Does he ever express any kind of political opinion? He's basically just a stand-in for "Homer's Opposite". His whole schtick is being overqualified and unlucky.
Homer is definitely a lucky idiot but he isn’t exploiting anyone and isn’t at all responsible for Grimey’s lack of success.
The first two seasons of The Simpsons did a great job of illustrating who Homer was and why he was where he was. Strong unions and solidarity, a desire for public safety (mixed with the corporate need to cover ass), a strong family unit built on love rather than obsession with consumerism. With that in mind, Grimey's outrage seems misplaced.
But subsequent seasons turned Homer into a proxy for "Generic American Idiot Across All Economic And Social Strata". Especially in later seasons, Homer leveraged his privilege to deleterious effect. In Flaming Moe's, he screws over his friend to get famous with a drink. Homer's Barbershop Quartet kicks Chef Wiggum to the curb to get famous. In Much Apu About Nothing the town turned out against migrants as a scapegoat for rising taxes, a great example of Homer (among other townsfolk) exploiting neighbors in a quintessentially American way. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? involves Homer bankrupting a car company out of cavalier incompetence and neglect. You Only Move Twice has him taking a job at an explicitly villainous Bond Villain's corporation just to get a pay raise. Simpson and Delilah has him gleefully climbing the corporate ladder based entirely on having a full head of hair.
Homer's greedy and apathetic early on. He's prone to violent outbursts. In later seasons (particular after S10) he becomes overtly callous and cruel to the plight of others. He's happy enough to exploit people directly, given the opportunity. And he's - sometimes consciously sometimes not - routinely exploiting others near him through selfishness and neglect.
Moe steals the Flaming Homer. I also don't really consider how Homer is outside of the episode in question cause there isn't a ton of character consistency as far as how mean spirited he will be from episode to episode.
Does he ever express any kind of political opinion? He's basically just a stand-in for "Homer's Opposite". His whole schtick is being overqualified and unlucky.
The first two seasons of The Simpsons did a great job of illustrating who Homer was and why he was where he was. Strong unions and solidarity, a desire for public safety (mixed with the corporate need to cover ass), a strong family unit built on love rather than obsession with consumerism. With that in mind, Grimey's outrage seems misplaced.
But subsequent seasons turned Homer into a proxy for "Generic American Idiot Across All Economic And Social Strata". Especially in later seasons, Homer leveraged his privilege to deleterious effect. In Flaming Moe's, he screws over his friend to get famous with a drink. Homer's Barbershop Quartet kicks Chef Wiggum to the curb to get famous. In Much Apu About Nothing the town turned out against migrants as a scapegoat for rising taxes, a great example of Homer (among other townsfolk) exploiting neighbors in a quintessentially American way. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? involves Homer bankrupting a car company out of cavalier incompetence and neglect. You Only Move Twice has him taking a job at an explicitly villainous Bond Villain's corporation just to get a pay raise. Simpson and Delilah has him gleefully climbing the corporate ladder based entirely on having a full head of hair.
Homer's greedy and apathetic early on. He's prone to violent outbursts. In later seasons (particular after S10) he becomes overtly callous and cruel to the plight of others. He's happy enough to exploit people directly, given the opportunity. And he's - sometimes consciously sometimes not - routinely exploiting others near him through selfishness and neglect.
Moe steals the Flaming Homer. I also don't really consider how Homer is outside of the episode in question cause there isn't a ton of character consistency as far as how mean spirited he will be from episode to episode.
I got that backwards. Apologies.
He started as a dumbass with a heart of gold and metasticized into a cynical twit in later seasons.
Part of what killed the series.