Moral of the Story
It appeared to me, when April and Gerald got away with kissing and drinking wine on the evening of Mike’s Congratupalooza party, there was not going to be any consequences for it. They got away with it cleanly, and John even praised April for being a child she didn’t have to worry about. I suppose that should have been the big clue, because April had been so regularly blamed for things she hadn’t been doing, to praise April was out of character for John. If it had ended like that, then I would have been impressed, because there are a lot of teenaged kids who don’t get caught kissing their boyfriend and it would have made it seem true-to-life. But this is For Better or For Worse, a bastion of comic strip moralizing, so I knew there would be consequences.
Even when April was being taunted by Gerald’s bizarrely-shaped friends at school, the main complaint from April was not that Gerald had stretched the story, but that he had told a story which April considered to be personal, which is a reasonable complaint. The parts of the story, the buck-toothed boys quoted back to her were accurate representations of what happened. However, it is April herself who defines what Gerald did as not a “secret” but a “score.”
Now we have the confusing references to “doing stuff” and doing a lot more than you were doing. We know time has passed because they’ve visited the Stibbs’ place and Elizabeth has found an apartment. In the interim period, has Gerald told the story and expanded on what happened? Or is April stretching the story herself, as she did when she refined it as “score” in order to get sympathy from Elizabeth? There is a strong possibility that April is the one changing the story.
One of the interesting parts about this strip is when the readers are shown something, which the characters do not acknowledge. The classic case is when Liz reads April’s e-mail about Anthony’s divorce and has a strong reaction (prints it out to read) and then immediately makes plans to leave Mtigwaki without consulting her boyfriend. It couldn’t be more obvious she is moving back to be with Anthony and screw her relationship with Paul. But then she proceeds to tell everyone it’s because she is homesick and because she scored a job in Mississauga. This becomes the story written up on the website in the bio section. And yet, there in the archive is that strip where Liz has that severe reaction to learning Anthony got divorced.
Here we may have a similar situation. We see that April and Gerald drank wine and kissed, but kept their clothes on. We see that Gerald has not stretched the story. And yet, April is going about with the idea that Gerald has told people he scored with April, and she is being laughed at. Elizabeth’s advice is to tell her to tell him to “stuff it” which only really means to “let him know you are really angry.” It is generic enough to mean anything, and not necessarily, to go and break up with Gerald. It is possible that this is all Lynn Johnston intends. After all, when Elly is mad at John, he usually gives in to her. Maybe it will be the same with April, and she will get a contrite Gerald.
The other perspective is that this whole thing is Gerald’s fault. He is the one who suggests coming over to April’s house. April actually seems surprised he was there, when he arrives. He is the one who brings the wine. Then he is the one who brags to his friends. Lynn Johnston has played the hand before of the hapless woman doing what her man wants before and most recently with Warren canceling his date with Liz. The criticism of Warren is that he cancelled it at the last minute without regret or consideration of Liz’s feeling. Liz sets the time aside for the date as the man asked, and then adjusts accordingly and reacts nicely and politely when he cancels, except for the later spitting. Warren is declared nice, but inconsistent. We know Warren is going to take a hit for having a job where he travels a lot. So, there must be a consequence for Gerald too.
There have been hints in the monthly letters. First John hints April may do a student exchange to France. But how can she do that when she has boyfriend and a band to support.
John's Letter, June 2005
There are only the three of us at home now, and April is getting to that age where she's gone all the time. She heads into grade nine next year, and has mentioned the idea of going on some of these student exchange trips. France was one of the countries she mentioned. So, amazingly, instead of worrying about the loss of my favourite little buddy, I mentally am thinking about a smaller house with a bigger yard! Just a thought of course!
This is a pretty big hint, April will choose neither Michael’s house nor John’s house, but instead head out to other lands. It would answer the question about why Lynn Johnston is so wishy-washy about declaring where April will live or why she was excluding from most of the family discussions on the subject. Then April talks about how romance will destroy the band and how she hopes Becky and Gerald don’t become a couple. I have noticed that the Becky criticism from April’s friends is entirely from Eva, Duncan, and Shannon, which leaves Gerald free to be a Becky supporter and potential boyfriend. Lynn Johnston loves to put things into place.
April's Letter, March 2005
Mom let Becky stay at our place for a few nights because of her parents, which is ok. We sit up and talk about totally everything. I told her that Gerald and I are trying to be "just friends" because if we did do the love thing, the band would break up if we did. This is hard. I really like him. I mean, really! What I don't tell Becky is - I hope he doesn't start liking her!!!
That was with 4Evah, but the sentiment was repeated recently with 4Evah&Eva.
April's Letter, January 2007
I just hope it keeps going well for all of us - it's not a great idea for bandmates to date, because we could totally screw up the dynamics if any of us broke up, but for now we sound good, and we're all "together'.
Then you have the strips where Gerald called the special needs kids “retarded” and giving April no sympathy when her grandfather died. There were no consequences from that at the time, and yet the possibility still exists. We had the fire story over 1½ years, the housening, which as been 1 year and 10 months in the making. Lynn Johnston loves to stretch out stories, so we could be on the verge of seeing April and Gerald break up, causing 4Evah&Eva to break up, leaving April free to go to France. Of course my pet idea is that April would live with Auntie Bev on the farm.
What we don’t know is what April will do next. What I feel confident about is that Gerald is going to get some consequences.
Even when April was being taunted by Gerald’s bizarrely-shaped friends at school, the main complaint from April was not that Gerald had stretched the story, but that he had told a story which April considered to be personal, which is a reasonable complaint. The parts of the story, the buck-toothed boys quoted back to her were accurate representations of what happened. However, it is April herself who defines what Gerald did as not a “secret” but a “score.”
Now we have the confusing references to “doing stuff” and doing a lot more than you were doing. We know time has passed because they’ve visited the Stibbs’ place and Elizabeth has found an apartment. In the interim period, has Gerald told the story and expanded on what happened? Or is April stretching the story herself, as she did when she refined it as “score” in order to get sympathy from Elizabeth? There is a strong possibility that April is the one changing the story.
One of the interesting parts about this strip is when the readers are shown something, which the characters do not acknowledge. The classic case is when Liz reads April’s e-mail about Anthony’s divorce and has a strong reaction (prints it out to read) and then immediately makes plans to leave Mtigwaki without consulting her boyfriend. It couldn’t be more obvious she is moving back to be with Anthony and screw her relationship with Paul. But then she proceeds to tell everyone it’s because she is homesick and because she scored a job in Mississauga. This becomes the story written up on the website in the bio section. And yet, there in the archive is that strip where Liz has that severe reaction to learning Anthony got divorced.
Here we may have a similar situation. We see that April and Gerald drank wine and kissed, but kept their clothes on. We see that Gerald has not stretched the story. And yet, April is going about with the idea that Gerald has told people he scored with April, and she is being laughed at. Elizabeth’s advice is to tell her to tell him to “stuff it” which only really means to “let him know you are really angry.” It is generic enough to mean anything, and not necessarily, to go and break up with Gerald. It is possible that this is all Lynn Johnston intends. After all, when Elly is mad at John, he usually gives in to her. Maybe it will be the same with April, and she will get a contrite Gerald.
The other perspective is that this whole thing is Gerald’s fault. He is the one who suggests coming over to April’s house. April actually seems surprised he was there, when he arrives. He is the one who brings the wine. Then he is the one who brags to his friends. Lynn Johnston has played the hand before of the hapless woman doing what her man wants before and most recently with Warren canceling his date with Liz. The criticism of Warren is that he cancelled it at the last minute without regret or consideration of Liz’s feeling. Liz sets the time aside for the date as the man asked, and then adjusts accordingly and reacts nicely and politely when he cancels, except for the later spitting. Warren is declared nice, but inconsistent. We know Warren is going to take a hit for having a job where he travels a lot. So, there must be a consequence for Gerald too.
There have been hints in the monthly letters. First John hints April may do a student exchange to France. But how can she do that when she has boyfriend and a band to support.
John's Letter, June 2005
There are only the three of us at home now, and April is getting to that age where she's gone all the time. She heads into grade nine next year, and has mentioned the idea of going on some of these student exchange trips. France was one of the countries she mentioned. So, amazingly, instead of worrying about the loss of my favourite little buddy, I mentally am thinking about a smaller house with a bigger yard! Just a thought of course!
This is a pretty big hint, April will choose neither Michael’s house nor John’s house, but instead head out to other lands. It would answer the question about why Lynn Johnston is so wishy-washy about declaring where April will live or why she was excluding from most of the family discussions on the subject. Then April talks about how romance will destroy the band and how she hopes Becky and Gerald don’t become a couple. I have noticed that the Becky criticism from April’s friends is entirely from Eva, Duncan, and Shannon, which leaves Gerald free to be a Becky supporter and potential boyfriend. Lynn Johnston loves to put things into place.
April's Letter, March 2005
Mom let Becky stay at our place for a few nights because of her parents, which is ok. We sit up and talk about totally everything. I told her that Gerald and I are trying to be "just friends" because if we did do the love thing, the band would break up if we did. This is hard. I really like him. I mean, really! What I don't tell Becky is - I hope he doesn't start liking her!!!
That was with 4Evah, but the sentiment was repeated recently with 4Evah&Eva.
April's Letter, January 2007
I just hope it keeps going well for all of us - it's not a great idea for bandmates to date, because we could totally screw up the dynamics if any of us broke up, but for now we sound good, and we're all "together'.
Then you have the strips where Gerald called the special needs kids “retarded” and giving April no sympathy when her grandfather died. There were no consequences from that at the time, and yet the possibility still exists. We had the fire story over 1½ years, the housening, which as been 1 year and 10 months in the making. Lynn Johnston loves to stretch out stories, so we could be on the verge of seeing April and Gerald break up, causing 4Evah&Eva to break up, leaving April free to go to France. Of course my pet idea is that April would live with Auntie Bev on the farm.
What we don’t know is what April will do next. What I feel confident about is that Gerald is going to get some consequences.
posted by howard at 10:44 AM
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