|
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character on the animated television series The Simpsons, and is voiced by Yeardley Smith. Matt Groening, the creator of the series, named her after his sister.
Age and name Lisa is 8 years old, two years younger than her older brother Bart. She was supposedly born during the 1984 Summer Olympics in a flashback episode ("Lisa's First Word"), but since The Simpsons characters do not age (except in episodes depicting the future), the actual birth year constantly changes. Lisa's mother Marge insisted on choosing her name because her father Homer wanted to call her "Bart-zina" (a feminine "alternate" of "Bart"). Intelligence Lisa is an extremely bright girl, with an I.Q. of 159 or so. (The character often serves as a mouthpiece for the show's writers, many of whom are postgraduates, to voice their knowledge of philosophy, science and history). Lisa demonstrates an early intelligence by changing her own diaper as an infant. Her other precocious achievements include constructing an elaborate Lego castle, spelling the word "star" on her letter blocks, and completing a Taj Mahal jigsaw puzzle. When unable to attend school due to a teachers' strike, she suffered a sort of "school withdrawal" and invents a perpetual motion machine, for which Homer chastises her, saying, "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" She also organized a student strike upon learning that Principal Skinner was exploiting her, when she was the student body president. Activities
Vegetarianism Lisa's intellect is accompanied by strong leftist convictions. She is a vegetarian, and has expressed a desire to become a vegan. (She inadvertently ate meat in "Mommie Beerest", when Bart mischievously shot a pancake-wrapped sausage into her mouth). Unbeknownst to Lisa, Marge often sneaks a little meat juice into her vegetables. 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 the Olive Garden restaurant. Religion Lisa is a practicing Buddhist since the thirteenth season, although she pays lip service to her family's Christian denomination. Moreover, she is a supporter of the Free Tibet movement. She has also mentioned Wicca as "empowering," but does not seem to practice it.. In her initial search for the ideal religion, she saw a fleeting reference to the Bahá'í Faith* while considering however briefly Judaism (when Bart tells her to join because "when you turn 13...cha ching!", referring to a Jewish Bat Mitzvah) and Christianity though Islam and Hinduism are not even mentioned (let alone Sikhism, Taoism and others). Lisa's sense of faith is complex, as she can be very spiritual despite her skepticism of the supernatural. Her spiritual wariness contrasts juxtaposed with her more conformist mother, Marge. But Lisa thoroughly demonstrates her spirituality when she goes on a questleading to her embrace of Buddhism. It could be said that Lisa has a nontraditional, more introspective approach to spirituality, while others often have more traditional beliefs. Personality Lisa is quite eclectic in her knowledge and is notably more concerned with world affairs than her cohorts. Critics have also pointed out that Lisa's situation alludes to the plight of real children, who are often underestimated by adults. Lisa shares her intellect and overachieving personality traits with other female members of the Simpson family. (It has been revealed that Simpson males inherit a gene on the Y chromosome that prevents them from channeling their intellect). Lisa also possesses a lot of integrity, as demonstrated when she cheats on a test on The Wind in the Willows to attain her highest grade of A+++, but later admits her dishonesty to an unreceptive Principal Skinner. (She later re-grades the test as an F). Although her rebellion against social norms is often constructive, Lisa can be whiny and self-righteous at times. Notably, in "Lisa the Vegetarian", her increasing sense of moral righteousness regarding her vegetarianism leads her to proselytize, culminating in her spiteful disruption of a "meat-based" barbeque prepared by Homer (an act she comes to rue). At times, Lisa appears to resist certain situations merely for the sake of resisting them, not because of any genuine ideological opposition. This trait was most notably spoofed in the episode "Bart Star", when Lisa tries to stir controversy by joining the Pee Wee football team (originally) coached by Ned Flanders. When Flanders gladly welcomes her to the team (as there are several female players), a clearly disheartened Lisa tries another tactic, decrying the sport for using balls made from animal skins. This too turns out to be a non-issue as Lisa is told that the balls are synthetic, and that a donation is made to Amnesty International for each ball purchased. At this point, Lisa leaves, on the verge of tears. On occasion, her anti-social behaviors and points of view have annoyed teachers and fellow students. In one episode, her teacher (Miss Hoover) called her a "PC thug". Like every young girl, Lisa has also gone through periods of rebellion. She briefly hung out with older girls who smoked in the school bathroom (although she never did smoke), and told her teacher, Elizabeth Hoover, to "shove it" after refusing to add glitter to her art assignment (a parody of the 1953 film The Wild One). Despite her intelligence, Lisa does have a childlike impressionability common to eight-year old girls. For example, she dreams of having 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). Though morally opposed to violence, Lisa regularly watches the ultraviolent 'Itchy and Scratchy' cartoon with Bart. Her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid, and her favorite book is The Secret Garden. She also has a rivalry with Bart, arising from a mutual sense of superiority (age-wise for Bart and intelligence-wise for Lisa), which has escalated to physical confrontations and revenge plots. But at other times, she has solved various problems around Springfield, often in tandem with her brother. She even had a brief rivalry with baby sister Maggie when it was believed that she had a higher IQ than Lisa, who jealously attempted to foil Maggie's intellectual performance. It was revealed later in the episode that Maggie was not actually smarter than Lisa, but that Maggie was performing so well because Lisa was subconsciously helping her. In "Blood Feud", Lisa was shown trying to foster Maggie's (brain) development. Despite her high IQ, Lisa does have typical childhood issues sometimes requiring adult intervention. In "Lost Our Lisa", she tricks Homer into allowing her to ride the bus alone, only to become hopelessly lost. Realizing that he allowed his 8 year old daughter on a bus, Homer comes to her rescue. Moreover, Lisa reveals a flawed knowledge base by not knowing Joan of Arc's ultimate fate, but can create complex devices like 'Linguo, the grammar robot'. She also has a Jewish imaginary friend named Rachel Cohen who "just got into Brandeis". (Rachel was mentioned in only one episode). In another episode, Lisa showed a fear of the dark when a cemetery was built near 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. She also fears the "boogie man" and sharp needles. Lisa generally wears the same outfit, typical of Simpsons characters. Her outfit consists of a red dress, red shoes, and a string of pearls. (When Homer and Lisa were on the run, her dress was referred to as a "red lamp shade"). Lisa usually wears a light blue nightgown and slippers. She sometimes goes barefoot to bed, but usually wears the slippers. For church attendance and other special occasions, Lisa wears a pink sundress with matching shoes and white socks (and sometimes a matching hat). In "The President Wore Pearls", Lisa was shown in two different outfits, and her hair looked quite different in a ponytail. Lisa thought of this as a grown-up outfit. 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. 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. Because Homer is her father, she has emulated his catchphrase "D'oh!" on occasion. In "Dog of Death", Miss Hoover assigns an essay about Copernicus. Lisa cries "D'oh!" when she realises that her household lacks literature about Copernicus. Lisa also shares, along with her mother, aunts and grandmother, the habit of groaning whenever she is upset. Future
Notable accomplishments Interesting facts Embarrassing/shameful moments Relations Lisa is: Her former uncles-by-marriage include Robert Underdunk "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger, Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, and Disco 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. Notes See also | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
 |
|
| |