About
“Do It For Her” is a memorable phrase taken from a 1995 episode of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, in which character Homer Simpson covers up his demotivational poster at the workplace with photographs of his daughter Maggie in order to create a positive message. On the web, Homer’s family memorabile has since been parodied many times as a way to commemorate a loved one, either real or fictional.
Origin
The episode titled “And Maggie Makes Three”[1] first aired as the series’ thirteenth episode of its sixth season on January 22nd, 1995. In the episode, Homer’s eldest son Bart asks him what he does with photos of his daughter Maggie. Homer responds that he keeps them “where he needs them the most.” The scene then cuts to his workplace where his plaque reading “Don’t Forget, You’re Here Forever” is seen partially covered with Maggie’s photos so it appears to spell out “Do It For Her.”
Spread
As early as 2001, fans of the animated series took to message boards to share their love of this episode. Throughout the 2000s, it was discussed on No Homers Club[2], the Straight Dope[3], IGN[4] and Fan Forum.[5] The scene has also been highlighted on pop culture blogs VH1 Celebrity[6] and Splitsider[7] as one of the most notable episodes of the show. In March 20th, 2006, deviantART user ajfaggiani[8] posted one of the first parody images, swapping out Maggie’s photos for ones of her friend Javier and his daughter.
In April 2011, a Facebook fan page[9] titled “Do It For Her” launched, posting other image macros and screenshots from The Simpsons, gaining more than 3,100 likes as of March 2013. By January 2012, parody images of the scene began appearing on 4chan, most notably the ones featuring characters from the romantic visual novel Katawa Shoujo in replacement of Maggie’s photos. Though many of these threads went unarchived, the earliest known repost of one of these photos was uploaded to wallpaper-sharing site Wallbot[10] in January 2012. That same month, the first Katawa Shoujo-themed “Do It For Her” image was shared on deviantART[11] with a note stating there had been previous iterations seen on 4chan. In August 2012, a user of 4chan’s /vg/ (video games) board shared a template[12] for “Do It For Her” images in a thread about Katawa Shoujo. Additional instances have been shared on Tumblr.[13]
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wikipedia – And Maggie Makes Three
[2]No Homers Club – most heartwarming simpson moment?
[3]Straight Dope – Favorite Simpsons quote
[4]IGN– whats the most touching simpsons episode ever?
[5]Fan Forum – The Simpsons Episodes That Make You Cry
[6]VH1 Celebrity – The 10 Best Simpsons Endings Of All Time
[7]Splitsider – Eight Times The Simpsons Have Made Me Cry
[8]deviantART – ajfaggiani: Do it for her – Version 1
[9]Facebook – Do It For Her
[10]Wallbot – Rin: Do It For Her
[11]deviantART – Katawa Shoujo Wallpaper, again
[12]Foolz Archive – Katawa Shoujo General
[13]Tumblr – Posts tagged “do it for her”