After the topics about relations between Lisa and her mom, i'd like to see whay you all think about the alchemy present between Lisa and her older bratty brother, Bart.

At first i think it might look like the usual "good child-bad child" rivalry with some sappy scenes throwed in just for drama/moral power, but there are imo countless things in almost every episode (relating to these two kids) that suggest that there is something much bigger and deeper in the relations of Lisa and Bart. When they are a team, when they fight, when they contrast or when they make up. Those scenes are always so powerful in my opinon... especially in the first seasons where the characters were still new to me.

In the end, what do you think they relationship is more leaning towards?

Lisa loves her bro very much, I'm sure. The second framegrab proves that But I'm not sure what Bart feels towards Lisa - not in the particular scene, but in general. I would like to think that he also loves her as a sister, but there are so little proofs...
Sometimes I think Lisa loves a boy that doesn't deserve her love.

P.S. Here was a topic about Lisa and Marge? How come I missed it? *scratches head*

SimpReal
Dagdamor
I think the two of you may have a point. On one hand, we can see Bart and Lisa as both loving toward one another, but Lisa is the more mature one, so she knows when to show her affection and when to make things up. She's also a more caring person, which leads her into helping him... perhaps the reason why he doesn't show more care for Lisa is simply because he's too immature to yet realize what goes between them?

On the other, darker side, perhaps Bart doesn't care about Lisa at all. He's annoyed by his sister's superior intelligence and maturity and so plays childish pranks to make up for it, and is never really sorry about it... remember Bart vs. Australia? ("I'm good at fake apologies!") Is he faking an apology when he does so to Lisa? Or does he realize really what's going on?

There are reasons to support both points of view.

janglewolf
Hm, true, and both cases are very good examples.
I like the second one especially, because in the first one Bart would look really nasty to anyone if he didn't help her sister that moment. But in the 'Round Springfield... he didn't just help her sister, he did the thing Lisa needed the most (and I doubt she told him about that album before), so he made a very good guess.
I just wonder, how that "Sax on the Beach" album could get in the Android's Dungeon?

*cough* By the way, about the screenshots Marco posted in the first message...
I have a weird crazy idea concerning them, I can post it if you're not afraid.

Yes, please go ahead. I'm sure it'll provoke more discussion

*LOL* at Marco

Okay, hopefully it's not as crazy... first of all, look at the first screenshot and remember the scene. Bart isn't actually fighting with Lisa there, he's defending himself like he understands he did something bad and has to pay for that now. His behavior is not natural. The preceding moment, when Bart and Lisa were both pulling Lisa's creation, also looked strange to me. He couldn't let that thing go the same moment Lisa did. He threw it into the fireplace by purpose.

Now look at the second scene... he's smiling, his eyes are closed... that lucky ratboy is happy! He's on the cloud nine right now, don't you think so? He looks to me like someone who had an evil plan and it worked as expected. Is it possible that everything that has happened in the episode, was a part of that plan? Is it possible that Bart did all that on purpose, making mess in Lisa's soul, passing her through anger, offence, hate, then worry and even remorse, just for that final make-up scene? This might sounds unbelievable, but remember the facts again: he destroys Lisa's creation, he runs away from home for no reason, he calls her sister to the rooftop, he resists to her claims a little bit more and then suddenly "gives up", making Lisa (and himself) so happy. He's an evil genius.

ametur_poet
Well yeah, the weak side of my theory is that Bart seems to be smarter than Lisa, at least smart enough to use her for his own purposes...

Wow. What a witty strategem!  The lil' fella sure has been reading Sun Tzu's Art of War;-) Though I doubt the creators really meant Bart to develop such a sinister and smart-ass plan, to say nothing it's too much fuss for such a kid as he is, this theory of yours is very interesting:-)