Friday, December 14, 2007

Françoise and Her Bucket of Guilt

Today’s For Better or For Worse took an unexpected turn for me. I had expected Thérèse to reject Françoise, leaving Liz to pick up the pieces; but instead we have a Thérèse presented who has spent enough time with Françoise to bond with her even better than she has bonded with her own father (if the body language in the strip is to be believed).

I am going to take it for granted that Lynn Johnston is going to present Françoise acting like she is the same age as Meredith Patterson or older, and not as her real age of 2.75 years old, otherwise the strip will be impossible to digest, and I will sit here wasting my time railing on about how Lynn Johnston has no idea how old the character is or how she should act.

Françoise begins dishing out the guilt:

1. She hasn’t seen her mother for a long time.
2. She prefers spending time with her mother than getting toys from her mother.

The natural conclusion to draw is that because Liz was there with Françoise, it should have been Thérèse taking Françoise to see Santa. After all, it is clear that since Thérèse is at the mall, by herself, then she is intentionally not spending as much time with Françoise as she could. This is the same old problem with Thérèse and her daughter that we have had since before her birth.

It is a popular complaint with snarkers of this comic strip, that Lynn Johnston has something against career women. This is not true. Elly Patterson was presented for years as a person who always regretted not getting her degree and taking every opportunity she could to establish some kind of career, even against John’s wishes. Lynn Johnston is not against career women. She is against women who don’t take care of their kids, no matter what career they have. Today, she is taking one step further by making the statement that the women should take care of their kids, even if they don’t live with their kids.

Even though we have been told that a part of Thérèse’s agreement with Anthony from the first day of Françoise’s conception, is that he will be the primary caretaker; this has been presented as the true indication of Thérèse’s poor character, even before she started cheating. It appears that in Lynn Johnston's opinion this is an agreement which no decent mother would ever consider offering. Whether or not you think Anthony should stick by his agreement is a moot point. The whole idea of it is wrong; so it is not Anthony’s fault for complaining about something to which he agreed. Likewise, because of this, Françoise is wholly in the right with her complaints.

The idea appears again in today's strip. There could be a whole host of reasons why Thérèse has not spent time with Françoise and sent gifts instead, not the least of which could be the presence of Elizabeth in Anthony’s life. However, those reasons are unimportant. The message being sent is that even though Thérèse does not live with Françoise, does not take care of Françoise daily, and has a job which has been shown in the past to keep Thérèse very busy; she should still be spending as much time with Françoise as Françoise would like.

If this line of reasoning continues, then Liz becomes the ideal mother figure for Françoise, for no other reason than when she marries Anthony, she will be around. Based on this idea, anyone who marries Anthony is a good mother. Can Liz’s importance in Françoise’s life sink any lower? We shall see tomorrow.

10 Comments:

Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

Similarly, a man who nurtures his children but is not the primary wage-earner is, in Lynn's world-view, a horrible father. Men can nurture but they must take care of their primary responsibilty of being the bread-winner first. John and Mike are, by her definition, good fathers and Anthony is even better because he had to fight for the right to call himself one.

3:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with James - this blog is much more fun to read than the actual fbofw!

4:46 AM  
Blogger howard said...

DreadedCandiru2

Anthony is even better because he had to fight for the right to call himself one.

True. Even when he was on paternity leave, Lynn made a point of showing that Anthony was doing work for Gordon Mayes at home.

8:24 AM  
Blogger howard said...

Anonymous

Thanks for the compliment.

8:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Howard,

Your post today is terrific! FBORFW time is not 100% real time - and Francie has aged more than the others. I agree that her speech and her demeanor are those of a 4-5 year old.

Anon NYC

10:42 AM  
Blogger howard said...

Anon NYC,

What nice words. Thank you.

As for Francie and her age and her demeanor, there comes a certain point in a story, where you have to suspend belief, or you cannot enjoy the story. It’s like the comic strip Peanuts. You have to get past the idea that someone as young as Linus and Charlie Brown would have the conversations they have, or you’ll never get into it. With little Françoise, I am just going to accept this is the way she talks, looks, and acts; so long as Lynn Johnston is consistent with it. If she turns around and puts Françoise in a crib with diapers, or has her riding a motorcycle; then she is fair game for snarking.

11:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that for the first time in ages (if ever), Therese' eyes actually look human in the comic!

11:24 AM  
Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

The notion that girl's minds mature at a faster rate than boys seems to be a theme Lynn has posited lately. First, we had one-year-old Liz with her ability to know what was going on around her and now we have a three-year-old that seems like she's three times her age. Too bad boys develop slower than the do in reality.

11:55 AM  
Blogger howard said...

anonymous.

I find it interesting that for the first time in ages (if ever), Therese' eyes actually look human in the comic!

Excellent catch, anonymous. You’re absolutely right. I did a check back through all the Thérèse strips in the on-line archive and she always has slits or “angry eyes” until today.

12:10 PM  
Blogger howard said...

dreadedcandiru2,

Too bad boys develop slower than they do in reality.

I have often wondered if Robin’s developmental limitations are just there for comic effect. There was a time back in the early 1980s, when it would have been funny for little Michael to get little Lizzie to eat dirt; but I don’t know if our standards of political correctness would allow for such today. Quite a few modern comedies rely on the buffoonish man opposite his quick-witted and put-upon wife, so it is a safer choice these days for the boy to be the dirt-eater.

12:19 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home