Selma Bouvier (formerly Selma Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discothèque-Simpson-D'Amico) (born February 28, 1952) is one of Marge's older chain-smoking twin sisters. She works at the DMV and possesses a strong dislike for her brother-in-law, Homer, although on extremely rare occasions she shows kindness towards him and seems to tolerate him. She seems to despise Homer slightly less than her twin sister Patty Bouvier.
Selma Bouvier was born two minutes before Patty. Due to a childhood bottle rocket accident, she lost her sense of taste and smell [1]. Selma is 42 years old and is four years older than Marge, who is 38.
Selma's favorite film actor was reportedly Troy McClure, to whom she was briefly married, before discovering that it was just a publicity stunt by McClure. McClure took it one step further by wanting to have a child with Selma to help his career. Selma was willing to live a sham for a while, but broke it off when she realized that she couldn't bring a child into a loveless marriage.[2]
According to Marge, Selma is "the one who likes Police Academy movies and Hummel figurines, and walking through the park on clear autumn days."[3] Selma inherited her deceased Aunt Gladys's iguana, Jub-Jub, instead of her mother, Jacqueline, due to Jacqueline's dislike of Jub-Jub. Unlike Patty, Selma is very desperate to find love after seeing her Aunt Gladys' video will. She also asks Marge for advice to find love, saying that Patty is two minutes younger than she is.
Selma's favorite brand of cigarettes is identified as "Laramie Hi-Tars" while Patty's favorite brand of cigarettes is "Lady Laramie 100s"; they have been claimed by their mother to "have started smoking even before birth". It is shown that Patty and Selma started smoking as children when they gave their allowances to Marge (she would do their chores), and with all the free time they had, they took up smoking. The twins had melodic voices prior to starting smoking, and their trademark harsh voices after [4]. The smoke and ash from the cigarettes turned her hair grey, originally blond. Since Patty is not a blond, but a redhead, this would make them fraternal twins. Patty and Selma share an apartment at the Spinster City Apartments complex and work at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). They have on numerous occasions acted unprofessionally in the course of their jobs, such as smoking indoors, giving out licenses to unqualified drivers, or flirting with the customers (although Patty was eventually revealed to be a lesbian and didn’t tell Marge right away due to fear of Marge’s reaction. While Marge seems unsure at first, she eventually accepts Patty after saving her from a fraudulent marriage).
Selma and Patty have an avid (sometimes maniacal) love of the television show MacGyver. Selma nearly broke off her engagement with Sideshow Bob because he disliked the show, and both Patty and Selma stay up until 2:00 in the morning to watch the show. Patty and Selma also have an interest in traveling. They have visited Egypt, Lenin's Tomb in Russia, Easter Island, France, Mexico, and more mundane places, such as the Remington Horse Drawn Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Selma has also been to Duff Gardens. When they return home, they bring back numerous slides of them in these locations, and show them to the Simpson family, often describing the events in the most enjoyable way possible. The family, especially Bart and Lisa, are shown as barely staying awake during these shows. During a slideshow of a childhood vacation with their father, the twins learn that he actually died from lung cancer. They question why their mother let them smoke, to which she sadly replies “I thought it made you look cool.” The twins try to quit, but Patty relapses, leading Selma to toss her out. Patty ends up staying at the Simpsons house. The two then reconcile after realizing how bad the apartment smells, which leads to them smoking again.
After a trip to Paris, the twins visit the Simpsons, but Marge doesn’t want them smoking around the children. The twins try electronic cigarettes but hate the taste. They then sneak their real cigarettes into the bathroom, but due to a fracking incident, the sink sets their hair on fire and then sets off the sprinkler. Homer catches the two attempting to smoke and they go upstairs to change.
Selma claimed that she would switch to chewing tobacco before adopting Ling. However, Selma does still smoke, just not around Ling.
