Marge Simpson

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Marjorie Jacqueline " Marge " Simpson ( née Bouvier ) is a fictional main character in the animated series The Simpsons and a member of the family of the same name . In the original version it is dubbed by Julie Kavner , in the German version initially by Elisabeth Volkmann and now by Anke Engelke . Marge first appeared on April 19, 1987 in the Simpsons episode "Good Night," which ran on the Tracey Ullman Show . The character was created by Matt Groening on behalf of James L. Brooksdesigned. Groening named her after his mother Margaret, nicknamed Marge.

In the series, she is the well-meaning and very patient wife of Homer , with whom she has three children, Bart , Lisa and Maggie . Marge is the moral force in her family and therefore has to maintain order in the household. She is mostly portrayed as a stereotypical TV mother and often appeared on lists of “top TV mothers”. She has appeared in other media related to The Simpsons in addition to the episodes and series, including video games, The Simpsons - The Movie , The Simpsons Ride , commercials and comics .

With Marge's characteristic blue hair in the style of a beehive , Groening was inspired on the one hand by Frankenstein's bride and on the other hand by his mother's haircut from the 1960s. Julie Kavner, who worked for the Tracey Ullman show even before the production of the Simpsons short seasons , won several awards for her speaking role as Marge, including a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 . She was also nominated for an Annie Award in 2007 for her work on the Simpsons film.

Role in The Simpsons

Marge Simpson is Homer's wife and the mother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie. She was raised by her parents, Jaqueline and Clancy Bouvier. She has two sisters, the twins Patty and Selma Bouvier, who both hate Homer. In a flashback in the episode "How it all began" it was shown that margin in their last year of high school in Springfield has met Homer. After finishing school, she studied art .

The series uses a timeline according to which the characters do not age. In some episodes, events take place at specific time intervals , but the episodes contradict each other.

Marge is out of work most of the time on the series so she takes care of her family as a housewife. However, she has several one-episode jobs, including as a nuclear technician in the same power station as Homer, as a broker, self-employed as a pretzel seller, as a baker in an erotic bakery and as a crime scene cleaner. In one episode, she also works as a sandwich seller (Super Franchise Me, season 26). Even if she never expresses dissatisfaction with her role as a housewife, the housework in the episode "The Springfield Connection" became too boring for her. She then becomes a police officer , but quits at the end of the episode because she does not like the corruption in the Springfield police.

figure

Emergence

A man with glasses and a plaid shirt is sitting in front of a microphone.
Matt Groening designed Marge while waiting in James L. Brooks' office .

Matt Groening designed Marge and the rest of the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks ' office in 1985 . Groening was commissioned to develop an adaptation of his comic strip Life in Hell for the Tracey Ullman show . Because he would have had to give up his copyrights to Life in Hell , he created the Simpsons instead and named the family members after his own family. Margaret "Marge" Groening is his mother's name, who she says bears a little resemblance to the character. For Marge's beehive haircut , Groening was inspired by Frankenstein's bride and the hairstyle his mother wore in the 1960s, even if her hair was never blue.

The character first appeared on April 19, 1987 in the first episode "Gute Nacht" within the Tracey Ullman show . In 1989 it became the television series The Simpsons , in which Marge was one of the main characters.

Matt Groening thinks that Marge is the focus of episodes are some of the most difficult episodes to write. Bill Oakley believes the "junior" writers usually have to write the Marge-centered stories because he and partner Josh Weinstein wrote several of them for season one. During the third season, most of the screenwriters focused on Bart and Homer, so David M. Stern suggested an episode centered on Marge. He felt that an episode in which Marge had a nervous breakdown could reach a "deeper level" of comedy, and James L. Brooks agreed. This is how the episode "When Mother is on Strike" came about.

Appearance

The design of the Simpson family was chosen in such a way that the individual figures can be recognized by their silhouettes . Groening drew the family members very roughly, assuming the draftsmen would create more detailed versions; instead, they adopted Groening's draft without modification. Marge usually wears a green, strapless dress and a red pearl necklace. She also has a blue tower hairstyle . To draw them, you start with a circle, in a similar way to Lisa and Maggie. Then the eyes are added, one roughly in the center of the circle, the other on the front of the head. This is followed by the nose and lips. Finally, the hair is placed on the top of the circle as a long tube. According to an original idea, the hair should be pushed down when Marge walks through a door. After she walks through the door, the hair should spring back and forth. However, this was never implemented. Groening originally planned that Marges hair would cover her long rabbit ears in the style of the ears in Life in Hell . These ears weren't supposed to be revealed until the last installment in the series. The idea was quickly rejected, on the one hand because of inconsistencies, on the other hand because rabbit ears would seem too fictional for The Simpsons .

voice

Julie Kavner

In the original version, Marge is dubbed by Julie Kavner , who also speaks Marges mother Jacqueline and sisters Patty and Selma. Since Kavner was already working for the Tracey Ullman show , she was hired by the producers without a casting . Under her contract, she never has to advertise The Simpsons . Also, she rarely speaks in Marge's voice in public because, in her opinion, it “destroys the illusion. People feel like they're real people. ”Kavner takes the recording work seriously and thinks that“ Dubbing is a little more restrictive than regular acting. And I have nothing to do with the movements of my role. "

Marge's rough voice is only a little different from Kavner's, who has a “honey-sweet gravel voice”. In her opinion, her voice comes from "a bump in [her] vocal cords". While Marge is Kavner's favorite main character, her favorite speaking roles are Patty and Selma because "they're really funny and sad at the same time."

Elisabeth Volkmann
Anke Engelke

In the German version of The Simpsons , Elisabeth Volkmann Marge first gave her voice. However, she died in 2006 while working in the dubber. Then Angelika Bender was allowed to record some episodes in the role of Marge, but then it was decided to go with Anke Engelke . Since then, Bender has only spoken to Patty and Selma, who had also previously been dubbed by Volkmann.

personality

In the series, Marge is usually characterized as a stereotypical sitcom mom. She also plays the "long-suffering wife" who puts up with the antics of her children and her stupid husband. Usually she endures family problems with a sense of humor, but in the episode “When mother is on strike” she suffers a nervous breakdown, whereupon she goes on vacation to “Rancho Relaxo”, while her family members can hardly cope with Marges absence. After her vacation she comes back relaxed and her family promises to help her more often. She's usually behind Homer, and their marriage is often shaky. Marge admits that she comes to terms with a lot in her marriage. Several times she leaves Homer or puts him in front of the door. One of the first such episodes is " Marriage Secrets, " in which Homer teaches at community college how to have a successful marriage, revealing secrets from his relationship with Marge. After finding this out, Homer has to live in the tree house . The next day he begs her so that he can live in the house again, saying that only he can give her "total dependence". At first Marge doesn't see this as something positive, but then admits that he “can really make a girl feel needed.” Episodes depicting marital problems are more common in the newer seasons. Even so, Marge remains loyal to Homer, even if she sometimes gives in to the opposite temptation. In the episode " The Beautiful Jacques " she almost has an affair with the French Jacques, but decides at the last moment against it and for her husband, when she is already on the way to Jacques.

Marge is a caring, understanding, and caring mother of Bart, but she is often ashamed of his bad behavior. After trying to steal a video game in The Black Sheep, she thinks she is mothering her son too much and distances herself from him. Before the theft , Bart protests against his mother's care, but feels guilty about distancing himself from her and the two make up again. Marge shows understanding for him and often defends him. Once she said, “I know that a beard can be exhausting, but I also know what it looks like inside him. He's got a shot. It's not bad ... Of course it makes him do bad things. ”She has a good relationship with her daughter Lisa and they get on well with each other. She is Lisa's contact person when she has problems and she supports her daughter, but she is not as intelligent as Lisa and therefore argues more practical than intellectual . She mothers her youngest daughter Maggie so much that Maggie becomes clingy and dependent on Marge. So she hires an expert to make her daughter more independent. However, this goes so far that she hardly needs any margin. This then begins to miss Maggie. She has a good relationship with her mother Jacqueline and her sisters Patty and Selma. She tolerates her sisters' dislike of Homer, but at times loses patience with them and even calls them "monsters". Marge's father Clancy is barely mentioned and only speaks twice over the course of the series. In “Fear of Flying” she mentions that her father claimed he was a pilot, he was really just a flight attendant . When she learned the truth, she developed a fear of flying . Since then, Clancy has not appeared, in "Jazzy and the Pussycats" Homer mentions his funeral.

Marge has higher morale than most of the other characters in the series. For example, she has the violent Itchy & Scratchy Show banned and wants to demolish an entertainment establishment because, in her opinion, it is immoral. For the city she represents a voice of reason, but many of her fellow citizens are annoyed by her social norms. Marge is also the only member in her family who advocates regular church attendance. When Homer decides not to go to church in the episode "A Blasphemous Life", she says that he should not make her choose between her husband and her God, because Homer could not win. When an angel's skeleton is found in town, Lisa doesn't believe it is an angel. Marge tells her daughter that she believes in angels and says, “There must be more life than what we see, everyone needs something to believe in.” Despite her morals, she also has bad habits, including gambling addiction . While she's learned how to cope with her addiction, it's a persistent problem throughout the show.

Marge prefers the Democratic Party to the Republican Party . She supports the candidacy of progressive Governor Mary Bailey and she voted for Jimmy Carter in both of his presidential elections .

reception

In 2000, Marge and the rest of the Simpson family received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

At the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards , Kavner received an award for her speaking role as Marge in the episode " Looking Back on Marriage Happiness " from season 3 . In 2004 Kavner and Dan Castellaneta , the voice of Homer, won a Young Artist Award for "Most Popular Mother and Father in a TV Series". 2007 Kavner was for their synchronization in the feature film The Simpsons Movie for an Annie Award nomination, but lost to Ian Holm from Ratatouille . Her work for the film earned her positive reviews, one of the reviewers said that she “gave what must be the most heartfelt performance of all time.” Furthermore, a number of episodes received Primetime Emmy Awards in which Marge im The focus is on, including 1990 “ The beautiful Jacques ” and 2004 “The first love”. In 2000, Marge and the rest of the Simpsons family received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

The main character Marge has appeared in the top spot on numerous lists of the top television mothers, including top spot each on Entertainment Weekly (1994) and Fox News (2005) lists ; She was also ranked eighth on CityNews' list (2008) and was included in Time magazine 's list of “10 Best Mothers of All Time” . According to a 2004 survey by BBC News , Marge is the “most respected mother” of respondents. The religious author Kenneth Briggs wrote: “Marge is my candidate for holiness [...] She lives in the real world, she lives with crises, with faulty people. She forgives and she makes mistakes herself. She is a forgiving, loving person [...] absolutely holy. "

Cultural influence

“Dear First Lady, I recently read your criticism of my family. I was deeply hurt. Heaven knows we're far from perfect and, if truth be known, maybe just a wee bit short from normal; but as Dr. Seuss says, 'a person is a person'. I try to teach my children […] always to give somebody the benefit of the doubt and not talk badly about them, even if they're rich. It's hard to get them to understand this advice when the very first lady in the country calls us not only dumb, but 'the dumbest thing' she ever saw. [...] I hope there is some way out of this controversy. I thought, perhaps, it would be a good start to just speak my mind. "

“Dear First Lady, I recently read your review of my family. That hit me very much. God knows we are far from the perfect and, if the truth is known, maybe just a little bit from the normal; but like Dr. Seuss says: 'a person is a person'. I try to teach my children […] that one should always give someone a favorable interpretation of dubious circumstances and that one should not speak badly of them even when they are rich. It is difficult for her to understand this hint when the country's first lady calls us not only stupid but 'the stupidest' she has ever seen. […] I hope there is a solution to this controversy. I think it might be a good start to just speak up. "

- Marge Simpson in her letter to Barbara Bush

The October 1, 1990 issue of People magazine featured an interview with then- First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush . In this article she says, “She loves America's Funniest Home Videos , but remains confused after watching The Simpsons . 'It was the stupidest thing I've ever seen, but it's a family series and I think it's flawless.' ”The writers privately wrote a reply to Bush on September 28, posing as Marge Simpson. On October 9th, the First Lady replied, “Dear Marge, how nice of you to write. I'm glad you gave your opinion ... I stupidly didn't know you had one. I'm looking at a picture of you ... on a plastic cup ... with your blue hair with pink birds peeking out all over the place. Apparently, you and your charming family - Lisa, Homer, Bart, and Maggie - are camping out in the open. It's a nice family scene. Obviously you are a good example to the rest of the country. Please forgive me for my loose tongue. "

In 2002, planned to opponents of the monorail from Seattle as part of a protest rally the episode "Homer gets going" to show tried in the margin to prevent a monorail project in Springfield, because the money to made available in their opinion instead in the rehabilitation the main street should flow. However, 20th Century Fox informed the organizers in a letter that the episode could not be shown due to copyright law . Christmas 2004, British television channel Channel 4 showed Marge in an alternative Christmas address at the same time as Queen Elizabeth II's address .

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service introduced a stamp series featuring Marge and the other four family members. It will be the first television series characters to receive this attention while the series is still in production. The stamps designed by Matt Groening have been on sale since May 7, 2009.

An adviser to President Donald Trump , Jenna Ellis, compared the vote of Democratic Vice-candidate Kamala Harris to that of Marge Simpson in a tweet in August 2020 . According to FAZ , "The Simpsons" reacted on Twitter with a video clip in which Marge complained about the comparison. Usually she doesn't get involved in politics. But Lisa said that she (Jenna Ellis) didn't mean that as a compliment. Ellis also tweeted after the Simpsons video regarding the heated postal vote debate: "Marge will likely vote for the Democrats ... by mail."

marketing

Marge appears on many The Simpsons - merchandising products , including T-shirts, bumper stickers, refrigerator magnets, key chains and dolls. She also appeared in all of the Simpsons video games , including The Simpsons, published in 2007 . She also appears in the Simpsons Comics , which has appeared monthly since November 29, 1993, and in The Simpsons Ride , which opened in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood .

In 2005, Marge and other well-known female cartoon characters were featured in an advertising campaign for Unilever brand Dove , where she sported her beehive hairstyle as well as another hairstyle.

In October 2009 it was announced that Marge would be the first cartoon character to appear on the cover of the November issue of Playboy . The issue appeared on October 16, 2009 and also contained a three-page poster and the story "The Devil in Marge Simpson". The occasion was on the one hand the 20th anniversary of the series and on the other hand the plan to address younger readers. Scott Flanders , the head of Playboy Enterprises , said the cover and nude picture in the middle of the magazine were "a little ironic". The title of the October 1971 issue, which Darine Stern showed, served as inspiration .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Turner , pages 239-240
  2. ↑ a b c episode "How It All Began" (1991), 2nd season
  3. ↑ Episode "Quatsch mit Soße" (2009), 20th season
  4. ↑ Episode "A Surprise for Springfield" (1999), Season 10
  5. ↑ Episode "Jack and the Backbone Cylinder" (2001), 12th season
  6. ^ Turner , pp. 78-79
  7. ↑ a b c episode “Marge muss jobben” (1992), 4th season
  8. ↑ Episode "Death Trap For Sale" (1997), Season 9
  9. ^ Episode "Marge and the pretzel baking" (1997), 8th season
  10. ↑ Episode “Cake, Bounty and Bail” (2008), 20th season
  11. ↑ Episode "Lisa und das liebe Vieh" (2015), season 27
  12. ↑ Episode "The Springfield Connection" (1995), 6th season
  13. ↑ Yellow rules the world. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved June 5, 2012 .
  14. ↑ a b Video ' The Simpsons': America's First Family in the Internet Movie Database (English) (2000) by 20th Century Fox
  15. ↑ Kuipers, Dean: Groening's Mom: I'm no Marge Simpson . In: Dayton Daily News , May 12, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  16. ^ Video "The Simpsons Movie: A Look Behind the Scenes" (2007) by Matt Groening and Al Jean in The Sun
  17. ^ Soloman, Deborah: Questions for Matt Groening - Screen Dreams . In: The New York Times Magazine , July 22, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  18. ^ Rose, Joseph: The real people behind Homer Simpson and family . The Oregonian . August 3, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  19. ^ Richmond , 14
  20. ↑ Kuipers, Dean: '3rd Degree: Harry Shearer' . Los Angeles: City Beat . April 15, 2004. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
  21. ↑ DVD commentary for "Marge is arrested" (2004) by Matt Groening and Bill Oakley
  22. ↑ DVD commentary for “ Der Wettkönig ” (2003), Dan Castellaneta reads a letter from David M. Stern
  23. Jump up ↑ DVD commentary for “Fear of Flying” (2005) by Matt Groening
  24. ↑ DVD commentary by the cartoonists on “A Summer for Lisa” (2005) by Wes Archer, Matt Groening and Mark Kirkland
  25. ↑ DVD commentary on “Selma wants a baby” (2004) by Matt Groening
  26. ↑ Lee, Luaine: D'oh, you're the voices , The Age . February 27, 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  27. ↑ Elber, Lynn: D'oh !: The Voice of Homer Is Deceivingly Deadpan . August 18, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  28. ^ Sheridan, Peter: Meet the Simpsons , Daily Express . May 6, 2004. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  29. ↑ a b Duffy, Mike: Ay caramba !: Only TV could call this work . In: The Hamilton Spectator , December 31, 1996. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  30. ↑ Weiskind, Ron: Treading 'Water' Julie Kavner takes break from Marge Simpson to star in Woody Allen's TV Movie . In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , September 18, 1994. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  31. ↑ De Vries, Hilary: 'Darling! Listen to Me ' . In: The New York Times , January 26, 1992. Retrieved November 23, 2008. 
  32. ^ Haun, Harry: The actress with the one-of-a-kind voice stars in Nora Ephron's comedy 'This is my Life.' . In: The Orlando Sentinel , March 13, 1992. Retrieved November 23, 2008. 
  33. ↑ Episode "When Mother Is On Strike" (1992), 3rd season
  34. ↑ a b episode “Ehegeheimnisse” (1994), 5th season
  35. ↑ Episode "Homer and the Revolver" (1997), 9th season
  36. ↑ Episode "Long Live the Manatee!" (2005), 17th season
  37. ↑ Episode " The Beautiful Jacques " (1990), 1st season
  38. ↑ a b episode “Der Ernstfall” (1991), 3rd season
  39. ↑ Episode "The Black Sheep" (1995), 7th season
  40. ↑ Episode "Abgeschleppt!" (2007), 19th season
  41. ↑ Episode "Who Is Mona Simpson?" (1995), Season 7
  42. ↑ Episode “Fear of Flying” (1994), 6th season
  43. ^ Episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats" (2006), 18th season
  44. ↑ Episode "Television is to blame for everything" (1990), 2nd season
  45. ^ " The popular amusement business " (1996), 8th season
  46. ↑ a b Filge "From devil possessed" (1993), Season 5
  47. ↑ Episode "A Blasphemous Life" (1992), 4th season
  48. ↑ Episode “The Day of Reckoning” (1997), 9th season
  49. ↑ DVD commentary for “ Der Wettkönig ” (2003) by Mike Reiss
  50. ↑ Episode “Fresh Fish with Three Eyes” (1990), 2nd season
  51. ↑ a b Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search . Emmys.org. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
  52. ↑ 25th Annual Winners and Nominees , Youngartistawards.org. Retrieved January 18, 2008. 
  53. ^ For Your Consideration , Annie Awards. December 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. 
  54. ↑ Debruge, Peter: 'Ratatouille' nearly sweeps Annies , Variety. February 8, 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2008. 
  55. ↑ Shulman, Randy: Homer's Odyssey , Metro Weekly. July 26, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. 
  56. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200924141327/https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/17-fictional-characters-with-stars-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame/collection_109905c5 -2bc8-551f-903b-e1297224e4f1.html
  57. ↑ Tucker, Ken: Yea, Mamas - The best and worst of TV Moms . Entertainment Weekly . May 13, 1994. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
  58. ↑ Marge Simpson Named Best TV Mom . Fox News . May 7, 2005. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
  59. ↑ June Cleaver Chosen As All Time Top TV Mom . CityNews. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
  60. ↑ Brooks, Caryn: 10 Best Moms Ever - Marge Simpson , Time Magazine . May 8, 2008. Retrieved June 14, 2008. 
  61. ↑ Marge Simpson leads top mum poll , BBC News . March 17, 2004. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  62. ↑ Stephen Bates: Homer's odyssey takes Simpsons into the theological textbooks . The Guardian . October 3, 2001. Retrieved September 21, 2008.
  63. ↑ a b DVD commentary for the fourth season (2004) by James L. Brooks
  64. ↑ Chin, Paula: In the Eye of the Storm , People Magazine . October 1, 1990. Retrieved August 27, 2008. 
  65. ^ Hall, Virginia: Will the real Marge Simpson please stand up? . In: Rocky Mountain News , November 13, 1990. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  66. ↑ Episode "Homer Comes On The Move" (1993), Season 4
  67. ^ Backers of new monorail call foul when foes bring in Marge Simpson . In: The Seattle Times , October 19, 2002. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  68. ↑ Singh, Anita: Marge Simpson versus the Queen . In: Manchester Evening News , January 10, 2004. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  69. ^ Szalai, George: Postal Service launching 'Simpsons' stamps . In: The Hollywood Reporter . April 1, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved on May 8, 2009.
  70. ^ The Simpsons stamps launched in US . Newslite. May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved on May 8, 2009.
  71. ↑ The Simpsons Get 'Stamping Ovation' To Tune of 1 Billion Stamps . United States Postal Service . May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  72. ^ Marge Simpson has something to say. , on mobile.twitter.com
  73. ↑ Marge is involved in the American election campaign. FAZ.NET, August 15, 2020
  74. ^ Gary Eng Walk: Work of Bart . In: Entertainment Weekly , November 5, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2008. 
  75. ↑ Radford, Bill: Groening launches Futurama comics . The Gazette . November 19, 2000. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
  76. ↑ Shutt, Craig: Sundays with the Simpsons . MSNBC . Archived from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
  77. ^ MacDonald, Brady: Simpsons ride features 29 characters, original voices . In: Los Angeles Times , April 9, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2008. 
  78. ↑ Marge Simpson getting new hairdo . In: The Herald-Mail , January 15, 2005. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  79. ↑ a b Marge gracing Playboy likes cover . In: BBC News Online , October 10, 2009. 
  80. ^ Marge Simpson strips off for Playboy (yes, really) . Daily Mail . October 10, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  81. ↑ Marge Simpson graces Playboy cover - CNN.com . CNN. October 13, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.