Anthony: Portrait of a Timid Man
So far in For Better or For Worse we have had from Anthony, these romantic lines:
1. I wonder where we’re going. I wonder where this will lead. But let’s take it slowly.
2. Should we discuss marriage? I think we’d be good partners. Then…we could say we’re engaged.
3. Elizabeth and I were talking about getting married someday.
4. I think everything’s going to be fine. We just can’t be in a rush. Should we look for a ring?
I think that Lynn Johnston is trying to portray Anthony as a man so scared and damaged from his ex-wife, Thérèse that he second-guesses his every move and fears that Liz is going to get upset as he moves down the path to marriage. Possibly Lynn thinks his passiveness is cute like a puppy, instead of aggravating.
In a little bit, we will get Anthony saying, “Should I look for a tuxedo? Should I pick out a best man? Should I tell your parents? Should I tell my parents?” It’s a part of the overall theme of this sequence of “I can trust Liz and Liz can trust me” that started with the appearance of Warren Blackwood showing trust issues for Liz and started with Anthony mentioning the fact he couldn’t survive another divorce showing trust issues for him.
I know that the “trust” issue is near and dear to Lynn Johnston’s heart, but if get much more of this out of Anthony, I would hope Liz will check his pants and see if Thérèse took his manhood with her as part of the divorce settlement. Once she agreed to be engaged, I had hoped that this would put an end to Anthony’s annoying timidity.
On the other hand, if you consider Elizabeth Patterson and the way she has treated her boyfriends in the past (especially Paul Wright), Anthony could have some legitimate concerns. He may be testing the waters of matrimony with her at each juncture, and making a point of saying that he is taking it slow, for no other reason than to avoid putting pressure on the Liz who usually puts distance between her and guys who overtly say they like her. This makes more sense when you think about it. Anthony should have no problems in “trust” issues with Thérèse considering his behaviour toward Elizabeth all during his marriage showed little concern with Thérèse’s feelings or trust. However, past strips have also shown that Anthony has carefully observed Liz and is very aware of when and whom she is dating, even when she is in university or Mtigwaki. In that case, I would say congratulations to Anthony, who may be annoying, but he seems to be walking pretty well down the treacherous path of matrimony with the skittish Liz.
In the meantime, let me give kudos to Lynn Johnston for this dialogue:
Should we look for a ring? Yes, I’d like that very much.
Romance dialogue just doesn’t get much stiffer and formal than this without putting in some “thee”s and “thou”s. Congratulations, Lynn Johnston.
1. I wonder where we’re going. I wonder where this will lead. But let’s take it slowly.
2. Should we discuss marriage? I think we’d be good partners. Then…we could say we’re engaged.
3. Elizabeth and I were talking about getting married someday.
4. I think everything’s going to be fine. We just can’t be in a rush. Should we look for a ring?
I think that Lynn Johnston is trying to portray Anthony as a man so scared and damaged from his ex-wife, Thérèse that he second-guesses his every move and fears that Liz is going to get upset as he moves down the path to marriage. Possibly Lynn thinks his passiveness is cute like a puppy, instead of aggravating.
In a little bit, we will get Anthony saying, “Should I look for a tuxedo? Should I pick out a best man? Should I tell your parents? Should I tell my parents?” It’s a part of the overall theme of this sequence of “I can trust Liz and Liz can trust me” that started with the appearance of Warren Blackwood showing trust issues for Liz and started with Anthony mentioning the fact he couldn’t survive another divorce showing trust issues for him.
I know that the “trust” issue is near and dear to Lynn Johnston’s heart, but if get much more of this out of Anthony, I would hope Liz will check his pants and see if Thérèse took his manhood with her as part of the divorce settlement. Once she agreed to be engaged, I had hoped that this would put an end to Anthony’s annoying timidity.
On the other hand, if you consider Elizabeth Patterson and the way she has treated her boyfriends in the past (especially Paul Wright), Anthony could have some legitimate concerns. He may be testing the waters of matrimony with her at each juncture, and making a point of saying that he is taking it slow, for no other reason than to avoid putting pressure on the Liz who usually puts distance between her and guys who overtly say they like her. This makes more sense when you think about it. Anthony should have no problems in “trust” issues with Thérèse considering his behaviour toward Elizabeth all during his marriage showed little concern with Thérèse’s feelings or trust. However, past strips have also shown that Anthony has carefully observed Liz and is very aware of when and whom she is dating, even when she is in university or Mtigwaki. In that case, I would say congratulations to Anthony, who may be annoying, but he seems to be walking pretty well down the treacherous path of matrimony with the skittish Liz.
In the meantime, let me give kudos to Lynn Johnston for this dialogue:
Should we look for a ring? Yes, I’d like that very much.
Romance dialogue just doesn’t get much stiffer and formal than this without putting in some “thee”s and “thou”s. Congratulations, Lynn Johnston.
posted by howard at 9:48 PM
15 Comments:
Gotta hate Liz's last line, too. The part she is most excited about in all of this is finally getting to tell people she "belongs" to a man. Bleh.
Perhaps another Lana letter is in order.
Heh--I imagine that Lana finds those thoughts very sensible. :)
And more forced wordplay. "Token" and "taken"? Blechh.
howtheduck:
That's what he means by taking it slow. She seems to mean something quite different by it. I should think to her "taking it slow" means doing nothing until pushed into it by a more forceful personality.
qnjones,
The part she is most excited about in all of this is finally getting to tell people she "belongs" to a man.
“The token that says ‘I’m taken’!” could be interpreted that way, but the way it is phrased it seems like she is more interested in the idea that she is not longer available. Liz’s relationship with Paul and Eric and Warren both started when they approached her. So, maybe she means she no longer has to worry about random guys spotting her and falling instantly in love with her.
Perhaps another Lana letter is in order.
Definitely
aprilp_katje,
And more forced wordplay.
It just goes to show there is no event so important to a Patterson that a bad pun cannot be made about it. However, of the alternate choices (“The token that says ‘I’m tucking’!” as she tucks in little Francie. Or “The token that says ‘I’m ticking’!” as she imagines her biological clock. Or “The token that says ‘I’m teching’!” as she writes on her computer a message to April about her engagement.), Lynn Johnston did choose the best one.
DreadedCandiru2,
I should think to her "taking it slow" means doing nothing until pushed into it by a more forceful personality.
That certainly would explain the whole Julia character. Maybe Julia can be reintroduced into the story to move things along a little faster.
What a delightfully chaste little hug! Just the sort of hug a daughter would give her dad when --
No, wait, that's Anthony, not John. The guy she's decided to spend the rest of her life with.
Hands up, everyone who celebrated their proposal with screaming, pretend tea, and a hug.
*crickets*
Thought so.
I remember when Anthony said, "I think we’d be good partners." Not good spouses, or husband-and-wife, or marriage partners...just merely "partners", an unromantic-sounding word that implies merely a boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship.
There's one upside to all this: I'm finally interested in the strip again for all its awful dialogue, art and puns.
Liz: Anthony, I'm not in a hurry to get married. I'm just glad we've talked about it.
Huh? So are they or aren't they engaged. My wife and I talked about marriage more than once before we got engaged, but we weren't engaged until I asked her in no uncertain terms if she would marry me.
Man, this dialogue is so stilted and confusing.
We could say we're engaged
Elizabeth and I were talking about getting married someday
What's gonna happen IF (not when) you marry Elizabeth
I think (Francois) is afraid that IF we get married, she'll lose one of us
I'm just glad we talked about (getting married)
I don't know about y'all, but the minute my wife said yes, we told everyone we were engaged; not "we've talked about marriage" or "IF we ever get married." The matter was settled.
I'm convinced now that Lynn is a comic genius.
All the "iffing" sounds like they are really hoping something better comes along.
You know, the way their relationship has always been--Liz was always looking and imagining other guys, Anthony just sort of went "okay" when Liz would try and break up with him--then just continue on (dating Candace, marrying Therese) while always waiting for Liz to show up again.
Lynn says Lizthony is "a second chance"--I guess she means for them to fall in love finally and have a real romance. Well, she didn't do it. They are the exact same way they were in HS, except Anthony no longer wants to make out and cuddle. Guess he peaked at 19 and that's it.
debjyn:
That's what infuriates me most about the Lizthony non-relationship: Lynn's constant blathering about their having one more chance when, as we all know, they've never given their romance a real chance to begin with!
dlauthor,
Hands up, everyone who celebrated their proposal with screaming, pretend tea, and a hug.
Actually my wife did do a fair share of screaming when she realized she was opening something with a ring in it. As for hugging, I suppose there might have been some hugging mixed in there with the kissing. Pretend tea is a no.
James,
There's one upside to all this: I'm finally interested in the strip again for all its awful dialogue, art and puns.
You have finally been converted.
Huh? So are they or aren't they engaged?
Not only were you confused, but they were confused about it too. After all, Anthony had to confirm with Elizabeth he could say he was engaged.
I don't know about y'all, but the minute my wife said yes, we told everyone we were engaged; not "we've talked about marriage" or "IF we ever get married." The matter was settled.
Me too. But also gave her a ring at the time, to eliminate any confusion.
I'm convinced now that Lynn is a comic genius.
I agree. It takes a special talent to be able to write a strip like the last couple of weeks.
debjyn
Lynn says Lizthony is "a second chance"--I guess she means for them to fall in love finally and have a real romance. Well, she didn't do it.
Second chance is the overarching theme of this story and you have to go way back to see it:
On January 2, 2002, is the New Years’ Eve party where Anthony announced to Elizabeth he was engaged. It is one of the most informative strips in For Better or For Worse. In it, Anthony describes exactly the mistake that he and Liz have and are about to make that causes them to lose their first chance:
1. Elizabeth says, “Anthony, why didn’t you tell me you were engaged?” Anthony says, “Well, we sort of stopped writing to each other…didn’t we.” The way it is phrased coming from Anthony tells you that it was really Liz who stopped writing.
2. Anthony says, “Then you moved in with Eric, and I started dating Thérèse.” Anthony does not communicate with Liz and yet he knows she moved in with Eric. Not only that, but he juxtaposes Eric with Thérèse as cause-and-effect.
3. Elizabeth says, “It’s been a great evening. It’s given us a wonderful chance to catch up!” Anthony thinks, “And I wish you’d never started running.” Again, Elizabeth is blamed for what happens. Doesn’t sound fair, does it? So, we need to go to the follow-up.
On July 31, 2002, Liz and Anthony talk after she has broken up with Eric.
Here Elizabeth says, “I’m not dating anyone. I was, but you know how it is…I’m still paying for my mistakes. And you’re engaged.” Anthony replies, “Uh-huh…I’m still paying for the ring!” Notice how Elizabeth refers to her mistake and then leads straight into Anthony’s engagement. She has accepted the blame for their missed first chance.
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