Storytime: When I was much younger around 8 or 9 I was obsessed with The Simpsons. Everyday after school I would come at 16:00 and have the house to myself for a few hours while my mum was still at work. The Simpsons was be an integral part of my routine. There would be an episode at 17:00 on Channel 4 and then at 18:00 there would be a double episode on Sky One. An hour and a half of everyday from Monday to Friday was spent in Springfield alongside the Simpsons family which I think had a profound influence me at the time. When I went on my second trip to Nigeria at 10 years old I was ecstatic to get my own slingshot just like Bart, my free time was spent outside trying to hit little geckos and chickens in the compound. Like a lot of boys my age I also wanted to skateboard like him. I even saved up and bought one. That was a short lived reality as I actually didn’t like it or practice all that much. The rest of my money would go to other Simpsons media: video games, movies and comics (many of which I still own), and when I would draw, I would try to emulate Groening’s style of character even as I write I have a smile on my face remembering how much I enjoyed the world, characters and story at the time, everything was built with love. The writing the character designs and the tales they told. For me this was always embodied by the patriarch of the family, Homer, who’s love for his family always trumped his stupidity and destructive instinctual desires which often led the family’s adventures.
You’re My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration – Teddy Pendergrass
One of these adventures has a moment that has stuck with me since I was a child and to be honest I am not sure if this event even actually happened as I haven’t found it in an arbitrary Google search (and I am not going to sift through the entirety of the show to find it) so I will stick to the sacred version of it in my memory.
In this episode Homer somehow gains amnesia. He has forgotten his family completely. While in the hospital his family enters unknowing of his condition to check on him Marge as always showing her caring nature seems to be the most worried about him, but Homer can’t remember her and as she talks to him his first thought is
“who is this foxy lady talking to me?” FOXY! Dr Hilbert then gives the necessary exposition and Marge explains
“Homie, I’m your wife Marge” (When reading please do it in her voice) Homer thinks to himself
“Wow, if such a beautiful woman is my wife I must be doing pretty well for myself” Bart then tried to trick Homer into giving him some money and the episode proceeds. The memory ends there. But I’m always reminded of the moment I first saw this.
My naïve self looked at this and thought “WOW that’s so cool that Homer still thinks his wife is beautiful and thinks that he must have done something right to be with her” I concluded that Homer would still want to explore love with her even with the amnesia, that had they crossed paths at the Kwik-E Mart Homer would still try to court her and they would experience their teenage romance once again. I understand there are other pieces of Romantic fiction that explore this (none of which I have engaged with yet) but I think for me this was one of the first models of a Romance that stuck with me in my life.
When I initially started this project this was one of the first references that came to mind of a time when I dreamed of Romance. The moment was based on something that looks superficial but I think it tells more. The Romantic Magic is that Homer is and always will find Marge incredibly attractive, that pull will always be there for him. The base of attraction is permanent and that creates the gravity which draws the two together. I think as a place to start my personal exploration this is a strong starting point. The magic that the two characters have and how that gave me some inspiration. What the memory looks like and how it made me feel.
Xavierverse 