Grandpa Jim Remembers
I remember Erma Bombeck did a joke about the differences between how parents treat their children that was something like: The firstborn child gets everything sterilized, the secondborn child get the bottle that was dropped on the ground, and the thirdborn child has baby pictures and graduation pictures on the same roll of film.
It is with respect to the thirdborn child, I am reminded with today’s For Better or For Worse strip that has photo albums labeled 1940- 1947 and 1950 -1967, and Phil’s graduation in the same book with Mike’s birth. I just got back from Garden City, South Carolina after spending a week with my relatives. Oddly enough, my mother brought in a set of photo albums her mother had put together from events occurring during the 1940s. I am sure it will be no surprise that the span of years per picture album was not quite as extensive as those of Grandpa Jim’s.
As for the quality of the strip itself, I think what we are seeing is another version of “Look, Elly is helping out her father. Look, Jim isn’t depressed for a change.” And this time for the Sunday colour strip crowd of papers which only get For Better or For Worse on Sunday. Lynn is making sure her entire audience knows how wonderful Elly is.
The more interesting part is how much Iris knows. She recognizes Ernie and knows he flew a Lancaster in World War II. How would a woman married to Grandpa Jim in 2002, know this? Even more interesting is the idea that she should go through Grandpa Jim’s old pictures to help him remember. This is the first indication we have had that Grandpa Jim has had any mental damage since strips from 2002 and 2003 where Grandpa Jim left the pharmacy before picking up his prescription or got lost chasing after Dixie. This is also the first time we have seen Iris help out with Grandpa Jim's stroke recovery in some way other than taking him to see doctors or going to physical therapists.
Moreover, the strip makes it seem like Grandpa Jim and Iris are actually communicating pleasantly, with no one talking down to Grandpa Jim or treating him like he is an infant. Can this be a strip with Grandpa Jim and Iris, where Iris does not irritate me?
It is with respect to the thirdborn child, I am reminded with today’s For Better or For Worse strip that has photo albums labeled 1940- 1947 and 1950 -1967, and Phil’s graduation in the same book with Mike’s birth. I just got back from Garden City, South Carolina after spending a week with my relatives. Oddly enough, my mother brought in a set of photo albums her mother had put together from events occurring during the 1940s. I am sure it will be no surprise that the span of years per picture album was not quite as extensive as those of Grandpa Jim’s.
As for the quality of the strip itself, I think what we are seeing is another version of “Look, Elly is helping out her father. Look, Jim isn’t depressed for a change.” And this time for the Sunday colour strip crowd of papers which only get For Better or For Worse on Sunday. Lynn is making sure her entire audience knows how wonderful Elly is.
The more interesting part is how much Iris knows. She recognizes Ernie and knows he flew a Lancaster in World War II. How would a woman married to Grandpa Jim in 2002, know this? Even more interesting is the idea that she should go through Grandpa Jim’s old pictures to help him remember. This is the first indication we have had that Grandpa Jim has had any mental damage since strips from 2002 and 2003 where Grandpa Jim left the pharmacy before picking up his prescription or got lost chasing after Dixie. This is also the first time we have seen Iris help out with Grandpa Jim's stroke recovery in some way other than taking him to see doctors or going to physical therapists.
Moreover, the strip makes it seem like Grandpa Jim and Iris are actually communicating pleasantly, with no one talking down to Grandpa Jim or treating him like he is an infant. Can this be a strip with Grandpa Jim and Iris, where Iris does not irritate me?
posted by howard at 1:10 AM
8 Comments:
howard,
It seems to me that Lynn planned to end the strip with Iris starting to realize just that Jim was still more or less the man she married. While her storyline was still running, she thought he was a man made childish by a cruel fate but now that she's bowing out, she knows different.
Phil’s graduation in the same book with Mike’s birth.
This gave me pause for a moment. But if it was his university graduation, it would have made sense for that to have happened around the same time as Mike's birth. Elly was 25, and Phil's a few years younger, so the timing would have fit.
DreadedCandiru2,
While her storyline was still running, she thought he was a man made childish by a cruel fate but now that she's bowing out, she knows different.
That is a pleasant ending to the Jim and Iris storyline. After stroke #2, Lynn Johnston was clearly headed to the Sunset Manor with Grandpa Jim, so I wonder what changed her mind. My guess is that she realized that she wanted a coherent, functioning Jim at Elizabeth’s wedding; and not the type of Jim who would need a Sunset Manor. On the other hand, what she ends up with is a Jim who has shown remarkable improvement from the guy April thought was going to die any second, in order to force Elizabeth to get the wedding going in the first place.
aprilp_katje
But if it was his university graduation, it would have made sense for that to have happened around the same time as Mike's birth. Elly was 25, and Phil's a few years younger, so the timing would have fit.
I keep forgetting how those years of freezing ages have affected the storyline. I think about it in terms of Elly getting pregnant almost immediately after John got his first job as a dentist, preventing her from going back and getting her education after John finished his.
howard,
On the other hand, what she ends up with is a Jim who has shown remarkable improvement from the guy April thought was going to die any second, in order to force Elizabeth to get the wedding going in the first place.
The Coffee Talkers would probably chalk that up to youthful inexperience even though April is the Patterson who shows up at his place the most. Like Inman, they aren't going to blame the real culprit: Lousy Writing.
The timeline on Elly and John marrying and having Michael is screwed up. Lynn had that bit about Elly dropping out to support John, but as we've noted here and elsewhere, that makes it seem as though he did a shit-poor job planning his educational funding.
If Elly were, say, 20 years old when she married John, that would mean about four years went by before she became pregnant with Mike. During those four years, we are supposed to imagine she pulled in money doing various jobs, but what? I think Lynn had her supposedly doing some freelance writing, but how much could she have been making that way?
Of course, this all comes from Lynn trying to stitch together marriage number one and marriage number two. She herself dropped out when her husband got a job elsewhere. It would have made more sense if she'd stuck with that premise by having John finishing dental school and getting a job somewhere else while she was still school. Though another thing she's failed to reconcile is John being only two years older than Elly. If John was in his second year of dental school when they met, Elly should have been preparing to graduate.
Oh, well, you know Lynn will never fix the continuity messes.
dreadedcandiru2,
Like Inman, they aren't going to blame the real culprit: Lousy Writing.
That’s the problem right there. I went through the old strips recently from after Michael and Deanna were engaged and before they were married. Grandpa Jim did the same joke: Get married before I die. Lynn was just repeating the same situation with April saying it, without respect to whether it made sense or not. She has repeated several jokes over the last few weeks and I fear we are in for more of it as we approach the end.
aprilp_katje,
Of course, this all comes from Lynn trying to stitch together marriage number one and marriage number two.
That’s very true. She draws from real life, which is what made her strip good; but fails to accommodate the differences from real life to her characters, which just kills the stories sometimes.
Oh, well, you know Lynn will never fix the continuity messes.
That’s true. She’s too busy making new ones, if the preview of the Anthony Caine bio is any indication.
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