Lisa Simpson
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Lisa Marie Simpson (voiced by Yeardley Smith) is a fictional character on the animated television series The Simpsons. Matt Groening, the creator of the series, named her after his sister. While Lisa isn't as recognizable as Homer or Bart, she tied with Bart at #11 on TV Guide's Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time in 2002.
Age
Lisa is 8 years old; according to her brother Bart, Lisa is 2 years and 38 days younger than him, which suggests her birthday as May 9. However, other episodes claim it is sometime on September 28. She was shown being born during the 1984 Summer Olympics in a flashback episode ("Lisa's First Word"), but since The Simpsons characters generally don't age, no specific year for her birth can be given (besides "always" being born "about 8 years ago" except in future-themed episodes). Homer wanted to name her Bartxena, but Marge wouldn't let him.
Intelligence
Lisa is an extremely bright girl, with an I.Q. of 159, (her I.Q. was formerly 156) and she is a member of Mensa, a society for people with high I.Q.s. The first thing she did that showed her intelligence was changing her own diaper as an infant. Other signs of intelligence at a young age include building a giant castle fort out of Legos (which Bart knocked down shortly afterward) , spelling the word "star" on her letter blocks and putting together a jigsaw puzzle of the Taj Mahal. Officially, her highest grade is an A+++, which she earned by cheating on a test about The Wind in the Willows (she later re-marked the test as an F). Once, when she was unable to attend school due to a teachers' strike, she suffered a sort of "school withdrawal" and invented a perpetual motion machine; Homer chastised her for this, telling her that in the Simpson household "we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" She also organized a student strike when she learned Principal Skinner was exploiting her, when she was the student body president.
Lisa graphs intelligence vs. happiness
Activities
Her musical abilities are extensive: she sings with a powerful voice, and has been seen playing the acoustic six-string (in Last Exit to Springfield), electric bass guitar, accordion and piano proficiently. However, her great love is jazz performed on her baritone saxophone, although sometimes the actual sound of her saxophone is that of a tenor. She uses a 4½ reed, a highly stiff reed even for high level players, especially on the baritone. In reality, a baritone saxophone is longer than an 8 year old is tall. Her musical inclinations were greatly nourished through her relationship with the late jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy.
She is fluent in Italian (which she learned from Milhouse Van Houten, before going to Italy in The Italian Bob) and a little French and some German verbs (with the help of a German verbwheel in The Canine Mutiny). She understands Chinese as seen from listening to Yao Ming (though she can't read it) as well as Spanish. In Treehouse of Horror XIV, she is shown to be fluent in Swedish, but this may be considered non-canon.
Although she is not known for her athletic abilities, she does play soccer and excelled as a goaltender in pee-wee hockey. She is also an excellent gymnast, because her large head gives her perfect balance; however, she proved particularly devoid of dancing talent.
Lisa Simpson is more intelligent than many people older than her, even adults. The only other people within Lisa's same age group who can rival or surpass her in intellect and achievements are perhaps Allison Taylor and Martin Prince. Allison, in the episode "Lisa's Rival," managed to frustrate Lisa with her ability to play anagrams, her superior saxophone skills and diorama construction. Martin Prince has always been her only true intellectual rival. Lisa Simpson has few close friends; one exception may be Janey.
From a young age, she has displayed the abilities of a child prodigy in many areas which helps explain her characters tendency toward being an outcast. This can be attributed to her advanced intelligence and principles that other children, and many adults, cannot appreciate. Her current unpopularity is a far cry from an earlier Lisa who actually held a sleepover with a group of friends who helped her torment Bart.
Vegetarianism
Coupled with her intelligence is a strong sense of leftist political and social conviction she is ever ready to advance. For example, Lisa is a vegetarian (she has stated she plans on becoming a vegan). Although she did eat meat in Mommie Beerest, when Bart slingshot meat into her mouth as a prank.
Religion
Lisa is a practicing Buddhist since the thirteenth season, although she pays lip service to her family's Christian denomination. [link] In addition, she is a supporter of the Free Tibet movement. [link] She has also mentioned Wicca as "empowering," but does not seem to practice it.[[Citing sources citation needed]].
Lisa's faith is interesting because, while she often shows a strong skepticism regarding the supernatural, she is at times also the most spiritual. Her skepticism is sometimes shown juxtaposed to Marge, who tends to believe things. Lisa's spiritual side often shows, though, such as when she goes on her spiritual search that led to Buddhism. It could perhaps be summed that Lisa has a non-traditional approach to the spiritual, disbelieving in the more literal aspects and more centered inward, while Marge and others are more traditional.
Personality
Lisa is quite eclectic in her knowledge and is notably more concerned with world affairs than the other characters from the show. She may be seen as a child prodigy. Critics have also pointed out that the character of Lisa is a hint to the slighting of children in the real world though they may be a lot more knowledgeable and perceptive than the adults. Lisa shares her intellect and over-achieving personality with many other female members of the Simpson family (it has been revealed that male Simpsons inherit a gene that causes stupidity and under-achieving, which is carried on the Y chromosome). Though her Anti-social behaviors and points of view have gotten her into trouble with teachers and other students, with one teacher (Miss Hoover) even once referring to her as a "PC thug".
Although her challenging of and rebellion against social norms is frequently portrayed in a positive light, Lisa is seen by some to whine at times or to have a persistent sense of superiority that often grows into self-righteousness or self-aggrandizement. Notably, in 'Lisa the Vegetarian', her increasing sense of moral superiority and self-righteousness over her newly-found vegetarianism leads her to attempt to force her beliefs on others against their will, culminating in her spiteful ruining of a primarily meat-based barbeque prepared by Homer (an act she later regrets and apologizes for when vegan character Apu tells her that he considers her a monster for eating cheese).
Indeed, at other times she appears to resist certain movements purely for the sake of resisting them, not because of any genuine ideological opposition. This was most notably spoofed in the episode "Bart Star", in which Lisa tries to stir things up by joining the Pee Wee football team (originally) coached by Ned Flanders. When Flanders gladly welcomes her to the team, pointing out that they already have several female members, Lisa (clearly disheartened) tries another tactic, decrying the sport for using footballs made from animal skins. This too turns out to be a non-issue as Lisa is told that the balls are synthetic and that furthermore for each ball purchased a donation is made to Amnesty International. At this point, Lisa leaves, on the verge of tears.
Despite her intelligence, however, Lisa does have a childlike impressionability that would seem common to all eight-year old girls. For example, she would love to have a pony, loves collecting Malibu Stacey dolls, and enjoys her mother's homemade waffles (and is disappointed when they turn out to be square pancakes). Her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid.
She also has a sibling rivalry with her brother and sister. Most of these problems (usually provoked by Bart) have to do with each one's sense of superiority (age-wise for Bart and intelligence-wise for Lisa). This has sometimes elevated to the point of physical fights and plots to seek revenge on each other. However, she has solved various problems around Springfield, often in tandem with her brother while showing great cooperation. She even had a brief rivalry with her baby sister, Maggie, when it was shown that she had a higher IQ then Lisa, prompting a lot of jealousy in Lisa. (Though in Blood Feud Lisa was shown trying to help Maggie's brain develop as much as it can.) This led to Lisa trying to foil Maggie's intelligence and even to her running away from home. It was revealed in the same episode that Maggie wasn't necessarily smarter then Lisa, but that Maggie was performing so well because Lisa was subconsciously helping her.
Despite Lisa's high IQ, she still has childlike problems that need the help of an adult. In Lost Our Lisa she tricks Homer into letting her take the bus alone, only to become hoplessly lost. She is only saved when Homer, realizing that he sent his 8 year old daughter on the bus alone, comes to rescue her. She was shown to be scared of the boogie man after a bad dream and is scared of needles. She also has a imaginary friend named Rachel Cohen who "just got into Brandeis". (Hitherto, Rachel has been mentioned in only one episode.) In another episode, Lisa showed a fear of the dark when a cemetarywas built outside of her home, but overcame that fear when the beasts from Maurice Sendak's popular book, Where the Wild Things Are, showed her that it was okay to be afraid of things but she shouldn't let those fears rule her life.
Lisa generally wears the same outfit, like most characters in The Simpsons. Her outfit consists of a red dress, red shoes, and a string of pearls. Lisa usually wears a light blue nightgown and slippers. She sometimes goes barefoot to bed, but usually wears the slippers. For church attendance and special occasions, Lisa wears a pink sundress with matching shoes and white socks (and sometimes a matching hat).
Like every young girl, Lisa has also gone through periods of rebellion. For a short time, she smoked cigarettes with older girls in the school bathroom, and even told her teacher, Elizabeth Hoover, to "shove it" when she did not feel like sprinkling sparkles on her art assignment (a parody of the 1953 film The Wild One).
In "Home Away From Homer," it is revealed that Lisa is a fan of National Public Radio and David Sedaris. Her favorite song is "The Broken Neck Blues". Her favorite album is Miles Davis' The Birth of the Cool.
Despite being a vegetarian, she claims to enjoy the smell of lobster. According to Homer, her favorite candy is Red Vines. Her favorite food is couscous, unbeknownst to Marge. In "She Used to Be My Girl," Marge implies that Lisa's favorite cereal is Cap'n Crunch. She also likes Olive Garden.
In Japan, the broadcasters of the series found they were able to turn the apparent viewer dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on Lisa. Apparently, her often well-intended, but ill-fated struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and her city struck a chord with the Japanese.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Future
It should be noted that the specific years listed below are probably inconsistent, given the general "timelessness" of the series. For instance, in 2010 Lisa is depicted as being in her late teens or early twenties. However, this was if Lisa was eight during the initial airing of "Lisa's Wedding". As 2010 is only four years away from the current time, and Lisa is still depicted as an eight year old in 2006 this makes it impossible for her to be that age by that date. So in other words, the specific dates should be treated as very loose canon. Also, as these events are glimpses into the unknown future, these events may not come to pass exactly.:
- 2013 (eight years from "now"): Professor Frink shows that she is to take Milhouse to her prom. She almost loses her chance to attend an Ivy League college on scholarship, which prompts Bart (in that time) to use Frink's machine to see what Lisa's life will be if she does not attend university. It is revealed she has a miserable marriage with Milhouse.
- 2010 (fifteen years from "now"): Depicted in "Lisa's Wedding". A fortune teller in a medieval carnival reveals that Lisa will fall in love with a British man who matches her intellectually, but her marriage will be cancelled because of a dispute over his dislike for the Simpson household. It is also hinted at that Lisa will lose her virginity to Milhouse.
- 2030 (thirty years from "now"): Depicted in "Bart to the Future". An American Indian reveals that Lisa will become the "first straight female US President", having defeated Chastity Bono. A balding middle-aged Milhouse works for the Lisa Simpson Administration. Her administration's main issue is the massive foreign debt. She appoints Bart as the "Secretary of Keeping it Real" as a way to keep him out of the way at Camp David.
Notable accomplishments
- She has been offered a scholarship to a Seven Sisters college of her choice.
- Plays baritone sax.
- Won the regional Reading Digest essay contest.
- Served brief term as Little Miss Springfield.
- Co-invented the Lisa Lionheart doll.
- Invented a perpetual motion machine in her spare time.
- All-star goalie in pee-wee hockey.
- Discovered Jebediah Springfield was a murderous pirate named Hans Sprungfeld.
- Helped Charles Montgomery Burns recover his fortune, which made Burns $120 million with the "Li'l Lisa" recycling plant. She was offered 10% of the profit, but turned down the offer, giving Homer five heart attacks: four simultaneously for giving up the "$12,000" that Homer had mistaken it to be, and another for learning the real value of the 10%.
- Passed with "satisfactory completion" of the second grade as the first female cadet at Rommelwood Military Academy.
- First straight female president of the United States. (In the future)
- Runs a successful babysitting service.
- Anchor of Channel 6's "Kidz News".
- Tree-sat a redwood.
- Won Li'l Starmaker singing competition.
- In addition to being fluent in English, her native language, she is also fluent in Italian and Swedish. She knows a little French and a little German and understands Chinese and Spanish.
- Is a member of Mensa.
- Was co-mayor of the town along with the rest of the Springfield charter of Mensa which included Professor Frink, Dr. Hibbert, Comic Book Guy, Seymour Skinner and Lindsey Naegle.
- She was once promoted to the third grade.
- Only female member of the Springfield Elementary club "The Superfriends." She is also the only member without a nickname.
- Series creator Matt Groening claims Lisa is his favorite character, because she is the only member of the Simpsons family capable of escaping Springfield.
- Published her own newspaper, titled The Red Dress Press.
- Helped solve the attempted murder of Mr. Burns.
- Plays an important role at Springfield Elementary School.
- Was working on a novel titled "They Promised Me Ponies" until Bart destroyed it.
- Spearheaded and succeeded in passing an initiative banning light pollution.
- Got main part in The Nutcracker school play.
- Had a cameo in Barney Gumble's film "Pukahontas".
- Became student body president, but then found out that Skinner actually got Lisa to sign a contract to take away music, gym, and art.
- Earned 1st place in the school science fair, even though her orginal project, Linguo, did not get her to win, her father's thumb and "Legs", one of Fat Tony's mafia, did instead. "Trilogy of Error"
Interesting Facts
- Lisa remains 8 years old despite having 3 birthdays on the show.
- The birth of Lisa tripled the Simpson house's average I.Q.
- When Marge was pregnant with Lisa, this caused Homer to lose the rest of his hair, except the last 3. He was already partially bald from Bart being born.
- Her e-mail is given as smartgirl63_\@yahoo.com. Though a backslash (\) is not an allowed character in an e-mail address, it is assumed that its placement was intentional to avoid connotations with any existent e-mail account.
- Her pet peeve is phonies, and her favourite treat is ice-cream. (As revealed in "The Dad Who Knew Too Little".)
- Like Homer, Lisa has blue eyes. (Bart Carny)
- Her shoe size, according to Marge, is 4B.
Embarrassing/shameful moments
- Once cheated on a test after faking sick ("Lisa Gets an "A"")
- Faked being sick to keep being able to play Dash Dingo ("Lisa Gets an "A"")
- Once barfed on a dentist ("Bart on the Road")
- Helped sabotage her father's award video ("Children of a Lesser Clod")
- Got diarrhea on a family trip to Carlsbad Caverns ("Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade")
- Got a B+ for conduct in a report card, supposedly her lowest ever grade (not counting her self-proclaimed F after cheating on a test ("Kamp Krusty")
- A caricature made her feel ugly. Homer entered her in a Little Miss Springfield contest, and despite coming second, the winner Amber Dempsey was struck by lightning and took over her reign - stripping the shallow Miss Springfield image, and standing up for rights. She was eventually stripped of her crown, but she regained her self-esteem. ("Lisa the Beauty Queen")
- Her lowest ever grade was in fact an F, but has not been noted. In the episode, ("Lisa the Iconoclast"), Miss Hoover grades Lisa for her essay Jebidiah Springfield: Superfraud, as an F, calling her a PC Thug.
Relations
Lisa is:- Granddaughter to Abraham Simpson, Mona Simpson, Clancy Bouvier and Jacqueline Bouvier.
- Daughter to Homer J. Simpson and Marjorie Bouvier Simpson.
- Younger sister to Bartholomew Jo-Jo Simpson and older sister to Margaret Simpson.
- Niece to Herbert Powell, Abbie, Patty Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Stu.
Her cousin by adoption is Ling Bouvier.
Crushes
Despite the fact she has had so many, Lisa keeps referring to them as "her first crush", perhaps because of the timelessness of the Simpsons. In this aspect, it seems though that the fact that Lisa is only 8 is dismissed.
- Mr. Bergstrom ("Lisa's Substitute")
- Langdon Alger ("Bart on the Road")
- Jesse Grass ("Lisa the Tree Hugger")
- Luke Stetson ("Dude, Where's My Ranch?")
- Corey ("Brother from the Same Planet")
- Milhouse Van Houten ("Future-Drama")
- Thelonius from West Springfield Elementary
See also
External link
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