The Great Romance
In many respects, for Lynn Johnston, the romance between Anthony Caine and Elizabeth Patterson in For Better or For Worse has to what she considers to be the great romance of the strip, because it somewhat emulates her own romance with her real-life husband Rod Johnston. The Michael – Deanna romance was nice, but technically it ran from university life to marriage shortly after graduation. Anthony and Elizabeth’s romance has gone on since Liz’s junior high days, over 10 years, and well outstrips Mike and Deanna in time.
Anthony Caine is the single parent, whose wife had an affair; whereas in real life that was Lynn. Elizabeth would then model Rod Johnston, except in terms of personal characteristics Anthony is also the model for Rod, whereas Elizabeth is the emotional roller coaster which is more like Lynn describes herself in her days before Rod. It is like an amalgamation of the different parts of the real-life story.
When Lynn met Rod, he was doing the flying dentist routine, and bringing dental care to First Nations people in remote places. In the interviews with her, Lynn said she was attracted to his flying, his desire to help people in the First Nations, and also his willingness to put up with her son, Aaron, who was difficult. By the time the Johnstons moved to Corbeil, my understanding is that Rod had to give up his flying dentistry. I find it very interesting then, the sequence of men Elizabeth has run through.
Warren Blackwood – the helicopter pilot closely matches the glamour of Rod’s planes. Liz’s main complaint about him is that he is never around when she wants him, and it makes me wonder if this was not a complaint Lynn had about Rod during those days.
Constable Paul Wright – By being a member of the Ontario Provincial Police and not the First Nations police, and also by being half-Ojibway and half-Irish, he had the characteristic of supporting First Nations and having a foot into White culture. Sadly, these aspects of Paul Wright were never explored, and ultimately Lynn opted to make him seem fully entrenched in Ojibway culture and unable to change. This somewhat models Rod helping out the First Nations people with his dental care, while maintaining his other practice.
Anthony Caine – Solid and steady, which in this strip means = Works a 9 to 5 job, never moves around, always there whenever Elizabeth wants him. This is the man Rod Johnston is now, with his flying dentist days behind him.
It is almost as if, Warren, Paul and then Anthony represent the evolution of Rod’s own life with Lynn, as he has changed his life to accommodate her career and her desires for him.
Anthony Caine is the single parent, whose wife had an affair; whereas in real life that was Lynn. Elizabeth would then model Rod Johnston, except in terms of personal characteristics Anthony is also the model for Rod, whereas Elizabeth is the emotional roller coaster which is more like Lynn describes herself in her days before Rod. It is like an amalgamation of the different parts of the real-life story.
When Lynn met Rod, he was doing the flying dentist routine, and bringing dental care to First Nations people in remote places. In the interviews with her, Lynn said she was attracted to his flying, his desire to help people in the First Nations, and also his willingness to put up with her son, Aaron, who was difficult. By the time the Johnstons moved to Corbeil, my understanding is that Rod had to give up his flying dentistry. I find it very interesting then, the sequence of men Elizabeth has run through.
Warren Blackwood – the helicopter pilot closely matches the glamour of Rod’s planes. Liz’s main complaint about him is that he is never around when she wants him, and it makes me wonder if this was not a complaint Lynn had about Rod during those days.
Constable Paul Wright – By being a member of the Ontario Provincial Police and not the First Nations police, and also by being half-Ojibway and half-Irish, he had the characteristic of supporting First Nations and having a foot into White culture. Sadly, these aspects of Paul Wright were never explored, and ultimately Lynn opted to make him seem fully entrenched in Ojibway culture and unable to change. This somewhat models Rod helping out the First Nations people with his dental care, while maintaining his other practice.
Anthony Caine – Solid and steady, which in this strip means = Works a 9 to 5 job, never moves around, always there whenever Elizabeth wants him. This is the man Rod Johnston is now, with his flying dentist days behind him.
It is almost as if, Warren, Paul and then Anthony represent the evolution of Rod’s own life with Lynn, as he has changed his life to accommodate her career and her desires for him.
posted by howard at 8:20 PM
4 Comments:
Good theory, howtheduck--I suspect you are on to something.
In the 1993 interview we've often seen linked, I remember Lynn noting something about her getting together with Rod meaning that she had to sign up for a life of "adventure," and she had to sell her house to move "up north." One of her regrets was that she missed the shopping. I remember Liz mentioning the shopping thing in her letters on a few different occasions.
The passage about signing on for a life of adventure, in light of what has happened with Liz, had me wondering if she had some regrets for having followed Rod as she did. But your theory about Rod's progression makes sense. :)
Yes. The strip has been so autobiographical, I think Liz and Anthony represent Lynn's desire to tell about the part of her life that started before 1979. She has never really told the Elly and John courtship story in full detail in the strip to my recollection. I only remember Elly occasionally expressing regret she got married and didn't get her degree.
Your analysis also reminds me of the suspicions I have had about Lynn Johnston for a while. Although she seems to relish her "wild" child, adventurous ways, she has always appeared to be more of a "wannabe".
She left school to marry the first available guy, almost immeddiately jumped into a second marriage, and seemed quite happy to be a traditional wife, until fate thrust her into becoming an artist. Her "single mommy" days seemed to be irritating to her, instead of a source of growth for herself and Aaron.
Reminds me of how Liz is SUPPOSED to be adventurous but has actually been portrayed as more impulsive than anything else. Obviously, Liz desires only a traditional life because that seems to be what Lynn really wanted for herself.
DJ
Reminds me of how Liz is SUPPOSED to be adventurous but has actually been portrayed as more impulsive than anything else.
True enough. We never saw Liz snowshoeing, skiing, canoeing, boating, or things like that. We had one strip of her fly fishing in order for the principal to teach her the philosophy of not catching fish. We also saw her take a hike in the woods once. Her most adventurous activity was to ride in a helicopter with Warren Blackwood, when you get right down to it.
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