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Waylon J. Smithers, Jr., usually referred to as Mr. Smithers or simply Smithers, is a recurring fictional character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although his voice could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the consummate executive and personal assistant of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's owner Mr. Burns Smithers' devotion to Mr. Burns was inspired from how numerous Fox executives and staff members acted towards Barry Diller. The idea for Smithers' ambiguous sexual orientation came from Sam Simon, who proposed that Smithers should be gay, but little attention should be drawn to it. Smithers' first name (Waylon) was derived from that of puppeteer Wayland Flowers. Smithers was originally animated and intended for storyline purposes by some producers and directors to be African American;.〔http://www.omgfacts.com/hollywood/6540/Waylon-Smithers-from-The-Simpsons-was-originally-black〕 This however was ultimately changed in later episodes with conflicting and unknown confirmed reasons as to why. Matt Groening however in an unintended interview with TMZ, confirms that the animation director at that time originally drew Smithers black according to plan, but he was changed to "yellow". When asked by the interviewer why he wasn't he kept that way, Groening did not respond other than "it was a mistake".〔http://www.tmz.com/2014/11/17/the-simpsons-mr-smithers-black-creator-matt-groening-mistake〕 However other producers claim that Smithers was changed, as "a black a subservice character would have been a bad idea to go with".〔http://www.diversityinc.com/news/closeted-gay-man-to-come-out-to-his-boss〕 Smithers is an obedient and sycophantic assistant to Mr. Burns, and the relationship between the two is a frequent running gag on ''The Simpsons''. In many ways, Smithers represents the stereotype of a closeted gay man, and numerous overt allusions and double entendres concerning his homosexuality are made, though some of the show's producers instead interpret him as a "Burns-sexual". == Role in ''The Simpsons'' == Mr. Smithers is Mr. Burns' devoted executive assistant. His father, Waylon Smithers, Sr., worked for Burns until he died of radiation poisoning after saving Springfield from a potential nuclear meltdown, when Smithers was a baby. Although he is not openly gay, Smithers frequents Springfield's gay village and goes on a vacation to a male-only resort. It was revealed in a flashback that he was married to a woman once, but the two split up when Mr. Burns came between them. Smithers is shown to have a passionate and deep love for Mr. Burns, and his sexual orientation has been characterized by the writers of the show as "Burns-sexual". Mr. Burns has remained largely ignorant of Smithers' devoted adoration, much to Smithers' frustration. Burns himself has been involved with several women and in "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love", Smithers is noticeably disgusted when Burns starts looking for a female companion. Burns, for his part, views Smithers as somewhat of a lackey, albeit a highly valued one for his competence. He has "rewarded" Smithers' devotion with the future "honor" of being buried alive with him after he dies. Smithers has been shown to be somewhat dependent on his relationship with Burns. In "Homer the Smithers", Burns orders Smithers to take a vacation and Homer Simpson is hired as a temporary replacement. When Homer loses his temper and punches Burns in the face, Mr. Burns learns to become self-reliant and this results in Smithers being fired. Smithers decides that he needs to be Burns' assistant and eventually gets his job back.〔 Smithers' official job at the power plant appears to be that of executive assistant, which he says is "actually about 2,800 smaller jobs"〔 responsible for monitoring employee attendance, and is often a disciplinarian and has won dozens of employee of the month awards. He has often hinted at wanting to be promoted to the position of executive vice president, but Burns has repeatedly quashed this dream, while whimsically bestowing the vice presidency on a dog. Smithers has the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls in Springfield and is the president of the Malibu Stacy fan club. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Waylon Smithers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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