Seymour Skinner
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| The Simpsons character | |
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| Age | 44 |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair Color | Graying, neat |
| Job | Principal of Springfield Elementary (1989–1994; 1994–present) |
| Relatives | Parents: Agnes and Sheldon Girlfriend: Edna Krabappel |
| First appearance | Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire |
| Voice actor | Harry Shearer |
Seymour Skinner (born Armin Tamzarian, 1953) is a fictional character on The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. He is of Armenian heritage.
Skinner is a stereotypical educational bureaucrat, the principal of Springfield Elementary School. He struggles to hold the crumbling school together and is constantly engaged in a battle against the school's inadequate resources, apathetic and bitter teachers, and often rowdy and unenthusiastic students -- Bart Simpson being the standout example. He often tries to exploit Lisa Simpson's genius to make the school look good. Seymour Skinner's father, Sheldon Skinner, fought on Abe Simpson's WW II squad.
[edit] Profile
Skinner lives in fear of the wrath of his boss, Superintendent Chalmers, who makes no effort to hide his disapproval of him. At one point Skinner was fired and replaced by Ned Flanders despite Flanders' thorough lack of administrative skill and experience. During this period Bart actually befriends the unemployed Skinner, telling him about Flanders' lax approach (using the honor system and no formal punishments)--and the chaos that ensues. Skinner eventually decides to rejoin the military as a drill sergeant, feeling that he would never be happy doing anything not related to being an administrator, and Bart found that he missed Skinner on two levels-- as a friend, but even more as an enemy. While Bart initially enjoys pulling pranks on Flanders's watch, he ultimately finds it unfulfilling because the laid back Flanders lacks Skinner's uptight personality for Bart to play off of. Bart decides to get Skinner rehired by showing Chalmers how badly the school had fallen apart. Bart rightly tells Chalmers, "You fired Skinner for way less than this." Chalmers initially scoffs at the idea, but changes his mind after hearing Flanders say, "Thank the Lord for this beautiful day" over the intercom, a comment he took to be a prayer.
In the first few seasons, Skinner resembled Norman Bates, the main character from the Hitchcock film Psycho. Though this has been stopped, there are still hints, such as the house he lives in and his overbearing mother, Agnes. He is named either for behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, whose work is often studied by professional educators, or Eugene Skinner, the founder of Eugene, Oregon.
In later seasons Skinner and Edna Krabappel start dating, and later get engaged. They subsequently break up, although it has been hinted that he still wants her and they may reunite in the future. He claims to be a virgin until he started dating Krapabbel. He still lives at home with his mother, and frequently lapses back to the Vietnam War in many episodes.
His age has been referred to twice. Bart Simpson stated his age as 40, whereas Kent Brockman says he is 44. He was "born" in the year 1953, and in the same episode it is estimated that he will die in 2010, though he lived longer in several episodes about the future. In the episode "The Heartbroke Kid," Skinner's sign is Libra.
Outside of school, Skinner often seems weak-willed and easily snowed over, perhaps because he wants to avoid confrontation, but on one occasion he uses his Vietnam training to beat up (with disturbing efficiency) a lawyer and his two enormous bodyguards who were accusing him of copyright infringement because the school's fair unintentionally ripped off a tagline similar to the Disneyland theme park. He also reveals here that he was apparently a green beret. There are other moments where Skinner uses his military training, which shows that while he may tend to be a pushover, he is quite deadly when angered or cornered, although many never see him this way. He also stands up to Montgomery Burns when Burns tries to get him to cede control of the school's newly discovered oil deposit, but Skinner refused to buckle, only to have Burns steal the oil from under him.
Skinner is apparently very intelligent at least when it comes to book smarts. He is one of the members of Springfield's branch of Mensa. However, when Lisa steals the teacher's editions, he is just as helpless as the teachers, which means that he heavily relied on the books. He is also clueless when it comes to bullies. In "New Kid on the Block", Bart remembers a time when Jimbo was giving him a swirly while Skinner was waiting outside the stall and questioned Jimbo if there was a problem (thinking that Jimbo was just going to the bathroom), since Jimbo had been flushing for twenty minutes. When Jimbo replies "No, Principal Skinner (stupid laugh)", Skinner says, "Alright, I'll continue to wait" and cluelessly begins whistling while the toilet continues to flush. Before becoming principal, Skinner worked as a fourth-grade science teacher, presumably at Springfield Elementary. He has an incredible ability to identify chemical reactions with his sense of smell, such as sodium tetrasulfate bonding with chlorophyll.
Seymour Skinner's personal history, like that of many Simpsons characters, is somewhat convoluted. It was long known that he was a Vietnam War veteran: having been a prisoner of war (prisoner #24601), he often goes into flashbacks of how the guards mistreated him. He lives alone with his domineering elderly mother (his father (who bears a resemblance to fake Seymour Skinner, rather than his actual son) having died in a parade float accident in 1979, along with Arnie Gumble, Iggy Wiggum, Etch Westgrin and Griff McDonald, all of the Flying Hellfish). However, in the episode "The Principal and the Pauper", it was revealed that Skinner is actually Armin Tamzarian (Armenian). Armin was a troubled orphan until he joined the Army and was befriended by Sgt. Skinner, whom he came to idolize. Believing himself responsible for the real Skinner being killed, he returned to Springfield to tell Skinner's mother, but she (deliberately) mistook him for Seymour. At the end of the episode, Judge Snyder granted Tamzarian Skinner's "name, and his past, present, future, and mother," and decreed that no one will mention his true identity again under penalty of torture (this, after the Springfielders ran the real Seymour, voiced by Martin Sheen—who had been alive after all—out of town by way of railroad). This bears some resemblance to the tale of Martin Guerre. The Simpsons writers have occasionally mocked the subsequent inconsistencies in subsequent episodes, most notably when Lisa buys Snowball V and declares, "To save money on a new dish, I'll call you Snowball II." Skinner says, "Isn't that a cheat?" to which Lisa replies, "I guess it is, Principal Tamzarian." (See Reset button technique).
In "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase", Skinner accompanies Clancy and Ralph Wiggum to Clancy's new job as a Private Investigator in New Orleans. While the episode is not canon (being a parody), Skinner claims to have been born in New Orleans and something of a small-time street hustler. This fits rather perfectly with his canon story, as its not difficult to imagine that Skinner/Tamzarian went from New Orleans to Capitol City, and eventually his unusual fate in the military.
In the episode "Girls Just Want To Have Sums", Skinner was demoted after he made a disparaging remark about females' ability in mathematics. This is in imitation of a true-life firestorm created by Lawrence Summers, former president of Harvard University. Skinner is made Assistant Groundskeeper, humiliating for the erstwhile principal who in previous episodes makes it clear that he considers Groundskeeper Willie to be the school's lowest status employee.
In the episode "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em...", it is revealed that Skinner is severely allergic to peanuts.
Although a humorless and bureaucratic individual (observing of himself, "I'm a small man in many ways. A small, petty man"), Skinner can be considered a genuinely dedicated public servant. He appears to have no friends or hobbies outside of his job (other than an interest in astronomy), yet despite being utterly dominated by his often cruel and domineering mother, and living in constant fear of Superintendent Chalmers, he is able to summon enough character to keep the underfunded Springfield Elementary functioning with his often thankless efforts.
[edit] Episodes starring Skinner
This is a list of Simpsons episodes in which Seymour Skinner plays a substantial role in driving the plot, not simply a supporting role.
- Principal Charming (Season 2, Episode 14) Skinner falls for the wrong Bouvier sister.
- Bart the Murderer (Season 3, Episode 5) Everybody thinks that Bart has killed Skinner
- Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song (Season 5, Episode 19) A guilty Bart befriends Skinner after getting him fired.
- Grade School Confidential (Season 8, Episode 19) Skinner begins dating Edna Krabappel.
- The Principal and the Pauper (Season 9, Episode 2) Skinner is revealed as an impostor.
- Skinner's Sense of Snow (Season 12, Episode 8) Skinner and the students are trapped at school by an ice storm.
- Special Edna (Season 14, Episode 7) Skinner proposes to Edna.
- My Big Fat Geek Wedding (Season 15, Episode 17) Edna leaves Skinner at the altar.
- Please Homer, Don't Hammer Em... (Season 18, Episode 3) Bart discovers Skinner's allergy to peanuts.
[edit] Quotes
- "Ah, there's nothing more exciting than science. You get all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, paying attention..."
- "Mother's gone too far -- she's put cardboard over her half of the television. We rented Man Without a Face -- I didn't even know he had a problem!"
- "Good evening, everyone, and welcome to a wonderful evening of theater and picking up after yourselves."
- "The only monster on this bus is a lack of proper respect for the rules."
