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" Marge is the rock of the Simpson family. She&amp;#039;s the heart. She&amp;#039;s the engine. She&amp;#039;s the glue. She&amp;#039;s the (insert one syllable metaphor). When Homer is considering his next scheme, when Bart&amp;#039;s off causing trouble, while Lisa is agonizing over her studies or social standing, Marge is keeping the family afloat. She&amp;#039;s cutting off crusts. She&amp;#039;s shoo-ing spiders for Homer. She&amp;#039;s the only one who seems to take care of or even acknowledge Maggie&amp;#039;s existence. Without Marge, the Simpsons would fall apart. In fact, multiple episodes have been dedicated to this. Remember when she took a day off to go to the spa? Remember when she had that gambling problem? Marge is the hero the Simpsons don&amp;#039;t deserve.        But what about Marge? Who is she outside of the family? Who is she independent from the thankless tasks and her unyielding motherly love? What does she do for fun? Whenever she does something for herself it always ends in disaster. Remember when she wanted to join the country club? Does Marge have any friends? Patty and Selma are her sisters. The neighbors are all more acquaintances. Helen Lovejoy is a gossip. She barely talked to Maude Flanders before she died. Ruth Powers was a total nut. So who? In part academic analysis part fan fiction, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg studied the question recently in 15 elegant tweets:      Does Marge have friends? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         (a poem in fifteen tweets) \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Who are Marge\u2019s friends? Is Helen Lovejoy a friend? Sarah Wiggum? Agnes Skinner? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         To whom does Marge spill her secrets over coffee on cold days? Who laughs at Marge\u2019s jokes? Who knows Marge, truly and well? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Who tells Marge to leave the brute, knowing she won\u2019t? \u201CYou don\u2019t have to stay. You deserve so much more.\u201D \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Who, on a morning walk, sees a tall blue bush, texts a photo to Marge, \u201Cthis made me think of you\u201D? Surely not Lenny, or Kirk or Luann. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Did Marge mourn for Maude Flanders? Late nights, at the kitchen table, staring at her own hands. Is she haunted still by her absence? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Does she see in her late neighbor a cautionary tale? Seldom-remembered, semi-anonymous Maude \u2014 could this fate too befall Marge? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Perhaps, once at a summer barbecue, when both were still alive, Maude grabbed Marge\u2019s hand under the table and held tight. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         What prompted this sudden connection, this sudden expression of\u2014 what was it, warmth? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         The two weren\u2019t close\u2014 acquaintances, sure, had they ever even hugged? \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         And yet here they were, holding hands, silently, secretly, while their children shrieked and their husbands grilled the hot dogs. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         One night, Marge couldn\u2019t sleep, the linens, hung to dry in the yard, flapping in the wind with unprecedented accent. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Marge wandered into the night, a fleck of yellow in a blanket of white stars, and she felt, as she often did, alone. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Marge felt the sharp grass on her feet, the breeze on her face. Over the fence she saw Maude, pale as a sheet, her eyes wet with tears. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         Marge looked to her\u2014 \u201CMaude?\u201D and Maude shook her head. \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016         And Maude whispered this: \u201CIt\u2019s not the calm before the storm that frightens me. It\u2019s the calm that follows.\u201D \u2014 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) July 12, 2016    [H/T: The A.V. Club] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/news/a47724/does-marge-simpson-have-any-friends/>