Elly Hugs Jim, At Last!!
I was reading today's For Better or For Worse and I was struck by the significant difference between the way Elly treats her father, compared to the way Lynn Johnston treated his real-life counterpart, her own father. Elly hits all the right notes in the strip by telling her father she is lucky to have him here with us. I imagine that there are dozens of people who have deceased parents or other loved ones who will wish that they had said that to them. The big difference between this character and Lynn Johnston was that after her father died, Lynn took her father to task in an interview for his inability or unwillingness to defend Lynn from her own mother's abuse. It makes me wonder if Lynn Johnston is finally turning the corner on her feelings about her father, or if she is just putting stuff in her strip to get an "Awww!" reaction from her audience.
posted by howard at 10:54 PM
5 Comments:
She's just looking to go out on a high note with the audience. Hence Elly actually spending time with Jim. "We're so lucky to have you here with us...in a senior's home across town where we can visit annually!!"
howard,
Elly hits all the right notes in the strip by telling her father she is lucky to have him here with us. I imagine that there are dozens of people who have deceased parents or other loved ones who will wish that they had said that to them.
And Lynn is hoping for gushy letters from every last one of them. It makes her feel good to think that she's helping people, I'd say. This is why she's stepping up the glurge and this is why she's marrying Liz to the blandest and most conventional looking man she can find. Sh wants her audience to feel good about the choices they've made.
qnjones
She's just looking to go out on a high note with the audience. Hence Elly actually spending time with Jim.
When I think about final conclusions to long-running stories, a lot of times the author will finish out all the hanging plot threads. In many respects this visit with Grandpa Jim is like that. Ever since Grandpa Jim had his first stroke, I have wondered whether or not Elly Patterson would ever relieve Iris in her duties with Grandpa Jim or if she would have an actual conversation with him that did not involve looking at old photo albums. After all those months of tension, I finally have an answer, and much to my delight, Elly turns it around and turns into the type of daughter I remembered from the old days when Elly invited Grandpa Jim to live in her house. My only disappointment is I didn't get to see the dramatic moment where Elly discovered the error of her ways and had a change of heart.
dreadedcandiru2
And Lynn is hoping for gushy letters from every last one of them. It makes her feel good to think that she's helping people, I'd say.
I would have to admit that Lynn has hit the motherlode when it comes to her audience's interest, by giving Grandpa Jim a stroke. There is no one else in comic strips touching the subject, and because of that lack of attention, every time she does a strip, she gets all the "I had a dying relative once" crowd interested, regardless of how Elly or Iris treats Grandpa Jim or how glurgy the story is.
howard,
There is no one else in comic strips touching the subject, and because of that lack of attention, every time she does a strip, she gets all the "I had a dying relative once" crowd interested, regardless of how Elly or Iris treats Grandpa Jim or how glurgy the story is.
I know. Even I've contributed to that because I wanted to share my experiences with the death of my parents. I'm halfway tempted to post as Anonymous from Southern New Brunswick and have people cut Iris some slack. I know she's a fictional character but the daily fear of waking up to find a loved one dead or dying is too fresh in my mind.
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