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Lisa Simpson
*** Shopping-Tip: Lisa Simpson
{{Simpsons character|
image=
Image:C-lisa1.png 222px|
name=Lisa Simpson|
gender=
Female|
hair=Spiky blond hair|
age=8|
job=None|
relatives=Father
Homer Simpson Homer, mother
Marge Simpson Marge, brother
Bart Simpson Bart, sister
Maggie Simpson Maggie and grandfather
Abraham Simpson Abe. (See
Simpson family)|
appearance=
The Tracey Ullman Show, Simpsons short 'Good Night'
}}
'''Lisa Marie Simpson''' (voiced by
Yeardley Smith) is a
fictional character on the animated
television series ''
The Simpsons''.
Matt Groening, the creator of the series, named her after his sister.
Lisa's age is 8 years old; according to her brother
Bart Simpson Bart, Lisa is 2 years and 38 days younger than him. This makes her birthday
May 9, as Bart's birthday is
April 1. She was shown being born during the
1984 Summer Olympics in a flashback episode ("
Lisa's First Word"), but since ''The Simpsons'' characters generally don't age, no specific year for her birth can be given (besides "always" being born "about 8 years ago").
Lisa is an extremely
intelligence (trait) bright girl, with an
IQ of 159. The first thing she did that showed her intelligence was changing her own
diaper as an
infant. Other signs of intelligence at a young age include building a giant castle fort out of
Legos, spelling the word "star" on her letter blocks and putting together a
jigsaw puzzle of the
Taj Mahal. Officially, her highest grade is an A+++, which she earned by cheating on a test on ''
The Wind in the Willows''. (She later re-marked the test as an F.) Once, when she was unable to attend school due to a
teachers'
strike action strike, she suffered a sort of "school withdrawal" and invented a
perpetual motion machine; Homer chastised her for this, telling her that in the Simpson household "we obey the
laws of thermodynamics!" She also organized a student strike when she learned
Principal Skinner was exploiting her.
[[Image:Happiness-intelligence-lisasimpson.jpg|thumb|222px|left|''"As intelligence goes up, happiness goes down. See, I made a graph. I make a lot of graphs."'' [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons#Lisa_Simpson]
----
Lisa graphs intelligence vs. happiness]]
Her musical abilities are extensive: she sings with a powerful voice, and has been seen playing both the acoustic six-string, electric
bass guitar and
piano proficiently. However, her great love is
jazz performed on her
baritone saxophone, although sometimes the actual sound of her saxophone is that of a tenor. She uses a 4½
reed (music) reed, a highly stiff reed even for high level players, especially on the baritone. Her musical inclinations were greatly nourished through her relationship with the late jazz musician
Bleeding Gums Murphy. She is fluent in
Swedish language Swedish. She is also fluent in
Italian language Italian (which she learned from
Milhouse Van Houten) and a little
French language French and some
German language German verbs. She understands
Chinese language Chinese as seen from listening to
Yao Ming (though she can't read it) as well as
Spanish language Spanish. Although she is not known for her athletic abilities, she does play
soccer and excelled as a goaltender in pee-wee
hockey. She is also an excellent
gymnastics gymnast, because her large head gives her perfect
balance: however, she proved particularly devoid of dancing talent.
Lisa Simpson is more intelligent than many people older than her, even adults. The only other person within Lisa's same age group who can rival or surpass her in intellect and achievements is perhaps Allison Taylor. Allison, in the episode "
Lisa's Rival," managed to frustrate Lisa with her ability to play anagrams, her superior saxophone skills and diorama construction.
For all of, or because of, her talents, her character was gradually remodeled as an outcast whose intelligence and principles the other children, and many adults, cannot appreciate. This is a far cry from an earlier Lisa who actually held a sleepover with a group of friends who helped her torment Bart.
Coupled with her intelligence is a strong sense of leftist political and social conviction she is ever ready to advance. For example, Lisa is a
vegetarian (she has stated she plans on becoming a
vegan) and a practicing
Buddhism Buddhist in one episode, although she pays
lip service to her family's
Christianity Christian denomination. In addition, she is a supporter of the
Free Tibet movement Free Tibet movement and the anti-
apartheid campaign. She has also revealed to be a
Wiccan in one episode. She also has a strong
skepticism against the
supernatural, applying
Occam's Razor when the rest of the family fails to. Her skepticism in the supernatural is further shown by her disbelieving in a so-called
angel when the whole town believes that the specimen in question is in fact an angel, stubbornly seeking out scientific disproof of this "angel" from
Stephen Jay Gould (which she eventually finds although the hoax's startling climax momentarily fools her). She is seen by some to whine at times or to have a persistent sense of superiority that often grows into self-aggrandizement, but she retains a childlike impressionability despite her intelligence, for example, she would love to have a
pony and enjoys her mother's homemade
waffles (and is disappointed when they turn out to be square
pancakes). She has solved various problems around Springfield, often in tandem with her brother
Bart Simpson Bart.
Lisa is someone who is very eclectic in her knowledge and shows a deep understanding of the world around her. She may be seen as a
child prodigy. Critics have also pointed out that the character of Lisa is a hint to the slighting of children in the real world though they may be a lot more knowledgeable and perceptive than the adults. Lisa shares her intellect and over-achieving personality with many other female members of the Simpson family (it has been revealed that male Simpsons inherit a
gene that causes stupidity and under-achieving, which is carried on the
Y chromosome).
Lisa, along with the rest of her family, is Caucasian, although one would hesitate to say white because of the show's Caucasian characters having yellow complexions. The Simpsons have no immediately known ethnicity, but it has been revealed that they are English on Homer's side and, judging by her maiden name, French on Marge's side. Lisa is therefore of Anglo-French decent, but her family is more so identfied with typical Anglo-Saxon American culture, attending a Protestant church, being suspicious of Catholics, and often holding stereotypical, and sometimes prejudiced {in Grandpa's case}, views on non-English ethnic groups such as the Irish and Italians. Liberal Lisa, however, holds none of these views.
Lisa generally wears the same outfit, like her brother Bart. Her outfit consists of a red dress, red shoes, and a string of pearls. Lisa usually wears a light blue night gown and slippers. She sometimes goes barefoot to bed, but usually wears the slippers. For church attendance and special occasions, Lisa wears a pink sundress with matching shoes and white socks (and sometimes a matching hat).
Like every young girl, Lisa has also gone through periods of rebellion. For a short time, she
Tobacco smoking smoked cigarettes with older girls in the school bathroom, and even told her teacher,
Elizabeth Hoover, to "shove it" when she did not feel like sprinkling sparkles on her art assignment (a parody of the 1953 film ''
The Wild One'').
Lisa only watches
Television TV for ''
The McLaughlin Group'' and ''
Itchy & Scratchy''. In "
Home Away From Homer," it is also revealed that Lisa is a fan of
National Public Radio and
David Sedaris. In "
Milhouse of Sand and Fog" it is revealed that she enjoys watching ''
The O.C.''
Though she is 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
Olive Garden.
Lisa has a
Jewish imaginary friend named Rachel Cohen who "just got into
in the episode "[[Today I am A Clown". Her favourite album is
Miles Davis' ''
The Birth of the Cool''. Her favorite song is "The Broken Neck
Blues". Her
e-mail address is given as "smartgirl63_/@
Yahoo! yahoo.com" in "
The President Wore Pearls". Her favorite movie is
The Little Mermaid (film) The Little Mermaid.
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 struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and her city struck a chord with the Japanese.
Notable accomplishments
* She has been offered a scholarship to a
Seven Sisters (colleges) Seven Sisters college of her choice
* Plays baritone sax
* Won the regional ''
Reader's Digest Reading Digest'' essay contest
* Served brief term as Little Miss Springfield
* Co-invented the Lisa Lionheart doll
* Invented a perpetual motion machine in her spare time
* All-star goalie in pee-wee hockey
* Discovered
List of recurring characters from The Simpsons#Jebediah Springfield Jebediah Springfield was a murderous pirate named Hans Sprungfeld
* Helped
Charles Montgomery Burns recover his fortune, which made Burns $120 million with the "Li'l Lisa" recycling plant. She was offered 10% of the profit but turned down the offer, giving Homer five heart attacks: four simultaneously for giving up the "$12,000" that Homer had mistaken it to be, and another for learning the real value of the 10%
* Passed with "satisfactory completion" of the second grade as the first female cadet at Rommelwood Military Academy
* First straight female
president of the
United States.
* Is an expert
babysitter
* Made
news anchor anchor for ''Kidz Newz'', only to be upstaged by Bart
*
Tree sitting Tree-sat a
redwood
* Won Li'l Starmaker singing competition
* In addition to being fluent in
English language English, her native language, she is also fluent in
Italian language Italian and
Swedish language Swedish. She knows a little
French language French and a little
German language German and understands
Chinese language Chinese and
Spanish language Spanish
* Is a member of
Mensa International Mensa
* Was co-mayor of the town along with the rest of the Springfield charter of Mensa which included
Professor Frink,
Dr. Hibbert,
the Comic Book Guy,
Seymour Skinner and
Lindsey Naegle
* She was once promoted to the
third grade.
* Only female member of the Springfield Elementary club "The Superfriends." She is also the only member without a nickname
* Series creator
Matt Groening claims Lisa is his favorite character, because she is the only member of the Simpsons family capable of escaping Springfield
* Published her own
newspaper, titled ''The Red Dress Press''
* Helped solve the attempted murder of Mr. Burns
* Plays an important role at
Springfield Elementary School: is a straight-A student, the only thing that is keeping the school accredited, head of the Student Actitvities Committee, and was once elected student body president
* Was working on a novel titled "They Promised Me Ponies" until Bart destroyed it
* Successfully prevented
light pollution
* Got main part in
The Nutcracker school play
* Had a cameo in
Barney Gumble's film "Pukahontas"
Embarrassing/shameful moments
*Once cheated on a test after faking sick ("
Lisa Gets an "A"")
*Faked being sick to keep being able to play Dash Dingo ("Lisa Gets an A")
*Once barfed on a dentist ("
Bart on the Road")
*Helped sabotage her father's award video ("
Children of a Lesser Clod")
*Got diarrhea on a family trip to Carlsbad Caverns ("
Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade")
*Got a B in a test, supposedly her lowest ever grade
Relations
Lisa is:
* Granddaughter to
Abraham Simpson,
Mona (The Simpsons) Mona Simpson,
Clancy Bouvier and
Jackie (The Simpsons) Jacqueline Bouvier.
* Daughter to
Homer J. Simpson and
Marge Simpson Marjorie Bouvier Simpson.
* Younger sister to
Bart Simpson Bartholomew Jo-Jo Simpson and older sister to
Maggie Simpson Margaret Simpson.
* Niece to
Herb Powell Herbert Powell, Abbie,
Patty Bouvier and
Selma Bouvier Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure.
Her former uncles-by-marriage include
Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger,
List of recurring characters from The Simpsons#Lionel Hutz Lionel Hutz,
Troy McClure, and
List of recurring characters from The Simpsons#Disco Stu Disco Stu.
Her cousin by adoption is
Ling Bouvier.
Crushes
Despite the fact she has had so many, Lisa keeps refering to them as "her first crush", perhaps because of the timelessness of the Simpsons. In this aspect, it seems though that the fact that Lisa is only 8 is dismissed.
*Mr. Bergstrom ("
Lisa's Substitute")
*Red ("
Bart's Girlfriend")
*Langdon Alger ("
Bart on the Road")
*
Nelson Muntz ("
Lisa's Date with Density")
*Jesse Grass ("
Lisa the Treehugger")
*Luke Stetson ("
Dude, Where's My Ranch?")
See also
{{wikiquote}}
*
Lisa sax solo gags on The Simpsons
*
List of characters from The Simpsons
Category:Fictional Buddhists Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional children Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional feminists Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional vegetarians Simpson, Lisa
Category:Simpsons characters Simpson, Lisa
Category:Celebrities who have appeared on Sesame Street Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional Americans Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional schoolgirls Simpson, Lisa
Category:Saxophonists Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional heroines Simpson, Lisa
Category:Fictional Christians Simpson, Lisa
da:Lisa Simpson
de:Lisa Simpson
fr:Lisa Simpson
it:Lisa Simpson
pt:Lisa Simpson
ru:Лиза МÑ?ри СимпÑ?он
tr:Lisa Simpson
*** Shopping-Tip: Lisa Simpson