Homer Simpson
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Template:Simpsons character Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is one of the main characters in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is the husband of Marge Simpson and the father of Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, and Maggie Simpson. Although he is often portrayed as gluttonous, lazy or simple-minded, he is also considered to be a caring father and husband. In the years since The Simpsons first appeared on television, he has evolved into the personality of a lovable oaf.
Homer Simpson embodies a number of negative, working class, American stereotypes: he has a low-level job, he is crude and uneducated, overweight, intolerant, and inept. On the other hand, Homer Simpson is sometimes unpredictably adaptable, quick-witted and capable. He always retains strong moral and family values.
Homer Simpson 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 "Dooooh" from the films of Laurel and Hardy. This modern interjection has found enough popular acceptance to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.<ref>It's in the dictionary, d'oh!. BBC News. 14 June 2001. Retrieved 2 April 2006.</ref>
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Biography
Family and Friends
Image:Simpsons on Tracey Ullman.png Homer was born and raised in Springfield (though one episode suggests he was born in Toronto, Canada; see Age below). Homer is the son of Abraham "Abe" J. Simpson and Mona Simpson (also known as Penelope Olson). His half-brother, Herb Powell, was a former automobile manufacturer before Homer ruined his business. Currently, he is an inventor. He was born due to an affair between Homer's father and a carnival worker. His half-sister, Abbie, is the result of an affair between Abe Simpson and a British woman whom Abe met while stationed in Britain during World War II. If Grampa's christmas story about an attack on the Pacific in 1941 was even partially true, then Homer would also be nephew to Abraham's brother, Cyrus.
Homer married Marjorie Bouvier, who later became known as "Marge" Simpson, and fathered three children with her: Bartholomew (Bart), Lisa, and Margaret (Maggie). Homer loves his family unconditionally.
He frequents Moe's Tavern, which is owned and operated by Moe, with his friends Barney Gumble, Carl Carlson, and Lenny Leonard, drinking Duff beer.
Personality
Homer's essential personality traits presented themselves early on. He was raised solely by his father after the approximate age of six. Homer slid through his classes and apparently graduated despite failing to pass Remedial Science until some 20-plus years later. His senior yearbook reveals a lack of interest in sports and activities, and his quote was "I can't believe I ate the whole thing". During high school, Homer fell in love with Marge Bouvier, whom he would later marry (though both would later learn that they had first met while children at summer camp).
Image:HomerStranglesBart.jpg Homer's short attention span complements his intense (albeit short-lived) passion for hobbies, enterprises and various causes. Although by nature an exceedingly lazy man, he is capable of exerting tremendous effort toward something for a short period of time. Homer says of himself, "When I'm passionate about something, I see it through to the end." For example, he has converted his garage into a bar just to spite Moe, the bartender; spent a whole episode studying and emulating Thomas Edison; convinced all of Springfield that the Rapture was imminent; and attempted to uncover a plot to trade Springfield's baseball team interstate by going on a hunger strike. These massively spirited endeavors can be triggered by almost nothing, as evidenced by his short-lived grease collection business.
Homer is also prone to becoming very emotional. For example, he becomes very envious of his neighbors, the Flanders family, and he easily becomes enraged at his son, Bart, and is repeatedly physically abusive towards him.
Homer has an uncommon sense of humor. For example, he thinks the loneliness of his father and Marge's mother is funny, and laughs hysterically at things such as a man getting hit in the groin with a football. For some strange reason, he also finds monkeys hilarious.
Work
Template:Main Homer works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in Sector 7G. He spends much of his time dozing and eating doughnuts, much to the chagrin of his boss, Montgomery Burns. Montgomery Burns does not know the name of his long-working employee and often refers to him as a primate like a baboon.
It is unclear how Homer has the expertise necessary to perform his duties at the power plant. During the episode King Sized Homer, Homer becomes obese so that he can get on disability welfare, having a computer installed in his house so he can perform his job there. During this sequence, it becomes clear that Homer has no knowledge of several seemingly critical procedures which should take place routinely. Despite his stupidity in various episodes, he saves the power plant from substantial meltdowns. He also uses the unconventional pronunciation "nuke-ular" instead of nuclear. However, he is seen performing other occupations, often for only one episode.
Height and weight
Image:King Size Homer.png Homer stands at 6 feet<ref>According to the episode in which he gets a physical and in the video game entitled "Simpsons Hit and Run" at the bonus game screen.</ref> At one point Homer weighed 261 pounds — he decided to go on a diet to reach his current weight, 239 pounds. Homer's weight once totaled 315 pounds. <ref>The Simpsons. "King-Size Homer", aired November 5,1995.</ref>
Diet
Homer is particularly fond of doughnuts, especially LardLad Brand, and pork chops, but also pie, cake, candy, bacon, Krusty Burgers, pizza, seafood, American cheese, steak, salt doodles, and pork rinds. He drinks his favorite beverage, Duff Beer, both at home and at Moe's Tavern. In one episode, he spends weeks eating a gigantic hoagie long after it goes bad.<ref>The Simpsons. "Selma's Choice", aired January 21, 1993.</ref> In the halloween special Treehouse of Horror XII It was analysed that his favorite meal was assorted eggs.
In various episodes, he has acquired more exotic tastes, including crab juice, Play-Doh, flowers, Vaseline, dirt, Legos, pure flour, some novelty plastic lobsters from a salad bar, toxic waste, buttered up bacon, dishwashing liquid, the decorative bride and groom from a wedding cake, a lubricated rubber stopper that had been inserted into his mouth just before receiving electroconvulsive therapy, a gummi Venus de Milo, fancy soaps, and Marge's lipstick, as well as Dutch flowers.
Homer responds to seeing food by drooling, by making excited poses, or by saying "Mmm" and then the name of the food about which he is thinking (eg. Mmm...Chocolate).
Health issues
Template:Mainlist Homer is incredibly lucky to be alive. He gains an extra 61 pounds on top of his already obese frame to get on disability welfare in the "King-Size Homer". <ref>The Simpsons. "King-Size Homer", aired November 5,1995</ref> Due to his heart problem brought about by his obesity, Homer once required a quadruple bypass surgery. He has broken almost every bone in his body, been shot numerous times, and received countless cuts and bruises (both major and minor). Homer has apparently been rendered sterile from prolonged exposure to toxic materials at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
Homer also suffers from several congenital conditions, including a male "Simpson stupidity gene", finger stubbiness (abnormally short and thick fingers) and the "Simpson butt" (a large rear end which requires him to wear "balloon seated" pants). Homer also appears to have far-sighted vision (on occasion), requiring the use of reading glasses when reading a book or newspaper. He has also put contacts which have possibly replaced his glasses. In addition he has what Dr. Hibbert calls "Homer Simpson Syndrome" whereby he has a cushioning layer of liquid around his brain that makes him a formidable and virtually invincible boxer.
Mental capacity
Mental acuity
Homer has a vacuous mind, but he is still able to retain a great amount of knowledge about very specific subjects. He shows small bursts of astonishing foresight, memory, creativity, and fluency with many languages in nearly every episode. These bursts, however, are almost always temporary, constantly changing, and frequently self-serving. Among other examples, in one episode, he poses the question "You guys are commies? Then why am I seeing rudimentary free markets springing up everywhere?" to a Chinese adoption agent. In one episode he exhibits considerable knowledge of Iranian Ayatollahs, but only to persuade Marge to let him keep a vulgar T-shirt. <ref>The Simpsons. "Two Bad Neighbors", aired January, 1996</ref> In one episode, he names several historical Chief Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, but only because one bears the name of a food product: Warren Burger. In another episode, while using a knife to pull a bullet out of flesh, he identifies every tissue the knife touched. Homer once admonished Lisa for constructing a perpetual motion machine by saying, "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
In one episode, Homer temporarily displays a startlingly broad vocabulary, after he spends several nights asleep with an "Improve Your Vocabulary" cassette playing instead of a "Lose Weight In Your Sleep" cassette. In certain episodes he has displayed a polished talent for singing and song-writing, which won him a Grammy with his Barbershop quartet the "B Sharps." His musical abilities have reoccurred in other episodes where he has played the piano and the trombone. He is also able to touch-type.
Mental deficiencies
Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed by much longer periods of ignorance and forgetfulness.
Homer has an IQ of 55, which technically makes him mentally challenged. This can be partly attributed to the presence of a powder-blue wax crayon in the frontal lobe of his brain that remained lodged there when he inserted sixteen crayons up his nose as a child. His stupidity may be exacerbated further by excessive alcohol consumption, exposure to radioactive waste, and repetitive cranial trauma.
It has suggested in some episodes that Homer's normal functions do not require the use of his brain, as Homer has at times entered into debates against his own brain. Occasionally, a specific body part is portrayed debating with his brain (or forehead), such as his face, stomach, or liver.
Homer is inclined to fall into psychological fantasy, often drifting off into his own world. In one episode, he fantasizes about riding the atomic bomb à la Slim Pickens in the film Dr. Strangelove. In another episode, he fantasizes about primitive black and white cartoon characters dancing to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw". In one noted episode, he daydreams of going to Germany, "the land of chocolate." At times, Homer perceives reality in a more personally appealing manner.
Sexuality
Despite being mildly homophobic, Homer has been kissed by at least three other men (his brief personal assistant Karl, Milhouse in one episode and his openly gay temporary housemate in one episode), once kissed Ned Flanders and has later wondered whether Marge's kiss is the best he has had that day. During his brief career as an artist he paints Lenny and Carl in the showers, unconvincingly claiming that it is for "art."
Homer's mild homophobia is evidenced by his complaints that homosexuals have taken "all the toughest American names such as Bruce and Lance and Julian". He has attempted to ensure that his son Bart remains heterosexual by taking him on an (unsuccessful) deer hunt. He has once expressed an unwillingness to enter one gay bar, but only out of self-consciousness for his appearance. In another episode Homer finds Bart and Milhouse dressing up as girls, and angrily demanding a "non-gay explanation" is delighted to discover that it is because they are drunk. He becomes violent when Bart mentions being "a little attracted to Milhouse."
On the other hand, he has also disco danced at a gay bar with his two gay housemates, enjoying it so much that he has taken his shirt off and waved it around his head (which prompted a female bystander to remark, "For some reason, watching this guy is making me even more lesbian"), as well as having been found in a lesbian bar (which he left due to its lack of a fire exit), and another time when he was banned from Moe's Tavern.
Homer has also fantasized about marrying himself, or replacing Marge by wearing a wig that looks like her hair. He also expressed interest in the late Maude Flanders, though he is completely devoted to Marge. In another episode, Homer is skiing and tries to remember his lessons but all he remembers is Flanders shaking his butt wearing a skin tight suit and saying, "It feels like I'm wearing... nothing at all!" to which Homer exclaims, "Stupid sexy Flanders!". He has also admitted to wearing ladies' underwear, which he discussed with Marge to be "purely a comfort thing."
While having a healthy appreciation for beautiful women, he has always been faithful to Marge. On a few occasions, temptation has risen and Homer made the moral decision. Aspiring country music star Lurleen Lumpkin wrote a song "I finally bagged me a Homer", and power plant co-worker Mindy Simmons also was a great temptation, sharing Homer's love for beer and food. But Homer always remained faithful.
Religion
As with all things, Homer's knowledge and appreciation of religion is lacking, and has been known to distort his religious beliefs to suit the needs of a particular moment. He founds his own religion to avoid going to church on Sundays and going to work on religious holidays. In retribution for his sins, Homer's house catches fire, so he recants in fear of an angry God. He is a nominal devout Christian ("Save me Jebus!"), but thinks little of church itself. He calls Reverend Lovejoy, "Captain What's-His-Name" and tends to fall asleep in church. In one episode when Homer becomes an alcoholic, he has a fake bible with a flask of liquor inside and he asks reverend Lovejoy if he can read from the bible and he opens it and takes a swig. Then he quotes "No wonder people call it the good book!"
Homer is (usually) a Presbylutheran, which is the name of the branch of Christianity practiced by most of Springfield. Ned Flanders explains that it separated from Roman Catholicism centuries ago over the right for parishioners to come to church with wet hair, a right they later renounced. He has also been a hedonist, a Stonecutter, a Movementarian (a parody of the Raelians, Scientology), and a Catholic.
After seeing the movie Left Below, a parody of the novel Left Behind, Homer tries twice to correctly predict the time and place of the Rapture. The first time, the citizens of Springfield believe him and follow him, but find no Rapture. The second time he makes the correct prediction but no one believes him, so Homer goes to heaven alone. He convinces God to delay the Rapture in order to be with his family.
Appearances in other media
Due to his immense popularity, Homer Simpson has been used as a spokesman for various commercial products, including Butterfingers, Intel, Reebok, and Burger King. He has also appeared in a Mastercard commercial with other classic characters such as Apu and Moe.
Notable Quotations
Template:Wikiquote
[Upon experiencing any negative situation]
Homer: "D'oh!"
[Homer mistakenly believes that Mr. Burns is making sexual advances at him.] <ref>The Simpsons. "Last Exit to Springfield", aired 11 March 1993</ref>
Homer: "Sorry, Mr. Burns. I don't go in for these backdoor shenanigans. Sure I'm flattered, maybe even a little curious. But the answer is no!"
[On a golf course.]
Burns: "Use an open-faced club. A sand-wedge!"
Homer: "Mmmm, open-faced club sandwich..."
[Homer tries to explain to Lisa why playing ice hockey isn't right for her]
Homer: "If the Bible has taught us nothing else - and it hasn't - it's that girls should stick to girls' sports, such as hot-oil wrestling, foxy boxing, and such-and-such."
[When Santa's Little Helper was made new Duff Spokesperson, Homer revealed his "Homer's Family List", in which he rates family members in descending order.]
Number 1: Homer
Number 2: Dog
Number 3: Marge
Number 4: Lisa
Number 5: Cat
Number 6: Bart
Number 7: Vegas Wife
See also
References
External links
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