Before we move on to the subject, let me first establish my credentials as an avid viewer of all things cartoony. I won’t officially class myself as a ‘cartoonaphiliac’, but from a point of view, I would be close 😊.
Looking back, when I was growing up, comic strips like Disney, D.C, and Archies comics had been the main source of entertainment. With the advent of colour television in the country (…yes, I am that old!), shows like ‘The wonderful world of Disney’ took my fancy, which was then followed by numerous other shows like ‘What’s up Doc?’, ‘The Bug Bunny Show’,’ Cartoon Network and the like. I can even remember that at one point in time in my life ‘Animation’ was on the table as a potential career choice.
The Simpsons
In 1987 cartoonist Matt Groening created the character Simpson for Tracy Ulman’s show which in 1989 turned into a prime-time TV series in its own right. The series was named ‘The Simpsons’ and connected to its audience like no other animation series prior with the exception of Looney Tunes which was televised some 40 years before. Initially aired as a series on ‘Fox’ television, the show was later acquired by Disney in 2019. More than three decades on, Simpsons is still going strong, and one wonders what is there in the characters that attract us so.
IMAGE FROM NPR.ORG WEBSITE
Homer J Simpson
Homer is the leading character of the show. Interestingly, Homer is not our typical hero, he has no supernatural powers like DC Comics characters such as Superman or Batman with bulging muscles and a cape. He is overweight, bald, lazy, generally incompetent, and often ignorant of the world around him. He is a blue-collar worker, with limited intelligence or training who has been given the seemingly ‘non-important’ job of a safety inspector in a nuclear power plant; and to top this off, he is negligent towards his duties. He loves his beer and doughnuts, and at home prefers being a couch potato senselessly watching television, eating snacks, and drinking Duff; his favorite beer. In a nutshell, if at all, Homer represents society’s idea of a Loser.
One wonders why then; we have fallen in love with this ‘anti-hero’ character and have been welcoming him in our lounges for nearly three decades and counting.
My quick inquiry with Dr. Google on ‘why do people love homer Simpsons character’; resulted in 2.2 million hits in less than half a second. If nothing else it proved that while this question may not be the most important question the world is thinking about, it is out there.
Homer represents the ‘average’ person in us. Although far from an ideal husband (according to Marge, ‘loud, crude, and piggish’), he truly loves and respects his wife. He has demonstrated the virtues of a long-lasting relationship and while their relationship is challenged at times, he compromises and tries to stand by his wife and manages to pull through and retain his marriage even during hard times. He is always willing to work on his relationship and continued to find ways to rekindle his love for his wife.
He works ‘hard’ (although, this in most cases means taking a nap on his work desk at the nuclear plant) to put bread on the table for his family. Though occasionally he tries to strangle Bart, he is shown as a loving and caring father, who works hard toward fulfilling his children’s needs and whenever Bart, Lisa, or Maggie needs him he is there.
He is overweight but comfortable with his obesity and as a matter of fact, at times uses his fat to his advantage by absorbing a punch or two on his flabby body. Like some of us from generation X, he dislikes exercising, so much so that changing TV channels or answering the phone or the door is a choir for him. He is lazy and proud of it and embraces the idea that it’s a waste of time to exert effort, on one occasion advises his children “, “Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.”
Homer loves food. The more unhealthy the food is, the more he likes it, his over-indulgence is followed by catchphrases such as “Mmm…..” , and extempore drooling. And who can forget his love for doughnuts, or he puts it “Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do”. He borders into a full-blown alcoholic and loves his beer and in one instance proudly acclaims “To alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
Homer lives in a floating timeline and his character never ages (we wish!!). He rarely shaves and his tan stubble has remained consistent over the years. I am sure, a number of us who are blessed with facial hair would love to have this trait. He is happy with his limited wardrobe of a white shirt with an open collar and short sleeves, blue pants, and grey shoes (Suits, eat your heart out!).
Homer adheres to no religion and only goes to church because his wife Marge forces him to attend. He does not exhibit any religious morality and frequently sleeps in church and refers to religion as “….the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work out in real life….”.
Homer exhibits an eager mind that can retain a lot of knowledge in a short time frame. Like most of us, these short bursts of insight, creativity, and memory, are followed by much longer and more consistent periods of ignorance and stupidity. Homer is extremely confident about his knowledge and learning and similar to us; often, suffers from ‘I am right’ syndrome.
Homer’s contribution to English.
D’oh!. In 2001, the Oxford English dictionary which is widely considered as the leading authority on the English language added ‘D’oh’ to its list of more than 700,000 words. "Doh" is now defined as "Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish,"
‘Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.’
Homer Simpson
HOMER AND MEDICAL SCIENCE
Homer has two real-world medical findings named after him. The first of these is ‘The first Homer Simpson Effect’ was published by the American Academy of Neurology in 2006 when researchers found that people with a higher BMI (Body Mass Index) tend to score lower on cognitive tests (D’oh!).
‘The second Homer Simpson Effect’ was published by Nature Neuroscience in 2015 when researchers used fMRI scans and behavioural tests to show that recalling visual memories and experiences can cause us to forget similar memories and experiences. This effect is perhaps better explained by Homer to Marge as ‘Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.’
My tribute
I had joint pottery classes recently and after failing to develop any notable skills on the potter’s wheel decided to try my prowess in sculpture. Homer’s statuette is my first go at this art form. Although I had gone through a steep learning curve during this exercise and at times was almost certain that I will end up exploding this figurine in the kiln, I think the results have been satisfactory and I have been able to capture the spirit of Homer and what this character represents.
My Homer Figurine
Homer and other characters of the show have found their way into our collective vocabulary. As Matt Groening himself puts it "People can relate to Homer because we're all secretly propelled by desires we can't admit to," and the fact that, “Homer is launching himself head-first into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him. His love of whatever...is a joy to witness."
The Simpsons present a satirical compendium on society’s attitude towards religion, the environment, politics, celebrity worship, education system to name a few. Although the series is American-centric, the problems and society’s approach to solving or; in most cases ignoring them are similar and perhaps this is why the show has developed a strong following in more than 90 countries in the world. According to one critique, “The brutal honesty of Homer’s personality as a whole is what makes him such a hilarious and loved character”.
Acknowledgment: Special thanks to die-hard fans on the web whose writings made the research for this article a breeze!