Published 16:33 IST, May 7th 2020
‘Everything is planned’: 'The Simpsons’ predicted virus outbreak, murder hornets in 1993?
'The Simpsons' featured storylines which were eerily close to real-life happenings and now internet users noted that it came close to predicting virus outbreak.
From predicting the election of US President Donald Trump to the invention of smartwatches, The Simpsons featured storylines which were eerily close to real-life happenings. Now, when the world is scrambling to contain the deadly coronavirus pandemic, internet users noted that the animated series came close to predicting the ongoing crisis as well.
An episode titled ‘Marge in China’ from 1993 became an internet sensation as it shows a mysterious virus from Asia invading the town of Springfield. In the episode, the virus starts in Japan, where a sick factory employee sneezes into numerous packages conlang juicers which is later bought by people in Springfield. The opening of the packages leads to spreading of the virus. While the series named the virus ‘Osaka Flu’, the symptoms of the flu were eerily similar to that of COVID-19.
Similar to coronavirus, the ‘Osaka flu’ also spreads quickly through the town and Springfield citizens battle the flu same way as the entire world is currently handling the deadly virus. In the clip shared on Twitter, one can see the Springfield resident demanding a cure. The episode also predicts the ‘murderous hornets’ as the town people also unleash a swarm of killer bees.
‘Everything is planned’
Since being shared, the video has been viewed more than six million times. The clip has left several internet users amazed. One Twitter user even wrote, “Wait maybe this caused 2020? Did the Simpsons fly too close to the sun?”.
Updated 16:33 IST, May 7th 2020