Does Marge have friends?

August 21, 2016 2:15 PM

A poem, in tweets, about Marge Simpson by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, show runner and co-creator of Bojack Horseman.
posted by Going To Maine (15 comments total)

It was a little maudlin, but I liked it. The home dynamic is one place where the Simpsons has not aged very well. *strangles son, leaves stay at home wife to do all the work, gets drunk every night, is emotionally neglectful at best*
posted by codacorolla at 2:18 PM on August 21, 2016 [11 favorites]

Link to the actual creator's Tumblr
posted by indubitable at 2:21 PM on August 21, 2016 [3 favorites]

Did that just take a turn at the end toward implying that Ned Flanders is (was?) an abusive partner?
posted by explosion at 2:35 PM on August 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

The home dynamic is one place where the Simpsons has not aged very well. *strangles son, leaves stay at home wife to do all the work, gets drunk every night, is emotionally neglectful at best*

This is still pretty relevant.
posted by ODiV at 2:37 PM on August 21, 2016 [9 favorites]

I mean the single source of income providing for the lifestyle they've got is fairly unrealistic these days. TV shows are fairly well known for "optimistic" income/spending though.
posted by ODiV at 2:46 PM on August 21, 2016 [4 favorites]

I think that the show may always have required some suspension of disbelief.
posted by thelonius at 2:51 PM on August 21, 2016 [15 favorites]

And Maude whispered this: “It’s not the calm before the storm that frightens me. It’s the calm that follows.”

Having been through numerous hurricanes I can confirm that the calm that follows is always much worse than the calm before the storm, because before the storm there is an endless never finished list of things to do to prepare, but after the storm there is only the helpless wait for the roads to be opened and the power to come back on.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:55 PM on August 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

Did that just take a turn at the end toward implying that Ned Flanders is (was?) an abusive partner?

Earlier than that. "Does she see in her late neighbor a cautionary tale? Seldom-remembered, semi-anonymous Maude — could this fate too befall Marge?"
posted by indubitable at 3:05 PM on August 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

To whom does Marge spill her secrets over coffee on cold days? Who laughs at Marge’s jokes? Who knows Marge, truly and well?

Who tells Marge to leave the brute, knowing she won’t? “You don’t have to stay. You deserve so much more.”

Patty and Selma.
posted by rlk at 5:45 PM on August 21, 2016 [32 favorites]

There's a reason Marge has very few friends...

Marge: Homer, please, you know how hard it is for me to make friends.

[Flashback: Marge is seated in the living room, having tea with a group of ladies, laughing]

Marge's Friend: Oh Marge, we should do this every week.

[Homer runs in wearing Bermuda shorts and a "NO FAT CHICKS" t-shirt and carrying a skunk]

Homer: Marge, I got sprayed by this skunk!

[splutters]

Homer: Oh look, it's doing it again!

[screaming, the women scatter]

posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:30 PM on August 21, 2016 [15 favorites]

The Simpsons, by Richard Yates
posted by naju at 7:31 PM on August 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

i don't think he is implying that Ned was abusive; i think he is implying that Marge's life appears to be as unspectacular as Maude's. That Maude's death made no impact to the world. That no one (other than Ned, Rod, and Todd) really missed her and her presence.

I think he's making Marge project her feelings and frustrations onto Maude to not feel so alone (or maybe he's the one who is projecting).
It's very possible that Maude lived a happy, fulfilling life, and we just didn't see it.

Also, this show is just a show, and when it comes to female characters, there are very few of them who have depth or character other than being just an extension of their male counterparts, and the Simpsons, sadly doesn't fare much better - a bit better, but not much. Anyway - Maude wasn't really a secondary character - like Edna or Patty or Selma.

Still, it was a nice poem. Reminded me of the movie The Hours.
posted by bitteroldman at 8:07 PM on August 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

See also: Comics artist Panic Volkushka imagines a present day scene [SLTumblr] between those Fox TV sons, Chris Griffin, Bobby Hill, and Bart Simpson
posted by gwint at 11:32 PM on August 21, 2016 [5 favorites]

I mean the single source of income providing for the lifestyle they've got is fairly unrealistic these days.

I know right? They live in a palace and eat lobster while I live in a single room above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:06 AM on August 22, 2016 [7 favorites]

TV shows are fairly well known for "optimistic" income/spending though.

Have I got a closet-organization empire to sell you...
posted by 3urypteris at 9:15 AM on August 22, 2016