The Kissing of Liz
The big difference in the way Liz is reacting to Anthony and Constable Paul Wright or Warren Blackwood is the kissing. I remember this in particular, because when I became aware of the Houston Chronicle archive of For Better or For Worse, which goes back to September, 2001 vs. the archive of strips on the For Better or For Worse website, which goes back to 2003; I read through the older strips and I was astonished how much more kissing there was from 2001 to 2002, than there was in succeeding years. Liz and Eric, Candace and Rudy, and even Elly and John kissed a lot. There was even one scene when Weed points out to Mike and Deanna the Lovey Saltzman apartment is available, that Weed gets a full-on kiss from Deanna.
When I was writing the characterization for Constable Paul Wright for April’s Real Blog, I kept being struck by the fact Liz never kissed him and never told him she was in love with him. They had their very first kiss in the strip, when he drove her back to live in Milborough, a farewell kiss. Later on, Liz remembered kissing him and played it back in her head, but that kiss never appeared anywhere in the strip except in Liz’s memory.
Then I went through a similar exercise to see if I could find Liz kissing Warren Blackwood, and there was only one, in the Sunday colour strip showing Elizabeth’s graduation from university. It was also a farewell kiss. I think I wrote something somewhere about how Liz never really kissed a man since Eric, and this was a sign that she was still recovering from the heartbreak he had delivered to her.
Now, I find it very interesting that in this wedding sequence with Anthony and Liz, there have been 4 strips with Liz kissing Anthony and in the 4th one (today), Liz is actually the aggressor. If you have been paying attention to Liz at all in the last 7 years, this visual / physical language speaks volumes. Liz has still yet to tell anyone she loves them. However, in the land of men, we know that physical affection is a clear signal a girl likes you. Not only that, but if I compare this kissing to the strips with Paul and Warren, you can see that they never had a chance with Elizabeth.
When I was writing the characterization for Constable Paul Wright for April’s Real Blog, I kept being struck by the fact Liz never kissed him and never told him she was in love with him. They had their very first kiss in the strip, when he drove her back to live in Milborough, a farewell kiss. Later on, Liz remembered kissing him and played it back in her head, but that kiss never appeared anywhere in the strip except in Liz’s memory.
Then I went through a similar exercise to see if I could find Liz kissing Warren Blackwood, and there was only one, in the Sunday colour strip showing Elizabeth’s graduation from university. It was also a farewell kiss. I think I wrote something somewhere about how Liz never really kissed a man since Eric, and this was a sign that she was still recovering from the heartbreak he had delivered to her.
Now, I find it very interesting that in this wedding sequence with Anthony and Liz, there have been 4 strips with Liz kissing Anthony and in the 4th one (today), Liz is actually the aggressor. If you have been paying attention to Liz at all in the last 7 years, this visual / physical language speaks volumes. Liz has still yet to tell anyone she loves them. However, in the land of men, we know that physical affection is a clear signal a girl likes you. Not only that, but if I compare this kissing to the strips with Paul and Warren, you can see that they never had a chance with Elizabeth.
posted by howard at 11:12 PM
6 Comments:
Your column today is excellent - beautifully written, highly informative and supported by fact.
I especially appreciate the hot tip on archived FBORFW. Can you please provide the link. I’ve searched the Houston Chronicle archive and I see that it first appears on September 3, 2001. But there is a problem - these archived strips are showing another comic strip.
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComics.mpl?year=2001&month=9&day=3&from=showDays.mpl
Who posts FBORFW first? Your daily blog is frequently posted before I’ve been able to read the strip.
Anonymous,
You make my head swell from compliments.
Here is a link to the first strip in the Houston Chronicle archive:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2001/9/24&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
This is the link to the Yahoo comics. They usually put the strip for the next day up at midnight, Eastern time, which is the earliest I know of.
http://news.yahoo.com/comics
howtheduck, going back to yesterday's discussion, I'm thinking about the disconnect between what Anthony told Liz after the going-after and what he told John the following April.
In August of 2005, Anthony tells Liz that Thérèse doesn't love him; he's tried talking to her, has been to counseling, and "it's not going to work." In the next day's strip, Liz reports to Elly, "Anthony said his marriage was in the dumpster and that he still loved me."
Evidently, no one EVER passed any of this on to John. Or he didn't hear it because it wasn't about TRAINS. In April of 2006, Anthony tells John that Thérèse has left him, has been having an affair, and that although the "signs were everywhere," he "never suspected a thing." Eight months earlier he was lining up his next partner on the premise that his marriage was ending, and now he's claiming shock when his wife has ostensibly (and with success) achieved what Anthony was trying to accomplish.
John drives home thinking, "He's such a nice guy. He's smart and funny. He's been a good provider. He's hard-working and faithful ...How could she leave him? How could he leave that beautiful baby? They seemed like such a perfect couple and now suddenly--for no apparent reason... Everything's changed!"
Is Lynn being a brilliant, subtle storyteller by demonstrating a dishonest, disloyal Anthony who has pulled the wool over John's eyes? Or did she simply hope that readers would forget?
April, you raise a good question - I also wondered about that. I think that Elly didn’t tell John everything that Liz confided in her, so John had no way of knowing that Anthony was still hot for Liz. This type of thing happens in my family. My daughter and I gossip all the time (shhh) while my husband is reading in another room.
Thank you Howard for the links. Here is an amazing piece of footage photographed by amateurs. It’s a stunning bit of wild life competition that was featured today on aol.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM
aprilp_katje,
You raise some interesting points. The problem is to presume the Patterson perspective is a moral one. When it comes to Anthony Caine, it is not. John and Elly had no problem praising Anthony and criticizing Constable Paul Wright during the trial sequence, when Elizabeth was with Paul. In fact, even when Anthony was married, Elly had no difficulty whatsoever in comparing Anthony’s relationship with Elizabeth to her relationship with John.
Of all the things John Patterson thinks about Anthony in April, 2006; the ones which strike the wrong tone with me are: “He's hard-working and faithful.” and then “They seemed like such a perfect couple and now suddenly--for no apparent reason... Everything's changed!"
You have to remember John’s model. He hires young beautiful women to work in his office, just like Rod Johnston is known to do. He leers at women in front of Elly. His idea of faithful means that there is a boundary you cannot cross, and Anthony Caine, despite trying to line up Liz for after his marriage fails, may not have crossed that boundary. If Elly Patterson were to decide to have an affair, and tell John, “I did it because I can’t stand the way you treat me in front of other women, or constantly flirt with the young girls in your office.”, John would probably say, “for no apparent reason... Everything's changed!"
Maybe Lynn is demonstrating a dishonest, disloyal Anthony who has pulled the wool over John's eyes. That could well be. Or maybe Lynn is also demonstrating John Patterson’s moral compass is off. Remember what John did after that conversation with Anthony? He came home to Elly and gave her a big hug. That would have to resonate very well with Lynn Johnston.
Anonymous,
Thanks for the links. You could well be right that John was told part of the situation and not all of it. Speaking as a husband, that happens to me a lot.
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