April Patterson: Formal Wear Guru
aprilp_katje predicted we would see everyone in preparation for the wedding, just as we did for Christmas dinner, 2007. From the appearance of today’s For Better or For Worse, it looks like she nailed it. The odd part about the sequence so far is the combination of characters. If these people are getting dressed at home, and not at the place where the ceremony is taking place (like I did for my wedding), then I would expect Connie to be with her husband Greg, Elly to be with John talking about how their little girl is all grown up, and April with the other bridesmaids. Instead we have Connie and Elly, and April and John.
One problem is that April’s dialogue and knowledge is a little too Elly-like. April knows about cuff links which have not been popular in formal wear in years, and the proper placement of a cummerbund and even the urban legend that cummerbunds were used to catch crumbs at dinner, so the name was derived from crumberbund. Actually the name comes from a Hindi word meaning "loinband" and was changed to cummerbund by the British military. It is kind of fun to see April be precocious with her men’s formal wear expertise and punning. Ah, those teenagers today with their cummerbund jokes.
Join us tomorrow as Meredith helps Michael get his shoes on and tells us jokes about Shinola.
One problem is that April’s dialogue and knowledge is a little too Elly-like. April knows about cuff links which have not been popular in formal wear in years, and the proper placement of a cummerbund and even the urban legend that cummerbunds were used to catch crumbs at dinner, so the name was derived from crumberbund. Actually the name comes from a Hindi word meaning "loinband" and was changed to cummerbund by the British military. It is kind of fun to see April be precocious with her men’s formal wear expertise and punning. Ah, those teenagers today with their cummerbund jokes.
Join us tomorrow as Meredith helps Michael get his shoes on and tells us jokes about Shinola.
posted by howard at 12:22 AM
14 Comments:
hoard,
Join us tomorrow as Meredith helps Michael get his shoes on and tells us jokes about Shinola.
That would be funnier if I didn't expect to see it. Does it matter that the character is the wrong one to be helping out or that her knowledge is age inappropriate? Not in the least. All that matters is that Lynn gets a cute strip people can stick on the frifge and damn the accusations of incestuous imagery.
dreadedcandiru2,
The incestuous imagery wasn't too bad this time, except for possibly the first panel where April appears like she is naked. I am still troubled by the Connnie and Elly "getting together" imagery from yesterday, where it looks like Elly was grabbing Connie's butt.
The problem that Lynn has with the John(Rod)character is simply glaring. All the interaction that should have been between John and Elly is now replaced by other characters.
All the couples have a difficult time expressing affection and all the "jokes" are just corny or punny, not "cute" or "affectinate".
Basically, the entire premise of "for better or for worse" seems downright sad.
debjyn,
All the couples have a difficult time expressing affection and all the "jokes" are just corny or punny, not "cute" or "affectionate".
Basically, the entire premise of "for better or for worse" seems downright sad.
It's even more pitiful when you realize that it wasn't always this way. There was a time when the Foobs did seem to care for one another.
The awkward pairings will probably continue culminating with Liz and Anthony. It's strips like this that really make me wonder what Liz's wedding to Paul would have been like before the strip was tainted by Lynn's divorce.
I think today's strip was proof that Lynn choose the colors teal and violet simply to exact further humiliation on Rod/John. He really does look like a clown and I'd really be embarassed for any real life wedding party that had to deal with that color scheme. Plus the teal cumberbud just looks kind of tacky, granted I'm only 21 and have been to few wddings but isn't it kind of a dated fashion trend?
howtheduck, picking up from a few days back regarding prevalence of puns now vs. ten or so years ago....
I've been reviewing strips from 1994-1998 (mostly looking for Liz/Anthony stuff), and I've been coming across a fair amount of groanworthy last-panel puns. Like Aypo pointing out to Elly that a street sign "gots two B's" and asking for confirmation--to which Elly responds, "I don't know. Two B's or not two B's. That is the question." Or when Anthony is in a bathroom stall, mentally berating himself for telling Liz she looks pretty--and telling a kid who asks how long he'll be, "I don't know--why do you think they call them 'stalls'?" Bleah.
debjyn,
All the interaction that should have been between John and Elly is now replaced by other characters.
Yes, when you have Connie Poirier (instead of John) come with Elly to visit her father in the hospital after his stroke, you can tell just how far the anti-John sentiment has gone. Not to mention the unrelenting reprints over this last years showing John or Michael in a bad light.
All the couples have a difficult time expressing affection and all the "jokes" are just corny or punny, not "cute" or "affectionate".
All characters are the author (judging from April’s men’s formal wear knowledge today). If she still has a mad on, and all indications are that she does, then that is what gets reflected. Consequently, what should have been a very romantic wedding culminating from a long relationship has been turned into a distinctly unromantic story between 2 unpleasant characters. Even the most loyal of Lynn’s readers have recognized it, when the two romantic leads could not say “I love you” to each other until just last Saturday, 5 months after they are engaged to be married. Even then, when Liz finally told Anthony she loves him to his face; it was so late into the relationship that it was stunningly anticlimactic.
dreadedcandiru2,
It's even more pitiful when you realize that it wasn't always this way. There was a time when the Foobs did seem to care for one another.
True. These latest strips do not compare well with the older ones, and a lot of the reason is because the Pattersons stopped interacting with one another like they liked each other.
Ruth,
Plus the teal cummerbund just looks kind of tacky, granted I'm only 21 and have been to few weddings but isn't it kind of a dated fashion trend?
A quick internet search shows me that colour-coordinated vests appear to be the rage for weddings, instead of cummerbunds. However, there are a number of websites which discuss how to choose cummerbund colours to accent the colour choices for the bridesmaids’ dresses.
aprilp_katje,
I've been reviewing strips from 1994-1998 (mostly looking for Liz/Anthony stuff), and I've been coming across a fair amount of groanworthy last-panel puns.
They have been a part of the strip. I think that one of the differences used to be that the puns were incorporated more into the story-telling. Take the “mucilage” pun done recently. Iris’ dialogue leading into the pun seems to have been written specifically to set up the pun. In contrast, the Anthony in the bathroom stall you mentioned is lingering there because he is mentally berating himself as a part of the storyline, and not doing it just to set up a “stalls” pun.
Good point about the puns of yore having been part of story arcs instead of having a strip built backwards from a pun, howtheduck.
Yup, you can tell that drawing husband-wife scenarios is something Lynn avoids doing. Elly is bonding with Connie, and April is the wife stand-in, getting John into his monkey suit. It's a tad disturbing, actually.
As far as wedding fashion goes: Yes, vests are more in vogue than cummerbunds. And at really, truly high-end classy weddings, they do not do the color-coordinating thing. The men simply wear black or grey or silver or something else that is tasteful. I personally agree that color coordination tends to look tacky, especially when the chosen color for the wedding is something like teal, which is very dated (popular in the 1980s).
I am personally not liking April in a strapless dress. I guess I am old-fashioned, but I think strapless is inappropriate for a minor to wear, and also for a church wedding. It's a deliberately sexy look.
I see that Evil Mira (TM) did not succeed in changing the wedding colors!
It's a tad disturbing, actually.
It really is. Couple today's strip with the one last week where April tells John about his tux being ready--wherein her body language is oddly seductive--and I just keep thinking Lynn must really hate the idea of having her avatar interact with Rod's avatar. In a way, it would have been better if she'd split up John and Elly. Giving Elly Connie as a stand-in for John--and giving John April as a stand-in for Elly--just so awkward and off-putting.
aprilp_katje,
Couple today's strip with the one last week where April tells John about his tux being ready--wherein her body language is oddly seductive--and I just keep thinking Lynn must really hate the idea of having her avatar interact with Rod's avatar.
There is that, plus the seductive body language makes me wonder if this is Lynn saying that April, not actually having an avatar in real life, is now like an avatar for the woman with whom Rod had the affair. You would have to take the "April is his daughter" out of the equation, but she does fit the category of being a younger woman. Possibly the message is that she is young enough to be his daughter.
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