Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Good Fame / Bad Fame

In Tucson, from time-to-time I will go to the performance of a play and read the bio of the actors in the play to see if I have seen them in some other production. Sometimes, I will read the phrase, “I thank God that I am able to make a living as an actor” as a part of the biography. I was reminded of this phrase when I read Michael Patterson in today's For Better or For Worse saying, “I don’t want to be famous, Carleen…I just want to make a decent living.” The idea is then that Mike’s desire to be a writer is based only upon his desire to write and not because of any of the perks that go along with this. He seems to be very much his mother’s son with this kind of attitude. Elly wanted to own a bookstore, but she was often portrayed as a woman who could barely tolerate the public that came into her store. In the same fashion, Mike is going to be famous, not because he wants to be, but because he does not want to be. He just wants to be a writer. This kind of fame is acceptable.

If you compare this to the long-winded Becky McGuire story and also this strip from Gerald Delaney’s desire not to be happy but to be famous, then you can see the contrast. Being famous is OK if you don’t want to be famous. But if you do want to be famous, then things are not going to go your way.

In many respects, this has to be the philosophy behind Lynn Johnston. She did not go into cartooning to be a famous artist. Instead fame was thrust upon her by a syndicate who wanted to fill a niche in their strips. This means that the reason Lynn goes and does cartooning is because she loves being a cartoonist. I just wish she loved it enough to use an eraser.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard:

In many respects, this has to be the philosophy behind Lynn Johnston. She did not go into cartooning to be a famous artist. Instead fame was thrust upon her by a syndicate who wanted to fill a niche in their strips. This means that the reason Lynn goes and does cartooning is because she loves being a cartoonist.

That's pretty much how she'll be remembered after she's gone, I'd say. The money and fame is secondary to doing what she loves to do. That being said, I'd say that it won't be long before she givves up on wanting to retire. I give it a year before she heads back to the drawing board.

6:11 AM  
Blogger howard said...

dreadedcandiru2,

I give it a year before she heads back to the drawing board.

I would guess less than that. She has already said she had plans for a children's book involving Farley.

Plus we have seen long bios for quite obscure characters in the beginning stages of For Better or For Worse show up in Who's Who. In combination with the idea that Lynn said she planned to insert longer stories set in those early days when the strip starts running in chronological reprints, I suspect those characters may be a part of those stories.

6:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

FBORFW is just too zzzzzzzzzzzzzz to comment on.

You might be interested in the cover story of next Sunday’s New York Times magazine, Exposed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Anon NYC

7:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is odd how Lynn brings attention to herself even though she claims not to "seek" fame. So many other cartoonists have very few interviews or allow intimate details to surface. But it seems like every time Lynn does an interview or story, I just think TMI; and wonder how much of it is true or been an elaboration. And it seems her family was very uncomfortable with her chronicling of their lives.

I wish Lynn loved cartooning enough to care about the quality; outside of the Mtig pow wow strips there has been little quality artwork for the last couple of years.

Who knows? Maybe her latest personal situation could jumpstart her back into putting some effort into her work.

9:01 AM  
Blogger howard said...

Anon NYC,

Thanks for the New York Times article reference to the article. It’s interesting to see the life of a blogger and it drew an interesting parallel to For Better or For Worse, back in the days when Rod Johnston used to complain to Lynn about putting his life in print.

10:03 AM  
Blogger howard said...

debjyn said...

It is odd how Lynn brings attention to herself even though she claims not to "seek" fame.

She has had a lot of interviews in the last year; however a lot of them seemed to be geared towards the idea of letting people know why it is that she did not retire in

I wish Lynn loved cartooning enough to care about the quality; outside of the Mtig pow wow strips there has been little quality artwork for the last couple of years. Who knows? Maybe her latest personal situation could jumpstart her back into putting some effort into her work.

I certainly hope so. Although, judging from the artistic decline in the last year of strips, she seems like she is very tired of it

10:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have known some people who tried to turn a hobby they loved (cooking, quilting, art, etc.) into a career. Unfortunately, a lot of times the business side of that sucks the enjoyment and the creativity out of the activity the person used to love. It becomes a chore. I have known people who closed restaurants and hobby shops for this very reason--to recapture the fun of what they used to love.

Unfortunately, I think that it is just too hard to walk away from the kind of money that Lynn gets paid. I don't doubt that she wants to work. But I think if she were just making an average salary at it, she would have turned to newer, fresher, more inspiring projects long ago. The money keeps her doing FOOB, but it is obvious that all the joy has been drained out of it for her.

Oh, and those people who helped Mike onto the first rung? Mommy and Daddy! Remember, they hold the reins! ::eyeroll::

7:20 PM  
Blogger howard said...

qnjones,

I have known some people who tried to turn a hobby they loved (cooking, quilting, art, etc.) into a career.

This is one of the things I face regularly being a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus. We do 5-6 different concerts with the symphony during the course of the season, and when I see the prices being charged for the tickets, there is a certain feeling of responsibility that comes (even only being a single member of a large chorus) to do a good performance that will be worth the money.

Unfortunately, I think that it is just too hard to walk away from the kind of money that Lynn gets paid.

It is a kind of a trap, once your expenditures get accustomed to that kind of income. We can see how she has fretted over the loss of any papers which has occurred due to the hybrid.

9:19 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home