just about them not giving a crap about Frank Grimes. It's a self aware farewell to what The Simpsons once was when it was first developed by Sam Simon and James L Brooks.
But hey that's just a theory, an autistic Kiwifarms theory.
