Black Comedy
Black Comedy
–noun. comedy that employs morbid, gloomy, grotesque, or calamitous situations in its plot
I think today’s For Better or For Worse has brought me to a new understanding of this strip. Instead of being disturbed at the gloomy and morbid undertones being brought to bear in what has been one of the most anticipated marriages in this strip, I should go with the flow.
In today’s strip, brother and sister Phil Richards and Elly Patterson commiserate on the events of the wedding day. Phil is almost too late for the wedding because he had a little detour with his father in hospital after having a heart attack. We have no details of that event. We don’t know if it happened while Phil and his wife Georgia were visiting with his father, or if they were in the process of getting his father ready to come to the wedding, or if they simply were the first ones informed of his father being taken to the hospital. Nevertheless, Phil tells his sister that he was close to being late, thanks to this interruption.
Elly Patterson inquires about her father’s condition and Phil tells her “He’s going to pull through” which means he is going to survive. So, the good news is, “Dad is not going to die.” Ultimately this leads to Elly stating she wishes her dad could be there, and Phil does the setup line, “He’ll be here in spirit, sis.” Elly leaps on the word “spirit” and makes a joke about how Phil might have been lying about her father pulling through or surviving, if his spirit is going to be there.
So the gist of the joke is a play on the phrase “here in spirit” and how it could mean his ghost is here attending the wedding, if he died.
You can tell Lynn is not used to black comedy, because if you are going to go very dark in your humour, there are many other things which could be said, like:
a. Dad wanted to be here Elly, but his heart wasn’t in it. He had a change of heart.
b. Dad made the ultimate sacrifice to keep Iris away from the wedding.
c. No, Elly. Dad had a stroke, not a heart attack, … a stroke of bad luck.
d. Dad had a choice: Go straight to El, or go straight to hell. Guess which one he chose?
e. How’s dad? Not great, El – but he’s going to pull through. How’s the bride? Not great, Phil – but she’s going to pull through.
f. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. You know after he had too many spirits, we would usually find him in a park.
g. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. I understand the musicians are going to play some “soul” music.
h. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. That’s good. I was feeling out of spirits.
–noun. comedy that employs morbid, gloomy, grotesque, or calamitous situations in its plot
I think today’s For Better or For Worse has brought me to a new understanding of this strip. Instead of being disturbed at the gloomy and morbid undertones being brought to bear in what has been one of the most anticipated marriages in this strip, I should go with the flow.
In today’s strip, brother and sister Phil Richards and Elly Patterson commiserate on the events of the wedding day. Phil is almost too late for the wedding because he had a little detour with his father in hospital after having a heart attack. We have no details of that event. We don’t know if it happened while Phil and his wife Georgia were visiting with his father, or if they were in the process of getting his father ready to come to the wedding, or if they simply were the first ones informed of his father being taken to the hospital. Nevertheless, Phil tells his sister that he was close to being late, thanks to this interruption.
Elly Patterson inquires about her father’s condition and Phil tells her “He’s going to pull through” which means he is going to survive. So, the good news is, “Dad is not going to die.” Ultimately this leads to Elly stating she wishes her dad could be there, and Phil does the setup line, “He’ll be here in spirit, sis.” Elly leaps on the word “spirit” and makes a joke about how Phil might have been lying about her father pulling through or surviving, if his spirit is going to be there.
So the gist of the joke is a play on the phrase “here in spirit” and how it could mean his ghost is here attending the wedding, if he died.
You can tell Lynn is not used to black comedy, because if you are going to go very dark in your humour, there are many other things which could be said, like:
a. Dad wanted to be here Elly, but his heart wasn’t in it. He had a change of heart.
b. Dad made the ultimate sacrifice to keep Iris away from the wedding.
c. No, Elly. Dad had a stroke, not a heart attack, … a stroke of bad luck.
d. Dad had a choice: Go straight to El, or go straight to hell. Guess which one he chose?
e. How’s dad? Not great, El – but he’s going to pull through. How’s the bride? Not great, Phil – but she’s going to pull through.
f. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. You know after he had too many spirits, we would usually find him in a park.
g. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. I understand the musicians are going to play some “soul” music.
h. I wish Dad could be here…He’ll be here in spirit, sis. That’s good. I was feeling out of spirits.
posted by howard at 1:39 AM
16 Comments:
No, she is not good at gallows humor and it shows. what's more, her attempt to inject it at this late stage is ill-advised owing to it clashing with the expected glurge. I had every expectation of Elly and Phil trying to outdo each other as they made sappy remarks about Jim.
I'll occasionally make a poorly timed joke, like we all do, but making a joke about someone who's very old and in the hospital for a heart attack ... with the elderly, you never "know" that they're going to pull through! Jeez!
dreadedcandiru2,
I had every expectation of Elly and Phil trying to outdo each other as they made sappy remarks about Jim.
You are definitely the winner for predicting today's mess. You even predicted the "spirit of Jim".
Nav,
but making a joke about someone who's very old and in the hospital for a heart attack
Clearly Jim has had so many illnesses that Phil and Elly have reached the point where they have ceased to care about the old fellow's condition. "Yawn. Another heart attack. Well, too bad he's going to miss the wedding for this one."
I like today's strip. Sort of...
I don't understand why Lynn could not end on a high note, showing Jim and Iris blessing their grandchildren at the wedding. This week's drama adds nothing to the story - it only depresses. Instead of wasting the few strips that remain, Lynn could have shown Anthony developing a warm relationship with Jim and Iris, because this is what sensitive people do when they marry.
And how does Phil know that his father will survive? It takes more than a couple of hours to establish the condition of someone in Jim's frail state.
I used to think that Lynn was brilliant with this type of black humor. I do think that today's strip is decent but it doesn't work as well for me because the entire arc stinks.
It's so easy to snark FBorFW, so maybe it's time to once again challenge ourselves and find something positive to say. How about Sunday?
Anon NYC
Anthony marrying on the same anniversary as his first marriage? Jeez, that's black.
Anon NYC,
I don't understand why Lynn could not end on a high note, showing Jim and Iris blessing their grandchildren at the wedding.
After reviewing Mike and Deanna’s wedding strips, the Shawna-Marie Verano wedding strips, and then these with Liz and Anthony; it seems clear to me that the author does not like weddings. Given that, having Jim and Iris bless their grandchildren at the wedding, would be out of character for the author. Weddings are not blessings. Weddings are not happy occasions. Weddings are painful, awful, emotional things to be endured.
Instead of wasting the few strips that remain, Lynn could have shown Anthony developing a warm relationship with Jim and Iris, because this is what sensitive people do when they marry.
This is a failing of this sequence compared to Mike and Deanna’s wedding. There was a very nice sequence of strips with Mike and Deanna visiting both of their parents and getting approval for their union from their family. It would have been nice to see Elizabeth visit with Anthony’s family and vice-versa, but for some reason Lynn Johnston skipped over that this time.
And how does Phil know that his father will survive?
This is an unfortunate aspect of Lynn’s writing style, especially in the last few years. She knows the outcome and seems to forget that her characters do not. The way I can tell Grandpa Jim is going to be OK, is because the characters are so nonchalant about his heart attack. If it were serious, we would see Elly rush to the hospital for a deathbed scene, like she did for her own mom.
It's so easy to snark FBorFW, so maybe it's time to once again challenge ourselves and find something positive to say. How about Sunday?
Sunday will probably be the Sunday recap of the wedding vows, and may be the only positive strip covering this entire wedding storyline. That should be easy.
Anonymous,
Anthony marrying on the same anniversary as his first marriage? Jeez, that's black.
Black, but practical. Now he doesn't have to try and remember another day. To be really black, in about a year, Anthony would tell Liz he had already bought her gift to celebrate their 6th anniversary.
This is one classy strip, eh?
james,
It depends on what "class" we are talking about: high or low.
Clearly Jim has had so many illnesses that Phil and Elly have reached the point where they have ceased to care about the old fellow's condition.
It is possible to become inured to someone's health crises when you're repeatedly exposed to them. My grandfather died in the early 1970s after a long series of heart attacks. I was quite young, and my mother didn't take me with her when she went to the hospital to see him after his last one (which was a relatively minor one) because she and the rest of her family expected him to recover and come home, as he had done so many times before. Except he didn't. Nearly 40 years later, she still regrets that decision.
I'm not as critical of the strip as some--I didn't think that Iris was trying to make a cutting remark to Phil when she told him to go to the wedding, and I interpreted Phil's expression as one that said, "How do I do THAT???" That said, I didn't think there was much to find entertaining in today's strip. Phil's punctuality should have been the least of Elly's concerns. And my mother might have made an error in judgement when she didn't take my grandfather's last heart attack seriously enough, but you can bet that she never joked about it. Elly's remark in the final panel sounded downright callous to me.
Weddings are painful, awful, emotional things to be endured.
To be honest, I kind of think they are too. I've always disliked going to weddings, and watching a bride eat dinner while wearing a flouncy dress has always struck me as slightly absurd. I know I'm not entirely normal in this regard, and sometimes I suspect that I'm not entirely female either. But I do think that all the days that come after a wedding (you know, the marriage) are far more important than the ceremony.
On a random note, the first time I read comments this morning, the verification "word" was "nausjhus." How did you arrange that?? :-)
howard,
we would see Elly rush to the hospital for a deathbed scene, like she did for her own mom.
I don't remember the details, but I do remember admiring Lynn for her skill in dealing with the death of a parent. I thought it was sensitive yet humorous. I just loved the strip at that time.
I've tried to judge the art and not the artist, but with time it has become much more difficult. Lynn has destroyed all her characters, with the exception of April.
If Lynn does not like weddings - and I'm OK with that - then she should have married them in a less conventional setting. A wedding in a forest could have been interesting...
Anon NYC
This is ghastly. It's not funny, it's just sick. There's no way any decent person could be so casual about the heart attack of a loved one. This turned me off so badly that I think I would stop reading the strip, if I didn't know it was going to be over in a few short days.
Kristina,
I was quite young, and my mother didn't take me with her when she went to the hospital to see him after his last one (which was a relatively minor one) because she and the rest of her family expected him to recover and come home, as he had done so many times before.
This is the advantage that the characters of For Better or For Worse have over your mother. They know Jim is going to recover, because Lynn Johnston knows he is going to recover. Having said that, if Lynn decided to kill off Grandpa Jim while the wedding was going on, that would be an interesting twist.
I've always disliked going to weddings, and watching a bride eat dinner while wearing a flouncy dress has always struck me as slightly absurd. I know I'm not entirely normal in this regard, and sometimes I suspect that I'm not entirely female either.
I am not entirely female either, but I enjoyed my wedding quite a bit. Of course, I didn’t have to eat wearing a flouncy dress.
On a random note, the first time I read comments this morning, the verification "word" was "nausjhus." How did you arrange that?? :-)
Sometimes I think the Blogger software programmers pick verification words that are fun for them.
Anon NYC,
I don't remember the details, but I do remember admiring Lynn for her skill in dealing with the death of a parent. I thought it was sensitive yet humorous. I just loved the strip at that time.
I have reread the death of Grandma Marian recently, primarily because it contains 2 strips where Grandpa Jim remembers his wedding day, and Lynn showed Marian in her real wedding dress, which was a lot closer to a post-WWII style than the thing Deanna pulled out of her crawl space. One of the key ingredients that made it work was the fact the person making the jokes about death was Grandma Marian on her deathbed. If the person dying makes the jokes, then it does not come off as callous as it does if anyone else does it. Jim’s aphasia gets in the way of that, but I don’t think the solution was to put the jokes in someone else’s mouth.
I've tried to judge the art and not the artist, but with time it has become much more difficult. Lynn has destroyed all her characters, with the exception of April.
Stop thinking about these characters as persons you should like. Think of it as black comedy. It’s a lot better that way.
If Lynn does not like weddings - and I'm OK with that - then she should have married them in a less conventional setting. A wedding in a forest could have been interesting...
A wedding in a forest to a First Nations man would have been even more interesting to me. Lynn lost a lot of story-telling potential by putting Liz back in Milborough for a conventional wedding.
qnjones,
There's no way any decent person could be so casual about the heart attack of a loved one.
This is the heart of the problem and honestly what I have been waiting for for months now. How far will Lynn Johnston let her characters sink? It is no longer a question of whether Elly Patterson is or is not a decent person. It is a question of how indecent Lynn Johnston will make her. There is just a little more than a week left, and I have confidence, Elly can go even lower.
Post a Comment
<< Home