Five Things I Envy About Homero Simpson
I’m 39, just like Homer Simpson.
When I found out, I was shocked. Wait, am I as old as Homero Simpson? I grew up watching him in Mexico in Spanish, so his name is Homero for me — his voice in English was too weird when I later listened to him while living in this country.
Homero’s age has changed over time. Sometimes he has been 34, 36, and 38, but according to Wikipedia, he is now 39. Homero’s family is the epitome of the American family. Four years ago, I became an American. Should my life be like that? Of course not. That is ridiculous, I tell myself. That’s a cartoon! It’s a TV show!
However, The Simpsons gave me a basic understanding of the United States when I was a child: Single aunties are mean, cops like pink donuts, nerds use glasses, bullies make fun of others, men drink a lot of beer, a dad can be fat but not a wife, bosses are stingy, only one paycheck can cover all the household expenses, brown people are minorities, Springfield is a common city name in the States, the woman is usually the homemaker, and I can keep going. Many of these statements are, of course, not real — but are used as tools to complete the American political satire that this TV show is trying to convey — satire that I didn’t quite understand when I was a kid.
This is a TV show far from perfect — many people online say it is not even that funny anymore and that it is racist and unrealistic — but that can’t erase the fact that it was part of my education about the United States. And I can’t help wondering how on earth I’m the same age as Homero Simpson. And why do I envy his life if many people have called him a loser and a stereotype? Well, here are five reasons why.
1. He owns a home. This show started in 1989, and it was easier to buy a house then than now. However, owning a home to me means some financial stability, or at least you are risky enough not to think twice about the increasing interest rate. Let alone the fact that you’d need to learn what the hell escrow means. I’ve been 15 years in this country, and I still can’t afford a house. How did Homero have a lovely home with a room for each of his children? Somehow he has been able to afford it with his single-check nuclear plant job (nuclear energy is not even a thing anymore, right?), and I couldn’t be any more jealous (of the house, not that kind of job).
2. He has kids. Even if sometimes he displays a selfish attitude and is called a second-rate father, at the end of the day, Homero redeems himself somehow, showing he loves his kids. Maybe I should talk about Marge, but unfortunately, I relate more to Homero than to Marge. Women right now don’t have to be only homemakers and do not have to have kids. Society is a bit more understanding that women can do whatever they want (Yes, sometimes Marge gets a job, like when she was a cop). That being said, I want a kid. I know how hard it is. I know everything is a sacrifice, but I’ve been dreaming of a daughter since I can remember. And I know having a kid or not having one will make me a better or worse woman, but I’ve been wanting this for a long time. However, did you know daycare is $1,200 per kid per month? And that annually, a kid can cost around $25,000, not counting education.
3. He has a stable job. A horrible nuclear plant job, right? one that has become the world’s natural enemy. A job where he is supposed to supervise but does the bare minimum (we call that “quiet quitting” nowadays), and it doesn’t seem that he will get fired (even if he makes tons of mistakes). He doesn’t make this job his personality, and he definitely doesn’t stress about it. I don’t envy his laziness, but his ability to live a life stress-free. I love all the jobs I had in many ways, but more often than not, they are anxiety-inducing, and I have to work a lot into not letting the work pressures affect my body (since I became a manager in my old job, I gained 100 pounds, but that’s another story). I’m constantly obsessed with being the best, and I let work take over my life, not letting space for myself — that’s not the case with Homero.
4. He has long-time friends. Homero is often drinking with his friends. He neglects his family (something I disagree with), but he has loyal friends, which I long for. Barney, Carl, and Lenny seem to be often by his side. I was a quiet kid, and I didn’t have many friends growing up. I didn’t know how to act around people, and it took me until college to actually find real friends. I don’t have close friends in my hometown, and my sisters do. When I go home, I don’t have an overwhelming schedule to catch up with people like others. I’m just with my family. On the other hand, Homero seems to have a group of friends he can count on (the whole drinking thing is a red flag, but let’s stay with the friendship part).
5. He has a community. For better or worse, Homero has people around him and people he can rely on. Maybe he is sometimes hated because he is careless and clueless, but he has people around him. I don’t know people in my neighborhood. I feel I have a writing community, but not a typical non-work-literary community to hang out with. Homero goes to the same doctor, church, and supermarket — he is known around Springfield. Maybe that’s something I have to build over time, or maybe I have to socialize more, or maybe it is something it doesn’t really happen in real life. In Mexico, things are different. The last time I went, I got sick, and the next-door neighbor came to inject me with antibiotics — I had never met the lady, and she practically saved my life. Imagine that happening in the United States. Maybe it exists, and perhaps I can have it one day, so if someone has advice, please let me know.
Even if these things are not needed to be happy and be a fulfilled human being — just like Instagram inspirational quotes have told me — these are things I yearn for.
Do I want to own a home? Yes! Do I want kids? Yes! Do I want a stable job? Yes!
Do I want long-time friends? Yes! Do I want a community? Do I even have to answer this now? Of course, I do.
Do I want a pet pig? Yes! Do I want to make it a spider pig? I have to think about that one more.
At the end of the day, Homero is a fictional character. Wanting to have the things he has might be absurd, but it doesn’t make me a bad person, right? (Because I definitely don’t want to be exactly like him — I like being me). Do I envy a silly man’s life? Oh god! I think I do. I understand that if this TV show holds a mirror into society, this life is not attainable anymore.
Wanting Homero Simpson’s life is like wanting to be Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City ––and be a writer living in New York and going to eat and drink every day with your friends. (And I’m not even mentioning the shoes and the clothes).
I know it is not real.
But wouldn’t it be nice? To do the bare minimum and have a comfortable and affordable life? Unfortunately, in real life, the five things I envy need hard work. Homero’s lifestyle has become as unrealistic as a flying dragon. Perhaps these five things have become desires of mine because of our society’s expectations. By 39, I should have all these five things, right? If a clumsy, lazy, far from brilliant man can have it, why not me? Perhaps this TV show and others had incepted my brain or my subconscious that I want what I was sold as the American dream when I was a child. Does being around people you love and having financial security is a fantasy in this country? I don’t even know anymore. All I know is that my child’s self wouldn’t believe that I’m 39 writing this about a cartoon that embodies Americans’ stereotypes — a cartoon that made me laugh so many afternoons with my siblings, even if I had no idea what I was laughing about. Maybe that was the irony, making people believe that someone as flawed like Homer Simpson can have it all.
