# How Can Homer be 39? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069 "2003-08-05T08:20:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Homer\_J.Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a698b9/32.png) [@Homer\_J.Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer_J.Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/1 "2003-08-05T08:20:56Z")
How can Homer Simpson be 39, if Bart is 10 and Lisa is 8? Are we to believe that Homer was 29 when Bart was born? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder. [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/5F21](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/5F21) ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/2 "2003-08-05T09:23:18Z")
Recall that Homer is not very intelligent. He could have been in high school for fourteen years. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/3 "2003-08-05T11:47:29Z")
It’s pretty obvious that they’ve kept Homer about the same age through the series, despite the long run. In fact, they seem to have made in-jokes about it on The Simpsons. I don’t understand – why couldn’t Homer have had Bart when he was 29? ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/4 "2003-08-05T11:48:50Z")
Probably because HE’S A CARTOON! Y’know, he also only has 3 strands of hair and 3 fingers… ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/5 "2003-08-05T11:49:25Z")
My first born was born when I was 35. What’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/6 "2003-08-05T12:04:29Z")
Well, it is contradicted by at least one flashback episode, namely [_I Married Marge_](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/8F10.html) in which Homer is telling Bart and Lisa about how he, well, married Marge (motivated largely by him getting her pregnant with Bart during a tryst in the miniature windmill at the minigolf course: > [@](#): > > I was 24 years old, with a beautiful girlfriend, _and_ a job with a future. If Homer was 25 when Bart was born, he’d be only 35 when Bart was 10. But I try not to let such things bother me. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/7 "2003-08-05T12:22:49Z")
You don’t think they might have been married for a few years before having children? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/8 "2003-08-05T12:34:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*You don’t think they might have been married for a few years before having children? \*\* Nope, because that episode clearly shows a pregnant Marge at the altar (the wedding chapel is named “Shotgun Pete’s”). Also: Marge: Homer, do you know why I married you? Homer: Because I knocked you up? Marge, No, because I love you. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/9 "2003-08-05T16:10:24Z")
Also, in the one with homer’s half brother he says: Homer: …and these are my three wonderful children Herb(aside): All born in wedlock? Homer: yeah, but the boy was a close call. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/10 "2003-08-05T16:37:49Z")
Easy - the same way that Bart has stayed 10 for 14 years. (Marge: “You two are way overdue for a growth spurt.”) ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/11 "2003-08-05T17:09:15Z")
The willing suspension of disbelief ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/12 "2003-08-05T17:55:03Z")
I still don’t see what’s unusual about kids at 29. But as far as the show goes, we know Homer married Marge because he got her pregnant that night in the mini-golf castle. ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/13 "2003-08-05T17:59:03Z")
I always thought that Homer and Marge got married shortly after high school. According to Simpson Math, they would have dated for 10 years before they “had” to get married. IIRC, they met in high school detention when Marge was sent burning a bra in protest. (Homer may have been in high school until he was 28, but I doubt Marge was). ---
**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/14 "2003-08-05T18:35:56Z")
Homer’s been 36 years old in most episodes I’ve seen, so it is slightly odd that he’s 39 in the episode mentioned in the OP, especially since none of the other Simpsons ever age (I believe) apart from Maggie who had her 1st birthday at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/15 "2003-08-05T18:39:09Z")
[quote(Homer may have been in high school until he was 28, but I doubt Marge was).[/quote] So maybe she’s just a lot younger than he is. Do we have a cite for Marge’s age? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/16 "2003-08-05T19:10:26Z")
The [SNPP Databse](http://www.snpp.com/guides/lisa-3.html#3.1.8), a site that every Simpsons fan should bookmark and worship, has it as 36. It’s veered to 38 or 39 a couple of times but canon seems to be 36. Marge and Homer were in the same class, but who knows how many times he was left back? I get the feeling they sort of muddled through low-wage slackerdom for a few years after graduation; Marge is smart, but sort of unambitious. They did conceive Bart before wedlock but AFAIK their only lovers have been each other (despite what Arnie Ziff wanted), which is really sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/17 "2003-08-05T20:26:46Z")
You might also ask how they can still be in their mid-thirties if they graduated from high school in the class of 1974 (per their class reunion episode). Time moves in mysterious ways in Springfield, let’s just leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/18 "2003-08-05T22:56:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mehitabel \* > \*\*They did conceive Bart before wedlock but AFAIK their only lovers have been each other (despite what Arnie Ziff wanted), which is really sweet. \*\* And don’t forget Mindy Simmons! \*Oh Mindy, you came and you gave without flaking But I sent you Ben Gay Oh Andy, you kissed me and stopped me from something, And I – \* ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/19 "2003-08-05T23:09:42Z")
Didn’t Marge date Lenny before meeting Homer? She was sitting with him at the gymnastics meet when Homer caught her eye doing a surprisingly lissome floor routine. Of course, Homer blew it when Abe yelled “You’re gonna blow it!” and the moment was lost. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069/20 "2003-08-06T02:07:11Z")
That’s right, and Karl and the other guy this season who kissed him…but like his spiritual and network brother, Al Bundy, at the end Homer always goes back to the wife. As for Marge and Lenny…I dunno, they don’t really act like ex-lovers, just friends. There is the puzzling Lenny-worship but the whole family does that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-homer-be-39/193069.md?page=2)