Super Safi’s Monday Morning Musings 106 – The Bridges of Madison County

Morning Musically-Minded, Medically-Minded, Masticators!

(Today’s post is sponsored by the letter “M”)

Over the past 600+ episodes, The Simpsons has taken us on an amazing journey involving music, science, and food to name a few concepts.

And what better way to start your week, than by discussing some of these concepts Monday morning?

So let’s get started this week by talking about a modern English romance novella from the one hundred and sixth episode of our favourite family, The Bridges of Madison County.

In the one hundredth and sixth episode of The Simpsons, Another Simpsons Clip Show (Season 06, Episode 03), Marge is reading The Bridges of Madison County.

Marge (sniffling): “This romance is so full of heartfelt passion. I can
really identify with this corn-fed heroine. Homer…Homer, you awake? This is important. Give me some sign you’re awake”
Homer belches
Marge: “Wake up!”
Homer slurring in his sleep: “Wha? What’s wrong? House run away? Dog’s on fire?”
Marge: “Homey, do you think the romance has gone out of our lives?”
Homer belches

Inspired by The Bridges of Madison County, Marge talks about romance with the kids and we see clips from the previous 105 episodes of The Simpsons.

But have you ever wondered what The Bridges of Madison County is?

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County is a 1992 best-selling romance novella by American writer Robert James Waller.

Robert was born in Charles City, Iowa, and grew up in Rockford, Iowa. Robert received his BA in 1962 and MA in 1964 from University of Northern Iowa. He received his PhD in business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington in 1968. Several of his books have been on the New York Times bestseller list including 1992’s The Bridges of Madison County which was the top best-seller in 1993 and has sold over 60 million copies.

Robert James Waller (August 1, 1939 – March 10, 2017)

The Bridges of Madison County tells the story of a married Italian-American woman (WWII war bride) living on a Madison County, Iowa, farm in the 1960s. While her husband and children are away at the State Fair, she engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington, who is visiting Madison County to create a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area. The novel is presented as a novelization of a true story, but it is in fact entirely fictional.

In 1995, Clint Eastwood produced and directed a feature film adaptation starring himself as the National Geographic photographer and Meryl Streep as the WWII war bride. For her performance, Meryl would receive a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards.

Now that we’ve learned more about The Bridges of Madison County, be sure to come back next week when we continue our Monday morning musings with the next episode of The Simpsons.

Have you ever read The Bridges of Madison County? Have you seen the movie? What’s your favourite Simpsons classic literature reference? What about your favourite Simpsons clip show episode? Sound off in the comments below. You know we love hearing from you.