"Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble, one of us, one of us!"
If you grew up anywhere near a television in 2007, those six words are likely burned into your temporal lobe. It's the moment in The Simpsons Movie where the town of Springfield—trapped under a massive glass dome and slowly losing its collective mind—decides to fully embrace the absurdity of their situation. But here’s the thing: most people think Matt Groening’s team just made that weird little rhythmic chant up for a laugh. They didn't. It’s actually a deep-cut reference to a 1932 horror film called Freaks, and the way one of us Simpsons fans internalized that scene says a lot about how the show bridges the gap between high-brow cinephile history and low-brow doughnut jokes.
The Origins of "One of Us"
To understand why this moment hit so hard, you have to look back nearly a century. Todd Browning, the director who gave us the classic Dracula with Bela Lugosi, made a movie called Freaks. It was controversial. Extremely controversial. It featured actual carnival performers with physical deformities, and in the most famous scene, they welcome a "normal" woman into their circle by chanting "We accept her, one of us!" It was meant to be eerie, inclusive, and terrifying all at once.
Fast forward to the 2000s. The Simpsons was already a decade past its "Golden Era" according to the internet's most vocal critics. The movie had to prove it still had teeth. By taking that specific, unsettling piece of film history and layering it over the residents of Springfield, the writers did something they’ve always been best at: they took a niche cultural artifact and turned it into a universal meme.
Honestly, it’s kinda brilliant.
Why the Dome Changed Everything
When the EPA lowers that giant dome over the town because Homer dumped a silo of pig waste into the lake, the stakes for the characters changed. Usually, The Simpsons resets every week. You know the drill. Homer messes up, Marge sighs, Lisa plays the sax, and by Sunday at 8:30 PM, the status quo is restored. The movie didn't have that luxury. It needed a sense of finality and claustrophobia.
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The "one of us" mentality became the theme of the entire second act. Inside the dome, the townspeople aren't just neighbors anymore; they’re a terrified, chanting mob. It’s a recurring trope in the series—think back to "Marge vs. the Monorail"—but the movie dialed the intensity up to eleven. You've got Moe Szyslak declaring himself "Emperor of Springfield," and the community turning on the Simpson family with torches and pitchforks. It’s dark stuff for a cartoon about a yellow family.
The Semantic Shift of a Meme
You've probably used the "one of us" phrase yourself. Maybe someone at work admitted they like the same obscure anime as you. Maybe a friend finally joined the group chat after months of lurking. We say it now without even thinking about the black-and-white horror film or even the Simpson family's escape through a sinkhole.
This is the power of one of us Simpsons references. They act as a linguistic shorthand. The show has a weirdly specific habit of taking "nerd culture" and making it the dominant culture. Before the movie, if you quoted Freaks, people thought you were a film school snob. After the movie, you were just quoting Homer and the gang.
It’s basically the "Steamed Hams" of the mid-2000s. It’s a moment of collective recognition.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Movie's Success
There’s this lingering narrative that The Simpsons Movie was just a long episode. That’s a bit of a lazy take, honestly. While the plot—Homer ruins something, family leaves him, Homer learns a lesson—is standard fare, the execution was a technical marvel. They used a 2.39:1 anamorphic aspect ratio. They brought back legendary writers like David Mirkin, Al Jean, and Mike Scully. They even had a "joke room" where they threw out hundreds of gags just to find the five that actually worked for a global audience.
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The "one of us" chant wasn't just a throwaway line. It was a litmus test for the audience’s awareness. It rewarded the older viewers who knew their cinema history while providing a catchy, rhythmic hook for the kids who just liked seeing the townspeople act like weirdos.
The Real-World Legacy
Interestingly, the phrase has popped up in other corners of the "Groening-verse." You’ll find echoes of it in Futurama and even Disenchantment. It’s a trope about the loss of individuality. When the group starts chanting, the individual dies. It’s funny in a cartoon, sure, but it’s also a biting commentary on mob mentality—something the show has critiqued since "Homer Badman" back in Season 6.
Let's look at the numbers for a second. The movie pulled in over $530 million worldwide. That’s a lot of people hearing a reference to a 1930s cult film. It’s arguably the most successful "gateway drug" to classic cinema ever created.
Specific Instances of the Reference
- The Simpsons Movie (2007): The most famous iteration where the mob converges.
- Treehouse of Horror XXIV: The intro designed by Guillermo del Toro features a heavy nod to the Freaks aesthetic.
- The "Waterworld" Parody: While not the same chant, the movie's obsession with "outsiders" vs. "insiders" mirrors this same energy.
Addressing the Critics
Some fans argue that the "one of us" gag was the beginning of the end—a sign that the show was relying too much on easy pop-culture nods rather than character-driven humor. I disagree. The show has always been a collage of references. From the Cape Fear parody with Sideshow Bob to the Citizen Kane parallels in "Rosebud," the DNA of the series is built on these homages. The movie just did it on a bigger screen with a bigger budget.
The nuance here is that the chant wasn't just a parody; it was an atmospheric choice. It helped build the tension of the dome. It made the town feel small. It made the Simpson family feel like true outcasts for the first time in years.
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The Impact on Modern Animation
You can see the DNA of this scene in shows like Rick and Morty or Bojack Horseman. Those shows lean heavily into the "weird, rhythmic group-speak" to create an unsettling vibe. The Simpsons paved the way for that. They proved that you could be hilarious and creepy in the same thirty-second span.
The legacy of one of us Simpsons lore is that it made the weird accessible. It told us that being part of the "freaks" isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you've got your family (and maybe a multi-colored pig) by your side.
Actionable Takeaways for the Super-Fan
If you want to truly appreciate the layers of the "one of us" phenomenon, here is how you should dive back in:
- Watch the 1932 film Freaks: It’s only about an hour long. Seeing the original context of the "one of us" chant will make the Springfield version ten times funnier and a hundred times creepier.
- Re-examine the "Mob" episodes: Watch "The Cartridge Family" or "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" back-to-back with the movie. Look for how the writers use the townspeople as a single, multi-headed character.
- Listen to the Movie Commentary: If you can find the DVD or the digital extras, the writers talk extensively about the "one of us" scene. They discuss how many versions of the chant they recorded before finding the one that sounded "just wrong enough."
- Look for the Easter Eggs: Next time you watch the movie, look at the background characters during the mob scenes. There are dozens of callbacks to one-off characters from the first ten seasons of the show who are all joining in the "one of us" lifestyle.
The Simpsons didn't just give us a catchphrase; they gave us a way to describe the feeling of being trapped in a ridiculous situation with a bunch of equally ridiculous people. Whether we're under a literal dome or just stuck in a weird corner of the internet, we’re all part of the chant now.