Homer Simpson
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Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is one of the main characters in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is a stumbling, bumbling, well-meaning moron, and is known to pull a homer.
Overview
Homer works in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, although "working" in this case refers to dozing and eating doughnuts, and recently, he has stopped going to work unless a gag requires he be there, resulting in him being fired. He spends a great deal of his time at Moe's Tavern with his lifelong friends Barney, Carl, Lenny, and bartender Moe.
Homer Simpson popularized the annoyed grunt "D'oh!" (made memorable, of course, through Dan Castellaneta's distinctive voice work), which began as an abbreviated form of Jim 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.
Family
Homer grew up on his family farm outside of Springfield (where he would later return to grow Tomaccos). Homer is:
- the son of Abraham and Mona Simpson
- married to Marge née Bouvier
- the father of Bart, Lisa, Maggie,
- the half-brother of Herb Powell, and Abbie, the daughter of an Englishwoman.
Age
It has been suggested in the series that Homer is between 36 and 39 years old. In one episode, a quiz indicates he will die at 42 and he wails that he has "only three years to live" (it should be noted that Homer's mental arithmetic may not be reliable). Various episodes have given his date of birth as May 12, 1956; May 10, 1955; and even 17-23-1956 [sic]. One episode had Homer and Marge attending a 1974 high school class reunion, which would be appropriate for a person born in 1955 or 1956.
Address
Homer and his family probably live at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Several alternative house numbers on Evergreen Terrace are given in various episodes, including 59, 94, 723, 743, 763, and 1094, in addition to 430 Spalding Way.
In the 299th episode Homer's email address was given to be chunkylover53@aol.com (mailto:chunkylover53@aol.com). The email address in question belongs to Simpsons co-creator David X Cohen and can be emailed to receive Homer style replies.
Personality
Homer's essential personality traits presented themselves early on. He was raised solely by his father after the approximate age of 11. Homer slid through his classes and apparently graduated despite not passing Remedial Science until some twenty-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." In high school, Homer fell in love with Marge Bouvier, whom he would later marry (though both would later learn they had first met while children at summer camp). Following the completion of Remedial Science, Homer entered Springfield University and graduated due solely to illicitly changed grades. His education was further buttressed by Clown College, Bodyguard School, Successmanship 101, and mandatory Family Skills courses.
His minute attention span complements his intense (albeit short-lived) passion for hobbies, enterprises or causes. Although by nature an exceedingly lazy man, he is capable of exerting tremendous effort toward something, if only for a week or less. Good examples are when he converted his garage into a bar, just to spite his local bartender Moe Szyslak; spent a whole episode studying and emulating Thomas Edison; and attempted to uncover a plot to trade Springfield's baseball team interstate by going on a hunger strike. These massively spirited endeavours can be triggered by almost nothing, as evidenced by his short-lived grease collection business.
Health issues
Regarding his health, Homer is incredibly lucky to be alive. He once gained an extra 70 pounds on top of his already obese condition to get on disability. He has broken almost every bone in his body and received countless cuts and bruises, both major and minor. He has blown out his knee; had his thumb cut off; undergone coronary artery bypass surgery (performed by Dr. Nick Riviera); had laser eye surgery; stabbed himself in the eye with a switchblade; put an electric drill through his eye while attempting to make eye-holes through a metal bucket that was glued to his head; had a cigarette put out in his eye; been in a coma because of an April Fool prank; had his jaw wired shut; donated a kidney; had a crayon wedged into his brain; been rendered infertile from radiation exposure; suffered repeated back trauma; been run-over by a bicycle; been institutionalized; nearly destroyed his stomach with beer and cannonballs; been forced by his cruel boss Mr. Burns to consume radioactive waste with a spoon; suffered four simultaneous heart attacks; had his abdominal area torn open by a rabid badger; suffered alcohol poisoning (twice); been pummeled while inside of a robot; crushed by boulders and wrecking balls; been bitten by venomous snakes; electrocuted himself (by both tasers and power lines); set himself on fire numerous times; suffered multiple gunshot wounds; nearly suffocated after the garage door fell on him; had stiches in his eyeballs as a result of a crow attack; had a parasitic butterfly burrow into his skin and enter his skull; had a drawbridge close on his head; tried to sign an insurance paper while it was going through a shredder; and fallen off cliffs, down stairs, and off the roof of the house frequently, and also been kidnapped and drugged by strange aliens because he found out their secret. Furthermore, his brain is cushioned by a unique and eponymous genetic condition: "Homer Simpson's syndrome." This allowed him to take several punches without falling over. Moe even trained Homer for boxing (with hobos), although Homer's boxing career ended when he was nearly killed by Drederick Tatum (who is much stronger than a hobo).
Homer also suffers from several congenital conditions, most obviously male pattern baldness, but also a male "Simpson" stupidity gene, finger stubbiness (abnormally short and thick fingers) and the "Simpson butt" (a rather large rear end), which are genetic and which he has passed on to his children. Homer also appears to have far-sighted vision (on occassion), requiring the use of reading glasses when reading a book or newspaper.
Mental acuity
HomerStranglesBart.jpg
As widely evidenced, Homer's mind is vacuous, but sprinkled with occasional dense packets of knowledge. He has shown small bursts of astonishing foresight, memory, creativity, and fluency with language (including Japanese, German, Chinese, Spanish, and penguin). These bursts are almost always temporary and constantly changing. One time, while using a knife to pull out a bullet, Homer identified all the tissue the knife came in contact with. The nature of this intellect is multi-fold. Much of his mental ability is suppressed by the presence of a wax crayon in the frontal lobe of his brain, the result of a bizarre childhood mishap. Also credited is the Simpson Gene, which almost guarantees that male Simpsons become underachievers. His stupidity may be exacerbated further by excessive alcohol consumption and repetitive cranial trauma.
Homer is inclined to fall into fantasy, often drifting off into his own world or perceiving reality in a more personally appealing manner. Notable are the odd conversations he has with his own brain, typically in an adversarial tone. For example, once he began a conversation with his own mind by declaring "Okay brain, you don't like me and I don't like you...". His liver once spoke to him too, cheering "Yay!" when Homer had been banned from Moe's bar and thus (briefly) depriving him of the ability to drink beer.
Homer is also prone to becoming very emotional, especially when it comes to his neighbors, the Flanders family, or troubles related to his son, Bart. He has rage issues and has been physically and violently abusive, often towards his son, whom he has strangled and even struck on numerous occasions. He can also be prone to have strange fantasies in public at the drop of a hat (such as riding the nuclear bomb a'la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove).
Homer also has an IQ of 56, which technically makes him mentally retarded. This was established in the episode "HOMR", where Homer says his IQ was raised 50 points, and later on in the episode, he asks if there's any place for a man with a 106 IQ (of course Homer's mathematical abilities, or lack thereof, should be considered when placing stock in such figures).
Diet
On the food front, Homer is particularly fond of doughnuts and pork chops, but also pie, bacon and especially salt doodles and pork rinds. He once spent weeks eating a gigantic hoagie long after it went bad, making him deathly ill. In his gluttony, he has also consumed items that are not necessarily food from time to time, such as flowers, Play-Doh, dirt, some novelty plastic lobsters from a salad bar, the decorative bride and groom from a wedding cake (he mistook it for candy), and a lubricated rubber stopper that had been inserted into his mouth just before recieving electroshock. His diet is not a good example to younger viewers and this point is frequently made throughout the series. Homer typically responds to food with copious drool and exuberant postures, or saying "mmm... ______" of whatever food he's about to eat or thinking about.
Enemies
Homer has garnered more than a few lasting enemies. Most notable is the deceased Frank "Grimey" Grimes, for whose death Homer was indirectly but intensely responsible. This naturally resulted in the rancor of the aforementioned's son, Frank Grimes, Jr. Other adversaries of note include his sisters-in-law Patty and Selma Bouvier, employer C. Montgomery Burns, mobster "Fat Tony", Springfield University Dean Bobby Peterson, president George H. W. Bush, the Emperor of Japan, New York City, PBS, the State of Florida, and an inanimate carbon rod. Along with the rest of his family, he is banned from every state in the United States, except North Dakota & Arizona, rejecting the latter ("Arizona smells funny!")
Name
Homer has gone by many names and aliases. While in the Witness Protection Program, the family assumed the surname "Thompson" (which he had a hard time understanding at first). Homer legally changed his name to "Max Power" for a time to escape public ridicule. He has also been known by many nicknames, including "Homey," "Homina," "Home-boy," "Colonel Homer," "Dancin' Homer," "Mr. Plow," "Mr. Sparkle," "Hungry, Hungry Homer," "El Homo", the "Brick Hit House," the "Southern Dandy," and "Bottomless Pete, Nature's Cruelest Mistake," among others. He once ran a gossip website under the alias "Mr. X." and briefly became a pie-touting super hero called "The Pie Man". "Angry dad", which was based on Homer, was the name of a internet comic character that was created by Bart.
Homer's middle name, "Jay," is a tribute by Simpsons creator Matt Groening to the work of cartoon producer Jay Ward, creator of Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel. Abe and Homer share this middle initial, though not the name. Groening has stated that he named the core of the Simpsons family after members of his own family (Homer was his father's name). He also acknowledges that Homer Simpson happens to be a character in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust.
Past jobs
Assuming compensation (such as money, Powersauce Bars, etc.), but excluding Halloween episodes and passing bets (grave digger, panda, etc.), Homer's past occupations include:
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
- Technical Supervisor, Sector 7G
- Supervising Technician, Sector 7G
- Safety Inspector, Sector 7G (current position)
- Executive (with bathroom privileges and an assistant, Karl)
- Executive Assistant/aka Smithers
- Executive Vice-President
- Owner
- Freelance Consultant
Paid employment and entrepreneurial activities
- Actor (SAG name, "Homer Jay Simpson")
- Ambulance driver
- Angel skeleton exhibitor
- Astronaut (NASA)
- Athletic Celebration Dance Choreographer (Warren Sapp, Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming, Tom Brady, LeBron James)
- Attack-dog trainer (Pitiless Pup Attack Dog School)
- Authorized Krusty impersonator
- Baby proofer (Wee Care)
- bartender (Homer's Hunting Club and Moe's Tavern)
- Blackjack dealer (Monty's Casino)
- Bowling alley assistant/Pin monkey (Bowl-o-rama)
- Boxer (Association of Springfield Semipro Boxers, referred to in the episode as ASSBOX)
- Candle maker (Ye Olde Candlemaker, Olde Springfield Towne)
- Car designer (Powell Motors)
- Carnival worker/Carny
- Cartoon voice (Poochie)
- Chauffeur/Limo driver (Classy Joe's)
- Chief of Police
- Conceptual artist (Louvre: American Style)
- Convenience store night-clerk (Kwik-E-Mart)
- Door-to-door knife salesman (Slash-Co.)
- Door-to-door spring salesman
- Drug Spokesman (Viagrogain)
- Entertainment manager - (Suds McDuff & country music artist Lurleen Lumpkin)
- Farmer
- Food critic (Springfield Shopper)
- Fortune Cookie fortune-writer
- Freelance ambulance driver
- Grease collections/sales
- Guard (Springfield Juvenile Correctional Facility)
- Instructor, "How to keep a successful marriage" (Adult Education Annex)
- Junior Vice-President (CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet, his own short-lived company)
- Krusty Burger Cashier
- Mall Santa Claus
- Mayor (New Springfield)
- Mayoral bodyguard
- Mini-golf assistant (Sir Putts-A-Lot)
- Minister ordained by the ePiscopal Church (First just gay marriage but then pretty much anything 'real')
- Missionary
- Monorail conductor
- Mountain climber (Murderhorn)
- Movie Producer (Mel Gibson's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington remake)
- Musician ("Everybody Hates Ned Flanders")
- Musician (Be Sharps)
- Oil rig worker
- Owner (ZiffCorp)
- Owner, private security firm (SpringShield)
- People greeter (Sprawl-Mart) (replacing Abraham Simpson)
- Performance artist/Freak (Hullapalooza)
- Personal assistant (to Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin)
- Petty Officer Third Class, Naval Reserve (Later, Acting Captain)
- Plant Supervisor/Executive (Globex Corp., Cypress Creek)
- Prison Snitch (Montgomery Burns Penitentiary, Formerly Springfield Concert Hall)
- Prank Monkey
- Sanitation Commissioner
- Sculptor (specifically, Outsider Art)
- Service Trainee (Gulp 'n' Blow Drive-thru)
- Snowplow operator (Mr. Plow)
- Sports mascot ('Dancing Homer')
- Sprawl-Mart Greeter
- Sugar salesman (Farmer Homer's Sweet Sweet Sugar)
- Super Bowl Halftime Show Co-Director (with Ned Flanders)
- Talk Show Host (Homer Simpson Show)
- Tomacco "inventor", salesman (E-I-E-I-[Annoyed Grunt])
- Traveling salesman (Simpson & Son, Revitalizing Tonic)
- Truck Driver/Trucker
- Union Boss (Intl. Union of Pastry Chefs, Jazz Dancers, and Nuclear Technicians)
- Used Car salesman
- Wal-Mart Associate, Cashier (at same pay as associate, but with more work), and Assistant Manager (at same pay as cashier, but with even more work)
Criminal endeavours
- Telemarketing scam (Happy Dude)
- Telemarketing scam (Sorry Dude)
- Con artist/Grifter
- Bootlegger/Beer-Baron
- Sugar smuggler (Motherloving Sugar Corp.)
- Superhero (the Pie Man)
- Pill smuggler (from Canada)
- Moonshiner/Beer Baron (During a brief period of prohibition)
- Stealing Cable
Awards & honors
- First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, 1992 (after sterilization)
- Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Toxic Waste Handler of the Month, 1990
- Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Employee of the Month, 1991 (after saving Springfield from a nuclear meltdown)
- Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Medal for Bravery, 1995 (after physically plugging a radioactive gas leak)
- Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Belching Contest Winner, 1995 (award later yielded to Jay Sherman)
- Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Children's Model-Building Contest, 1997
- Grammy Award for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year, 1985 (Be Sharps)
- Greaser's Café Dance Contest, 1999
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, (Dr. Haing S. Ngor or Don Ameche)
- Springfield Bowling Championship, 1996 (PinPals)
- P.J. O'Harrigan's "Sir Drinks-A-Lot," 1999
- Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, 2000
- Springfield Olympic Mascot Contest, 1999 (Springy)
- High school reunion awards: "most weight gained," "most hair lost," "most improved odor," "oldest car," "lowest paying job," and for "travelling the least distance to get to the reunion," among others, 1993 (awards later withdrawn)
- Ate the world's largest hoagie at a county fair in 1991 (this experience is mentioned in the Season 3 episode "Colonel Homer" but never actually shown)
Boyhood/life-long dream
- Monorail conductor / run out on a baseball field during a game
- manage a beautiful country singer / eat the world's biggest hoagie
- blackjack dealer / appear on "The Gong Show"
- to own the Dallas Cowboys
- to live in the woods, keeping a journal of thoughts
- bowls a perfect game
- End world hunger
- See Stevie Nicks naked (has done so on three occasions)
Family, friends, and enemies
Bonding or little talks with...
- [8F07] Bart - building the soapbox racer; when Bart wins the race
- [8F16] Bart - After Bart congratulates him ending of the love letter.
Forgetting children
- [8F15] didn't know Bart's birthday
Strangling Bart
HomerStranglingBart.jpg
- [7F02] after Bart spilt his bottle of Dimoxinil
- [8F05] when Bart says he won't even use the bathroom after him.
- [8F06] too busy strangling (young) Bart to notice Lisa saying "dada"
- [8F11] when he realizes Bart fooled him with a fake radio announcement
- [9F08] strangles baby Bart for calling him "Domer" and for flushing his wallet down the toilet
- [9F17] when Bart admits to shaking up the beer can
- [1F20] after Bart says that Homer double-dared him.
- [CABF01] while Lisa sees the house with binoculars
Correcting Bart or Lisa
- [7G05] "Bart, you're saying butt-kisser like it's a bad thing."
- [7G11] Bart: "Dad, you're giving in to mob mentality." "No I'm not, I'm hopping on the bandwagon!"
- [9F19] "two wrongs make a right, Lisa"
- [1F15] "Lisa, a guy who's got lots of ivory is less likely to hurt Stampy than a guy whose ivory supplies are low."
Kissing
- [7G02] Bart at the Genius School
- [7F11] Moe's bar denizens
- [8F14] Chief Wiggum
- [8F23] Herb
- [1F14] Ned Flanders
- [1F16] Hans Moleman (Ralph Mellish)
Suggestive snuggling with Marge
- [7G01] At the very end of the episode
- [8F19] at end, in bed with Marge
- [8F22] after he learns some new vocabulary
- [9F01] while Marge is praying for him.
- [9F07] Wearing Mr. Plow jacket at end
- [9F11] Watching Hercules ("The Cyclops just tore off my clothes!")
- [1F07] In hotel
Homer vs. Flanders
- [7G09] "Don't try to keep up with the Flandereses" {ct}
- [9F22] When Chief Wiggum says once a man is in your house you can do what you want to him, so Homer calls Flanders and gets ready to punch him {as}
- [1F10] He says, "that life is one defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead" {as}
- [1F14] plans to hit Ned over the head with a lead pipe and take his football tickets.
- [5F16] takes part in the race because Flanders takes part too {ct}
Quotes by Homer
- "D'oh!"
- "Woo-hoo!"
- "Chief Warren Burgerrr. Hhgggg...(drooling)"
- [Bart : "I am through with working. Working is for chumps."] "Son, I'm proud of you! I was twice your age when I figured that out."
- "Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?"
- "I like stories."
- "Operator, give me the number for 911!"
- "I can't even say the word 'titmouse' without giggling like a schoolgirl. Hee hee hee!"
- "Lisa, if the Bible has taught us anything - and it hasn't - it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as foxy boxing, hot oil wrestling, and such and such."
- "No, it's not that Marge; didn't you hear? They have no bananas - they have no bananas today. [He cries.]"
- "Well, they can't fire me!" [Lenny: "Gee, why not Homer?"] Homer: [silent]
- "Hey, turn it down! I can't even hear myself think." Homer's Brain: "I want some peanuts." Homer: "That's better."
- "Hey, Apu, got any of those Kettle Chips that give you diarrhea? I need to do a little spring cleaning."
- "Oh cruel fate, why do you mock me?"
- "Homer no function beer well without."
- "It's funny 'cause it's true."
- [Homer answers the phone.] "Yellow." [Marge: There's someone here to speak with you.] "Is he Batman?" [Marge: "Noo...He's a scientist.] "Batman's a scientist."
- "Exactly, heh heh heh...D'OH!"
- "English, who needs that? I'm never going to England."
- "Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream?"
- "Being eaten by an alligator is just like sleeping.....in a blender!"
- "Don't mess with the dead, boy, they have eerie powers."
- "Don't let Krusty's death get you down, boy. People die all the time, just like that. Why, you could wake up dead tomorrow! Well, good night."
- "Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races."
- "Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love."
- [singing] "I am so smart. I am so smart. S-m-r-t....I mean s-m-A-r-t."
- "Trying is the first step towards failure."
- "Ha ha! Look at this country! You-are-gay!? Ha ha!" [looking at Uruguay on the globe]
- "It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone."
- [Marge: The plant called and said if you don't come in tomorrow, don't bother coming in Monday.] Homer: "WOOHOO! 4 day weekend!"
- "Well, the evening began at the Gentleman's Club, where we were discussing Wittgenstein over a game of backgammon..."
- "Look Marge, you don't know what it's like - I'm the one out there every day putting his ass on the line. And I'm not out of order! You're out of order! The whole freaking system is out of order! You want the truth? You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! 'Cause when you reach over and put your hand into a pile of goo - that was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do!! Forget it Marge, it's Chinatown!!!"
- Marge, every time I learn something new it pushes something old I used to know out of my brain. Like that time I took that home wine-making course and forgot how to drive. [Marge: That's because you were drunk!] And how!
- Oh doctor. I was in the most wonderful place. There were lots of little people in red pajamas sticking pitchforks in my butt.
See also
External links
- The Simpsons Archive (http://www.snpp.com/guides/homer.file.html)
- Is Homer Simpson a Communist? (http://www.onesolutionrevolution.de/zeitung/wire04/homer-en.htm)
- Give Homer Simpson a Knighthood! (http://www.petitiononline.com/chrisb)
- What Badgers Eat (http://www.whatbadgerseat.com)bs:Homer Simpson
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