Who gets to go first --me or Meredith?
We have made jokes about Françoise's importance relative to the rest of the Patterson kids, and once again, to my amazement, Lynn Johnston gives us concrete proof of the truth of those jokes in today's For Better or For Worse. Apparently even little Françoise is aware of her place in the Patterson kid pecking order. What are the clues?
1. Françoise confirms her flower girl status with Elizabeth, as if she were not already well aware of the situation from other sources, like people measuring her for a flower girl dress and shoes, and Elizabeth cannot simply tell her, "Yes, Francie". She has to add the line about Meredith is also a flower girl, to make sure Françoise does not get confused and think she is the only one.
2. Once Meredith is mentioned, the first question out of Françoise's mouth is not something like, "Are we going to wear the same dresses?" but a question about who gets to go first? This is an odd question, because you would not think that a girl as young as Françoise would be aware of the relative importance of a person in a wedding ceremony based on their entrance.
3. Instead of answering Françoise's question, Elizabeth appears to be completely side-stepping the answer to Françoise and adds Robin in. The answer is important to Françoise and the fact that Elizabeth is side-stepping tells us that she does not want to tell Françoise the real answer which is "Meredith goes first." If Meredith went after Françoise, then there would be no need to side-step.
4. Françoise then attacks the issue Elizabeth just raised with Robin, and Elizabeth side-steps the question again, when she could just as easily say, "The ring bearer is a boy. The flower girl is a girl."
5. Elizabeth throws a bribe in anticipation of Françoise causing problems with the order. She knows Françoise is last. She knows Françoise has learned somewhere that being first indicates her status relative to Meredith and Robin. Instead of dealing with the fact that Françoise has been placed last (considered to be less important than Elizabeth's niece and nephew), she is instead resorting to bribery to keep Françoise from complaining.
6. Anthony fulfills his position as "John Patterson" wannabee, by making fun of what Elizabeth is doing. However, he is not stepping in and explaining things to Françoise. This means that either he does not care about Françoise's feelings, or we have just discovered the person who brought up the issue with Françoise's position to Françoise in the first place. Maybe Anthony is upset about Françoise's position, and lets Françoise raise the issue with Elizabeth, like John Patterson used to use April in arguments with Elly.
As I look at these 6 items, I wonder if I am overthinking this. Lynn Johnston is probably trying to show how wonderful Elizabeth is by side-stepping Françoise's issues in order to avoid an argument with her. However, I can't get around the fact that Françoise asks Elizabeth straightforward questions, and Elizabeth cannot answer her honestly.
1. Françoise confirms her flower girl status with Elizabeth, as if she were not already well aware of the situation from other sources, like people measuring her for a flower girl dress and shoes, and Elizabeth cannot simply tell her, "Yes, Francie". She has to add the line about Meredith is also a flower girl, to make sure Françoise does not get confused and think she is the only one.
2. Once Meredith is mentioned, the first question out of Françoise's mouth is not something like, "Are we going to wear the same dresses?" but a question about who gets to go first? This is an odd question, because you would not think that a girl as young as Françoise would be aware of the relative importance of a person in a wedding ceremony based on their entrance.
3. Instead of answering Françoise's question, Elizabeth appears to be completely side-stepping the answer to Françoise and adds Robin in. The answer is important to Françoise and the fact that Elizabeth is side-stepping tells us that she does not want to tell Françoise the real answer which is "Meredith goes first." If Meredith went after Françoise, then there would be no need to side-step.
4. Françoise then attacks the issue Elizabeth just raised with Robin, and Elizabeth side-steps the question again, when she could just as easily say, "The ring bearer is a boy. The flower girl is a girl."
5. Elizabeth throws a bribe in anticipation of Françoise causing problems with the order. She knows Françoise is last. She knows Françoise has learned somewhere that being first indicates her status relative to Meredith and Robin. Instead of dealing with the fact that Françoise has been placed last (considered to be less important than Elizabeth's niece and nephew), she is instead resorting to bribery to keep Françoise from complaining.
6. Anthony fulfills his position as "John Patterson" wannabee, by making fun of what Elizabeth is doing. However, he is not stepping in and explaining things to Françoise. This means that either he does not care about Françoise's feelings, or we have just discovered the person who brought up the issue with Françoise's position to Françoise in the first place. Maybe Anthony is upset about Françoise's position, and lets Françoise raise the issue with Elizabeth, like John Patterson used to use April in arguments with Elly.
As I look at these 6 items, I wonder if I am overthinking this. Lynn Johnston is probably trying to show how wonderful Elizabeth is by side-stepping Françoise's issues in order to avoid an argument with her. However, I can't get around the fact that Françoise asks Elizabeth straightforward questions, and Elizabeth cannot answer her honestly.
posted by howard at 9:33 PM
9 Comments:
It may be that Lynn thinks this is a good example of Liz's teacher personality -- that she is very carefully [over]explaining things. We the readers are supposed to be saying, "Wow! Look at how good Liz is at talking to children."
Anyway, wouldn't the two flower girls just walk side by side? How narrow is this aisle, anyway?
Seriously. It is possible to be honest and explain situations like this to a child in a way that is not upsetting.
Anyway, in the wedding I was in that had two flower girls, they went together, and each worked a side of the aisle. I understand that is the common arrangement, which would surely be satisfactory to Francie, who clearly wants to know if she is more or less important than Merrie. Little kids are often worried about fairness, and add on top of that the whole "you ain't a Patterson so you ain't much" vibe that Francie has surely picked up on.
Gifts are commonly given from the bride to the flower girl(s), but I have never, ever seen a bride withhold the gift until after the ceremony as a bribe for good behavior. Gifts are usually given at the rehearsal dinner. The parents of the flower girl and ring bearer ensure good behavior. Of course, in this case, we know there is no way that Mike or Dee or Anthony will do that, so I guess Liz has good reason to be afraid.
howard,
However, I can't get around the fact that Françoise asks Elizabeth straightforward questions, and Elizabeth cannot answer her honestly.
This is because she thinks that by weaseling out she's sparing her step-daughter's feelings. A simplistic thinker like her would think that if she never says anything out loud, Françoise will literally have nothing to complain about. She cannot read between the lines and see that it's what you don't say that counts.
Maybe Anthony is upset about Françoise's position, and lets Françoise raise the issue with Elizabeth, like John Patterson used to use April in arguments with Elly.
This is what bothers me about Liz's ambition to marry a man like her father; she either forgot or never realized he does this sort of thing all the time. Sooner or later, though, she'll twig to the fact that Anthony is using another person as a club to beat her over the head with.
Ellie,
Anyway, wouldn't the two flower girls just walk side by side? How narrow is this aisle, anyway?
Last Sunday's strip mentioned having to move the ceremony away from a fountain being repaired, so I presume it is an outdoor wedding with folding chairs that can be relocated. So, the aisle should be as narrow or wide as is necessary.
qnjones,
Gifts are commonly given from the bride to the flower girl(s), but I have never, ever seen a bride withhold the gift until after the ceremony as a bribe for good behavior. Gifts are usually given at the rehearsal dinner.
Exactly. This is the way it was at my wedding. Unless we are dealing with yet another "Lynn doesn't know weddings" situation, then perhaps Liz is talking about a whole other present in addition to that one.
The parents of the flower girl and ring bearer ensure good behavior.
In Deanna and Mike's wedding, the ring bearer (Andrea Sobinski's boy) was the trouble-maker and the members of the bridal party kept him in line. However, his mom was a member of the bridal party, so it was primarily her and April, as I recollect. In my wedding, the flower girl and ring bearer did not have parents in the bridal procession, so it was the bridesmaids and wedding coordinator who watched over their behaviour. If I were Liz, I would be nervous, because there have been few occasions where Robin and Meredith have not been portrayed as brats. Françoise is probably thinking, "And these kids are better than I am because...?"
dreadedcandiru2
This is because she thinks that by weaseling out she's sparing her step-daughter's feelings.
This is probably the mind set. Don't tell Françoise she's less important, and she won't know.
Sooner or later, though, she'll twig to the fact that Anthony is using another person as a club to beat her over the head with.
And then the inevitable Elly-like shrieking will begin. The circle will be complete, and Liz's nose will start to grow.
howard,
This is probably the mind set. Don't tell Françoise she's less important, and she won't know.
This habit Lynn has of thinking that by not saying things, children won't know them flies in the face of the premise of Peanuts. Schulz's philosophy was that while children don't know what adults know, they know more than adults think they do.
If I was a guest at a wedding, and I saw the nephew of the bride going first, then the niece, THEN the step-daughter, I would think that it's very strange. I would expect the strep-daughter to be given her own special role in the wedding. Oh course, most of the guests at Liz's wedding will be Patterson-worshipers, so they probably won't see anything weird about it.
Instead of having Liz have a straight forward conversation reassuring Francoise of her importance to her and her father Lynn goes for a cheap and inappropriate pun. Obviously Francoise hasn't completely accepted Liz if she still feels this unsure about her place in the family. And could Liz have come off as any more patronizing to Francoise in the 4th panel? Way to develop that step-daughter/step-mom bond that everyone in this strip thinks is so easy to do.
In a better world that look on Liz's face in the last panel would be her realizing what an undermining, smirking, jacka-- Anthony really is.
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