Difference between revisions of "Homer Jay Simpson"

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"D'oh!"
"Woo-Hoo!"
"Wahh!"
-Homer's catch phrases.

Homer Jay Simpson is the father of the Simpson family; he is overweight, lazy, and not too bright. His behavior is often absurd, selfish, dangerous, clumsy, idiotic, and insensitive. However, he has shown moments of great intellect, and can be a caring parent and husband at times. Over the years, he has evolved into an iconic symbol, recognized and understood by millions of misunderstood fathers across the globe.

Homer works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, in Sector 7G, although "working" in this case refers largely to dozing and eating doughnuts. He spends a great deal of his time at Moe's Tavern with his lifelong friends Barney, Carl, Lenny, and bartender Moe. At home he is often to be found sitting on the sofa mindlessly watching TV while snacking on comfort foods and drinking Duff Beer.

The best moments of his life were finding a penny, marrying Marge, and dancing around an overturned beer truck. In Lisa's First Word he said it was getting a baby, a free burger, and a hour-long episode of 'Mama's Family' all in one day.

Homer popularized the annoyed grunt "D'oh!" (made memorable through Dan Castellaneta's distinctive voice work), which began as an abbreviated form of Jimmy Finlayson's annoyed "Dooooh" from the films of Laurel and Hardy. This modern interjection has found enough popular acceptance to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Biography

Although The Simpsons has a floating timeline in which the characters do not age, and the show is set in the current year, certain dates have been given. Homer was born on May 12, 1956. He was raised on a farm by his parents, Mona and Abe. In the mid-1960s, while Homer was between nine and twelve years of age, Mona went into hiding following a run-in with the law. Homer attended Springfield High School and fell in love with Marge Bouvier in 1974. Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980, while Homer was working at a miniature golf course, turning the crank that spins the windmill (sometimes too quickly). The two were wed in a small wedding chapel across the state line seen in "I Married Marge". They spent their wedding reception alone at a truck stop, (despite an earlier episode having Homer recall a party with lots of guests, alcohol "and a priest", and Marge informing him afterward that it was their wedding) and the rest of their wedding night at Marge's parents' house. After failing to get a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer left Marge to find a job by which he could support his family. He briefly worked at a taco restaurant called the Gulp n' Blow, until Marge found him and convinced him to return. As a result, Homer confronted Mr. Burns and secured a job at the Plant. Marge became pregnant with Lisa in 1983, shortly before the new couple bought their first house. In 1985 and 1986, Homer saw brief success as the lead singer and songwriter for the barbershop quartet the Be Sharps, even winning a Grammy. During his time with the group, Homer was frequently absent from home, which put stress on his marriage. After the group broke up due to creative differences, Homer went back to Springfield to continue his old life. Some time in the late 1980s, Homer and Marge carefully budgeted so Homer could work at his dream job, pin monkey at Barney's uncle's Bowl-O-Rama. Unfortunately for Homer, Marge became pregnant with Maggie shortly after he started his new job, and not being able to support his family, he went back to the Nuclear Plant.

According to comments on The Simpsons DVD commentaries by the writers and producers, Homer's age was initially 34, but as the writers aged, they found that he seemed a bit older too, so they changed his age to 38.

Personality

Homer strangles Bart.

Homer's personality is one of frequent stupidity, laziness, and explosive anger; one might say it is that of the "Average Joe." He also suffers from a short attention span which complements his intense but short-lived passion for hobbies, enterprises and various causes. Homer is prone to emotional outbursts; he gets very envious of his neighbors, the Flanders family, and is easily enraged at his son Bart and strangles him in an exaggerated manner. He shows no compunction about this, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family, even showing disregard for his son's well being in other ways, such as leaving Bart alone at a port seen in "The Great Money Caper". While Homer has repeatedly upset people and caused all sorts of mayhem in Springfield, these events are usually caused by either his explosive temper or lack of foresight. Except for expressing annoyance at Ned Flanders, Homer's actions are usually unintentional. Most of his explosive anger is targeted on Bart, because of something stupid or bad he had said or done. Despite their disadvantages, in "I Am Furious Yellow" these common outbursts save Homer from dying of a pent-up rage-induced heart attack.

While Homer's stupid antics often upset his family, he has also performed acts that reveal him to be a surprisingly loving father and husband: in "Lisa the Beauty Queen", selling his cherished ride on the Duff blimp and using the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself; in "Rosebud" (episode 1F01, giving up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear; in "Radio Bart", spearheading an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well, even though Homer generally hates doing physical labor; and in "A Milhouse Divided", arranging a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their lousy first ceremony, even going so far as to hire one of The Doobie Brothers as part of the wedding band and getting a divorce from Marge, essentially making their second wedding a "real" one. In one episode, while driving Bart and Lisa to school, he abandoned them to win a $20 prize from a radio station.

Homer tends to derive amusement from the misfortune of others. He is a chronic petty thief and borderline kleptomaniac, stealing from Ned Flanders everything from TV trays to power tools and air conditioners, even an entire room of the Flanders' house (Flanders knows about this, though, but Homer constantly says that he "borrowed" those things, and even compares a stolen weed hacker to Flanders losing his wife "It's gone, now..."). He has also stolen golf balls from the local driving range, office supplies (including computers) from work, and beer mugs from Moe's Tavern.

Homer has a vacuous mind, but he is still able to retain a great amount of knowledge about very specific subjects. He shows short bursts of astonishing insight, memory, creativity and fluency with many languages in nearly every episode. Homer is also extremely confident; no matter how little skill or knowledge he has about anything he tries to do, he has no doubt that he will be successful. However, his brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed by much longer and more consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ due to his hereditary "Simpson Gene," which is shown in "Lisa the Simpson" (this is contradicted in later episode that says his low intelligence is the result of crayon lodged in his brain). His alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma, and in "HOMR" we learn that there is a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain. The crayon in his brain is possibly the largest causal factor in his stupidity. Homer's intelligence was said to jump fifty points when he had the crayon removed, bringing him to an IQ of 105, slightly above that of an average person (though he showed far above average intelligence in that episode, further implying that the crayon is the main reason for his stupidity), but he went back to his old self when he had it reinserted, presumably lowering his IQ back to its original 55.

Some episodes suggest that Homer's normal functions do not require the use of his brain, as Homer has at times debated against it. Occasionally, a specific body part such as his face, stomach or liver is also shown debating with his brain. In one notable scene Homer's mind actually leaves his body out of boredom, causing him to collapse. Homer is also inclined to retreat into fantasy, such as daydreaming of Germany as "the land of chocolate.

Homer's attitudes toward woman, romance, and sex are occasionally explored. While Homer's marriage with Marge is occasionally strained, it seems generally happy. Despite this, Homer is oft tempted with other women, and usually shows no qualms with gawking at (and drooling) attractive women. Homer successfully avoided an affair with Mindy Simmons, but has made the occasional remark denoting his attraction to other women (including the gag about coveting his neighbor's wife), even in front of Marge on occasion.

Height and weight

Homer stands at 6 feet, according to the episode in which he gets a physical. He currently weighs 239 pounds, though in one episode he weighed 261 pounds and decided to lose weight to reach his current weight. He once weighed 316 pounds in, King-Size Homer, to escape having to go to work, through the disability program.

One Time Jobs

Over the course of the series, Homer has sported several one-episode long jobs, despite his permanent position at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

• Mr. Plow: Homer gets a plow for his car and becomes a plowman with his own jacket, company, and TV commercial
• Truck Driver, when he was competing in a steak eating contest and his opponent Red died
• Monorail Operator
• Prank Monkey
• Owner of Springfield Church
• Paramedic
• Owner of the Denver Broncos
• Employee for Mr. Scorpio
• Cartoon Voice Poochie the Talking Dog on "Itchy and Scratchy"
• Creator of the "Flaming Homer"
• Stonecutter, later discovered to be "The Chosen One"
• Baseball Mascot
• Car Designer, worked for half-brother Herb Powell but caused the company to go bankrupt with his failed design "The Homer"
• Baseball Player
• Elementary School Football Coach
• Horse Trainer
• Pin Monkey
• Krusty the Clown double
• Child Safety Inspector
• Monk
• Pie Man
• Astronaut
• Bartender
• Security Expert
• Showboating Instructor
• Minister
• Food Critic
• Body Guard
• Outsider Artist
• Sanitation Commissioner
• Submarine Captain
• Professional Boxer
• Beer Baron
• Sideshow Freak
• Barbershop Quartet Singer
• Neighborhood Watch Leader
• Ice Cream Man
• Mattress Salesman
• Car Salesman
• Power Plant CEO in India

Trivia

• His social security number is 568-47-0000
• His blood type is B.
• His address is 742 Evergreen Terrace.
• His earmuff size is XL.

Though a mystery of where the Simpson family live, it was said that they are from northern Kentucky. However, this is impossible, since Springfield has a beach, yet Kentucky is landlocked.

The Simpsons Hit & Run

In "The Simpsons Hit & Run" Homer is playable in the first level. Many of his missions involve collecting items for Marge and investigating the strange appearance of black vans and wasp cameras around Springfield. In the second level, he hangs out around the hospital, and if Bart speaks to him, can purchase the Mr Plow truck from him. In the fifth level, he is once again beside the hospital, and Apu can purchase the Car Built for Homer from him. He appears outside the Android’s Dungeon for the seventh mission of the sixth level, and helps Bart race to the Duff Brewery before the aliens get there. In the seventh level, he is once again playable as he helps to save Springfield from the aliens. When characters use the Family Sedan in the third and fourth levels, Homer appears in the car.