The Condescending Pat
In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, we have Phil coming home a second time from taking out Connie and it is an interesting contrast from the prior time when he came home from visiting Connie in the December 30th strip:
1. On December 30th, Phil apologizes for being late. There is not such apology today, as Elly is waiting up for Phil.
2. On December 30th, Phil had a long description of his and Connie’s conversation. Today, Phil is not talking.
3. On December 30th, Phil angered Elly by listing his opinion of Connie in detail. Today, Phil angered Elly by being out with Connie later than Elly felt he should.
4. On December 30th, Elly plays things nonchalantly, because she does not want Phil to suspect that she set up his meeting with Connie. Today, she is jumping down his throat the minute he walks in the door.
It is easy to assume that Phil’s actions are different in today’s strip because he and Connie did some things which he does not care to repeat to Elly. However, the other possibility is that Phil has changed because Elly’s reaction to him has changed. On December 30th, Elly was not after Phil to find out what happened. In today’s strip, she definitely is. Phil could be, in each case, giving Elly exactly what she does not want, in order to antagonize her. The key ingredient of this is when Phil pats her head as he says, “That’s all I’m going to tell you.”
I just spent a week with my brother-in-law staying in our house for Christmas to New Years, and believe me, sibling antagonization continues to occur even when the siblings are in their 40s. Looking at these strips with those eyes, I can see the story here to be more about Phil and Elly than Phil and Connie, whom we have yet to see together. As for Phil and Connie, what you have is this:
a. Phil uncovers rapidly that his meeting with Connie was setup by his sister. Considering how clueless Phil is in later strips, the implication is that Connie was so obvious in her intent that even a clueless man could pick up on it.
b. The result of the meeting was not that Phil thought Connie and he only had allergies in common. The result of the meeting was Connie asking Phil to take her to her staff New Year’s Eve Party and Phil accepting. I have tortured my wife with staff holiday parties from time-to-time. It is very difficult for a spouse or a date to handle, because they know no one, and often conversation will lead to shop talk. I think it is safe to say that Phil and Connie really hit it off during their first meeting for Connie to extend that invitation and for Phil to accept.
c. In both cases, the 2 meetings between Phil and Connie took longer than one might reasonably expect. Considering Connie’s history with men and Phil’s willingness to discuss blonde nubiles with 6-year-olds, the natural assumption is that they were physically intimate.
d. Whatever happened between Connie and Phil leaves Connie motivated to check out Montreal. I think it is safe to say that they were more than friendly to get that kind of reaction.
1. On December 30th, Phil apologizes for being late. There is not such apology today, as Elly is waiting up for Phil.
2. On December 30th, Phil had a long description of his and Connie’s conversation. Today, Phil is not talking.
3. On December 30th, Phil angered Elly by listing his opinion of Connie in detail. Today, Phil angered Elly by being out with Connie later than Elly felt he should.
4. On December 30th, Elly plays things nonchalantly, because she does not want Phil to suspect that she set up his meeting with Connie. Today, she is jumping down his throat the minute he walks in the door.
It is easy to assume that Phil’s actions are different in today’s strip because he and Connie did some things which he does not care to repeat to Elly. However, the other possibility is that Phil has changed because Elly’s reaction to him has changed. On December 30th, Elly was not after Phil to find out what happened. In today’s strip, she definitely is. Phil could be, in each case, giving Elly exactly what she does not want, in order to antagonize her. The key ingredient of this is when Phil pats her head as he says, “That’s all I’m going to tell you.”
I just spent a week with my brother-in-law staying in our house for Christmas to New Years, and believe me, sibling antagonization continues to occur even when the siblings are in their 40s. Looking at these strips with those eyes, I can see the story here to be more about Phil and Elly than Phil and Connie, whom we have yet to see together. As for Phil and Connie, what you have is this:
a. Phil uncovers rapidly that his meeting with Connie was setup by his sister. Considering how clueless Phil is in later strips, the implication is that Connie was so obvious in her intent that even a clueless man could pick up on it.
b. The result of the meeting was not that Phil thought Connie and he only had allergies in common. The result of the meeting was Connie asking Phil to take her to her staff New Year’s Eve Party and Phil accepting. I have tortured my wife with staff holiday parties from time-to-time. It is very difficult for a spouse or a date to handle, because they know no one, and often conversation will lead to shop talk. I think it is safe to say that Phil and Connie really hit it off during their first meeting for Connie to extend that invitation and for Phil to accept.
c. In both cases, the 2 meetings between Phil and Connie took longer than one might reasonably expect. Considering Connie’s history with men and Phil’s willingness to discuss blonde nubiles with 6-year-olds, the natural assumption is that they were physically intimate.
d. Whatever happened between Connie and Phil leaves Connie motivated to check out Montreal. I think it is safe to say that they were more than friendly to get that kind of reaction.
posted by howard at 10:48 PM
8 Comments:
Phil's refusal to say anything in this strip makes me think that this is the first time he slept with Connie. If Phil is comfortable denying details to Elly when it suits him, then he would have no reason to lie about what they did on the previous meeting.
qnjones,
That's what I think; she might have been overly friendly in their first meeting but they didn't do the deed until just now.
howard,
It seems you are right to conclude that he's so good at what he does that Connie goes to Montreal on what Doctor Venture called "Operation Get-me-some"; she might be trying to make whatever he does in bed a permanent part of her life.
IMHO, Montreal was more about trying to turn a one-night thing into a more permanent relationship. Because Connie and the women in this strip in general do not understand that sex and love are two different things.
qnjones,
Because Connie and the women in this strip in general do not understand that sex and love are two different things.
No, they do not; they all share their creator's inability to see that sex isn't always a springboard to a relationship. Even Evil Becky thought that Jeffo loved her when they went roadside; it would never occur to Lynn to present a woman who wasn't evil who wanted casual sex. Casual sex is one of those unfair things selfish, disgusting, nasty men use to oppress helpless women like her.
[Shameless plug]You can see what's been going on between Phil and Connie over at FOOBAR. :) [/Shameless plug]
In today's I even threw in a visual detail for you, howtheduck--and Monday's will have several for you to find.
qnjones,
If Phil is comfortable denying details to Elly when it suits him, then he would have no reason to lie about what they did on the previous meeting.
Either situation is possible. However, the details that Phil listed for the first meeting were things like good legs and good teeth, like he was checking a horse for a purchase. I think they were less lies and more things Phil was saying to needle Elly about the fact she set him up.
Because Connie and the women in this strip in general do not understand that sex and love are two different things.
Possibly. However, Connie isn’t after love. She’s after a husband. And the women in this strip are notorious for using sex and unexpected children to get and control a husband. There are almost no women in this strip that find love.
DreadedCandiru2,
Even Evil Becky thought that Jeffo loved her when they went roadside; it would never occur to Lynn to present a woman who wasn't evil who wanted casual sex.
I can sort of agree with this one. There are the examples of Candace and Rudy, and Weed and Carleen; both unmarried couples living with each other and pretty clearly having sex. However, in both cases, they have remained faithful and loyal to each other for years, so their sex can not truly be considered casual. Aside from Rhetta Blum and Connie Poirier, I can’t think of any female characters who were known as bed-hoppers in this strip.
I would say that the women in this strip define "love" as "marriage + children." (In other words, a socially acceptable/respectable living situation.) It's like they don't even realize there could be more to it.
And sex is just something you use to get "love."
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