“While preparing for a night out on the town with his wife, Marge, Homer Simpson hummed a tune to himself while wiggling his rather rotund bottom around his bathroom. The tune? It was “Patricia,” an instrumental from 1958. Homer’s gyrations were actually that Spanish-influenced dance craze of the ’50’s — the Mambo. Who would have figured that Homer and his freaky family would turn out to be some of the most Hispanic-friendly characters on U.S. television? The show has included Hispanics in its humorous references almost since the day the characters first aired in 1989. Most “Simpsons” fans remember that episode as the one where Homer and Marge hire the “Baby Sitter Bandit,” but I remember it because of that throwaway moment when I first realized “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening was capable of coming up with the most obscure references.” Read More >>>
