Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson
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Character Information
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Homer Jay Simpson is the father of the Simpson family. He is an overweight, lazy, and not too bright individual. His behaviour is often absurd, selfish, dangerous, clumsy, idiotic, and insensitive. Despite this, he has shown moments of great intellect, and can be a caring parent and husband at times.
Homer works as a low level safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, in Sector 7G, although "working" in this case refers largely to dozing and eating doughnuts or not even going to work at all. 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 can often be found sitting on the sofa mindlessly watching TV while snacking on food and drinking Duff.
Contents
Biography
Homer Jay Simpson was born as the second child of Abraham Simpson, and the first of Mona Simpson on May 12th, 1956. He was raised on the Simpsons farm by his parents, Mona and Abe until they were forced to move out due to Homer Simpson spooking the cows by jumping out of a bale of hay and scaring them into giving sour milk. In the late 1960s, while Homer was between nine and twelve years of age, Mona went into hiding following a run-in with the law. However, before she started protesting, she took Homer and her husband to the Woodstock Convention, where Homer ended up briefly adopting the Hippie lifestyle [and was implied to have been sent away to the Conflict in Vietnam by Abe Simpson as punishment for wanting to be a Hippie.] Homer attended Springfield High School and fell in love with Marge Bouvier in 1974.[1] After high school, Homer and Marge bought an apartment at Springfield Place. During this time, Marge gets a letter accepting her into college. To pay for her tuition, Abe gives him a job at Simpson Lazer Tag as well as this, along with Lou Lenny and Carl, Homer is part of a barbershop quartet. When Marge becomes infatuated by her professor, Homer turns the band into a grunge band called Sadgasm. Marge realizes that she really loves Homer, and she goes back to him.[2] In 1982 (by consistency of the episode I Married Marge) Marge became pregnant with Bart. At this time Homer was working at Sir Putts-A-Lot, turning the crank that spins the windmill. The two got married in Shotgun Pete's 24 Hour Wedding Chapel, a small wedding chapel across the state line [3].They spent their wedding reception alone at a truck stop, before ending up at the Bouvier's House, where they lived at the time. After failing to get a job at the newly built Nuclear Power Plant, Homer left Marge to find a job by which he could support his family. He went to work at a taco restaurant called the Gulp 'n' Blow, until Marge found him and convinced him to return home with her. As a result, Homer confronted Mr. Burns and secured a job at the Plant. Two years after Bart was born, Marge became pregnant with Lisa in 1984, shortly before the couple brought their first house.[4] Homer's second leap to stardom was his 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.[5] Some time in the late 1980s, Homer and Marge carefully budgeted so Homer could work at his dream job, a pin monkey at Barney's uncle's Barney's Bowl-O-Rama. Unfortunately for Homer, Marge became pregnant with Maggie in 1992, shortly after he started his new job, and not being able to support his family, he went back to the Nuclear Plant.[6] Since then Homer has started many jobs, including being a professional astronaut for NASA, but has ended up back where he began at the Nuclear Plant. He has nearly caused the destruction of Springfield a couple of times, after a nuclear meltdown at the plant and polluting Lake Springfield with his pet pig's (and his own) waste.[7]
Future
In 2013, Homer's and Marge's relationship has finally ended, after Homer blew the family savings on an underwater house. She began dating Krusty the Clown, and eventually Homer fought him to win her back. Homer was beaten, but Marge still decided to go back to him.
Homer's Jobs
For a more detailed list, see here
When first joining the Power Plant, Homer had a nameless job handling plutonium. Which was later moved up to being the safety inspector for sector 7-G, after complaining about the safety of the plant itself.
Homer rarely attends his job, and yet hardly gets fired, and always has his job waiting for him when he wants to return. He has impulsively quit occasionally to pursue other carers, although he always ends up losing or quitting these jobs.
Personality
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 (His trademark phrase to strangling Bart, "Why you Little...!" is implied to have been "Why you little bastard!" [8]. He also spanks Bart sometimes and, in one case, Lisa. 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[9], or allowing Bart to go court for skateboarding naked on his dare when all he would have to do is attend a 1 hour parenting class signifying not only his disregard for Bart but his extreme laziness [10]. 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, these common outbursts save Homer from dying of a pent-up rage-induced heart attack.[11]
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, such as 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[12] ; giving up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear[13]; spearheading an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well, even though Homer hates doing physical labor[14] and 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.[15]
Homer tends to derive amusement from the misfortune of others. He is a chronic petty thief and borderline kleptomaniac, stealing everything from TV trays to power tools and air conditioners, even an entire room of the Flanders House from Ned Flanders. 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 often shows short bursts of astonishing insight, memory, creativity and fluency with many languages. 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 many factors: his hereditary "Simpson Gene", his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma, and the crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain. He also implies in "Grampa vs Sexual Inadequacy" that he would have been at least a bit smarter, if not by a substantial amount, if his father had tried to give him encouragement rather than beat him down. The crayon in his brain is possibly the largest causal factor in his stupidity. Homer's intelligence was said to jump up 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), but he went back to his old self when he had it reinserted, presumably lowering his IQ back down to its original 55.[16] This IQ score is, however, likely a joke or oversight on the producers' part, as someone with an IQ of 55 would be unable to look after themselves and would be classified as severely mentally handicapped. Also from the level of intellergence he showed it's much more likely that his IQ was boasted to 135-155.
Homer has at times debated against his brain. 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".[17][18]
Homer's attitudes toward woman, romance, and sex are occasionally shown. While Homer's marriage with Marge is occasionally strained, it seems generally happy. Despite this, Homer is often tempted with other women, and usually shows no qualms with gawking at (and drooling over) attractive women. Homer almost had an affair with Mindy Simmons[19], but ended up not wanting to. He has made the occasional remark denoting his attraction to other women (including his neighbor's wife), even in front of Marge on a occasion, but always shows his devotion to Marge in the end.Religious Beliefs
Despite attending church every Sunday, Homer is not a committed Christian, and it is likely that he only attends church because he knows that Marge would be hurt and shocked if he did not. He does not seem to practice Christian morals and frequently sleeps in church, much to the annoyance of Reverend Lovejoy.
Homer has met God face to face in the episode Thank God It's Doomsday and has had many other encounters with him too.
Alter ego
Homer has obtained a super power before when he became The Ingestible Bulk after a nuclear explosion, his powers are that he's able to eat anything from people to walls. Homer has also become Pieman when The Rich Texan laughed at Lisa, he chucks pies in the faces of bad guys, uses the basement as a Pie Cave and his car as the Piemobile. Bart is his sidekick as Cupcake Kid[20]Skills and abilities
Although Homer suffers from extreme stupidity, chronic laziness, rage and weight problems (partly due to the Simpson gene) he still possess's great skill in certain area's. He has proven himself to be a highly talented singer/songwriter from his day's in a barber shop quartertet, to becoming a multiple gold album winning grunge player, even writing song's for Lisa which allowed her to get to the finals of a local talant compitition and can sing opera amazingly when lying down. He's also shown to be able to play guitar, harmonica, drum and piano skillfully. Like Bart he can also speak Japanese fluently and is fluent in a number of other advanced languages. Despite his size he has also shown to be highly athletic at times such as in Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes or a decent bare fisted brawler, and in Bart Star he has a flashback which revealed him to once be an aspiring competitive gymnast. Homer can also ride a horse with incredible skill to the point where he can make it jump and land safely on a pillier a number of feet in the air and that's just the start. Also he is quite brave when he needs to be which is not technically a skill but its true, although he can be a bit of a chicken, when it comes to it he will even risk his life if he has to.
Relationships
Romantic
Despite being married to Marge, throughout the entire show Homer has had a number of romantic encounters.
Marge Simpson
Homer Simpson is the husband of Marge Simpson. They met when they were younger without learning who each other was before meeting again properly in high school. They have had three weddings. The first was before the show, second was in A Milhouse Divided (which turned out to be invalid and the third in Wedding For Disaster. The two have a very strong marriage which has survived cheating, amnesia and many arguments. They have been in love since high school.
Mindy Simmons
Mindy Simmons was an attractive employee at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant who has nearly everything in common with Homer. They attended a conventions together and nearly had affair.
Lurleen Lumpkin
A waitress who Homer helped in launching a successful singning career. She attempted to seduce him with no success. She's been married multiple times to men that all look like Homer.
Amber
Amber was Homer's Vegas wife who Homer accidentally married in Las Vegas. They managed to get her drunk and made her believe she married Abe which made her run back to Vegas.
Julia
When Homer becomes a famous Opera singer he attracts the attention of horde of fans including a stalker by the name of Julia. She confesses to Homer that she is his to do with as he wants, becoming his personnel assistant and attempting to seduce him at every turn. When he proclaims that his heart belongs to Marge she attempts to kill him with no success.
Friendship
Barney Gumble
Barney Gumble is one of Homer's best friends . They have been best friends since high school. Homer was the one who convinced him to become an alcoholic.
A Guide to Homer
- Good Night: Homer tucks Bart into bed and is stumped when Bart asks him about The Mind.
- Watching Television: Homer watches TV with Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie and attempts and fails to make the family appreciate the TV.
- Bart Jumps: Homer tries to convince Bart to leap into his arms, but is constantly distracted and Bart ends up hurting himself.
- Burp Contest: Homer burps infront of Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
- Eating Dinner: Homer eats dinner and disgraces Marge.
- The Funeral: Homer, along with Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie attend Uncle Hubert's funeral. Bart disgraces Homer and he becomes very angry.
- Football: Homer tries to make Bart catch a football. After he does so, he takes Bart, Lisa and Maggie for a round of frosty chocolate milkshakes.
- Bart and Homer's Dinner: Homer tries to make Bart eat either fish sticks or pork-o-roni. He melds them together to make Frozen Fish and Pork-O-Nuggets-Roni and tries to make Bart eat it, winding up falling asleep on his shoulder.
- Bart's Haircut: Homer sends Bart to get a haircut and laughs at him when he is scalped.
- World War III: Homer runs drills to get the family ready for World War III and the family then trick him into the shelter.
- The Perfect Crime: Marge bakes chocolate chip cookies for Homer, who finds Bart has eaten them all.
- Scary Stories: Homer and Marge find the kids, who believed they were murderers.
- Grampa & the Kids: Homer leaves Bart, Lisa and Maggie in the care of Abe.
- Gone Fishin': Homer and Bart go fishing. Homer eats bait and they fall over rapids.
- The Pagans: Homer drives the family to the Church and is angered when the car breaks down. He is even more angered when Bart and Lisa become Pagans and chases them to the Church.
- The Closet: Homer tries to get Bart to do chores and is angered when he hides in a closet.
- The Aquarium: Homer tries to get the kids to enjoy sealife and becomes horrified when he believes Bart has been eaten by a shark. When he realizes he is alive, he tries to strangle him.
- Family Portrait: Homer tries to organize the family for a portrait. He ends up strangling Bart.
- The Art Museum: Homer tries to get the kids to enjoy art, but is somewhat attracted to a naked painting, much to the annoyance of Marge.
- Zoo Story: Homer enjoys a visit to the Springfield Zoo.
- Shut Up Simpsons: Homer becomes annoyed at the family and engages in battle with them, until they learn to forgive each other.
- The Shell Game: Homer and Marge try to get Bart to give them a stolen cookie, and Homer plays a shell game with him.
- The Bart Simpson Show: Homer learns Bart has destroyed the TV and strangles him.
- Punching Bag: Homer annoys Bart, who uses a photo of him on a punching bag. The rest of the family join in and the punching bag hits Homer.
- Simpson Christmas: Homer tries to strangle Bart, Lisa and Maggie when they sneak a look at their presents at night.
- The Krusty the Clown Show: Homer sees Bart on TV.
- Bart the Hero: Homer, yet again sees Bart on TV.
- Bart's Little Fantasy: Homer sends the kids to tidy their toys.
- Home Hypnotism: Homer tries to hypnotise the kids and they pretend to turn into zombies.
- Shoplifting: Homer picks Bart up from the Grocery Store.
- Echo Canyon: Homer is angered when Bart runs around on a boulder.
- Bathtime: Homer washes Bart.
- Bart's Nightmare: Bart becomes scared that Homer will find out he stole cookies.
- Bart of the Jungle: Homer tries to stop Bart, Lisa and Maggie from swinging around, naked.
- Family Therapy: Homer takes the family to therapy and ends up getting angry at the psychiatrist.
- Maggie in Peril (Chapter One): Homer leaves Maggie in the care of Bart and Lisa.
- Maggie in Peril - The Thrilling Conclusion: Homer returns home.
- TV Simpsons: Homer tries to fix the TV signal.
- Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire: Homer is denied his Christmas bonus, so tries to work it off as a mall Santa, but finds he isn't given enough money. He blows it all on a lucky dog, Whirlwind, but changes to Santa's Little Helper, who looses. Santa's Little Helper is kicked out by his owner and Homer adopts him. He takes him home and finds the family loves him.
Behind the Scenes
Creation
Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction. He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, with Homer being named after his father. Homer then made his debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on 19 April 1987 in the Tracey Ullman short "Good Night". Homer's middle initial "J", which was revealed to stand for "Jay",[21] was a "tribute" to Bullwinkle J. Moose from Rocky and Bullwinkle, a show Matt Groening loved as a child.[22]
According to Matt Groening, the whole family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.[23][24]
Voice
Homer's voice sounds different on the shorts than the later half-hour show. Dan Castellaneta's earliest portrayal began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but developed into a more robust and humorous voice during the second and third season of the half-hour show, allowing Homer to convey a wider range of emotions.[25] Castellaneta changed the voice, as he could not sustain his Matthau impression for the 9-10 hour long recording sessions and had to find something easier.[26] During an interview with the cast of the show on Inside the Actors Studio, Castellaneta stated that Homer's voice was based in part on his own father who often spoke with an exuberant tone.
Catchphrase
Homer popularized the annoyed grunt "D'oh!" (made memorable through Dan Castellaneta's distinctive voice work), which began as an abbreviated form of James Finlayson's annoyed "Dooooh" in Laurel and Hardy films and other comedy shorts. This modern interjection has found enough popular acceptance to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
He also popularized the catchphrase "Mmm...". This debuted in 7G04- There's No Disgrace Like Home. Many examples of other mmm...s are Mmm...candy from 1F03, Mmm...pointy from 3F15 and Mmm...hug from BABF22. He has used it less and less since Season 8.
Reception
On May 30, 2003, Homer was made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Canada, in recognition of Matt Groening's father Homer Groening, who is believed to be from the Manitoba capital.[27]
Homer placed second on TV Guide's 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny.[28] In 2005, Homer was listed fifth on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list.[29] British TV viewers voted him as the greatest TV character of all time.[30] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the "50 Greatest TV icons".[31]
The Simpsons has been recommended for use in the teaching of sociology to modern-day college students. The journal Teaching Sociology appraised it as "particularly effective for illustrating sociological themes and encouraging critical thinking among today's undergraduates".[32] The non-academic book The Simpsons and Philosophy, the D'oh! of Homer includes a chapter analyzing Homer's character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics.
Homer Simpson syndrome
A five-year study of more than 2,000 middle-aged people in France found a possible link between weight and brain function, dubbed the "Homer Simpson syndrome".[33] Results from a word memory test showed that people with a BMI of 20 (considered to be a healthy level) remembered an average of nine out of 16 words. Meanwhile, people with a BMI of 30 (inside the obese range) remembered an average of just seven out of 16 words.[33]
Merchandising
Homer's inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. He has played central roles in the Simpsons Comics series. The Homer Book, written about Homer's personality and attributes, has been published and is commercially available. Numerous other items such as bottle openers, alarm clocks and other merchandise are widely available for purchase.
Trivia
- His social security number is 568-47-0008.
- His blood type is B positive.
- His earmuff size is XL.
- He often writes fist like.
- In one episode he was the only character in the show to say bullshit but "shit" was censored by a honk sound.
- It's implied in Homer's Triple Bypass that Homer's bloodstream has a continuous regulation of radioactivity, as Dr. Hibbert was explaining to Marge Simpson that they injected Homer with a Radioactive Dye to see his circulatory system from an X-ray until he learns that the nurse hadn't even injected the dye yet (resulting in Hibbert saying "good lord" in a shocked manner).
- He seems to be almost the exact same as Peter Griffin, whom appears in Family Guy, which premiered 10 years after The Simpsons began. In Treehouse of Horror XIII, one of his clones was Peter Griffin.
- Homer owns the Denver Broncos, despite wanting to own the Dallas Cowboys.
- It is believed that Homer is diabetic as mentioned in "That 90's Show". However if this was true, Homer would most likely be dead because he has never been seen taking insulin and the amount of food that Homer eats would just ensure that would already be dead by the point the episode "That 90's Show" was shown.
- In Fear of Flying it is shown his favorite song (at the time) was "It's Raining Men".
Appearances
See also
- Simpson family: more info on Homer's family.
- 742 Evergreen Terrace: more info on Homer's house.
- Marge Simpson: more info on Homer's wife.
- Bart Simpson: more info on Homer's oldest child.
- Lisa Simpson: more info on Homer's middle child.
- Maggie Simpson: more info on Homer's youngest child.
- Abraham Simpson: more info on Homer's father.
References
- ↑ The Way We Was
- ↑ That 90's Show
- ↑ I Married Marge
- ↑ Lisa's First Word
- ↑ Homer's Barbershop Quartet
- ↑ And Maggie Makes Three
- ↑ The Simpsons Movie
- ↑ Wedding For Disaster
- ↑ The Great Money Caper
- ↑ The Simpsons Movie
- ↑ I Am Furious Yellow
- ↑ Lisa the Beauty Queen
- ↑ Rosebud
- ↑ Radio Bart
- ↑ A Milhouse Divided
- ↑ HOMR
- ↑ Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk
- ↑ The Simpsons Game
- ↑ The Last Temptation of Homer
- ↑ Simple Simpson
- ↑ "D'oh-in in the Wind"
- ↑ J is for Jay. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
- ↑ Groening, Matt; Al Jean, Mike Reiss. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Groening, Matt; James L. Brooks, David Silverman. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Brownfield, Paul. "He's Homer, but This Odyssey Is His Own"Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Larry Carroll. "'Simpsons' Trivia, From Swearing Lisa To 'Burns-Sexual' Smithers"MTV. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ↑ Romaniuk, Ross. "Is Homer Simpson Canadian?". Winnipeg Sun. May 30, 2003.
- ↑ "TV Guide's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time"CNN. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ↑ The 100 Greatest TV Characters. Bravo. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ↑ 100 Greatest TV characters
- ↑ "The 50 Greatest TV Icons"Entertainment Weekly{{{date}}}. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
- ↑ Scanlan, Stephen J. and Seth L. Feinberg. "The Cartoon Society: Using"The Simpsons" to Teach and Learn Sociology." Teaching Sociology Volume 28, #2. p. 127-139. April 2002.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Obese people lose IQ through 'Homer Simpson effect'"Thisislondon. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
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