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Do you kids wanna be like the real U.N., or do you just wanna squabble and waste time?
— Principal Skinner · The Simpsons
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker asks children to choose between acting like the real United Nations and squabbling while wasting time. The joke leaves an awkward comparison hanging: the supposedly inferior behaviour may sound rather like the institution offered as a model. The rebuke can therefore undermine its own ideal.
Context reviewed