Difference between revisions of "Milhouse Van Houten"

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Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is Bart Simpson's best friend.

The only child of Kirk and Luann Van Houten, Milhouse's most distinctive physical traits are his extreme nearsightedness (depicted by very small eyes), requiring thick glasses to correct, and a huge nose about the size of a softball.

Despite being considered a nerd, Milhouse is of average intelligence but has poor social skills. He is also very gullible, thus he is constantly led into trouble by the mischievous Bart, who is not shy about taking advantage of his naive and trusting friend. Milhouse is one of the few residents in Springfield with eyebrows, a trait he shares with his parents.

Biography

Milhouse is constantly victimized in some form or another such as being the target of the bullies Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. They often inflict extreme acts of physical violence upon Milhouse. One instance had the bullies wrapping Milhouse in bumper stickers and placing him in a shopping cart, the bullies then pushed the cart with Milhouse inside down a very steep hill. He frequently visited a female psychiatrist called Dr. Waxler until she got fed up by his frequent callings. Milhouse is also the subject of Nelson's cruelty: "stop (hitting, zapping, etc.) yourself." He still uses a child-size car seat and is a bed wetter. He was also born on April 9 1983.

On one occasion, Bart got Milhouse placed on the America's Most Wanted list, even though they are friends, and he once tried to lure Milhouse into a cactus. This kind of torture is used in many episodes, where Bart tries either to get Milhouse in trouble or to hurt him for no reason, making Milhouse's and Bart's relationship even more questionable. On one occasion, Bart introduces Milhouse and attempts to explain why they are friends. He cannot come up with a real answer and admits that it is due to geographical reasons, though Bart has admitted that he really loves Milhouse.^[1] Homer also seems to like joining in on his son's torment of Milhouse although to a much lesser extent (constantly referring to him as "that little wiener Milhouse.") However, Bart does genuinely care for Millhouse, despite victimizing him on many occasions.

Perhaps due to his name (he is named after Richard Nixon), people frequently make Milhouse the butt of a variety of jokes, ranging from being beat up by Nelson for delivering a love note from Lisa (that Nelson thought was from Milhouse himself), having the door slammed in his face while playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey, his possible budding homosexuality given away by his school counselor, making him a wanted fugitive , inadvertently inheriting Bart's dismal permanent record at school through a side deal arranged between Bart and Edna Krabappel and Principal Skinner, which will disqualify Milhouse from "all but the hottest and noisiest jobs". Milhouse has a pet dog.

Milhouse may be of part Italian ancestry, due to the fact that his grandmother lives in Italy. Milhouse is part Dutch and Danish.

Romance and sexuality

Milhouse harbors a hopeless crush on Bart's younger sister, Lisa, and he is usually clumsy around females. However, in a flashback in "Lisa's Sax" (during the time that Bart and Milhouse were in kindergarten), a school counselor accidentally revealed that he had assessed Milhouse to be gay, and indeed, the show often implies Milhouse may be homosexual or bisexual. On occasion he has been shown to enjoy cross-dressing.

Milhouse has exhibited a tendency to begin acting rather ridiculously feminine, complete with clichéd catch phrases and mannerisms. This case of social anxiety has lost him Lisa's heart three times, as well as a relationship with Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter Greta. Examples of such behavior are referring to himself as a 'big sister' and being caught with a scrunchie in his hair.

Milhouse may have a crush on Marge because Bart asks him if he's in love with her.

In The Simpsons Movie, Lisa shows concern for Milhouse when he is beaten by Nelson and left in a heap, and tends to him. This rare moment of affection however is brief, as she becomes distracted by the arrival of Irish environmentalist Colin, who becomes her love interest throughout the remainder of the film. Milhouse makes a second appearance in the film's closing moments, lying to Lisa about Colin's fate and revealing he has died, and that he begged Milhouse to look after her. Colin returns in the midst of Milhouse's story, and he quickly takes his leave.

However, during early production of The Simpsons Movie, Lisa was supposed to fall in love with Milhouse. Implying they were going to begin a relationship. There was a scene when the family was escaping the angry mob where Lisa mentioned her saxophone and Milhouse went in the Simpsons home to get her saxophone and give it to her to further their relationship. Though, the writers realized Milhouse's crush was not as well known as they thought and he was replaced with Colin.

Milhouse's first girlfriend was Samantha Stankey, a new student who had moved to Springfield from Phoenix, Arizona in the episode "Bart's Friend Falls in Love". After her father caught her and Milhouse kissing, he sent her to a French Canadian Catholic girls' school. She hasn't been heard from since; however, she is seen in the background in some episodes. While Milhouse's official first kiss was with Samantha Stanky in the aforementioned episode, it was contradicted in the episode The Way We Weren't, where Milhouse claims his first kiss was with Homer Simpson during a game of spin the bottle that Homer interrupted.

Also, in the Eighteenth season episode "Homerazzie", he is seen making out with Paris Texan, who is nearly 20.

Skills and talents

Milhouse is fluent in Italian due to visiting his Anglophobic grandmother Nana Sophie in Tuscany for two weeks every year. Because of his grandmother's beatings, Milhouse learned Italian and started to wet his bed.

Milhouse is allergic to honey, wheat, dairy, non-dairy and even his own tears. He also says that real milk can kill him (though when Homer hands him rat's milk, which Milhouse believes to be cow's milk, he drinks it.  This may be because when he said that real milk could kill him, he was in Kindergarten.  He may eventually have grown out of this allergy).

He has also demonstrated that he is a skilled Vespa rider, although he is obviously not legally entitled to operate a scooter on public roads. It is also in this episode that Milhouse had come closest to wooing Lisa, as she even kept a picture of Milhouse in her room while practicing Italian. It is implied that she is captivated by his impressive command of the language during a rather romantic outing to the local Italian immigrant establishment. However, he once again reaches a roadblock due to his ongoing fatal flaw when it comes to girls.

It is also found out that Milhouse is in the Springfield Elementary band. In the introduction where Lisa is playing the saxophone, Milhouse is sitting in the back watching Lisa.

Creation

Milhouse is a caricture of Paul from The Wonder Years.

Milhouse was named after US President Richard Nixon, whose middle name was Milhous. The name was the most "unfortunate name Matt Groening could think of for a kid."^[2] Milhouse is a favorite among the staff as Al Jean noted "most of the writers are more like Milhouse than Bart."^[2]

Voice

Milhouse is voiced by Pamela Hayden, Brigitte Lecordier in French, Chantal Baril in Canadian French and Michaela Amler in German.

Appearances

Image

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References

Links

• The Milhouse File
• The Simpsons.com Character files