Cultural Impact
Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" from the episode "'Round Springfield" has become widely used, particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq. The newspaper New York Post used the phrase "Surrender Monkeys" as the headline for its December 7, 2006 front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008. The line was "most likely" written by Ken Keeler. The phrase "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" has also been used by Jeremy Clarkson and Anthony Bourdain.
In 2009, Willie was added to the "Famous Glaswegians" webpage of Glasgow City Council, based on his line in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious". A spokesman for Aberdeen F.C. disputed Glasgow's claim to the character, citing the episodes "Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky" and "The Dad Who Knew Too Little". In Season 23 Episode 13 'The Daughter Also Rises', it was finally stated that Groundskeeper Willie is from Kirkwall in Orkney, therefore ending this dispute, although he does not speak in the distinctive Orcadian dialect.
Read more about this topic: Groundskeeper Willie
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