The Simpsons is a show populated by characters of questionable morality. On one side of the spectrum, we have the likes of Homer Simpson, an irresponsible man who strangles his son. Bart Simpson is, as a result, a reckless and heartless child, while even the richest people in Springfield (Monty Burns, for example) are motivated by evil.
Two of the beacons of kindness and hope in the show are Marge Simpson and Ned Flanders. Ned is built on Christian values and repressed anger, while Marge has to keep a positive outlook while surrounded by her manic family. But who is truly the kindest character in The Simpsons?
MARGE WAS THE KINDEST: She Helped Bart Look After Bird Eggs
Marge had a lot of reasons to be disappointed with Bart. In fact, pretty much ever Bart-centric episode had a moment in which he showed himself to be bordering on psychopathic. One of his most reflective episodes saw him express immense guilt after shooting a mother bird, and Marge, after a few moments of anger and disappointment, teamed up with her son to help raise the bird’s child.
NED WAS THE KINDEST: He Allowed Homer To Borrow Everything He Owned
When The Simpsons started, Homer and Ned already lived next to each other. By this point, Homer had managed to claim a number of Ned’s possessions for his own, without much complaint from his neighbourino. This included everything from a camcorder to a diploma to a weathervane. It’s impressive that ned lets this stuff slide for so long.
MARGE WAS THE KINDEST: She Thought Potatoes Were Neat
Marge hasn’t exactly been shown to be very ‘down with the kids’. However, her un-coolness peaked when she tried to convince Bart to take a potato to school for show and tell, suggesting that she “just thinks they’re neat”.
It’s a throwaway moment, but her misguided attempts to help her son are quite wholesome and far beyond what Homer would do for Bart.
NED WAS THE KINDEST: He Was A Father Figure To Bart
The fact that Bart is both neglected and abused by his father suggests that he really does need to find a consistent and positive father figure to help him through his childhood. A lot of the time, that ends up being Ned. One of the best moments of fake-father-son bonding comes in The Simpsons Movie, where Bart and Ned go on a fishing trip.
MARGE WAS THE KINDEST: She Helped Lisa To Learn To Be Sad
There are a lot of reasons for Lisa Simpson to be sad, her life can get pretty strange at times. In one early episode of The Simpsons she is shown struggling with getting to grips with sadness and dealing with it, but Marge ends up giving her the best advice she could give. “You wanna be sad honey, be sad. We’ll ride it out with you and when you’re finished feeling sad, we’ll still be there”.
NED WAS THE KINDEST: He Kept Maude’s Bed Outline Years After Her Death
This is more of a suggestion of just how in love with Maud Ned was rather than a direct representation of his kindness, and it’s sort of heartbreaking. In the episode ‘I’m Going To Praiseland’, Rachel Jordan returns and Ned finally removes the imprint of Maude that was still present in their bed.
MARGE WAS THE KINDEST: She Didn’t Have A Ned-Style Breakdown
The one time Ned showed his true feelings to the people of Springfield came in the episode ‘Hurricane Neddy’, just after his house was burnt to the ground. He had a huge breakdown and it was revealed that his vocal ticks come from years of repressed anger. s
Marge has had explosive but she isn’t sitting on years of repressed rage. As far as we know.
NED WAS THE KINDEST: But Marge Isn’t Always Perfect
Having said that, Marge isn’t always perfect. In fact, in rehearsals for ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ she took her anger at Homer out on Ned with a broken glass bottle. She has also tried to kill Otto’s bride, destroyed the burlesque house and had Homer arrested for film piracy. She might be kind-hearted, but sometimes she makes some seriously wrong decisions.
MARGE WAS THE KINDEST: She Overlooked Homer’s Issues
Homer is an incredibly flawed human being. As hilarious and iconic as he is, he is self-centered beyond belief, frequently abuses his child and has proven time and time again that Marge could do so much better. Despite this, she is able to overlook it and stay with the man she, for some reason, loves.
NED WAS THE KINDEST: He Overlooked Homer’s Issues
Ned has the exact same situation to deal with, though perhaps on an even worse scale than Marge. Homer might be terrible, but at least the one thing he truly cares about is Marge. He hates Ned most of the time. Despite interfering with his life, being rude to his face and literally being the reason his wife is dead, Ned still views Homer as his best friend. But is that kindness or delusion?