0001 - "Homer Simpson" (Patreon)

Well, of course Homer is first.

Many Simpsons fans will be familiar with the short "Good Night", as it is played in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" from season 7. That episode was where I (and presumably many fans) learned of the existence of these shorts. Almost inevitably, Homer is the first to speak in this short as he tucks his son* into bed, a scene that seems so out of place to anyone who has watched how he treats his son in the intervening 30+ years.

It can be argued that Homer is the main character of The Simpsons. Obviously not in every episode, but more often than not he is our gateway into the events of the show. He is an everyman, a representation of your average modern American...which really hammers home how little respect the show has for modern society.

In general, I find Homer Simpson to be quite an inconsistent character. An all time classic mainstay in pop culture, of course, but the sheer amount of screen time he has means it would have been basically impossible for him to stay the same over all this time. In early years he is a proud father figure, later becoming stupider and more of a caricature, eventually settling into whatever he needs to be for any given episode. As writers revolve in and out of the show, their take on what Homer is fluctuates.

Which is fine. It's a cartoon.

As I rapidly approach Homer's age, I find my own take on him fluctuating on him too. As a child I would think of him as an incompetent buffoon, unrepresentative of true responsible adulthood. The joke was that grown-ups couldn't truly be this way, aimless and bumbling. Now, as a grown-up and father myself, I find him a lot more identifiable.

Anyway, one down.

*I'll reveal who this mystery son is tomorrow.

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.

ALSO as this is the first post I would like to thank everyone who signed up for the Patreon before the ball even got rolling! You are wonderful and magnificent.