Dawn Enjo – Maid or Matron of Hono(u)r?
I think Lynn Johnston got herself into a situation in For Better or For Worse where she decided she wanted to change things after everything had been inked, but not everything had been lettered. The situation involved Dawn Enjo's status in Shawna-Marie Verano's wedding.
In this strip http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002423.php, from May 1, the original plan was that Shawna-Marie had a matron of hono(u)r and not a maid of hono(u)r. It seems unlikely that the person was intended to be Dawn at this point, because you would think Elizabeth would mention Dawn to Candace, who knows her. On the other hand, Elizabeth also refers to Shawna-Marie generically as “the bride.” It may have been that Lynn Johnston intended Dawn to be the matron of hono(u)r, and it would be some kind of surprise to her readers to learn that Dawn had gotten married, much in the way we were informed that her brother Brian got married in this strip http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000548.php, without much fanfare.
I am more inclined to believe that Dawn was not intended to be in the spot at all. These are the reasons:
1. The rehearsal procession order has Dawn in the wrong spot and another girl in the back.
You can tell from the rehearsal procession order in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002485.php Elizabeth and Dawn are toward the front intended to be the first 2 bridesmaids in.
2. The wedding procession order in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002491.php still has Dawn in the wrong spot. Even though they reversed order from the rehearsal, Elizabeth and Dawn are still the first two. Behind them is a girl with longer hair, whom I presume is Alyssa from the Yahoo-colourized dress of yellow and we don’t even see the last bridesmaid, who is supposed to be Jen in green.
3. The first and only time we see Dawn clearly introduced as the maid of hono(u)r is in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002487.php, when she is going to break up the fight between Shawna-Marie and Mother Verano in silhouette. Even though Dawn says this is a maid of hono(u)r responsibility, there is nothing about breaking up a family fight which requires a maid of hono(u)r. In fact, Dawn’s departure is really only to allow Mason, the best man, to make his introduction to Liz. This strip could have easily been reworded from Dawn saying, “It’s looks like the bride is stressing out. I think I’ll give her some help” and it would have accomplished the same thing.
4. From the way Dawn and Elizabeth seem to be spending time away from Shawna-Marie during the rehearsal and during the bridal preparation shown in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002490.php
they are much more in the lesser bridesmaid category. One would think a maid of hono(u)r would be called on to help the bride into a corset or to help with her veil, which leads into my next point.
5. The only other reference to a maid of hono(u)r is to help with a veil in panel 2 of this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002490.php
and it is ambiguous. We see someone headed up to the bride whose hairstyle matches Dawn’s and someone behind the bride whose hairstyle matches Dawn’s along with the line about how the maid of hono(u)r needs to help with the veil. The panel is done at such a distance, it is difficult to tell to which bridesmaid the comment is directed. The Yahoo-coloured version put Dawn’s colour dress on the steps, and the green bridesmaid (Jen) behind Shawna-Marie. All you can say for sure is that the closest bridesmaid to the veil is the green bridesmaid.
My conclusion: Jen, the green bridesmaid in back, was actually intended to be a matron of hono(u)r. The rehearsal line, the processional line, her single strip appearance behind the bride where she can handle the veil and the fact she is never shown handling flowers like the other bridesmaids says she is the one. Somewhere between May 1 and June 9, Lynn Johnston decided that Shawna-Marie should have Dawn as the maid of hono(u)r, instead of this unknown Jen. She couldn’t call Dawn the matron of hono(u)r (as was written in the May 1 strip), because that would mean Dawn had not invited or informed Elizabeth of her own wedding, which would be a serious offence, not like when her brother Brian Enjo got married in Japan, where he had an excuse for not inviting Mike Patterson due to the distance.
Why the change? I can only speculate. Perhaps, Lynn thought it would be more appropriate for a character somewhat familiar to the readers to take that spot. Perhaps Lynn originally planned for the best man to be Jen’s husband, and decided at the last minute to make him a romantic interest for Liz since it would be easier than trying to insert Warren Blackwood into the wedding storyline after she pinned him down in Yellowknife. Perhaps Lynn didn’t like the idea that Shawna-Marie had developed a new best friend in the 7 years it has been since the 3 of them graduated from high school, even though it would make sense, because they lived in different cities from each other and only saw each other once or twice in that whole period of time.
In this strip http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002423.php, from May 1, the original plan was that Shawna-Marie had a matron of hono(u)r and not a maid of hono(u)r. It seems unlikely that the person was intended to be Dawn at this point, because you would think Elizabeth would mention Dawn to Candace, who knows her. On the other hand, Elizabeth also refers to Shawna-Marie generically as “the bride.” It may have been that Lynn Johnston intended Dawn to be the matron of hono(u)r, and it would be some kind of surprise to her readers to learn that Dawn had gotten married, much in the way we were informed that her brother Brian got married in this strip http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000548.php, without much fanfare.
I am more inclined to believe that Dawn was not intended to be in the spot at all. These are the reasons:
1. The rehearsal procession order has Dawn in the wrong spot and another girl in the back.
You can tell from the rehearsal procession order in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002485.php Elizabeth and Dawn are toward the front intended to be the first 2 bridesmaids in.
2. The wedding procession order in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002491.php still has Dawn in the wrong spot. Even though they reversed order from the rehearsal, Elizabeth and Dawn are still the first two. Behind them is a girl with longer hair, whom I presume is Alyssa from the Yahoo-colourized dress of yellow and we don’t even see the last bridesmaid, who is supposed to be Jen in green.
3. The first and only time we see Dawn clearly introduced as the maid of hono(u)r is in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002487.php, when she is going to break up the fight between Shawna-Marie and Mother Verano in silhouette. Even though Dawn says this is a maid of hono(u)r responsibility, there is nothing about breaking up a family fight which requires a maid of hono(u)r. In fact, Dawn’s departure is really only to allow Mason, the best man, to make his introduction to Liz. This strip could have easily been reworded from Dawn saying, “It’s looks like the bride is stressing out. I think I’ll give her some help” and it would have accomplished the same thing.
4. From the way Dawn and Elizabeth seem to be spending time away from Shawna-Marie during the rehearsal and during the bridal preparation shown in this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002490.php
they are much more in the lesser bridesmaid category. One would think a maid of hono(u)r would be called on to help the bride into a corset or to help with her veil, which leads into my next point.
5. The only other reference to a maid of hono(u)r is to help with a veil in panel 2 of this strip:
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002490.php
and it is ambiguous. We see someone headed up to the bride whose hairstyle matches Dawn’s and someone behind the bride whose hairstyle matches Dawn’s along with the line about how the maid of hono(u)r needs to help with the veil. The panel is done at such a distance, it is difficult to tell to which bridesmaid the comment is directed. The Yahoo-coloured version put Dawn’s colour dress on the steps, and the green bridesmaid (Jen) behind Shawna-Marie. All you can say for sure is that the closest bridesmaid to the veil is the green bridesmaid.
My conclusion: Jen, the green bridesmaid in back, was actually intended to be a matron of hono(u)r. The rehearsal line, the processional line, her single strip appearance behind the bride where she can handle the veil and the fact she is never shown handling flowers like the other bridesmaids says she is the one. Somewhere between May 1 and June 9, Lynn Johnston decided that Shawna-Marie should have Dawn as the maid of hono(u)r, instead of this unknown Jen. She couldn’t call Dawn the matron of hono(u)r (as was written in the May 1 strip), because that would mean Dawn had not invited or informed Elizabeth of her own wedding, which would be a serious offence, not like when her brother Brian Enjo got married in Japan, where he had an excuse for not inviting Mike Patterson due to the distance.
Why the change? I can only speculate. Perhaps, Lynn thought it would be more appropriate for a character somewhat familiar to the readers to take that spot. Perhaps Lynn originally planned for the best man to be Jen’s husband, and decided at the last minute to make him a romantic interest for Liz since it would be easier than trying to insert Warren Blackwood into the wedding storyline after she pinned him down in Yellowknife. Perhaps Lynn didn’t like the idea that Shawna-Marie had developed a new best friend in the 7 years it has been since the 3 of them graduated from high school, even though it would make sense, because they lived in different cities from each other and only saw each other once or twice in that whole period of time.
posted by howard at 3:53 PM
8 Comments:
::cough:: Eight years since high school. ::cough:: :)
4-years of college
2-years teaching up north
1-year teaching in the city
= 7 years
aprilp_katje,
I agree with Anonymous. I think the grade 13 of high school Liz did is throwing you off. Not that this really matters. The point is that it's been awhile.
Nope, Liz was in university for FIVE years. She completed grade 12 in 1998 and grade 13 in 1999. First year of university was 1999-2000.
Liz's September 2000 letter reflected the fact that she was beginning her second year:
So, it's back to school! I got the bus back to North Bay. It's not as romantic as the train, but it's o.k. - only about six hours, and I knew some of the kids already. Now it's frosh week. Totally hairy things are going on lots of activities - fundraisers, parties (meet, greet, eat) and, of course we have to show all the new guys the best bars.
It's great to be watching the froshies this year. Last year, it was me, being painted, covered in whipped cream, doing car washes and trying to find my dorm after the bars closed. This year I'm on the other side of the camera!! (sort of).
Candace managed to get our old rez rooms back and it was totally like coming home. We dumped our stuff on the beds and filled the closets and then messed up the kitchen - just like we'd never left.
Until 2001, Liz was consistently shown as being four years younger than Michael. When she started kindergarten, he started grade four. Grade one Liz/grade five Mike. In the summer of 2000, April complained about Liz being ELEVEN years older than her. In 2001, this shifted to Liz being five years younger than Mike and ten years older than April. And Liz was silently and inexplicably given an extra year of university.
I feel crazy whenever I bring this up because it feels as though I'm the only one who has noticed this!
If Liz was born on June 26, 1981 and graduated grade 13 in 1999, then she graduated just as she was turning 18. This implies that Liz started school a year earlier than most kids, who would have turned 19 during their grade 13 year. Unfortunately the archive, even on the Houston Chronicle, with dates by the strip, only goes back to September, 2001. The collections mix up the strip order and I can’t rely on my memory for such things. I bow to the greater knowledge of the continuity goddess.
Here’s a question for you. Going back to September, 2001, I only remember seeing Liz with Shawna-Marie and Dawn in January, 2005 at the New Years Eve party. Did they ever get together on any other occasion after they graduated grade 13?
Howtheduck, Liz's year of birth has been retconned. She turned 18 in 1998 and 19 in 1999. The Foob site used to list age instead of a birthdate. In 2000, somewhere between September and October, her age was updated from 19 to 20. In 2001, the website was revamped, and the 1981 date of birth showed up--I consider this to be when Liz's age/date of birth were retconned.
Family Business features a strip from the summer of 2000--between their first and second year of university--where Liz gets together with Shawna-Marie and Dawn. Shawna-Marie, interestingly enough, has her hair styled much like we saw her in the rehearsal sequence, with an afro and a headband. Liz makes some comment about their all coming home when they could be anywhere else, and Shawna-Marie quips about the appeal of free room and board.
Have you ever gotten an explanation as to why they retconned Liz's age?
I guess the 2005 hair-styling of Shawna-Marie was a one-time-only appearance of that hairstyle, and afro should be considered normal.
Summer of 2000, is also when she and Anthony broke up from lack of interest, I think I remember you saying.
I've asked Stephanie and I've also used the Q & Eh form, but my question about the retconning of Liz's age has gone ignored.
Yes, the breakup from lack of interest happens shortly before the start of the second year of university--fall 2000 semester. Soon after that, Liz is back at the "rez" with Candace, and Anthony calls. Liz dodges the call by getting Candace to say she can't talk. Candace chides her for all the phone-and-e-mail stuff and urges her to make a clean break [again]. Then next thing you know, Liz is in the laundromat, meeting Eric for the first time.
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