Soap Thievery
What an odd strip For Better or For Worse is today. The situation is that there are 4 people in the house: John, Elly, Michael and Elizabeth. Elizabeth has to be bathed by hand by Elly. Michael, as he admits in the strip, is notorious for getting distracted in the bathtub by his toys and not using soap. Then you have John and Elly sharing the same bathroom.
I could see a missing soap if 2 bathrooms were being used. If one bathroom runs out of soap, then someone would go to the other bathroom and get some soap from there. The problem with this idea is that we have been shown that Elly and John share the same bathroom, so there should not be any reason why the soap is missing except by using it up. Usually when I go into the shower and there is no soap, this means that my wife used up the bar and I need to get a new bar of soap of out of the cabinet. No one has actually taken the soap. Why John can’t just get a new soap? There is no reason to be angry.
The answer to the question is Michael’s punch line. Unless John makes a big stink out of missing soap, Michael cannot respond with his catchphrase. It’s not a pun, but this is another strip which you can look at to the see the evolution of the humour into what will be the dreaded final panel pun.
I could see a missing soap if 2 bathrooms were being used. If one bathroom runs out of soap, then someone would go to the other bathroom and get some soap from there. The problem with this idea is that we have been shown that Elly and John share the same bathroom, so there should not be any reason why the soap is missing except by using it up. Usually when I go into the shower and there is no soap, this means that my wife used up the bar and I need to get a new bar of soap of out of the cabinet. No one has actually taken the soap. Why John can’t just get a new soap? There is no reason to be angry.
The answer to the question is Michael’s punch line. Unless John makes a big stink out of missing soap, Michael cannot respond with his catchphrase. It’s not a pun, but this is another strip which you can look at to the see the evolution of the humour into what will be the dreaded final panel pun.
posted by howard at 10:35 PM
12 Comments:
howtheduck:
We were reminded recently that unsound effects such as "vacuum, vacuum, chop, stir, slice" that have the effect of belaboring the obvious have always been a part of the strip. It should come as no great surprise that working backwards from a punchline was also there from the start.
dreadedcandiru2,
I suppose we should be grateful that Lynn Johnston learned to use only sound effects related to what was in the picture and eliminated the extra "chop" and "slice".
Man. I have a temper, but stuff like running out of soap doesn't set me off. What the hell was up with John in those years? It must have been terrifying living with a father who screams, glares, and uses profanity at the drop of a hat. Really, it might be no wonder that Liz is drawn to such an ineffectual boob -- his abuse of her will be much more quiet and passive-aggressive, at least.
Meanwhile, of course, Michael has inherited and carries on the Pattersonian trait of Hating Your Kids. Maybe Liz will manifest it with Francie too, once she's safely ensconced in marriage.
dlauthor:
As you said, he blew his stach over such trivial things. Imagine roaring and stamping because his tools weren't lined up just so. As for the "missing" soap, two possibilities emerge based on his being an obessive-compulsive lunatic with a short fuse. The first is that there was indeed plenty of soap in the shower stall, just not where he insisted on it being. The second is that there was soap in the sink that he could use only he didn't becuase sink soap is used in the sink and not in the shower.
dlauthor,
It must have been terrifying living with a father who screams, glares, and uses profanity at the drop of a hat. Really, it might be no wonder that Liz is drawn to such an ineffectual boob -- his abuse of her will be much more quiet and passive-aggressive, at least.
Anthony is so passive he asks if it is OK to talk about marriage. This is quite a contrast to Warren Blackwood shown leaping about because Liz agrees to go out with him, or Constable Paul Wright who wants to take her to meet his family after dating Liz for a few months. John was pretty passive most of the time, but moments like this soap-screaming could well be the reason why Liz was drawn to the barely-talking Anthony.
DreadedCandiru2,
Imagine roaring and stamping because his tools weren't lined up just so.
Good reminder about the tools. Taken together with the missing soap, this does show a man with a short fuse over small things. It also calls into question the idea that he would ignore more egregious behaviour from little Michael. If tools and soap can set him off, I can imagine what Michael breaking something might provoke.
dlauthor,
What the hell was up with John in those years?
It is interesting to see how Lynn’s portrayal of her characters has changed over the years – and I think John has changed the most. Today’s John is clearly gentler and more even tempered; his slips are more subtle. I attribute these transforms primarily to a change in Lynn’s sense of humor. I frequently roll my eyes when reading the old strips, a clear indication that my sense of humor has also changed as I have gotten older.
I would describe many of the recent strips as stupid. I attribute that to boredom.
Anon NYC
Lynn's boredom with her characters.
Anon Nyc:
John has indeed calmed down a lot as the years went on. This is because as his confidence as a dentist rose, his need to take out his frustration on those around him abated. Since Elly is still unsure of herself, she still snaps at people.
Anon NYC,
It is interesting to see how Lynn’s portrayal of her characters has changed over the years – and I think John has changed the most. I attribute these transforms primarily to a change in Lynn’s sense of humor.
I have wondered about the change in John over the years. I agree with you that of her adult characters, he has probably changed the most, whereas Elly Patterson and Connie Poirier act and talk about many of the same things they did back in 1979. I have thought it might be:
a. A change in Lynn’s sense of humour as you have suggested. This is definitely possible. Gender war humour was very popular during the time the strip was initiated, and at some point Lynn decided she prefers to use puns.
b. It reflected changes in the real-life John of Rod Johnston. Rod Johnston of 1979 may have realized that his wife was really busy dealing with her comic strip and didn’t have time to do household chores, and so he started helping around the house. Maybe he just got older and didn’t get as excited when the soap disappeared.
c. When the strip is known to reflect your family, continual criticisms of your husband make him look bad. There was a lot of vinegar directed at John for the first couple of years of the strip, and there may have been some point where Lynn realized that airing Rod’s every mistake through John was detrimental to him.
I would describe many of the recent strips as stupid. I attribute that to boredom.
I attribute the stupidity of many of them to a young cartoonist just getting started. Unlike her idol, Charles Shulz, when she started Lynn had no experience with the day-in, day-out routine of having to produce something funny for every day of the week. Shulz had done his Li'l Folks strip before he began Peanuts.
I would describe many of the recent strips as stupid. I attribute that to boredom.
I wasn't clear. I meant the new strips that we've seen in recent months - they show little creativity. The entire Liz/Anthony arc is poorly developed, and there are no meaningful new stories on the horizon.
It feels like burnout... when you know you're leaving and you're just counting the days...
Anon NYC
Anon NYC
The entire Liz/Anthony arc is poorly developed, and there are no meaningful new stories on the horizon.
I think she will probably have Grandpa Jim in the Sunset Manor before it’s all over. She may also have Dr. John Patterson officially retire, but given how things have gone with the real-life John, I expect she will skip over that storyline. I also expect that Lynn is not yet done with humiliating Thérèse. It is my dearest hope that we will get to see little Francie call Liz “mom” right in front of Thérèse and she will regret having “thrown away” her husband and daughter. These last two stories are ones at which Lynn has hinted in the last several months, so they seem likely to me. John Patterson and his retirement have not been mentioned for a few years, so it seems less likely. If she is going to wrap up this wedding by September and she is still doing every other month as a reprint, she does not have much time to work with.
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