The Perfect Man (not John)
Having raised the question that no husband should ever raise, in today’s For Better or For Worse, Elly Patterson launches down her list of things she would want in a husband, OR, in other words, the list no wife should ever utter to her husband:
1. Tall, dark, and handsome (the stereotype), and Elly adds “but rugged” as if tall, dark and handsome were not enough. As near as I can tell, John Patterson is tall and dark. Handsome is a no. However, I am not so sure about the rugged part. He is modeled off Rod Johnston, the flying dentist who wanted to live in Lynn Lake of all places. In these early strips, his arms are often drawn significantly larger than Elly’s. Also, he is frequently off on fishing or canoeing or camping trips in these early strips. John Patterson might have rugged. If Elly is talking about a hairy chest and a lot of scars, then no for rugged and John Patterson.
2. Witty and warm. This really depends on whether or not you consider someone who makes terrible puns to be witty. Warm is so subjective, I can’t judge it. John Patterson has had his warm moments, like in last Sunday’s reprint, playing in the leaves with Michael. But there have been a lot of other, not-so-warm moments when he was sequestered with his trains and spewing off sexist remarks.
3. Self-assured, well-educated. I have to give this to John Patterson. I can’t think of many poorly-educated, insecure dentists who run their own practice.
4. Athletic build, articulate. Now Elly is putting together two things that normally don’t go with each other. John seems to be relatively articulate, and one of the mainstays of the strip is that John Patterson works to stay in shape. I have to give these to him too.
5. Good singing voice. I honestly don’t know this one. There have been a few strips with John singing, but usually the persons complimented on their music have been April and Grandpa Jim. I am going to guess John is average on this one. Whether or not his voice is good enough for Elly, I don't know. Consider how little we see Elly singing, I wonder why this was even a criterion.
6. Financially secure. This one is tricky. The Pattersons usually like to play themselves as barely able to scrape by. On the other hand, John is a doctor, who owns his own practice, and he makes enough for Elly not to have to work, if she doesn’t want to. I think financially secure is accurate for John, even if he doesn't agree.
7. Patient with children. OK. John fails this one.
8. Considerate. OK. John the chauvinist fails this one too.
It’s interesting, as I go through this list of items, I find that John Patterson has most of them. Nevertheless, when confronted by Elly’s list, he thinks he has so few of them, that he wonders how Elly ended up with him? Spoken like a man with very limited dating experience.
Let me give you a hint, John. When I was in school, there were a number of young ladies who hung around the Medical School library and the Law library to study, who were not actually taking any university courses that were legal or medical. Now think back to where you met Elly. Now think about how important her education was to her after you two started dating seriously. Can you say, “Almost immediately quit school”? How did Elly end up with you, John Patterson? She hunted you and tracked you down, while all the time making it seem like it was your idea. The standard joke is that she got her MRS degree.
And just in case you think this is not the way Lynn Johnston views it, let me remind you that the great tragedy of Anthony Caine and Elizabeth Patterson, mentioned by other characters over and over again, was that Anthony married Thérèse, when everyone expected he was going to marry Elizabeth. If only Elizabeth had not moved in with Eric Chamberlain in university, then the marriage proposal that Thérèse got, would have gone to Elizabeth instead. Let me also remind you that Michael Patterson wanted to propose to Deanna while they were both still in university.
1. Tall, dark, and handsome (the stereotype), and Elly adds “but rugged” as if tall, dark and handsome were not enough. As near as I can tell, John Patterson is tall and dark. Handsome is a no. However, I am not so sure about the rugged part. He is modeled off Rod Johnston, the flying dentist who wanted to live in Lynn Lake of all places. In these early strips, his arms are often drawn significantly larger than Elly’s. Also, he is frequently off on fishing or canoeing or camping trips in these early strips. John Patterson might have rugged. If Elly is talking about a hairy chest and a lot of scars, then no for rugged and John Patterson.
2. Witty and warm. This really depends on whether or not you consider someone who makes terrible puns to be witty. Warm is so subjective, I can’t judge it. John Patterson has had his warm moments, like in last Sunday’s reprint, playing in the leaves with Michael. But there have been a lot of other, not-so-warm moments when he was sequestered with his trains and spewing off sexist remarks.
3. Self-assured, well-educated. I have to give this to John Patterson. I can’t think of many poorly-educated, insecure dentists who run their own practice.
4. Athletic build, articulate. Now Elly is putting together two things that normally don’t go with each other. John seems to be relatively articulate, and one of the mainstays of the strip is that John Patterson works to stay in shape. I have to give these to him too.
5. Good singing voice. I honestly don’t know this one. There have been a few strips with John singing, but usually the persons complimented on their music have been April and Grandpa Jim. I am going to guess John is average on this one. Whether or not his voice is good enough for Elly, I don't know. Consider how little we see Elly singing, I wonder why this was even a criterion.
6. Financially secure. This one is tricky. The Pattersons usually like to play themselves as barely able to scrape by. On the other hand, John is a doctor, who owns his own practice, and he makes enough for Elly not to have to work, if she doesn’t want to. I think financially secure is accurate for John, even if he doesn't agree.
7. Patient with children. OK. John fails this one.
8. Considerate. OK. John the chauvinist fails this one too.
It’s interesting, as I go through this list of items, I find that John Patterson has most of them. Nevertheless, when confronted by Elly’s list, he thinks he has so few of them, that he wonders how Elly ended up with him? Spoken like a man with very limited dating experience.
Let me give you a hint, John. When I was in school, there were a number of young ladies who hung around the Medical School library and the Law library to study, who were not actually taking any university courses that were legal or medical. Now think back to where you met Elly. Now think about how important her education was to her after you two started dating seriously. Can you say, “Almost immediately quit school”? How did Elly end up with you, John Patterson? She hunted you and tracked you down, while all the time making it seem like it was your idea. The standard joke is that she got her MRS degree.
And just in case you think this is not the way Lynn Johnston views it, let me remind you that the great tragedy of Anthony Caine and Elizabeth Patterson, mentioned by other characters over and over again, was that Anthony married Thérèse, when everyone expected he was going to marry Elizabeth. If only Elizabeth had not moved in with Eric Chamberlain in university, then the marriage proposal that Thérèse got, would have gone to Elizabeth instead. Let me also remind you that Michael Patterson wanted to propose to Deanna while they were both still in university.
posted by howard at 10:12 PM
7 Comments:
I can't agree with "athletic build." John has pretty much always had a gut. Lynn says she did that on purpose, to annoy Rod. And "self-assured" is a big territory. Yes, he is assured enough to have his own practice. But he is almost never confident in the home arena, usually bumbling his way through stuff and generally realizing himself to be clueless, thus deferring to his wife.
What makes me laugh is that Elly thinks she could attract such a man. Yes, she was pretty in these early strips. But she's average pretty, not a stunner. She has no talents that we know of, little education, is not athletic herself, is not witty, warm, considerate, or patient with children.
If Elly had to remarry, she would pick the first Anthony type she could find, who would be grateful to get her.
howard,
Now think back to where you met Elly. Now think about how important her education was to her after you two started dating seriously. Can you say, “Almost immediately quit school”? How did Elly end up with you, John Patterson? She hunted you and tracked you down, while all the time making it seem like it was your idea. The standard joke is that she got her MRS degree.
That's true. She did pursue him so that she didn't have to bother with all that studying. Not that she would admit that to anyone. I remember a later sequence that has her taking a night course. The instructor said that he had two yes of students: people genuinely wanting to better themselves and bored housewives like her who wanted to show off. Her reaction was the one she originally had when John said she was the one that wanted kids: blind rage.
qnjones,
What makes me laugh is that Elly thinks she could attract such a man. Yes, she was pretty in these early strips. But she's average pretty, not a stunner. She has no talents that we know of, little education, is not athletic herself, is not witty, warm, considerate, or patient with children.
If Elly had to remarry, she would pick the first Anthony type she could find, who would be grateful to get her.
To a man like John who married the first woman he ever dated more than the once, Elly would probably seem like a great catch. The reason he doesn't stray is the same reason she went into hysterics Tuseday: the 'knowledge' that he couldn't find a second Mrs Patterson on his own.
qnjones,
I can't agree with "athletic build." John has pretty much always had a gut.
Young John is more athletic-looking than older John, who did almost always have a gut.
But he is almost never confident in the home arena, usually bumbling his way through stuff and generally realizing himself to be clueless, thus deferring to his wife.
In Elly-land, no man is competent. No man is self-assured. I can’t judge John by how he operates in Elly-land, where someone is there to drop a hammer on his every mistake.
What makes me laugh is that Elly thinks she could attract such a man.
It’s almost like a phase I remember a lot of really young women going through, where anything less than the absolute best man will not suit her. My daughter at age 10, likes Zac Ephon from the High School Musical series, for example.
If Elly had to remarry, she would pick the first Anthony type she could find, who would be grateful to get her.
She might try to attract a non-Anthony type first and then settle for an Anthony type. This may be where the Warren Blackwood, Eric Chamberlain, Paul Wright stuff comes from, i.e. “I could have had them, but I chose Anthony instead.” versus "I drove away every decent guy who was interested in me, and so I settled for Anthony."
DreadedCandiru2,
I remember a later sequence that has her taking a night course. The instructor said that he had two yes of students: people genuinely wanting to better themselves and bored housewives like her who wanted to show off. Her reaction was the one she originally had when John said she was the one that wanted kids: blind rage.
Good parallel with today’s vain Elly.
howard,
She might try to attract a non-Anthony type first and then settle for an Anthony type. This may be where the Warren Blackwood, Eric Chamberlain, Paul Wright stuff comes from, i.e. “I could have had them, but I chose Anthony instead.” versus "I drove away every decent guy who was interested in me, and so I settled for Anthony."
This meshes nicely with her refusal to admit that she too has character flaws. Since she's prefect in every way what would look to everyone else like settling for a nondescript jerk is instead a carefully planned triumph. The fact that she'll end up yelling "What flaws????" at a departing vehicle after standing around gobsmacked for a minute or two like she does in tomorrow's reprint is irrelevant; she's all that and we dare not say otherwise.
dreadedcandiru2,
This meshes nicely with her refusal to admit that she too has character flaws.
The fact that she'll end up yelling "What flaws????" at a departing vehicle after standing around gobsmacked for a minute or two like she does in tomorrow's reprint is irrelevant; she's all that and we dare not say otherwise.
Of course, at the time the strip was originally published this was played for laughs. Early Elly was all about her flaws and her self-condemnation for her poor parenting. However, early Elly rarely ever condemned herself for poor wifery. She left that to Connie Poirier.
When we got to old Elly, not only had she forgotten about the poor parenting, but she was continually praising herself for her excellent parenting OR her kids were praising her. One of the subthemes of this strip is how Elly moved from being a person with flaws, who didn't like to admit them or have them pointed out; to a person who had no flaws and never had any.
It's good for us, because that self-righteous tone is what makes For Better or For Worse so much fun to snark.
Post a Comment
<< Home