Killing Animals for Fun and Pleasure
Back in May, Lynn Johnston created a minor league stir when she chose to reprint a strip depicting young Michael Patterson and a bird trap. On one side of the issue were persons who were against cruelty to animals, regardless of whether or not Michael had built an effective bird trap. On the other side were persons who said Michael was just doing what kids did in those days. With today’s For Better or For Worse, we get to test those waters again, and we see Michael Patterson with spoon in hand, getting ready to torture his fish.
We know that ultimately we are going to see Michael get Farley the dog next month, so his fish is not likely to survive the month. With today’s strip, there is a question as to whether he will survive the next strip. Lynn is not shying away from her portrayal of young Michael Patterson, as a Dennis the Menace devotee. Lynn is starting to tread on difficult ground now. It is one thing to reprint something which might offend some people, and use the excuse that was how things were in those days; and it is another thing to create today something that represents how things were in those days.
For example, one of the classics of literature is Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. I briefly considered playing a spoken recording of it on CD for my kids, so they could experience this treasure. Only I was not more than a few pages into it, when I remembered that Mark Twain uses the “N” word a lot in this book, and if either of my kids used the “N” word in their school, they would be in deep trouble. I didn’t want to tempt my children, and so I refrained from playing them the book until they get older (i.e. less excited about bad language). It is one thing for Mark Twain to have done that, but if Mark Twain’s great-great-grandson wanted to write a sequel to the book and used the “N” word, it would not be considered acceptable, even if it were the way things were.
Tomorrow will tell the tale of Phil the Fish. Will Elly intervene just in time to save Phil, or will young Michael manage to kill the fish in order to entertain Lawrence? Not only that, but if Michael does kill Phil, then how can Elly possibly justify getting him a dog? The answers to all these deep, philosophical questions come tomorrow. I can hardly wait.
We know that ultimately we are going to see Michael get Farley the dog next month, so his fish is not likely to survive the month. With today’s strip, there is a question as to whether he will survive the next strip. Lynn is not shying away from her portrayal of young Michael Patterson, as a Dennis the Menace devotee. Lynn is starting to tread on difficult ground now. It is one thing to reprint something which might offend some people, and use the excuse that was how things were in those days; and it is another thing to create today something that represents how things were in those days.
For example, one of the classics of literature is Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. I briefly considered playing a spoken recording of it on CD for my kids, so they could experience this treasure. Only I was not more than a few pages into it, when I remembered that Mark Twain uses the “N” word a lot in this book, and if either of my kids used the “N” word in their school, they would be in deep trouble. I didn’t want to tempt my children, and so I refrained from playing them the book until they get older (i.e. less excited about bad language). It is one thing for Mark Twain to have done that, but if Mark Twain’s great-great-grandson wanted to write a sequel to the book and used the “N” word, it would not be considered acceptable, even if it were the way things were.
Tomorrow will tell the tale of Phil the Fish. Will Elly intervene just in time to save Phil, or will young Michael manage to kill the fish in order to entertain Lawrence? Not only that, but if Michael does kill Phil, then how can Elly possibly justify getting him a dog? The answers to all these deep, philosophical questions come tomorrow. I can hardly wait.
posted by howard at 10:50 PM
18 Comments:
howard,
Tomorrow will tell the tale of Phil the Fish. Will Elly intervene just in time to save Phil, or will young Michael manage to kill the fish in order to entertain Lawrence? Not only that, but if Michael does kill Phil, then how can Elly possibly justify getting him a dog?
If I recall correctly, John, Mike and Old Lady Baird poured on the glurge to get her to accept the "poor, helpless little runt that nobody loved". The same tendency that led her to identify with the enormous rodent we just saw Liz marry got Mike the dog he wanted: Elly saw Farley as a small, furry version of herself. He, too was a helpless victim of the cruelty of the world.
Phil the Fish?? Not Fred? Have I missed something?
Mel
Heh--anon, I was about to comment on the same thing:
Not only that, but if Michael does kill Phil, then how can Elly possibly justify getting him a dog?
Oh, my God! Mike's going to kill his uncle? And Elly will still allow him to care for a dog? (I think this was just a case of WWT [writing while tired].) :)
dreadedcandiru2
The same tendency that led her to identify with the enormous rodent we just saw Liz marry got Mike the dog he wanted: Elly saw Farley as a small, furry version of herself. He, too was a helpless victim of the cruelty of the world.
I understand. It’s Elly’s martyr complex at work. Take a small, furry, defenseless animal and put it under the control of a kid known for killing animals. And this motivation is the same for wanting Anthony to be with Liz: Take a defenseless man and put him under the control of a woman known for destroying men. I can see the analogy.
Mel,
Phil the Fish?? Not Fred? Have I missed something?
Not you. Me. I am missing my brain.
april_katje,
Oh, my God! Mike's going to kill his uncle? And Elly will still allow him to care for a dog? (I think this was just a case of WWT [writing while tired].) :)
Definitely WWT, but also the /fiH/ sound common between Phil and fish helped. As for the story idea, if Michael tried to kill his uncle Phil with a large spoon, that would certainly make for a more interesting story than this one.
As for the story idea, if Michael tried to kill his uncle Phil with a large spoon, that would certainly make for a more interesting story than this one.
I might just have to draw that! :)
OT: howtheduck, do you remember when, exactly Gordon's Garage became Mayes Midtown Motors? I noticed that as late as the July 2005 strips, there was still a sign for Gordon's Garage? Does the changeover get directly mentioned in the strips, or was this handled in monthly-letter-land?
howard,
I can stretch the analogy even further. If Anthony were to blow his brains out after years of being flapped and honked at, they'd have a fall-guy ready so Liz could be absolved of the sin of driving him to death. Whoever's left standing will point a fat, ignorant finger at Francoise or Therese.
Okay, three days of threats to kill or injure pets is way too many. I know that a number of normal little boys go through phases where they injure/kill animals out of curiosity. But the last two strips have alluded to that so blatantly that it's just not funny.
aprilp_katje,
OT: howtheduck, do you remember when, exactly Gordon's Garage became Mayes Midtown Motors? I noticed that as late as the July 2005 strips, there was still a sign for Gordon's Garage? Does the changeover get directly mentioned in the strips, or was this handled in monthly-letter-land?
Best guess is sometime between summer, 2004 and summer, 2005. It is a tricky question. In the letters we have to go to Mike.
Mike's Letter, December 2005
I took our car to Gordon's Garage for its annual checkup and winterization. The entire building was lit up for Christmas and a tree was on the roof. Likewise, Mayes Motors, his sales lot next door was decorated with garlands, wreaths and lights and music was playing through speakers in the parking lot. His are two of the most outstanding buildings on the highway, and even though our snowfall has been minimal, Gord's looks about as festive a place as you'd see on a busy city corner.
Here is the first time Mayes Motors is used as phrase in the letters and it is used to refer to Gordon’s car sales, with no mention of a dealership. Prior to this point, going back to the first on-line Mike letter, you find Gordon to develop the property next to the garage where he is selling cars.
Mike's Letter, April 2004
Gordon Mayes is doing extremely well. He's paid off his house and the garage and has taken out a mortgage on both to develop the property next to the garage. It already had a small building on it and he was using the lot to display used cars, and renovated part of the building to showcase some of the new cars he has. Now he needs more space, and my dad, who is now a sort of partner in the business, is helping him to work out the details.
In the strip, it is first called Mayes Motors in the 3/24/2007 strip where Warren Blackwood is speaking to Gordon Mayes at the Mike “I wrote a book” party. Prior to that point, the reference was by virtue of signs seen on the property, which called it “Mayes Midtown Motors”.
Mike’s letters would lead me to believe that Mayes Motors was the name Gordon used for his car sales, but this does not match the signs in the strip. If it is so, then it means that it is just the name of the car sales business to keep it separate from the Garage, but does not match the signage, which treats it as Sales and Service.
The 8/3/1998 has Gordon talking about adding a coffee shop. The sign says “Gordon’s Garage”
The 7/22/1999 has Mike with the little blue car that was his and Liz’s. The sign says, “Used Car. Sales. Service”.
The 4/11/2000 strip has Gordon talking about buying the lot next door to the garage. The sign says, “Gordon’s Garage, Sales & Service”.
The 6/10/2000 strip shows Gordon’s Garage, but with cars off to the side for sale.
The 12/13/2000 strip shows John eating with Gordon at the Country Kitchen.
The 8/14/2001 strip shows John buying the Bushwacker convertible in front of a sign saying “Gordon’s Garage”
In April 13, 2003, the sign says, “Gordon’s Garage and Restaurant”.
The 2004 strips show Liz getting the motorcycle from Gordon, but there are no signs visible. Gordon is still wearing his garage mechanic outfit.
By June 7, 2005, we can clearly see the Mayes Midtown Motors sign. He sells Elly a Crevasse. This is the first time I know that Mayes Midtown Motors appeared in the strip.
In the 7/18/2005 strip, Gordon tells Elizabeth his transformation to suit-wearing salesperson occurred when he took on the Crevasse dealership. And you can kind of see in the next strip, the dealership and the garage are different buildings, but it is not that clear.
In the April 20, 2006 this is spelled out more clearly as you can see Mayes Midtown Motors where John is getting his new Crevasse, and then we see John getting gas at the old Gordon’s Garage with the Mayes Midtown Motors sign further in the background. Anthony explains it as developing the land across the street, which is not the same as the lot next door to Gordon’s Garage.
dreadedcandiru2,
If Anthony were to blow his brains out after years of being flapped and honked at, they'd have a fall-guy ready so Liz could be absolved of the sin of driving him to death. Whoever's left standing will point a fat, ignorant finger at Francoise or Therese.
OK. My poor feeble brain has lost the connection between this and adopting Farley. Are you saying that "after Mike kills Fred, Farley is the fall-guy" is analogous to "if Liz kills Anthony, Francoise or Therese is the fall-guy"?
qnjones,
Okay, three days of threats to kill or injure pets is way too many.
This goes to the current state of Lynn’s writing. When Elly went to visit Grandpa Jim back in July, we saw 3 strips in a row of Grandpa Jim making jokes about being ignored because he couldn’t talk. In the wedding strips in August, we had a whole week of strips devoted to “Who is contributing something to the wedding for free.” Lynn has lost her sense of what is overkill.
howard,
After Mike kills Fred, Liz is the fall guy. After all, if they'd pay attention to him and let him do what he wants instead of coddling the Intruder, he'd have a puppy and Fred would still be alive.
I get tired of hearing that thats the way it was back then. Back then was when I was first married and had kids. Its true that I was able to give my kids more run of the neighborhood, and didn't worry about everything they heard or did; but killing pets, being verbally abused by my husband (Elly's stint in the dental office) and similar things Lynn portrays were definitely out of line - even way back then.
anonymous,
…but killing pets, being verbally abused by my husband (Elly's stint in the dental office) and similar things Lynn portrays were definitely out of line - even way back then.
While that is true, a lot of the things thrown into the early strips were imitations of things done by other cartoonists who established those behaviours for their characters years before For Better or For Worse got started. Physically, young Michael Patterson is clearly modeled off Linus van Pelt from Peanuts, but his activities are taken from Hank Ketchum’s Dennis the Menace, with the clear exception that while Dennis was frequently shown to be punished for his misdeeds, young Michael rarely was shown the error of his ways. If you have read any Dennis the Menace lately, you would see that Dennis is just a shadow of his menacing self from the 1950s, which is as good an indication as any that the times have changed. Why Lynn Johnston did not pick up on that back in 1979 I don't know. And certainly I don't know why she would want to write a story in 2008 based on that.
As for Elly’s verbal abuse by her husband, especially her stint in the dentist office, supposedly this was taken from Lynn Johnston’s her real life, much to the humiliation of her husband, who is known to have complained about it. I don’t know if those strips were actually Lynn’s attempts at humour, or if it was just a means by which she got revenge on her husband in a very public forum.
howtheduck, your research is awesome, as always. Thanks for piecing that all together for me!
It hadn't even occurred to me that Gordon's Garage and Mayes Midtown Motors existed concurrently. Gah, no wonder Beth Cruikshank seemed confused. I decided to just be vague about when the advent of MMM occurs. (And in my head, at least, one is subsumed by the other!)
aprilp_katje,
It hadn't even occurred to me that Gordon's Garage and Mayes Midtown Motors existed concurrently.
When the April, 2006 strips occurred in April's Real Blog we did jokes about how Anthony's office was at the garage and Gordon's office was at the dealership, so Gordon could get away from Anthony. It has been awhile since we touched on that subject.
In my mind the chronology is:
a. Gas station and garage.
b. Coffee shop with the name the Country Kitchen.
c. Used cars in the lot next door
d. Dealership across the street and the name Mayes Midtown Motors
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