April’s Problem with Becky – Strips Only
aprilp_katje wanted to know the history of April's dislike of Becky just from the strips. I went back through the For Better or For Worse on-line archives to look at the April / Becky problems and wrote up a summary which ended up being pages and pages and too much for anyone to read. I did however, notice some trends.
Overall summary:
September 19 - 21, 2002 – April and Becky fight over Becky’s hair cut.
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/19&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/20&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/21&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
Becky, April, and some girl I have never seen before are at the mall scoping out boys. April remarks that she likes Becky’s new haircut because it makes her look younger. Becky storms off and the other girl sides with Becky, telling April she needs to apologize. Apparently the apology doesn’t come, because when John picks the girls up, he informs Elly that the girls were not speaking to each other. Becky and April patch things up eventually, but this girl never appears again. This appears to be the only time Lynn Johnston tried to link up Becky and another girl with April to create a situation like Liz had with Shawna-Marie and Dawn. After this, she goes to the band and April hangs out with the band exclusively.
January – February, 2003 – The beginning of the band fight. April’s problems with Becky are:
a. Becky tries to control the band, by starting the group on a melody she knows and she wants the group to improvise around her, i.e. standard pop style song creation vs. April, who wants the band to look at music she got from Mr. Bergan, i.e. classical style note-reading.
b. April claims the right to be the leader because the practice was at her house and having the band was her idea.
June, 2003 – May, 2004 – The salad days. By June, 2003, Gerald has taken control of the band and either he or April are writing their songs. The first song we hear about Becky writing is the one she does at the Grade 8 grad. The band is constantly socializing with each other in and out of practice and there are no fights.
May 31, 2004 – April drops Butterscotch over at Becky’s in preparation for travel to Elizabeth’s graduation. April thinks “There’s something about Becky that makes me jealous…an’ I don’t know what it is. I’m glad she’s with my bunny an’ not my boyfriend!” Then there is a tag thought balloon, which I can see now was added at the last minute, because the lettering is much smaller than the other thought balloons, as if it had to be squeezed in. The tag is “If I had one.” This is the beginning of the end. April is jealous of Becky for what she admits is no reason. She is never completely happy with Becky again.
Fall, 2004 – Spring, 2005 – The Home Economics Class. April’s problems with Becky are:
a. Becky is prettier than she is.
b. Becky dresses better than she does.
c. Becky is boy crazy. April used to be boy crazy too, but no more.
d. Becky is intolerant of Special Needs kids. Becky is really intolerant, excessively so with many panels of insults. Taken all together in one reading, she really is awful about it.
e. Becky labels other people she sees as a game. April used to do this with Becky and they originated the term "Foob", but no more.
f. Becky is a roadside gig who gave it up for Jeffo Bray.
The character reversal of April on being interested in boys is odd, considering April is at the age where Becky's behaviour is more typical. Becky is set up this way for the humiliation by Jeffo Bray. You never see boy crazy Becky again after Jeffo. Becky only socializes with girls.
Another key ingredient is the introduction of Shannon Lake. Almost every time Shannon appeared, April and Becky are contrasted where Becky insults the special needs kids ruthlessly. Becky is never punished for this behaviour, because the point of it is to show how April is the opposite.
One other part is appearance. A big deal is made about how the young girls show a lot of flesh and Elly won't allow April to do that anymore and April appears to accept it, except that she becomes jealous of Becky's looks. Even though Becky and April live in the same neighbourhood and April's dad is a successful dentist, April is jealous of Becky's looks and clothes.
June, 2005 – March, 2007 – Becky Leaves the Band Fight. April’s problem with Becky are:
a. Becky wants to be famous and her old band is not good enough for her. This is partially true. Her old band is more reliable than her new drugged-up band at the Gym-Jam, but they are not any good unless they are associated with a professional musician like Becky or Uncle Phil (and that includes after the addition of Eva and Luis).
b. Becky has a giant ego and talks constantly about her career. Looking over the span of Becky strips post-4Evah, this is definitely true. Almost every time she shows up she talks about herself.
c. Becky asks April for favors, but shows no interest in April beyond those favors or telling April how her career is going. She does take the time to comment on April’s zits though.
The whole point of this long storyline was to show how music is supposed to be fun, and if you want to be famous too much, you have to compromise your character. Becky has sacrificed her humility and her friends and because she performs with people who use drugs, she has also sacrificed the morality of having good people associated with her.
May, 2007 – Gerald Plays With Becky. I realize now we are entering a new era of Becky hate. This is actually the first time April expressed a dislike for someone for associating with Becky. She did not complain about Jeremy Jones doing sound for Becky, or the school offering Becky the opportunity to headline the Gym-Jam, or the nerdy girls who hung around Becky. April let Gerald's story about their party night go unchallenged for 2 months, but the moment she finds out Gerald is playing with Becky, she dismisses him coldly as if they had not been together for the last 4 years. At least Liz cried, but she didn't have good Becky hate to back her up.
aprilp_katje - I have kept the pages and pages. If you are interested, I can post those up. Also, I need to mention that starting tomorrow, I will be on a Boy Scout trip through Sunday, so don't worry about my absence.
Overall summary:
September 19 - 21, 2002 – April and Becky fight over Becky’s hair cut.
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/19&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/20&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/9/21&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
Becky, April, and some girl I have never seen before are at the mall scoping out boys. April remarks that she likes Becky’s new haircut because it makes her look younger. Becky storms off and the other girl sides with Becky, telling April she needs to apologize. Apparently the apology doesn’t come, because when John picks the girls up, he informs Elly that the girls were not speaking to each other. Becky and April patch things up eventually, but this girl never appears again. This appears to be the only time Lynn Johnston tried to link up Becky and another girl with April to create a situation like Liz had with Shawna-Marie and Dawn. After this, she goes to the band and April hangs out with the band exclusively.
January – February, 2003 – The beginning of the band fight. April’s problems with Becky are:
a. Becky tries to control the band, by starting the group on a melody she knows and she wants the group to improvise around her, i.e. standard pop style song creation vs. April, who wants the band to look at music she got from Mr. Bergan, i.e. classical style note-reading.
b. April claims the right to be the leader because the practice was at her house and having the band was her idea.
June, 2003 – May, 2004 – The salad days. By June, 2003, Gerald has taken control of the band and either he or April are writing their songs. The first song we hear about Becky writing is the one she does at the Grade 8 grad. The band is constantly socializing with each other in and out of practice and there are no fights.
May 31, 2004 – April drops Butterscotch over at Becky’s in preparation for travel to Elizabeth’s graduation. April thinks “There’s something about Becky that makes me jealous…an’ I don’t know what it is. I’m glad she’s with my bunny an’ not my boyfriend!” Then there is a tag thought balloon, which I can see now was added at the last minute, because the lettering is much smaller than the other thought balloons, as if it had to be squeezed in. The tag is “If I had one.” This is the beginning of the end. April is jealous of Becky for what she admits is no reason. She is never completely happy with Becky again.
Fall, 2004 – Spring, 2005 – The Home Economics Class. April’s problems with Becky are:
a. Becky is prettier than she is.
b. Becky dresses better than she does.
c. Becky is boy crazy. April used to be boy crazy too, but no more.
d. Becky is intolerant of Special Needs kids. Becky is really intolerant, excessively so with many panels of insults. Taken all together in one reading, she really is awful about it.
e. Becky labels other people she sees as a game. April used to do this with Becky and they originated the term "Foob", but no more.
f. Becky is a roadside gig who gave it up for Jeffo Bray.
The character reversal of April on being interested in boys is odd, considering April is at the age where Becky's behaviour is more typical. Becky is set up this way for the humiliation by Jeffo Bray. You never see boy crazy Becky again after Jeffo. Becky only socializes with girls.
Another key ingredient is the introduction of Shannon Lake. Almost every time Shannon appeared, April and Becky are contrasted where Becky insults the special needs kids ruthlessly. Becky is never punished for this behaviour, because the point of it is to show how April is the opposite.
One other part is appearance. A big deal is made about how the young girls show a lot of flesh and Elly won't allow April to do that anymore and April appears to accept it, except that she becomes jealous of Becky's looks. Even though Becky and April live in the same neighbourhood and April's dad is a successful dentist, April is jealous of Becky's looks and clothes.
June, 2005 – March, 2007 – Becky Leaves the Band Fight. April’s problem with Becky are:
a. Becky wants to be famous and her old band is not good enough for her. This is partially true. Her old band is more reliable than her new drugged-up band at the Gym-Jam, but they are not any good unless they are associated with a professional musician like Becky or Uncle Phil (and that includes after the addition of Eva and Luis).
b. Becky has a giant ego and talks constantly about her career. Looking over the span of Becky strips post-4Evah, this is definitely true. Almost every time she shows up she talks about herself.
c. Becky asks April for favors, but shows no interest in April beyond those favors or telling April how her career is going. She does take the time to comment on April’s zits though.
The whole point of this long storyline was to show how music is supposed to be fun, and if you want to be famous too much, you have to compromise your character. Becky has sacrificed her humility and her friends and because she performs with people who use drugs, she has also sacrificed the morality of having good people associated with her.
May, 2007 – Gerald Plays With Becky. I realize now we are entering a new era of Becky hate. This is actually the first time April expressed a dislike for someone for associating with Becky. She did not complain about Jeremy Jones doing sound for Becky, or the school offering Becky the opportunity to headline the Gym-Jam, or the nerdy girls who hung around Becky. April let Gerald's story about their party night go unchallenged for 2 months, but the moment she finds out Gerald is playing with Becky, she dismisses him coldly as if they had not been together for the last 4 years. At least Liz cried, but she didn't have good Becky hate to back her up.
aprilp_katje - I have kept the pages and pages. If you are interested, I can post those up. Also, I need to mention that starting tomorrow, I will be on a Boy Scout trip through Sunday, so don't worry about my absence.
posted by howard at 11:58 PM
1 Comments:
Awesome research once again, howtheduck--and I'd love reading the long version, as well. :)
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