# Question about Marge's mom on the Simpsons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207 "2005-02-21T17:37:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/1 "2005-02-21T17:37:51Z")
On last night’s episode (2/20/2005), Marge and Patty have a conversation about “what mom would want.” They don’t say “what mom would HAVE wanted,” but it still got me thinking. You don’t really see Marge’s mom anymore. Is she supposed to be dead or what? Then, later in the episode, she is seen at the wedding, but she doesn’t have any lines. So what’s the deal with Marge’s mom? ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/2 "2005-02-21T18:28:49Z")
I think you answered your own question- she’s very much alive (as she was at the wedding), but just doesn’t come around often. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/3 "2005-02-21T18:29:42Z")
She’s never been properly developed as a character. She’s just a wrinkly version of Marge. I think they just don’t use her because she was created for a one-off, without a lot of thought, and the character isn’t really strong enough to work with in multiple episodes. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/4 "2005-02-21T18:31:26Z")
Aside from a couple of episodes, she has never had a major role. She just isn’t very interesting. I think the other problem is that she doesn’t sound very different. Julie Kavner does the voices for all the Bouviers. Mom is just Marge sounding old. And if there’s a difference between Patty and Selma’s voices, I’d like somebody to point them out. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/5 "2005-02-21T20:48:34Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Julie Kavner does the voices for all the Bouviers. Well, except for her late (“_Don’t look at meeee!!!_”) father, presumably the source of the Bouvier name. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/6 "2005-02-21T20:58:19Z")
In the DVD commentaries, they swear up and down that she does Patty and Selma’s voices slightly differently, but I can’t hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/7 "2005-02-21T22:08:42Z")
Is there any reason why Marge’s mom Jacqueline Bouvier has the same name as the wife of President Kennedy? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/8 "2005-02-22T02:06:12Z")
Marge’s father comes from the side of the family, the Bouvier’s don’t talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/9 "2005-02-22T03:22:31Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > In the DVD commentaries, they swear up and down that she does Patty and Selma’s voices slightly differently, but I can’t hear it. You know, someone says this in a Season 5 commentary. But I’d bet a Coke that in a Season 4 commentary in which Kavner participated, someone asked her if she makes a difference between Patty and Selma’s voices, and she said “no.” ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/10 "2005-02-22T03:32:40Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Is there any reason why Marge’s mom Jacqueline Bouvier has the same name as the wife of President Kennedy? Because it’s humorous. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/11 "2005-02-22T06:13:03Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > But I’d bet a Coke that in a Season 4 commentary in which Kavner participated, someone asked her if she makes a difference between Patty and Selma’s voices, and she said “no.” You’d lose on a technicality: it’s on a Season **3** commentary. Specifically, the one for _The Black Widower_, in which Selma marries Sideshow Bob. (I just happened to see this one tonight.) Kavner says it was a conscious decision on the part of the creative team to make the Patty & Selma voices identical. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/12 "2005-02-22T21:31:07Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Is there any reason why Marge’s mom Jacqueline Bouvier has the same name as the wife of President Kennedy? What Bob said. Semi-related to this, _The Daily Show_ recently described Ted Kennedy as “the original Mayor Quimby”, getting a laugh from the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/13 "2005-02-22T22:13:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Is there any reason why Marge’s mom Jacqueline Bouvier has the same name as the wife of President Kennedy? Same reason Milhous was Richard Nixon’s middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/14 "2005-02-23T04:25:49Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > You’d lose on a technicality: it’s on a Season **3** commentary. Specifically, the one for _The Black Widower_, in which Selma marries Sideshow Bob. (I just happened to see this one tonight.) Kavner says it was a conscious decision on the part of the creative team to make the Patty & Selma voices identical. Your Coke is in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/15 "2005-02-23T14:42:34Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Your Coke is in the mail. It’s probably not a good idea to mail white powders in this day and age. Thanks to the OP for asking this question, I was wondering the same thing myself but I missed seeing the mom at the wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-marges-mom-on-the-simpsons/291207/16 "2005-02-23T14:55:52Z")
_Ladies_ pinch. _Whores_ use rouge. That’s the only Ma Bouvier line I can remember.