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Lisa Simpson Character Development
- Thread starter fatpendulum
- Start date
Lisa is probably my second favorite Simpson family member (after Bart.) And as far as i am concerned, Lisa, like the vast majority of characters on the show, was at her best during the shows golden age. Lisa during the first two seasons mostly came of as some kind of depressed philosopher. She was an interesting character already back then, but she wasn't very dynamic or exciting. But then during the onset of the golden age at season 3, she lightened up a bit and seemed to develop a more forward personality, and also became more concerned with actively trying to change the word for the better rather than just complaining about it. And that is the version of Lisa i am a fan of.
Of course, Lisa, like most characters on the show, took a turn for the worse during the Scully years, and never returned to her goldan age status. Specifically, seems to have become a bit to "full of herself", a bit to confident in knowing that she is always right. But even so, i feel that Lisa's personality didn't degenerate nearly as much as that of many other characters, like Homer and Bart's.
Of course, Lisa, like most characters on the show, took a turn for the worse during the Scully years, and never returned to her goldan age status. Specifically, seems to have become a bit to "full of herself", a bit to confident in knowing that she is always right. But even so, i feel that Lisa's personality didn't degenerate nearly as much as that of many other characters, like Homer and Bart's.
Gavins Mommy
New member
Don't ever forget that she's very often given Homer bad advice that wound up getting him hurt, and in the end, he always had to pay the price:
like in the Stonecutters episode, or in the episode where he gets his own TV show talking about nothing.
Lisa disgusts me at those times...really
like in the Stonecutters episode, or in the episode where he gets his own TV show talking about nothing.
Lisa disgusts me at those times...really
J Francis95
New member
Well, im pretty sure that most of the time when Lisa gives someone an advice and that person follows it and ends up getting screwed because of it, Lisa's advice is still in fact the right thing to do (you know, according to the writers anyway). It's just that in the cynical, crapsack world of The Simpsons, doing the right thing is anything but a guarantee to success. So don't blame Lisa; blame the universe around her!
I agree with this. I think the show needs Lisa. She often sets up the plots in many episodes and prods the other characters to some action or other that moves the story along. But I do wish the writers would have more of the Bart/Lisa stories Cyber mentioned. Those are classic. One of the few weaknesses in the Simpsons movie was that it lacked any humorous/interesting/endearing Bart/Lisa interaction. Her story about falling in love with some boy was intrusive and uninteresting. Maybe in the next movie (and you know there'll likely be one) the Bart/Lisa dynamic will return.
A: That's a suspiciously specific thing to wish for.
B: No, it wouldn't even be funny. It would be gross and a ripoff of something else.
I threw up in class once, right on my desk. It smelled up the whole classroom and the other kids hated me for it even though I couldn't help it. Having experienced it, I doubt anyone would have wanted to watch a TV episode about that incident.
B: No, it wouldn't even be funny. It would be gross and a ripoff of something else.
I threw up in class once, right on my desk. It smelled up the whole classroom and the other kids hated me for it even though I couldn't help it. Having experienced it, I doubt anyone would have wanted to watch a TV episode about that incident.
Intelligent writers use Lisa well. Others don't. In the hands of a bad writer, she becomes just annoyingly preachy with no grounding. It's the same problem as Homer becoming an incredible jerk or Flanders being made fun of solely for being religious, rather than an out of touch goody two shoes. The worst example that comes to mind is the episode where Homer is horrible to her, but the moral at the end has Lisa forgive him for it all. Really bad writing. In the hands of a compotent and witty writer, just about all the cast can be funny and Lisa especially can bring some intelligent satire to the table.
I'm drawing a blank here in regards to that episode. Could you please be a tad more specific what horrible deed Homer did to Lisa, since that could happen in different scenarios for any episode throughout the series run?
In any case, Lisa Simpson has become a victim of poor writing through its forcing of the negatives of her character through the extreme, as was said previously elsewhere. To be honest though, I never initially LIKED Lisa, but as I grew to greater ages of reason, I began to appreciate her. At her best through her development Lisa proved to be a balanced character providing not just a voice of reason, a greater moral compass (moreso than Marge at times), and a great foil to everybody's absurdity, but at the same time it kept the fact that she can be petty, self-righteous, and more importantly a kid with the same quirks and foibles they have. Unfortunately it's just lost its spark in recent years when she became what people already said.
That said, the poll's kinda fixed, I want to say yes (for seasons 1 through 10), but at the time want to say no (11 onward). But saying "No (Tired of the naggy know-it-all attitude I don't watch the simpsons anymore because of her)" is kindof unfair and kinda shallow since I would NOT watch the Simpsons anymore for a multitude of reasons and not just that.
In any case, Lisa Simpson has become a victim of poor writing through its forcing of the negatives of her character through the extreme, as was said previously elsewhere. To be honest though, I never initially LIKED Lisa, but as I grew to greater ages of reason, I began to appreciate her. At her best through her development Lisa proved to be a balanced character providing not just a voice of reason, a greater moral compass (moreso than Marge at times), and a great foil to everybody's absurdity, but at the same time it kept the fact that she can be petty, self-righteous, and more importantly a kid with the same quirks and foibles they have. Unfortunately it's just lost its spark in recent years when she became what people already said.
That said, the poll's kinda fixed, I want to say yes (for seasons 1 through 10), but at the time want to say no (11 onward). But saying "No (Tired of the naggy know-it-all attitude I don't watch the simpsons anymore because of her)" is kindof unfair and kinda shallow since I would NOT watch the Simpsons anymore for a multitude of reasons and not just that.