This film El Tango de la Muerte, a whole-plot reference to Strictly Ballroom featured in the Simpsons episode "Last Tap Dance in Springfield", is produced and set in a non-existant and stereotypical "Spexigentina", ie the Hollywood view of fusing Spain, Mexico, and Argentina into a strange amalgam of their most general stereotypes; and therefore also the dialogue is peppered with gratuitous Spanish:
EL TANGO DE LA MUERTE
SCENE 1: THE DARK HORSE
(Eduardo, a dashing young tango dancer who looks like Levi Ackerman, and his older dance coach, at a soirée, before the great dance contest).
Eduardo: Now that my severed foot has been reattached... I must win back the coveted dance title- Loco Legs.
Coach: As your wise but alcoholic dance coach... I know that somewhere your father is looking down on you and smiling. (Beat.) Oh, there he is. (Eduardo's father waves from the balcony.)
Eduardo: And now, I must choose a beautiful partner for the big dance contest. (Eduardo passes review by the attractive female tango dancers, spurning each of them in turn.) Hmm. [ Grunts, thrusts his hips ] Hmm-hmm. [ Grunts, thrusts his hips ] No! [ Gasps, thrusts his hips ] Hmm. (Eduardo reaches Lisabella, a socially awkward, flat-chested girl with glasses and her hair in a bun, reading a book sitting in a chair).
Lisa Simpson (across the fourth wall): Oh, he'll never dance with her. She'll have to settle for some Mexican Milhouse.
Eduardo: I demand to know your name.
Lisabella: My name is... (Beat.) Lisabella.
Lisa Simpson (across the fourth wall): [ Gasps ] That's my name with "bella" on the end of it. Ask her. Oh, God. Please ask her to dance.
Eduardo: I shall dance... (Beat.) with her.
Mexican Milhouse (to himself): Ooh! Qué malo. Once again, I must sugar my own churro.
Lisabella: But I am just a simple librarian. I have only read about dancing in books.
Eduardo: [ Chuckles ] I will show you something that is in no book. (He takes Lisabella by the hand and twirls her around; as she twirls, her bun comes undone, her spectacles drop off, her chest swells under her blouse to reveal far more bosom; a real "ugly duckling" transformation)
Crowd: [ Gasping ]
Lisabella: [ Gasps ] Ooh! Mmm. Ohh! Mmm.
Lisa Simpson (across the fourth wall): She's not plain. She's beautiful!
SCENE 2: THE TANGO OF DEATH
(The ballroom where the great dance contest is held; a grand estate with spotlights in the gardens.)
[A sign outside says:
TONIGHT:
CONTESTO DE LA DANCE!
TOMORROW: REVOLUCION]
♪ [Tango Music] [Applause] (A couple of attractive tango dancers in green perform before Eduardo and Lisabella's turn; Eduardo wears a light brown jacket, a shirt that reveals the hair on his chest, and black trousers, while Lisabella wears a sexy red two-piece ensemble, a red flower in her hair, and her hair down).
Eduardo: There is just one dance that will beat them: the Tango de la Muerte.
Lisabella: [ Gasps ] Only one man was crazy enough to dance that dance, and he is dead.
Eduardo: My twin brother, Freduardo. But where he died, I shall live- in his apartment.
(Eduardo and Lisabella dance the Tango de la Muerte: they first dance, hand in hand, eight or nine tango steps forwards. Then they dance past one another four or five steps back and forth. Then Lisabella spreads her arms and Eduardo lifts her in the air and carries her back and forth. Finally, he loops her like an oversized donut around his shoulders, then he loops her on the ground, until he stops.)
Crowd: [ Gasping ]
Eduardo: You are now carrying my child.
Lisabella: But how?
Eduardo: It is the mystery of the dance.
*********************************************************
The Castilian (European Spanish) dub of the episode is far better and did justice to the scene: in its version of El Tango de la Muerte, the setting (and film's country of production) was changed to real-life Argentina, and all the characters in the film (except Eduardo's dance coach) spoke in Rioplatense (Buenos Aires dialect). Es más porteño que el Papa:
EL TANGO DE LA MUERTE
ESCENA PRIMERA: LA PAREJA INESPERADA
(Eduardo, un joven y apuesto bailarín de tango que se parece a Levi Ackerman, y su entrenador personal, un señor mayor, en un sarao la víspera del gran concurso de baile).
Eduardo: Ahora que me han vuelto a plantar el pie, haré lo posible por recuperar mi ansiado título, "el Piernas Locas".
Entrenador: Como tu sabio pero alcohólico entrenador, sé que tu padre te estará mirando y sonriendo desde alguna parte... (Pausa.) (Con acento de España) ¡Allí está! (El padre de Eduardo les saluda desde el balcón.)
Eduardo: Ahora debo elegir una hermosa piba para el gran concurso de baile. (Pasando revista ante las atractivas bailarinas de tango, les da calabazas a cada una de ellas). Ejem... (contonea las caderas) Ejem... (contonea las caderas...) No. (Contonea las caderas). Ejem... (Eduardo llega a donde está Lisabella, una joven con aspecto de "empollona" con gafas, un moño y el pecho plano, sentada leyendo un libro).
Lisa Simpson (al otro lado de la cuarta pared): Oh, no, jamás bailará con ella. Tendrá que conformarse con algún Milhouse argentino.
Eduardo: ¿Che, cómo te "shamas?"
Lisabella: Me llamo... (Pausa.) Lisabella.
Lisa Simpson (al otro lado de la cuarta pared): ¡Oh! ¡Es mi nombre acabado en "bel-la"! ¡Por favor, sácala a bailar...!"
Eduardo: Bailaré... (Pausa.) con "esha."
Milhouse argentino (a sí mismo): ¡Qué rabia! ¡Otra vez más deberé "asucararme" "sho" solo el churro!
Lisabella: ¡Pero si soy una simple bibliotecaria! Sé de bailar lo poco que he leído en los libros...
Eduardo: (Risita.) "Sho" te enseñaré algo que no "aparese" en los libros... (Coge a Lisabella de la mano y le da un par de vueltas: mientras ella da vueltas, se le deshace el moño, se le caen las gafas y se le hinchan los senos bajo la blusa: toda una transformación de "patito feo".)
Multitud: Oooooh (Sorpresa)
Lisabella: Oooooh (Sorpresa)
Lisa Simpson (al otro lado de la cuarta pared): No está plana, ¡es guapísima!
ESCENA SEGUNDA: EL MISTERIO DEL TANGO
(El pabellón de baile donde se celebra el gran concurso de tango: una gran mansión con reflectores en el jardín.)
[El cartel de fuera dice:
TONIGHT:
CONTESTO DE LA DANCE!
TOMORROW: REVOLUCION (sic, sin acento)]
(Música de tango. Aplausos. Una pareja de bailarines de tango atractivos, vestidos de verde, preceden a Eduardo, con chaqueta marrón, una camisa que deja ver el pelo de su pecho y pantalones negros, y a su pareja Lisabella, con un traje rojo sexy de dos piezas y la cabellera suelta con una flor roja.)
Eduardo: Solamente con un baile se puede ganar: el Tango de la Muerte...
Lisabella: ¡No! Sólo hubo un hombre lo bastante loco que lo bailó, y está muerto.
Eduardo: Mi hermano gemelo, Freduardo. Y donde él murió viviré "sho": en su apartamento.
(Eduardo y Lisabella bailan el Tango de la Muerte: primero, bailan ocho o nueve pasos de tango cogidos de la mano; luego, bailan de lado hacia adelante y atrás/una y otra vez cinco o seis veces; seguido de esto, Lisabella pone los brazos en cruz, Eduardo la levanta por los aires y la lleva adelante y atrás; finalmente, él la pasa velozmente por encima de sus hombros, y luego la gira por el suelo, hasta que se detiene.)
Multitud: Oooooh (Sorpresa)
Eduardo: Ahora esperás un hijo mío.
Lisabella: Pero, ¿cómo?
Eduardo: Es el misterio del tango.
It
didn’t take me long to realize the direction the episode was going, but
I am quite happy to this series diving into the subject of addressing
the struggles of kids born from mixed families with different cultural
backgrounds. I thought it was handled well by utilizing Lala’s character
as a foreigner who hails from another planet. Lala was able to talk to
Tom about her dialect, and shared bits about her culture, such as
instead of holding hands they touch their feelers and dance with them.
She goes a step further by sharing how every culture has their own
thing, but none of them were weird, nor does it make them any less
normal than anyone else.
