What the Simpsons Taught Me About Myself

While I've explained about my favorite Simpsons character (Marge for those that didn't read it), I've learned a lot from the Simpsons over the years I watched it. Some lessons didn't sink in as well as others, but some just needed time to really settle. The Simpsons taught me a lot about myself, my image, and even things I never thought of. The series taught me a lot, and I want to share that with everyone.

Being the center of attention isn't everything.

So as I touched upon in my favorite character post, episode 295 is one of my favorite episodes. Yes, Marge being the center of attention, the fact that breast implants weren't just something for the rich and wealthy, but for another reason. For countless episodes, Marge was the side character to her family's escapades. Bart shoplifts, Marge is heartbroken, Homer does something dumb, she's just there, Lisa is depressed (I'll touch on this one in a bit), Marge tells her to deal with it, then realizes why that's bad advice.

She was always on the sidelines, sure the pretzel wagon episode was a Marge-themed one, and her joining the police force was too, yet those still had her pushed to the side. Pretzel wagon dealt with the ups and downs of owning a business, the police force was more how corrupt the town was to crime unless it offered them an excuse.

Large Marge was a good breaking-off point for her. Feeling distraught at the possibility of Homer not finding her attractive drove her on advice from Manjula to get liposuction. After getting implants meant for one of Quimby's aids, she finds herself the center of attention of the town. From Moe's to Luigi's. The side plot didn't distract from Marge's story and showed that being the center of attention isn't all it's cracked up to be. 

Being popular all the time, that's isn't something everyone should want, yes it feels nice. The dopamine rush we get knowing someone we like replied to our tweet, or someone liked something we said. It's just a momentary thing. Andy Warhol once said everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes, sure it can circle back again and again, but wanting it all the time is bad.

This showed me that and more. Marge had to keep up the appearance of this flirty woman, acting as the town wanted her to. Yet she was in pain, she missed spending time with her kids, and was tired of everything. Fame and attention are fine, but they have a heavy cost, and this episode taught me that.

It also taught me about having self-confidence, even after getting the implants, Marge didn't want to use them for personal gain. She felt self-conscious about them. Hoping to stay hidden until she could have them removed. Yet she accepted them after seeing how everyone treated her, which sadly lead to the former. After she saved the day at the shoe expo, she returned to her normal self but had more confidence in herself than she had before.

Your dreams don't always work out, but life isn't completely cruel.

Homer despite being the bumbling fool he is does offer some nuggets of wisdom from time to time. One such nugget was from And Maggie makes three. Homer worked at the power plant to afford to keep his family fed, housed, and clothed. Yet he didn't want this for himself. Homer planned and waited, once his out-of-debt day arrived, he jumped at the chance to finally live out his dream. Working at the local bowling alley.

Though Marge getting pregnant with Maggie didn't help this, as now Homer couldn't afford his family and was forced to return to the power plant. The plaque Mr. Burns had installed read, "Don't forget, you're here forever." which Homer dressed up to remind him why he was there. Every picture of Maggie covered the sign so it would read "Do it for her." 

While I had few goals and aspirations in school. Later in life, I would. Being myself was one of those, earning a living my way was another. Yet those goals and dreams would fall to the side more times than I care to count. It took me seven years to find a job and still must remain as my male persona. 

While reaching our dreams is something we all strive for, sometimes they are like that one valuable item in the claw machine, out of reach for a reason we have yet to know. Yet life isn't that cruel, as Homer while not liking his job, can provide and is happy in his life. I found myself like that too with my part-time job (before I left) and quite comfortable with my life as a whole. Sure, my dreams aren't over, but they are just on hold. Like homers were for a while. It's how we make life work for us that matters.

Being sad isn't something that easily goes away.

While this works for multiple Simpsons characters, it was Lisa's bout with depression that showed me this. I've had times myself where I've dealt with a round or two of existentialism either for myself or for those around me. I'm a caring person, so worrying about others is something my mind will always do. A good example of this was a former classmate of mine that was going through a very rough patch. I was constantly thinking of her and wondering if she was ok, but was fearful to ask outright.

Yet the other point of the episode was in Marge's advice to Lisa. I'm not one to show emotion myself. It usually stays bottled up inside me, and I have had the habit of suppressing it. Similar to what Marge told Lisa to do. I won't deny, there were times when the powder keg did go off, and I felt worse afterward. Yet I learned that being sad or upset, even slightly depressed isn't something that does away easily. Having had family that had breakdowns, it was hard seeing them in pain, knowing that there was nothing I could do to help them. It's not something that goes away, it stays for a while. Yes, it can be dealt with, and times it can't. 

Meeting your heroes, idols, and inspirations don't always take away why you like them.

The old saying never meet your idols, yeah a fair piece of warning. This lesson is most known through Bart. He is a huge fan of Kristy the clown, like obsessed. Watches his show religiously, had merchandise and even has met him (heck saved him from jail). Yet he knows how bad of a person Kristy is. From the constant gambling to the lewd women. Yet Bart hasn't stopped watching him. He still thinks the world of him. He saved him from jail, helped him restart his career, and even helped clear his good name after an old stunt on the Batman series went wrong. 

It's something to consider as we are in a more reachable time with online personalities. They act one way online and could be totally different in reality. Celebrities were the same, some were a persona on TV or in the movies, then nasty in real life. Though while Bart knows about how bad Kristy is, he still likes him. Thinks the world of him, and even helps him. So even if the person you thought was cooler online might not be real, it doesn't mean you have to hate them.

Being someone else isn't a bad thing.

Finally, this lesson comes from Armin Tamzarian better known as Principal Seymour Skinner. Yes, the infamous episode that divides the fandom between classic Simpsons and newer Simpsons. Yet while a hated episode (yes even by me) it did teach me something that I hope to one day use, being someone else isn't a bad thing.

For those that have never seen the episode (lucky), Skinner wasn't really skinner, he was a man named Armin Tamzarian, a rebellious youth from capital city who after joining the army was changed. After his commanding offer the real Skinner was presumed dead, he took his life over and filled his shoes. This gave us the Skinner we knew, and one we didn't. The episode returns everything to normal in the end, and we never mention it (aside from Lisa once) again.

This lesson is an easy one, yet also hard. The fact that we sometimes have to live a double life, for crossdressers it's a line that is walked on every day. Yet there are others that have walked this road with little hope of a passerby. It showed me that if your life didn't amount to something, but you have a chance to change it by being someone else its not a bad thing. Sure I'd love to be Jessica all the time, and there are loads of others becoming their selves that have had the same desire. It's just how we look at it. Sometimes our other life might be better than our own.

So these are the lessons I've learned from the Simpsons, sure there are more, but this is the bulk of them. What were some lessons you learned? 

Until next time everyone.

Jessica.