After Lady Gaga’s spectacular performance, a show notorious for predicting events entered the scene, and this time, reports are saying that it was once again way ahead of its time. But did The Simpsons predict Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime performance? The answer is – not really.
The rumor made rounds in the internet when several fans noted that Lady Gaga’s stunt in Super Bowl LI is parallel to what The Simpsons aired in 2012. In the episode titled “Lisa Goes Gaga,” the pop icon “flew” on top of the audience wearing knee-high boots and a silver outfit, which looks very much like her halftime performance.
With this, it’s easy to conclude that The Simpsons did it again! The long-running gag cartoon has once again “predicted” current events in an episode aired years back. But as cool as that may sound, that’s not really the case here.
The Simpsons predicted Lady Gaga’s halftime performance.???????????? #Superbowl #SuperBowlSunday #HalftimeShow #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/XrbAz6r2RY
— Markell Bailey (@tenorbuds) February 6, 2017
First off, the venue where The Simpsons ‘ version of Lady Gaga performed was nowhere near Super Bowl’s setting this year. That’s something that can be ignored, but the whole act, which people believe to have predicted the “Born This Way” singer’s production, actually took some elements from her previous concerts.
That’s to say that Lady Gaga’s hanging trick is not new – she did (roughly) the same thing in a 2011 concert where she came down on a zipline, which is where The Simpsons probably got their idea from. The performer also already wore the outfit she was wearing in the cartoons, so there was nothing really going on in that episode that could have predicted her latest performance.
With that out of the way, there’s still another circulating rumor about the subject. As can be seen in the tweet below, it would seem that people believe that the cowboy hat in the sky also “predicted” the American flag lights display behind Lady Gaga in her opening performance, and people have never been so wrong.
Woah, woah, woah.???? The Simpsons predicted @ladygaga performing at the #SuperBowl ????? pic.twitter.com/htdTFweemU
— QUEEN GAGA (@_QLadyGaga) February 6, 2017
Lights displays are nothing new. It’s not like Lady Gaga or the Super Bowl was the first to do it in a concert or in any event at all. And to point out the most obvious difference: the cowboy hat, which was made by fireworks, looks nowhere near an American flag, which used drones.
It would have had a little more credibility if the cowboy hat lights display was shown in the same episode as the Lady Gaga spoof, but no, it was featured in a 2005 episode called “Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass.” But granted, it was shown during the halftime, so the rumor got that going for it.
So while there were some crazy coincidences indeed in other events with past The Simpsons episodes (such as Donald Trump’s presidency), the cartoon stays out of this one.
Nevertheless, even if The Simpsons did not really predict the show, it was still spectacular and worth talking about. The opening act alone blew the Twitter world when she leaped off the roof and down to the stage, where the rest of the magic happened.
Others viewed the Super Bowl performance as apolitical, while some say that it was definitely political. Both sides are true in a way that Lady Gaga did not use the situation to preach about what’s going on in the United States at the moment, but she did what she has been doing all along.
Either way, there’s no denying that Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime performance was entertaining, engaging, and pure fun. Politics or not – those who witnessed the production enjoyed it and that’s what matters.
So that’s it: “ The Simpsons predicted Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance” rumor – debunked!
[Featured Image by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images]