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Topics: TV And Film, Entertainment, Disney Plus, Podcasts, Social Media
Ella Scott
Topics: TV And Film, Entertainment, Disney Plus, Podcasts, Social Media
Fans of The Simpsons are convinced the famous, yellow-skinned television family are actually Black, with viewers pointing out ancestry lore and generalised beliefs.
In September, The Simpsons was renewed through to season 40, winning the longest-running prime-time sitcom crown, with over 800 episodes produced.
The cult-favourite show, which focuses on the donut-obsessed Homer J. Simpson, his wife Marge, and their children Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, began life in 1989, and shows no signs of slowing down.
There’s been some weird and wacky storylines over the years, including a Wizard of Oz parody, collaborations with Fortnite, and a plethora of celebrity features, such as Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, Winona Ryder, and Kill Bill’s Lucy Liu.
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Over the years, people have begun to question what ethnicity the five Springfield dwellers are, with the latest comments coming from former Netflix Nailed It! host and seven-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee Nicole Byer.
The 39-year-old, who hosts the Why Don’t You Date Me? podcast, was recently asked by guest Ryan Mitchell, a podcaster and entertainment host, if she thought the main Simpsons family were Black.
Making a case for his hypothesis, Mitchell began: “Do you think the Simpsons are black, because Marge’s [hair] has a texture.”
“Yes! and she wears a bonnet,” replied Byer, referring to what the matriarch sleeps in.
Mitchell claimed someone in the comments said she was Creole, which is a person of mixed European and Black descent.
Chiming in with his thoughts, Jovan Jordan Bridges, known as his drag moniker Yvie Oddly, remarked that before marrying Homer, the cartoon character’s maiden name was Bouvier,.
“Which is a Creole name,” the American stated.
In response, Byer said it ‘sounds’ like the character is Black, while Mitchell said Bart Simpson has a ‘high-top fade’ hairstyle.
The Twits star then commented on how Bart is always in trouble at school, alleging that ‘sometimes the black kids in school are policed a little bit harder’.
A clip of the off-the-cuff conversation was shared via Instagram and has already wracked up more than 105,000 likes and 2,600+ comments.
In the comments, a Simpsons fan has pointed out that in one episode of the programme, Lisa discovers that her family have a canon Black ancestor, a runaway slave called Virgil.
The moment takes place in season 21 during The Color Yellow episode.
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening previously revealed that TV’s favourite nuclear family are actually named after his own flesh and blood, with his mother and father being called Homer, after the legendary Greek poet, and Marge.
The couple’s daughters, Lisa and Maggie, are also named in honour of Groening’s real-life sisters.
According to Reuters, Bart is based on the cartoonist himself. He reportedly decided to change the character’s name from ‘Matt’ to ‘Bart’ because he ‘had this idea of an angry father yelling 'Bart’.
Other characters, including Reverend Lovejoy, and Ned Flanders are named after streets in Springfield, Portland, where he grew up.
You can stream The Simpsons on Disney+ now.