Sunday, June 01, 2008

Dog Urine or Family Tree Planting? – Lynn Picks Dog

I realized this when I was writing up April’s Real Blog today using aprilp_katje's real-life 5K race as an activity April could be doing. There are so many things the Pattersons could do that would make for good stories, aside from doing the same old activities all the time. Why couldn’t April run a 5K, with her family supporting her? It would be different.

In today’s strip, aside from yet another For Better or For Worse strip where Edgar appears without Dixie (last seen in January), I find that this strip sequence with Elly and John putting in a tree is a classic example of Lynn Johnston failing to realize the potential in writing something other than the same old, “stop the dog from doing what dogs like to do” story. She has done that joke several times. Stop the dogs from rolling in the manure. Or the grass. Or from chasing the cat. Or from whizzing on the floor. Or from shaking off when coming in from the rain. Ho hum! Same old dog strip and joke.

Now, a story about John and Elly putting in a tree together, as mundane as that sounds, has not been touched in this strip. Imagine the dialogue possibilities: They could have a discussion with Lawrence Poirier about what kind of tree to buy, and why they end up settling on a birch, the same kind of tree which wrecked their roof shortly after buying the house. They could talk about the reason why John does not already own a shovel. They could discuss their decision to plant the tree themselves, instead of having Lakeshore Landscaping do it. We could see their back-and-forth discussion on the digging, watering, and placement of those rings and lines to hold the tree in place. They could even mention why their teenaged muscle, AKA April has not been called into do the heavy labour. They might even say something with respect to the question of “Where is John’s giant 3-lot train display in this almost tree-less and completely train-less yard?” More importantly, we could actually see a strip sequence with Elly and John doing something productive together, and without Elly sniping at John the whole time. How long has it been since we have seen that?

Instead the focus is on Edgar, and a bodily function joke involving dog urination. Sigh. Lynn Johnston. I know you only have 3 months left before you end this strip, but you don’t have to make the focus of every single strip a recycle of some joke you have done before.

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard:

I find that this strip sequence with Elly and John putting in a tree is a classic example of Lynn Johnston failing to realize the potential in writing something other than the same old, “stop the dog from doing what dogs like to do” story.

She's been doing this so long that she can't see that she has an alternative to it. It's the same thing that inspires her need to have Mike shout "DEANNA!!" every time his children get too close, not to mention have Eva lecture April about how lucky she is to have parents to treat her like an afterthought.

4:06 AM  
Blogger April Patterson said...

Why couldn’t April run a 5K, with her family supporting her? It would be different.

So true--especially since Elly going for jogs with Connie has been a recurring event for decades. Why not have Elly and April form a mother-daughter team for a 5K? In Elly's aspirations at the Foob site, there's this: "[B]e in shape to run a half marathon - not do it - just be able to!" Okay, so she doesn't want to actually run a half marathon (though I'm not clear on how exactly she determines she's in shape to do one if she doesn't at least run it once). But can't she at least get it together to do a 5K? And think of the possibilities for mother-daughter bonding.

But yeah, recycled jokes about dogs being dog-like and bodily functions--just stick with that ol' comfort zone, Lynn.

6:54 AM  
Blogger howard said...

dreadedcandiru2

She's been doing this so long that she can't see that she has an alternative to it.

But the thing about it is, that she did present the alternative with John and Elly planting a tree. She knows that story possibility exists, but obviously didn't think she could do anything funny with it, and went for the old standby of dog urine instead.

8:23 AM  
Blogger howard said...

aprilp_katje,

So true--especially since Elly going for jogs with Connie has been a recurring event for decades. Why not have Elly and April form a mother-daughter team for a 5K? In Elly's aspirations at the Foob site, there's this: "[B]e in shape to run a half marathon - not do it - just be able to!"

The groundwork has been laid for that kind of story. However, Lynn has been doing the same "Connie and Elly jog for the purpose of complaining about how old they are" story forever. Lynn doesn't seem to realize that Elly and April can actually do something together, instead of the usual "Elly complains about the teenager" plot. Lynn Johnston may look over at Cathy Guisewhite's Cathy and see her doing the billionth joke about Cathy and clothes-shopping and think that part of the comic strip genre is to write the same joke over and over again.

8:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard:

She knows that story possibility exists, but obviously didn't think she could do anything funny with it, and went for the old standby of dog urine instead.

Which is a shame because, as you said, there any number of great strips she could have conjured up based on that very situation. Perhaps I should mention that on Coffee Talk.

10:05 AM  
Blogger April Patterson said...

Lynn Johnston may look over at Cathy Guisewhite's Cathy and see her doing the billionth joke about Cathy and clothes-shopping and think that part of the comic strip genre is to write the same joke over and over again.

Probably--especially since, in interviews, Lynn has held up Guisewite as an exemplary comics writer.

10:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm never sure if Lynn actually admires the cartoonists she claims to admire for their artwork, or because they are rich and famous and are willing to be friends with Lynn. The ones Lynn has criticized (like Watterson) are known to be great, but don't hobnob with her.

As for this strip, I think it sinks to a new low. The dialogue-free Sunday pet strips often have a clear message, even if that message is, "Pets are disgusting (but possibly also lovable)." This one is just puzzling. Okay, they're buying a new tree. My first thought when I saw Edgar in the strip was, "Uh-oh, Edgar--they're preparing your Edgar tree! Your days are numbered!" But no, that's not it, because Edgar won't die. There has been one dog death, so another one is pointless, remember? Without any dialogue, I didn't even remember that they might be replacing the tree that fell on their roof.

Then there is the horror about Edgar peeing on the new tree. Why? Would that really kill a tree of that size? I'm not sure, but it seems implausible. Also, is Elly going to stand guard at the new tree for the next few months or years to prevent urination by dogs? I doubt it. So I just don't get it.

This strip brings pointlessness to a whole new level.

10:51 AM  
Blogger Muzition said...

Perhaps, in the strange world the Foobs live in, if a birch tree is enough to damage a roof, then dog pee can damage a tree.

3:48 PM  
Blogger howard said...

dreadedcandiru2

Which is a shame because, as you said, there any number of great strips she could have conjured up based on that very situation. Perhaps I should mention that on Coffee Talk.

Please do. And list examples.

4:29 PM  
Blogger howard said...

qnjones

I'm never sure if Lynn actually admires the cartoonists she claims to admire for their artwork, or because they are rich and famous and are willing to be friends with Lynn.

At least in the early years of For Better or For Worse, admiration from Lynn Johnston for a cartoonist equals a willingness to steal ideas from the cartoonist, apparently without that cartoonist sending off a “cease and desist” notice. As near as I can remember, Lynn’s criticism of Watterson was based on his intentional early retirement.


Also, is Elly going to stand guard at the new tree for the next few months or years to prevent urination by dogs? I doubt it. So I just don't get it. This strip brings pointlessness to a whole new level.

It does give us plenty of opportunity to snark the strip. However, it was yet another one of those strips where Lynn could really stand the services of an editor, who could read the strip and say, “This is pointless, Lynn.”

4:29 PM  
Blogger howard said...

Muzition,

Perhaps, in the strange world the Foobs live in, if a birch tree is enough to damage a roof, then dog pee can damage a tree.

It is what we call the suspension of disbelief. It’s like watching an Indiana Jones movie where the characters go over 3 tremendous waterfalls in a row, without anyone being the slightest bit injured. Unfortunately, for Lynn Johnston, the suspension of disbelief is crucial for finding the joke to be funny. Now if you wanted funny, watching a frantic Elly and John cart off a urinating Edgar mid-pee, probably could have gotten a laugh out of me, especially if they later exclaimed to themselves, “That was stupid. He pees on every tree in the yard.” To which John replies, “In this case, an ounce of pee-vention is not worth a piss of cure.”

4:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really found the strip plain irritating, which is not something I look for when reading the Sunday comics before church. The wordless panles are just filler leading up to the lame and bizarrre end. I mean it's like Lynn is punishing the only natural thing in the strip, dog's peeing on things. If she'd had John or Elly making sum kind of pun over Edgar's action it still would have been lame but perhaps not so irritating.
Perhaps Lynn is having problems showing John and Elly interacting together as a couple since she lacks that "husband-wife" interaction in her own life now. Since October of last year there have been only a handful of strips with just Johna and Elly not to mention the many "John is a pig" flashback strips.

10:44 AM  

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