Simpsons Histories - Janey
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 เม.ย. 2023
- What is up with Janey? Is she really Lisa's friend? Also, why are the writers allergic to using her in their scripts?
Music Credits:
0:26 "Fiddlesticks Rag" (Final Fantasy VI) by diotrans
• 2-13 diotrans - Fiddle...
1:20 "Village from Your Past" (A Link to the Past) by MisfitChris
• 11 MisfitChris - Villa...
4:23 "Mercenary Boxing" (Street Fighter II) by Malcos
• Blood on the Asphalt: ...
7:27 "Dan's Ice Cream Truck" (Street Fighter Alpha 2) by Joshua Morse and posu yan
• OC ReMix #1429: Street...
10:52 "Chasing Waterfalls" (Donkey Kong Country 3) by Blue Magic
• OC ReMix #3199: Donkey...
13:47 "Soothing Rain" (Animal Crossing) by Jamphibious
• Animal Crossing ReMix ...
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More than any other character covered thus far, I think Janey is the biggest missed opportunity by the writers. They did a great job developing the kids who act as Bart's supporting characters at Springfield Elementary. But they never wondered about that other girl in Lisa's class that she talks to. It's like they decided all they needed was Lisa, Ralph, and Miss Hoover, and Janey got thrown by the wayside. It's just very strange to me, the more I think about it. The Springfield Elementary cast of girls is way less developed (characterization-wise) than the Springfield Elementary boys, and I think the writers missed out on a lot of interesting story dynamics over the years.
My reading of Janey is of a girl who desperately wants to be cool - but isn't. This is very much evidenced by the fact that she is the best friend of the school dork not named Martin. And thus, whilst she on some level does like Lisa, she is very willing to abandon or bully her if it means that it'll allow her to fit in with an ''upgraded'' social group. Her efforts always fail eventually however and she ends up crawling back to Lisa, the latter being someone so starved for companionship that she'll always end up taking her back like some abused wife.
The writers can't make up their minds on whether or not they want to give Lisa a school-friend or make her that tragic loner so unfortunately Janey comes off as a two-faced social climber. I think that they should do a bit of both and make her a bit of a friendly rival. She seems pretty smart and can play more than one instrument while Lisa is good at just the one. Make her a friend-enemy for Lisa.
Both Cletus and Super Nintendo Chalmers definitely deserve their own episodes
I love how you give the spotlight to underused characters like Janey here, Just Stamp The Ticket Man and of course Richard and Lewis.
I think honestly, given the complex and ever-changing web of friendships among kids, it feels quite realistic for Janey to alternate between friend and enemy.
whenever you wrap up these Simpsons Histories and suggest future contenders, my mind always goes to "there's a lot of buzz around Lenny"
In conclusion, Janey is a land of contrasts.
Marge and Lisa both feel very isolated, though Lisa is more blatantly isolated with two out of three major girl characters being consistently antagonistic towards her. However, she has two boys fighting over her with a long list of guest star boyfriends while Bart doesn't have a regular in the cast to have that sort of love triangle with. Feels like they're stuck in the mindset that girls are more interested in dating than friends while boys are more interested in friends than dating. Kinda odd to apply to an eight year old, but The Simpsons writers don't seem to care about their ages anymore.
you're so right though, i think the lack of friends for both lisa and marge is so frustrating, especially when there have been really great characters for them to be best friends with over the years (lisa with alison, marge with ruth, etc.)
According to the Simpsons mobile game, Tapped Out. The reason on why Janey has so many names and surnames is because one of her parents is a known pyramid schemer, and are on the constant run of the police, so they have to change names every once in a while.
I still think you could do an excellent entry in this series on Disco Stu. He's a great example of how Springfield grew organically out of a need for jokes into a community of believable characters (we know his religion) and the a tragicomic existential crisis ("Normal Stu likes normal things!") playing out on the fringes of the family's social orbit is surely more interesting than the Moe suicide jokes. It might not be a long episode but I'd be keen to see it.
I wanted this one sooo bad but I never thought you'd do it. I'm so happy.
Great analysis as usual Jims! One character I'd like to recommend for a Histories who doesn't get enough attention is Marge's mother Jacqueline Bouvier, we rarely see anything about her and her relationship with Marge and It would be interesting to see a history seeing if there's more to her and her relationship with her daughters and any missed storytelling potential the writers have missed with her.
Now that you mention Shauna, it'd actually be cool to see her get her own Simpsons Histories, especially as a character from the new seasons
Jacqueline Jones could be a stage name/alias she has while auditioning so she isnt found out straight away or mocked in case she got the part. Its smart especially for a kid who is a little insecure of herself. I feel like Janey does want to fit in and leaves her real friends behind to be part of the group like how she abandons Lisa for the popular girl. She could be a little unsure of herself and just wants to be accepted by the popular girls/others that she will change her personality. Shes talented for music and perhaps acting too but feels like she might be teased and mocked for it cause it aint cool which does happen. Perhaps im looking too much into it :D
Janey's at the heart of the big issue with later Simpsons writing for Lisa. In earlier seasons, she's very much an eight year old girl, a precocious one, but still prone to crushes, wild ideas, and a love of cartoons. Later seasons, though, she's basically a full adult in a kids body. I noticed that the scenes of Lisa interacting with Janey, particularly the friendly ones, are mostly when Lisa's doing ordinary 8 year old girl things like hopscotch, pattycake, and reading Babysitter's Club books. The less that becomes part of Lisa's character and more her "aesthetic," just there to contrast with her intellect and maturity, the less of a role for Janey.
Janey has so much potential in the earlier seasons. Wish she'd been included more, and hope she does get more of a role in the future. Her character kinda reminds me of Jodie from Daria, if you were to think of Lisa as Daria.
My favourite Janey moment is when Lisa is pouring her heart out about something and Janey just sits there disintrested blowing bubblgum. But I don't actually remember what episode that's from lol.
I had friends like this in elementary school. Heck pretty sure I was a friend like this as a kid too. Kids are jerks sometimes and I feel like we forget that as we get older