If <\/span>Homer Simpson <\/span><\/a>ever went to work for the North Korean space program (and if North Korea ever\u00a0had\u00a0<\/i>a space program), it would be completely believable for a carbon rod to get more recognition than him, and that\u2019s not just because he\u2019s a filthy American pig.<\/span><\/p>\n In the\u00a0<\/span>Simpsons\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/a>Season Five episode \u201cDeep Space Homer,\u201d series great <\/span>David Mirkin<\/span> <\/a>experimented with one of the zaniest premises that the series had ever attempted \u2013 a space episode. At a time when an astronaut arc was the universal hallmark of a sitcom that had jumped the shark, Mirkin managed to explore middle-class job dissatisfaction and the fear that one\u2019s work goes underappreciated through a plotline about NASA sending Homer to outer space where he saves his crew from a horrific disaster that he nearly caused himself.<\/span><\/p>\n To Buzz Aldrin, the Simpson family and the viewer, Homer is, of course, the hero of the story, but to the rest of the\u00a0Simpsons\u00a0<\/i>universe, the noble carbon rod that Homer uses to wrench the hatch shut is more deserving of a medal and a parade for its efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n Matt Groening<\/span><\/a> famously feared that \u201cDeep Space Homer\u201d was too unrealistic for viewers to find it believable \u2013 but little did he know that, in some parts of the world, governments regularly bestow civilian awards on utterly inanimate objects, probably because a carbon rod would have a much harder time trying to defect to the South than a human being.<\/span><\/p>\n As anyone who has ever seen a line of pudgy North Korean generals observe a missile test on the evening news can probably infer, state honors, medals and awards are a big deal in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In order to engender the kind of hyper-nationalism necessary to run a totalitarian dictatorship, the Supreme Leader constantly doles out honors to his subjects, including the coveted Hero of the Republic award.<\/p>\n According to World History Edu<\/i><\/span><\/a>, <\/i>the North Korean government created the Hero of the Republic award during the Korean War. \u201cInitially awarded for battlefield courage, it now recognizes various acts of valor, including posthumous deeds, even outside combat scenarios.\u201d \u00a0In fact, the criteria for winning the Hero of the Republic has expanded so much since the 1950s that even inanimate objects have earned the honor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n