And the reason Connie was there is to….
Give Elly someone to talk to instead of Iris. In For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston frequently works in story arcs stretching over long periods of time, and in order to appreciate what she is doing, you have to look at those story arcs in a sequence.
Last August, Elly visited Iris with the leftover tuna casserole; and was treated to Iris complaining about Jim’s bad mood, complaining about how much medicine he takes, and then Iris’ weeping after she tucks Jim into bed. The next time Elly sees Iris she brings Connie Poirier along. Considering Iris’ behaviour before, can there be any other reason for a neighbour, an admitted stranger to Iris and Jim, being there; except to provide a conversational buffer with Iris? Maybe Iris won’t complain as much or cry over things, if Connie is there. Not only that, but maybe Connie can steer the conversation onto a different topic, like her history with Elly.
I have had this happen to me before. I remember one time when my wife and I were invited to sing Karaoke with one of our friends, who had her sister and her sister’s husband in town. I felt awkward in the situation because, in my mind, our friend should be spending time with her sister, who traveled a long way to visit her. As it turned out, she was using us as a buffer against her sister and her sister’s husband. I ended up spending a lot of time talking to the husband and trying to engage him in conversation about whatever it was that he did. I felt a little used after the experience, although my wife didn’t mind it at all. I have no idea how Connie Poirier will feel, once she realizes what is going on.
The other possibility is that Connie is there solely for the purpose of cranking out the Connie / Elly historical retcon. If that is the case, I am already disappointed Lynn Johnston opted to start at the same time the strip did with their relationship, instead of going back to their university days together. I would love to hear Connie’s first impression of one, John Patterson, BMOC.
Last August, Elly visited Iris with the leftover tuna casserole; and was treated to Iris complaining about Jim’s bad mood, complaining about how much medicine he takes, and then Iris’ weeping after she tucks Jim into bed. The next time Elly sees Iris she brings Connie Poirier along. Considering Iris’ behaviour before, can there be any other reason for a neighbour, an admitted stranger to Iris and Jim, being there; except to provide a conversational buffer with Iris? Maybe Iris won’t complain as much or cry over things, if Connie is there. Not only that, but maybe Connie can steer the conversation onto a different topic, like her history with Elly.
I have had this happen to me before. I remember one time when my wife and I were invited to sing Karaoke with one of our friends, who had her sister and her sister’s husband in town. I felt awkward in the situation because, in my mind, our friend should be spending time with her sister, who traveled a long way to visit her. As it turned out, she was using us as a buffer against her sister and her sister’s husband. I ended up spending a lot of time talking to the husband and trying to engage him in conversation about whatever it was that he did. I felt a little used after the experience, although my wife didn’t mind it at all. I have no idea how Connie Poirier will feel, once she realizes what is going on.
The other possibility is that Connie is there solely for the purpose of cranking out the Connie / Elly historical retcon. If that is the case, I am already disappointed Lynn Johnston opted to start at the same time the strip did with their relationship, instead of going back to their university days together. I would love to hear Connie’s first impression of one, John Patterson, BMOC.
posted by howard at 10:16 PM
8 Comments:
Connie, the human shield, eh? Knwoing how much the Pattersons hate to feel bad about the messes their behavior causes, I can get behind that. I think Liz wishes she could have had someone with her to distract April when she found out about Jim's harminca.
Liz did have someone, and she called him right away, and he dropped everything (apparently including his daughter) to sweep Liz away for a nice, romantic, leaning. Someday, she'll be married to that guy, and she can have him around for every conversation she has with the accusatory April.
Yes, and the nice thing about hin is that, unlike Connie, he will never ask embarrassing questions, such as 'Why don't you visit your dad more often if he's a thirtyminute drive from your meeighborhood?' The example that comes most readily to mind is why April's nose is out of joint.
...and he dropped everything (apparently including his daughter) to sweep Liz away...
That was so glaring to me in that strip! I don't think Lynn has her head around the fact that Anthony SHOULDN'T always be there when Liz summons him. It would demonstrate that he actually cares for his daughter--instead, it comes across as more of that awful Liz is "the only thing worth fighting for" attitude.
DJ
Yeah. It seems to me that he has his priorities all wrong if he can't see his child's needs come before romancing the Breath.
instead, it comes across as more of that awful Liz is "the only thing worth fighting for" attitude.
Isn't love/infatuation that way?
Anon, NYC
...not to a parent. At least a good one.
DJ
DJ,
I agree with you. One of the joys of parenting is that you constantly have to have the thought, "Where are my kids?" My life with my wife oftentimes seems to be a continuous series of organizing the movement of family members between our activities.
The reason I picked up on and harped about Anthony running off with Liz, after she called him, is that if Liz called me out of the blue and wanted me to drive her someplace to talk, my first reaction would be: Can I take my kids along?
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