I Coulda Been A Contender
Yesterday, there were a number of elements of the last 2 days of the strip about how “It sucks to be me” and “We’ve given the best of our lives to our families” that made me think of the “I coulda been a contender” speech from the movie On the Waterfront. So I did a takeoff on that speech with Elly Patterson blaming Michael Patterson for keeping her from becoming another Margaret Atwood. I was amused by the idea, but it was probably too obscure a reference to be funny.
Little did I suspect that today’s For Better or For Worse reprint would run along the same lines. The reprint depicts the early life of Elly Patterson talking about how she got all the things she wanted (marriage, house, and children) and having these things has caused her to put off deciding what and who she wanted to be.
I remember at the time in the United States in the early 1980s, there had begun a change in feminism where the push was to embrace motherhood. I had a Women’s Studies class in university at about 1983, I think, where the professor asked the women in the class how many of them planned to be mothers and the professor was shocked when the majority of the women raised their hands. Apparently just a few years before, the exact opposite situation had occurred when the professor asked the same question.
In the case of Elly Patterson, she clearly considers the idea of mother and wife and home owner not to be what and who she wants to be. It did end up being a recurring theme throughout most of the early strips, with Elly trying one thing or another outside of those roles and then eventually becoming a business owner with Lilliput’s. The odd thing about this strip reminding me of early Elly’s impression is that the new strips we had this week gave me the impression that Elly still considers her children something which took “the best of her life” and “they better *@- well better appreciate it”.
I remember this was the issue with 1980s feminism. You have to have the husband, the kids, the house, and the fantastic, well-paying job; and you couldn’t be happy unless you did. Whatever it is that Elly wanted to be, either Lilliput’s wasn’t enough to satisfy it or Elly still resents having to wait for it.
Little did I suspect that today’s For Better or For Worse reprint would run along the same lines. The reprint depicts the early life of Elly Patterson talking about how she got all the things she wanted (marriage, house, and children) and having these things has caused her to put off deciding what and who she wanted to be.
I remember at the time in the United States in the early 1980s, there had begun a change in feminism where the push was to embrace motherhood. I had a Women’s Studies class in university at about 1983, I think, where the professor asked the women in the class how many of them planned to be mothers and the professor was shocked when the majority of the women raised their hands. Apparently just a few years before, the exact opposite situation had occurred when the professor asked the same question.
In the case of Elly Patterson, she clearly considers the idea of mother and wife and home owner not to be what and who she wants to be. It did end up being a recurring theme throughout most of the early strips, with Elly trying one thing or another outside of those roles and then eventually becoming a business owner with Lilliput’s. The odd thing about this strip reminding me of early Elly’s impression is that the new strips we had this week gave me the impression that Elly still considers her children something which took “the best of her life” and “they better *@- well better appreciate it”.
I remember this was the issue with 1980s feminism. You have to have the husband, the kids, the house, and the fantastic, well-paying job; and you couldn’t be happy unless you did. Whatever it is that Elly wanted to be, either Lilliput’s wasn’t enough to satisfy it or Elly still resents having to wait for it.
posted by howard at 9:57 PM
19 Comments:
I fail to see the wit in the vintage strips. What’s wrong with me???
Anon NYC
I LOVE the title of this post!
Anon NYC,
Thanks for the title love.
I fail to see the wit in the vintage strips. What’s wrong with me???
You have probably been reading the Howard Bunt Blog for too long, to appreciate the simple wit and charm of a young mother who has arbitrarily decided that she can't decide what her aspirations for her life are going to be until she is married and her children have grown.
The sad thing about this is that she might never find the fulfillment she seeks in life. Some people are like that, trying to fill a void that's just too big. Mariage, children and home life didn't fill it, she sold Lilliput because that didn't do it either, retirement and travel probably won't, and I could go on but she just doesn't seem to know what she wants in life.
but she just doesn't seem to know what she wants in life.
Here is a clear example of the difference between Elly and Lynn. While the young Elly is a bored housewife, the young Lynn is rapidly climbing the ladder of success.
And yes, I have been reading the Howard Bunt Blog for too long! I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I would read FOOB (I think that’s what you guys called it)!
Anon NYC
Anon NYC
Here's the thing, though: I know very few women who are entirely happy with the balance they tried to strike in their pursuit of marriage, family, career, and financial success. Actually, I don't know any who are entirely happy with their choices. The work world in the U.S. is simply not set up for women to "have it all." The only women I know who are content are those who are now in their 60s, and who have learned to accept that good marriage, fulfilling career, high pay, and excellent mothering rarely happen all at once--and that few women ever get all of these things in their lifetimes.
I kind of wonder how much of this stuff was Lynn feeling guilty about the balance she struck. She was a working mother but portrayed the Pattersons as much more traditional than that. Is this her reminding herself why she did not make the choice to stay home with the kids? I'm sure she felt that way occasionally. Cartooning is a very demanding career.
DreadedCandiru2,
Marriage, children and home life didn't fill it, she sold Lilliput's because that didn't do it either, retirement and travel probably won't, and I could go on but she just doesn't seem to know what she wants in life.
So, from your perspective, Elly never did find out who she is and what she wanted. That could be true. She certainly never seems to be happy with what she has.
Anon NYC
Here is a clear example of the difference between Elly and Lynn. While the young Elly is a bored housewife, the young Lynn is rapidly climbing the ladder of success.
That is a pretty big difference. However, Lynn was offered the job of doing her own comic strip by a syndicate which had observed her cartooning work in her books. If that had not happened, I wonder if Lynn choosing who she is and what she wanted to be, would still be a syndicated cartoonist, or would she have preferred doing those books.
qnjones
She was a working mother but portrayed the Pattersons as much more traditional than that. Is this her reminding herself why she did not make the choice to stay home with the kids? I'm sure she felt that way occasionally. Cartooning is a very demanding career.
But you see, she did stay home with the kids, even as a cartoonist. There was a CBC interview from years ago I saw with Lynn back in Lynn Lake, and it showed her spending her day taking care of the kids and yet also doing her cartoons. Even when the family moved to Corbeil, her studio was in her house. She may have regretted those aspects of cartooning which took her away from her family, traveling for book promotion or visiting with the syndicate folks, etc.
qnjones:
The only women I know who are content are those who are now in their 60s, and who have learned to accept that good marriage, fulfilling career, high pay, and excellent mothering rarely happen all at once--and that few women ever get all of these things in their lifetimes.
That means that, since she's supposed to be an average woman, Elly would finally be okay with how her life turned out in the early 2010's. Odds are, that's how it will play out in the Tome of Destiny.
Why is it the only thing I could think of was Peggy Lee singing "Is that all there is?"
FBoFW just seems--sad, bitter, regretful; how terrible that there doesn't seem to be any joy in the strip. Even the horrible Lizthony relationship--compare the "we're so miserable but we have each other finally" tone to the upbeat courting relationship of Dee and Mike.
Howard,
I wonder how much of that "I stay home, but I also work!" stuff was hype to make her palatable to her more conservative readers (or to herself). I have read about how hard cartoonists have to work. I've read interviews with cartoonists like Darby Conley and others who say it takes like 60+ hours per week of their time. This makes me wonder how involved Lynn could have been in her children's lives. Do you know if she had a nanny/housekeeper/etc.? I can't imagine how she could have managed to be a "stay at home mom" AND do a daily feature at the same time, if men who are not trying to be primary parents find it difficult just to keep up with the work. Something is off in that calculation.
DreadedCandiru2
Elly would finally be okay with how her life turned out in the early 2010's. Odds are, that's how it will play out in the Tome of Destiny.
I expect that is right. Elly will live in the best of all possible worlds, and it will be called Milborough.
debjyn
Even the horrible Lizthony relationship--compare the "we're so miserable but we have each other finally" tone to the upbeat courting relationship of Dee and Mike.
This has been a mystery to me also. Liz was back in Milborough a full year before the Liz and Anthony stuff even seemed to start. Lynn could have chucked the whole Warren Blackwood reappearance thing, and made a lot of room for some courtship romance.
qnjones
I've read interviews with cartoonists like Darby Conley and others who say it takes like 60+ hours per week of their time.
There are a lot of extras over and above producing the strip, especially with merchandising. The CBC interview was done during the Lynn Lake years, and showed Lynn taking a trip to the syndicate guy to personally deliver and have approved the strips Lynn had done. Perhaps her demands in those days were little more than to write and draw those strips.
Do you know if she had a nanny/housekeeper/etc.?
I do not know, but somebody had to handle her kids when she traveled to visit the Syndicate folks.
Howard, the interviews I'm talking about indicate that a huge burden of time goes into drawing strips, that it is not a simple matter, and that it takes up a huge amount of time. Bill Watterson talks about how he spent well over 40 hours per week just on writing/drawing. Now, I can buy that Lynn spent less on that. But even if it is "just" 30-40 dedicated hours per week on drawing--how does a woman do that AND be a stay at home mom, with all the interruptions? Maybe she had her studio in the house, but from what I've read, drawing duties alone would mean someone else would have to do the majority of the child care for her to get her work done.
qnjones,
I honestly don’t know how Lynn Johnston structured her working days back when her kids were little. The CBC interview showed her playing with her kids and shopping with her kids and gave me a definite impression that she was doing full-time mommy duty in addition to the comic strip. However, in the early 1980s, Aaron should have been in school for at least part of the day. Maybe Katy was a relatively-easy, undemanding child. Rod probably didn’t work weekends, except in cases of dental emergency, so maybe he took care of the kids and Lynn did most of her work on weekends. The other possibility is that Michael’s working late into the night in the strip was inspired by what Lynn had to do, i.e. work after the kids are asleep.
As for the art itself, there is an element of the writing, i.e. coming up with the idea, which could be done as Lynn went through the day with her kids. In the CBC interview she talked about how people were leery of telling her stories, because they would end up in her strip. The part of the art involving the composition of the strip, the use of artistic physical humour, the perspective--in other words, the things at which Bill Watterson was superb—are things which Lynn Johnston has never been good at. She seems to have copied Charles Schulz’s method of showing humour and has hardly deviated from it since. The CBC interview from this past year, showed Lynn just slapping down her pencils on the page, and believe me, after snarking this strip’s art for awhile, I can completely believe that’s just what she does. Compared to her old strips, her art is a lot cleaner, but a lot of that has to do with going from what appears to be inks using store bought felt tip markers in 1979 to using professional equipment later on in life.
Heh. Well, what they show in interviews as a "slice of life" is often not accurate. I just suspect Lynn had household help that she downplayed, that's all. I just can't believe that all these male cartoonists talk about how hard it is to fit in time with their families, that it's a 60-80 hour per week job, and that it was somehow magically much easier for Lynn.
qnjones,
Well, what they show in interviews as a "slice of life" is often not accurate. I just suspect Lynn had household help that she downplayed, that's all.
You are probably right, just like when Lynn did in past interviews where she said she drew and inked the main characters of the comic strip, and said her assistants only did the background, letters and the colours, when the art itself clearly told a different story.
Howard,
So true.
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