I think that Lisa is the way she is because of the situation she's had to grow up in, and everything she's been through. Serge helped me realize this throughout the span of our many chats, that if she had everything she needed or had some kind of advantage and didn't have to go through what she does, that she wouldn't be the caring, sensitive person she is. I think the reason why most people who are like Lisa are like this because of a strong sense of empathy; a feeling of "Hey, I know how you feel, been there done that, I understand" - it helps to have gone through suffering, if only just to know your fellow man better.

Would this change if Lisa was ten and Bart was eight? I think their personalities are mostly determined by the fact that Bart is a male Simpson But you never know, if Lisa had been spoiled, I think perhaps things would have been different.

Wasn't there an episode in which a gang of Nelson Muntz's friends were bullying Lisa?  I recall that Bart tried to help Lisa, but got beaten up by Nelson for his troubles.  I also remember another episode where Jimbo and his mates stole Lisa's saxophone, Bart saw Lisa crying, went up and put his arm round her and asked her what was wrong (of course Bart was then beaten up by Jimbo after it was revealled he hadn't been going to his karate lessons).

Bart often helps Lisa other than in trying to make up for doing her wrong, I think people don't notice as much because he can also be quite nasty to her at times, too

starfish
Of course it's not something necessary - it depends on parents, I guess. If parents treat both children equally, they will grow up equally mature (that could lead to even worse kind of rivalry though - just something like that happens between Bart and Lisa). But if parents love the first child more, he/she will grow up more immature rather than the second one who would have to rely on him/herself only.

I agree about Bart wholeheartedly helping Lisa from time to time though. Those are care cases, but they usually are the most sweet moments in the show.

Yggdrasill
Nah, not always. I agree that Bart is the "guilty one" often, but sometimes Lisa has her part to blame, too. Unlike Bart, she loses control easier, and starts to fume. Most of the times she just hides in her room and blows her anger into her sax, but sometimes her ability to get agitated easily, leads to very bad consequences.

And about their inner peace - I disagree once again (if I understood you right of course ) Lisa is not a peaceful person, neither inside nor outside. Sometimes she can't live in peace even with herself. And you know what happens when she finds out that something is "going wrong" nearby. Even when everything is fine around, she still needs something to vent her energy out. Your definition of a "peaceful" person can be applied to Bart more. I hope that makes sense...

Hello all, just found this site and was reading through a few topics. I came across this one and it struck a chord.. sorry for bringing up an old topic. I am relitively new to the simpsons, only regularly started watching it shortly before the movie, as I work strange hours I rarely got to see it, and my parents hated it so didnt get to see it much when I was younger. I have had a really rough patch recently and found myself empethising with Lisa as I have been tormented like her.

My take on this is based on own experience. bart DOES deeply love Lisa, but under all the male bravado he finds it hard to show.  I am male myself and find it hard to show love to my sister. (she is the middle sibling I am the youngest and we have an older brother who was unruly like bart). My brother was mean to the both of us but deep down I know in a strange way he does care. I myself tend to make jokes when it comes to expressing my feelings to my sister as a "quick get out of jail free card" just to make things easier on myself. I think Bart does the same, he picks on her, makes fun of her and generally acts up in order to protect himself

How many boys and men do we know who have trouble expressing thier real feelings. In a way I think Bart is more insecure than Lisa is and needs to have the attention, which he lacks from Homer. I think this makes him act up to get that attension.

In acting up towards Lisa he is trying to steer some of that attension his way. I dont really think Bart is totally selfish but uses it a lot to get the attension he craves. He tends to know when he has gone to far and can show remorse.

I know he deeply loves her because of a couple of simple reasons. Some of his worst behavior tends to happen when he is around others, a macho bravado to impress others or get attension, or that he wants somethinkg Lisa has got. When you see them alone together, quite a lot of the time they are playing happily, laughing together or just getting on with things.

Also some of his worst behavior happens when angered, I have lost control towards my sister when younger a few times and have hert her emotionally. A defense of mine was to run away and feel bad about the situation on my own, rather than make the situation right.

Also in a few episodes it shows that when he does not really need to show he cares, he does.

In 7G06 - Moaning Lisa the following:


the abouve highlighted passage suggests to me that he is just very shy and uncomfortable about expressing his feelings.

Another prime example is 9F02 - Lisa the Bauty queen, when with no sneaky alterior motive of having to be nice to her, he just is.....


Bart seems to understand she needs his support more than ever. If he was truely nasty and didnt care, he would of only done this if he would of personally got something out of the situation.

Again thier love is shown in FABF07 - Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore,they end up as best friends during this episode. When milhouse comes back and Lisa again feels rejected and lonely, Bart realises this in the end and "fixes" a monopoly game with cards which have him dong things for Lisa, the sweetest one shown is the card which she requests to use right away " 1 free hug". Again Bart probably will not gain anything out of this himself if he was nasty minded.

Anyway sorry for this long post.... but one final example is 7F24, Stark Raving Dad. He does not get Lisa a birthday present. She runs of crying into the house.. later he is shown looking a tad upset in his room, I expect he didnt really think that not bying a present would of been such a big deal. But as he realises. He and "Michael Jackson" come up with the famous song, although he does make up and offensive song to start with, MJ says we got to get to his true feelings.. and they do. Again the song has two phrases that mean a lot

Happy Birthday Lisa:


Again sorry for the long post just my 2 cents on the subjact, and sorry for my spelling, I am writing this on a TV which has the most cramped keyboard I have used

A couple of screenshots from the "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" which could probably revive a good thread.

1. Bart is killing Lisa for glue.
2. Lisa is paying back for that (not even knowing it).

If someone knows what happens in Bart's head these moments, feel free to explain me. I give up to understand