Dependency, I Wonder About It
As my dad would say, “Old age sucks!” In For Better or For Worse, a visit to Grandpa Jim to look at old pictures with him, turns Elly’s mind to losing her independence and losing her memory. After seeing the “Whoa”ing, vampire, Warren all week; I would say that Lynn Johnston has already lost her memory about how her characters act.
However, the strip is an interesting perspective, and one I think every married woman needs to consider. Women live on average 6 years longer than men, so the prospect of being the last in the couple to survive is a real concern.
I notice, however, that Elly’s concern is that she will be dependent and lose her memory first. That is another real concern for Elly, because John can barely take care of himself at it is. If Elly were to be incapacitated for some reason, she would be in a world of hurt with John taking care of her.
In this strip, John is so uninterested in the goings-on, he doesn’t give any acknowledgement either to Jim or Iris—no hugs, no handshakes, and no waving. John doesn’t care, and Elly is starting through the mental process which led both of my sisters to divorce, i.e., they realized they didn’t want to be in old age with their self-centered husbands. That’s not the point of the strip, which is basically for John to say something considered being romantic, but which actually shows a lack of knowledge about Alzheimer’s.
However, the strip is an interesting perspective, and one I think every married woman needs to consider. Women live on average 6 years longer than men, so the prospect of being the last in the couple to survive is a real concern.
I notice, however, that Elly’s concern is that she will be dependent and lose her memory first. That is another real concern for Elly, because John can barely take care of himself at it is. If Elly were to be incapacitated for some reason, she would be in a world of hurt with John taking care of her.
In this strip, John is so uninterested in the goings-on, he doesn’t give any acknowledgement either to Jim or Iris—no hugs, no handshakes, and no waving. John doesn’t care, and Elly is starting through the mental process which led both of my sisters to divorce, i.e., they realized they didn’t want to be in old age with their self-centered husbands. That’s not the point of the strip, which is basically for John to say something considered being romantic, but which actually shows a lack of knowledge about Alzheimer’s.
posted by howard at 11:14 PM
4 Comments:
Following up on yesterday's posts, I agree with the idea that Warren is a red herring. Sadly, I feel as if this is all telegraphed so blatantly that when we learn that Liz and Anthony have been warming up to each other off-strip, it won't be a huge surprise--only a monument to poor storytelling.
And regarding Alzheimer's--well, of course neither Lynn nor John would bother researching this!
Fortunately for Lynn, they don't say Alzheimer's directly, and it will probably only be mentioned in this strip. When Lynn didn't research strokes properly, it was dragged out over enough strips where Lynn's core audience, who would have some experience in that area, would start to get irritated and complain about the inaccuracies.
I am not surprised Lynn ignores our snark, but I am surprised she continues to introduce topics which are intended for her older readers, without bothering to check the accuracy.
The dementia resulting from Alzheimer’s is unique to each person. My 80 year-old mother remembers very little, but when she sees my father she says: “You are my husband; I love you.”
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