The Genius Theory That Changes Everything On The Simpsons
By Ava Barnes
The "gene" explanation already doesn't make sense considering Homer has a long-lost brother, Herb, who started his own successful car company before Homer came into the picture. Redditor u/kerbyklok posits that everyone in the Simpson family is actually a genius, but they choose to suppress their intelligence in order to be happy.
Throughout "The Simpsons," we see the toll of Lisa's academic skill. She doesn't have any friends and frequently struggles with depressing and anxious thoughts. Meanwhile, everyone else is blissfully unaware of such mental turmoil even though they're clearly capable of it. Just take Homer in the season 12 episode, "HOMR," where a crayon is discovered to be lodged in his brain, and when doctor removes it, he's a genius.
In flashbacks, we see how Marge did well in high school and even was an accomplished painter. Meanwhile, many people may have forgotten that in season 1, Bart becomes fluent in French within a short span of time. He showcases the same proclivity for picking up foreign languages when the family travels to Brazil, learning Spanish on the plane ride over (before learning they speak Portuguese in Brazil). They all have their gifts, but a majority of the time, they go squandered.
The episode "HOMR" explains this well as Homer is ostracized from all of his social groups once he's a genius. Perhaps intellectual acumen just isn't appreciated in Springfield where everyone's an idiot, so the Simpsons dumb themselves down to actually be happy. That is... except for Lisa, who remains outwardly smart and will use her gifts to one day become the first straight female president of the United States.
In "HOMR," she said it best: "As intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down.,"
