Patty and Selma

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Patty and Selma Bouvier
)

Patty and Selma Bouvier
The Simpsons characters
Patty (left) and Selma Bouvier
First appearance
Created byMatt Groening
Hugo (non-canon), Bart
Nieces: Lisa, Maggie
Selma's Adopted Daughter (Patty's Adopted Niece): Ling
Brother-in-Law: Homer
Cousins: Dot
Aunts: Gladys Gurney (maternal aunt) and Charlene Bouvier (paternal aunt)
Grandmothers: Alvarine Gurney (maternal grandmother) and Bambi Bouvier (paternal grandmother)
Uncles: Lou Gurney (maternal uncle)
(See also Bouvier family
)
Selma's Exes: (Patty's Ex-Brothers-in-law:) Sideshow Bob
Lionel Hutz
Grampa Simpson
Troy McClure
Disco Stu
Fat Tony D'Amico

Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier

Department of Motor Vehicles. They have a strong dislike for their brother-in-law, Homer Simpson, who likewise loathes them. Selma, the elder by two minutes, longs for male companionship and has had multiple brief, doomed marriages, and has herself offered help in some fashion to Marge and Homer as she envies their loving relationship; she receives occasional compassionate support from Homer who even poses as her husband to help her adopt a child. Patty is an initially closeted lesbian who embraces celibacy until she begins dating women. Kavner voices them as characters who "suck the life out of everything".[4] Patty and Selma debuted on the first Simpsons episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which aired on December 17, 1989.[5]

Distinguishing features

Being twins, the two have a similar look, but there are several easy ways to distinguish them, including:

Patty and Selma showing their real hair color to their younger sister Marge (episode "The Blue and the Gray").
  • Attire: Patty wears a short-sleeved pink dress and pink shoes while Selma wears a hemmed sleeveless blue dress and blue shoes.
  • Jewelry: Patty wears blue or orange triangular earrings and spherical beads connected by a visible string, while Selma wears orange or purple circular earrings (occasionally earrings shaped in an "S" in early episodes) and elliptical beads attached to each other.
  • They both resemble their chain-smoking father Clancy Bouvier who appeared in a flashback of the episode "The Way We Was".

In the episode "The Blue and the Gray", it is revealed that Selma is actually a blonde, while Patty is a redhead. Their hair has turned blue-gray from long-term exposure to cigarette smoke and ash.

Biography

Rarely seen apart, Patty and Selma are known for their distinctive gravelly voices, cynical outlook on life, bitter and unpleasant personalities, and love of cigarettes. They share an apartment at the

DMV. The two are avid, sometimes maniacal fans of the TV series, MacGyver
. The two seem to be aroused by the character and smoke a cigarette after every viewing of the show. When
Jay Sherman, on advice from Homer, told Patty and Selma that MacGyver is gay, they stripped him to his boxers and hung him from the gutters.[6] On the eve of Selma's marriage to Sideshow Bob, he insulted MacGyver and the wedding was almost cancelled as a result.[7] Selma and Patty once met the actor who portrayed MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, and kidnapped him.[8]
Patty and Selma have taken many vacations together to various places including
Cardston, Alberta.[8]

Patty and Selma have a strong, mutually reciprocated dislike for their brother-in-law

Otto Mann a driver's license due to their mutual dislike for Homer,[19] and both she and Selma deliberately failed Homer on his limousine driver's test, but their victory smoking nearly cost them their jobs until Homer intervened.[20] They once kidnapped Homer before his and Marge's third wedding and imprisoned him in a cellar in the hope that Marge would find someone else. Moved to tears by his obvious devotion to Marge, they let him go and paid for their wedding ceremony to avoid being exposed by Bart and Lisa.[21] For his part, Homer regards them as the "Gruesome Twosome"[22] or "Fatty and Smellma"[23] and was delighted when he (mistakenly) heard they had died.[24]

As children, Patty and Selma were apparently domineering towards Marge and ridiculed her ambition of becoming an astronaut. In return for their allowance, Marge used to do chores for them. The free time they now had led to them taking up smoking.[25] As adults, the Bouvier twins have a friendly relationship with their sister and seem very protective of her thus frequently visit the Simpsons. They seem relatively fond of their nieces and nephew, but seem to like them more when they are young, as one of them remarks "The older they get, the cuter they ain't."[26] On occasions, they babysit Bart, Lisa and Maggie, something not relished by the kids. Bart and Lisa were left traumatized when they had to stay with their aunts for a week while a stressed out Marge left for Rancho Relaxo. Maggie managed to take evasive action and got to stay with Homer instead.[27]

Patty Bouvier

Patricia Maleficent Bouvier is the younger of the two.

Abe.[30] Patty also joined Homer's group to ghost-write an original fantasy fiction novel, and also to stop their novel from being replaced with a drastically revamped version by the book publishing company.[31] In one episode, where Patty stayed at the Simpson house during a fight with Selma despite Homer's reluctance, Patty privately admitted to Homer that she only mocks him because she is jealous of him having a successful marriage and family with Marge, while all she has is Selma, leaving Homer feeling grateful for her having opened, albeit briefly, a window of kindness.[32]

Relationships

Patty's only known relationship with a man involved Principal Skinner.[29] On a blind date arranged by Homer, Skinner was supposed to fall for Selma, but he noticed Patty first and fell in love with her instead. They dated for a while, though Patty often showed signs of reluctance through things like unjoyful facial expressions and turned down his marriage proposal, claiming him she was too devoted to Selma to abandon her. However, she did consider Skinner a gentleman and ended their relationship with the words "Good night, sweet principal."[29] Like Selma, Patty also has a long-running fixation on MacGyver, although this aspect of her personality has been played down in later episodes.

Patty was revealed to be lesbian in the

gay rights movement, as it proved that the movement was prominent enough to feature in an episode of a mainstream sitcom.[35]

After coming out as a lesbian,[28] Patty exclaims "you could see it from space!". There had been many previous hints of her sexuality: she was seen visiting a burlesque house;[37] she exclaimed (upon seeing Homer naked) "There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality";[38] she was seen hiding in a closet with Smithers on a parade float during a gay pride parade.[39] In another nod to Patty's sexuality being obvious, Homer sarcastically quipped, "Here's another bomb for ya, Marge: I like beer!" when Marge was shocked at the revelation.

Patty wooed a tenured professor from Yale University away from her husband[40] and has also been attracted to Edna Krabappel.[30] When Selma claimed she couldn't face prison, Patty replied that she could, implying she would welcome a female-only environment.[8] Patty's first serious relationship with a woman was with Veronica, a pro golfer. It was later discovered by Marge and revealed during Patty's wedding that Veronica was actually a man in disguise.[28] Patty's next serious relationship with a woman was with Evelyn, who quickly bonded with Homer over similar traits during a trip to Costa Rica. When Marge pointed out that Evelyn was ruining the trip and was a female version of Homer, a horrified Patty broke up with her. However, when a remorseful Marge apologized to Patty and reassured her that the difference between Homer and Evelyn was that Evelyn truly loved her, Patty decided to reconcile with Evelyn.[41]

Selma Bouvier

Selma Bouvier is two minutes older than Patty. Due to a childhood bottle rocket accident, she has no sense of taste or smell.[42] According to Marge, Selma "likes Police Academy movies and Hummel figurines, and walking through the park on clear autumn days." In contrast to her twin, Selma yearns for male companionship and children. She is also slightly more sympathetic towards Homer than Patty. Selma helped reunite Homer and Marge after seeing how upset Marge was without him, despite an agreement with Patty not to say anything.[43] Homer was sympathetic to her when she broke down after a disastrous trip to Duff Gardens with Bart and Lisa, remarking "I just couldn't cut it today", referring to raising kids.[44] Homer also agreed to pose as Selma's husband to help her adopt a baby from China.[45] During Homer and Marge's trial separation, when Marge went out on a date with someone else, Selma called Homer and offered to help him save their marriage, but was left frustrated when Homer mistook her for Patty over the phone.[46]

Unable to find companionship in a man, Selma has also sought to have children. At one point she considered using a

sperm donor which Homer mistakenly thought meant Selma would have sex with a robot.[44] After babysitting Bart and Lisa for a day, she realized she was not ready to have children and wound up adopting Jub-Jub, her late Aunt Gladys's pet iguana.[44][47] Much later, she adopted a Chinese baby girl, Ling. During the adoption process, Selma pretended to be married to Homer, since the Chinese government only allows children to be adopted by married couples.[48] After the fraud was exposed, Selma managed to keep the baby as a Chinese dignitary (voiced by Lucy Liu
), who had also been raised by a single parent, became sympathetic.

Relationships

Despite being identical twins, Patty and Selma have very different track records when it comes to finding dates. According to Marge, Patty chose a life of celibacy, while Selma had celibacy thrust upon her. Her standards are extremely low, as evidenced by her comments on Mr. Burns: "Single, eh? Well, he passes the Selma Test."

Selma has actively sought out a husband, and has been married to six different men. Her current name has evolved into Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Stu-Simpson-D'Amico. Her first marriage, to

gumare".[51] It has been implied that Selma had a second failed marriage to Sideshow Bob, giving her a total of seven marriages.[30]

One person Selma refused to marry was

Hans Moleman,[50] Moe Szyslak,[52] and pitifully, Barney Gumble.[29] She was rejected by Groundskeeper Willie, who upon seeing her dating video remarked "Back to the Loch with you Nessie".[44]

Character

Creation

Series creator Matt Groening said he suggested that Kavner voice Patty and Selma as characters who "suck the life out of everything...."[4][53] Al Jean said Kavner makes Patty's voice more masculine and a lower register, while Selma's voice is a little sweeter.[54]

Development

See also: There's Something About Marrying

In the 2005 episode "

season thirteen episode "Jaws Wired Shut" she is part of the Springfield Gay Pride Parade's "stayin' in the closet" float, though only her voice was heard and she was not seen.[57]

According to the publications Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture and Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights, it was the controversial lesbian outing of the main character (played by Ellen DeGeneres) in the sitcom Ellen in 1997 that paved the way for Patty's coming-out in "There's Something About Marrying", as well as for many other gay characters on other television shows.[58][59] In his book Queers in American Popular Culture, Jim Elledge noted that it is possible the Simpsons staff chose Patty to come out as gay instead of a male character because lesbians were "traditionally considered more acceptable" on television. She did, however, not "adhere to the eroticized male lesbian fantasy or fit into the loveable, asexual guise of the comedy lesbian" that had previously been seen on shows such as Ellen. Instead, Patty is "rude, crude, and not ashamed of declaring her sexual preferences", and this could make her unpalatable to some viewers according to Elledge.[60]

It was reported a long time in advance of the episode's airing in 2005 that a major character would come out as gay during the episode.[61] There was a widespread debate among fans of the series as to who the character would be.[62] Patty was suspected by many fans and the press because she had not often been seen dating men on the show.[63][64] The tabloid newspaper The Sun revealed already in September 2004 that character who would come out was Patty,[65] though this was regarded as a rumor and The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean would not confirm it.[63][66] Bookmakers in the United States and the United Kingdom took bets on which character would be uncovered as homosexual—BetUS laid odds at four to five that it was Patty, while Smithers had four to one odds and Ned Flanders fifteen to one odds.[67][68] BetUS said gamblers made more than 900 bets on the coming-out on their website.[68] According to The Baltimore Sun, another bookmaker Paddy Power "stopped taking wagers because so much money was being placed on [Patty]."[63]

*The first reference to Patty being gay, however, happened long before this 2005 episode, going all the way back to 1993, in season 4, episode 5: Treehouse of Horror III. in this Episode, Homer runs through the kitchen naked where Marge, Patty and Selma are all eating. Patty and Selma each put down their forks, and Patty remarks "There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality". Since this is a Halloween episode, however, fans might not have presumed this to be canon.

References

  1. ^ Bailey, Timothy; Kelley, Brian (November 17, 2019). "Livin La Pura Vida". The Simpsons. Season 31. Episode 7. Fox. Patricia Maleficent Bouvier, I've put up with you criticizing my husband for years, and I've had it.
  2. ^ "Patty Bouvier". Wikisimpsons. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  3. ^ The Simpsons "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" – December 17, 1989
  4. ^ a b Rhodes, Joe. "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves" Archived August 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, TV Guide October 21, 2000, via The Simpsons Archive: "[Matt] Groening says: 'My original idea about Marge's family was they were utterly joyless. The original note I gave to Julie was that they suck the life out of everything they see'".
  5. ^ "The Simpsons Archive: "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves"". simpsonsarchive.com. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  6. A Star is Burns
    "
  7. ^ The Simpsons. "Black Widower"
  8. ^ a b c The Simpsons – "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore"
  9. ^ The Simpsons. "Flaming Moe's"
  10. ^ The Simpsons. "Treehouse of Horror VI"
  11. ^ The Simpsons – "The Way We Was"
  12. ^ The Simpsons – "Half-Decent Proposal"
  13. ^ The Simpsons – "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner"
  14. ^ The Simpsons. "Homer's Triple Bypass"
  15. ^ The Simpsons – "Mother Simpson"
  16. ^ The Simpsons – "Homer and Apu"
  17. ^ The Simpsons – "Three Gays of the Condo"
  18. ^ The Simpsons – "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"
  19. ^ The Simpsons. "The Otto Show"
  20. ^ The Simpsons. "Homer vs. Patty and Selma"
  21. ^ The Simpsons – "Wedding for Disaster"
  22. ^ The Simpsons – "Krusty Gets Busted"
  23. ^ The Simpsons. "The Fat and the Furriest
  24. ^ The Simpsons – "American History X-cellent"
  25. ^ The Simpsons – "Three Men and a Comic Book"
  26. ^ The Simpsons – "Lisa's First Word"
  27. ^ The Simpsons – "Homer Alone"
  28. ^ a b c d e The Simpsons. "There's Something About Marrying"
  29. ^ a b c d The Simpsons. "Principal Charming"
  30. ^
    Rome-old and Juli-eh
    "
  31. ^ The Simpsons – "The Book Job"
  32. ^ The Simpsons – "Puffless"
  33. ^ a b "Simpsons to reveal gay character". BBC News. July 28, 2004. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  34. ^ a b "Simpsons' gay character is Patty". BBC News. February 21, 2005. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  35. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  36. ISBN 978-1-4022-0655-9
    .
  37. ^ The Simpsons – "Bart After Dark"
  38. ^ The Simpsons – "Treehouse of Horror III"
  39. ^ The Simpsons – "Jaws Wired Shut"
  40. Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife
    "
  41. ^ Bailey, Timothy; Kelley, Brian (November 17, 2019). "Livin La Pura Vida". The Simpsons. Season 31. Episode 7. Fox.
  42. ^ a b The Simpsons- "Black Widower"
  43. ^ The Simpsons – "I Married Marge"
  44. ^ a b c d The Simpsons. "Selma's Choice"
  45. ^ The Simpsons – "Goo Goo Gai Pan"
  46. ^ The Simpsons – "Every Man's Dream"
  47. DVD commentary and by episode writer O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
  48. ^ "In the Family Way" Archived October 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, The Next Big Thing, October 10, 2003. Julia Sweeney tells about the messages she received from Chinese adoption agencies trying to confirm her heterosexuality due to government opposition to gay adoption
  49. ^ The Simpsons "Much Apu About Nothing"
  50. ^ a b The Simpsons. "A Fish Called Selma"
  51. ^ The Simpsons. "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony"
  52. 'Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky
    "
  53. ^ Groening, Matt (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode 'Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  54. ^ Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  55. ^ Finn, Natalie (November 7, 2007). ""Simpsons'" Smithers Part of Shrinking Minority?". E! News. Archived from the original on May 18, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2006.
  56. ^ The Advocate: Issues 985–991. Liberation Publications. 2007.
  57. ISBN 978-0-06-081754-1
    .
  58. ^ Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture. Metatronics, Inc. 2005. p. 78.
  59. ISBN 978-0-7425-6211-0
    .
  60. ISBN 978-0-313-35457-1
    .
  61. ^ "Simpsons to reveal gay character". BBC News. July 28, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  62. ^ "Inventory: 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras". The A.V. Club. July 23, 2007. July 23, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  63. ^ a b c Kiehl, Stephen (The Baltimore Sun) (February 2, 2005). "'The Simpsons' to 'out' a character". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  64. ^ Maurstad, Tom (The Dallas Morning News) (February 19, 2005). "Gay character revealed on 'Simpsons'". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  65. ^ Wilkes, Neil (September 30, 2004). "Gay 'Simpsons' character revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  66. ^ Hiatt, Brian (November 5, 2004). "Springfield Fever". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  67. ^ Waxman, Sharon (February 21, 2005), "'Simpsons' Animates Gay Nuptials, and a Debate", The New York Times, retrieved June 19, 2011
  68. ^
    U-T San Diego
    . January 21, 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2011.

External links

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