Michael = Hair Dresser
The oddest part about today’s For Better or For Worse is "why?" Why isn’t Mike doing Farley’s hair with a friend? My sisters used to put ribbons and hair clasps into our dog’s hair; but they did it together. It was not an “alone” type of activity. Michael has taken these hair products and used them on Farley for his own enjoyment, or perhaps it is the means by which he expresses his art. There is no sense he plans to show off his handiwork to others; so I guess that young Michael is actually expressing his hair-dressing art. Fill in your favourite connection between Michael, hidden homosexuality, and hairdressers.
The final panel is not drawn very well, but I think young Michael has given Farley a Mohawk from his back to his Dr. Seuss-style attached head. That’s quite a bit of hair stuff in Farley’s fur and I wonder how he got Farley to stand still and take that kind of treatment. The answer is that Farley is a wonder dog, and incredible with children, and be sure to buy his book when it comes out in April.
The final panel is not drawn very well, but I think young Michael has given Farley a Mohawk from his back to his Dr. Seuss-style attached head. That’s quite a bit of hair stuff in Farley’s fur and I wonder how he got Farley to stand still and take that kind of treatment. The answer is that Farley is a wonder dog, and incredible with children, and be sure to buy his book when it comes out in April.
posted by howard at 10:43 PM
15 Comments:
I think the psychology of kids who have widely spaced siblings is sometimes more like that of only children. Mike is five years older than Liz, and she is just a baby still, really. I think kids like that tend to play alone more. It doesn't seem that weird to me.
Is this a new run? If so, maybe Lynn is trying to emphasize Mike's sensitive, artistic, girly nature while also reminding us that he was a destructive little brute, and Elly is constantly suffering.
At least he didn't play Hair Stylist on Lizzie. When I was little, my mom once caught me playing Beauty Parlor with my little sister...and a pair of scissors.
qnjones,
Is this a new run? If so, maybe Lynn is trying to emphasize Mike's sensitive, artistic, girly nature while also reminding us that he was a destructive little brute, and Elly is constantly suffering.
That's pretty much what Lynn is going for here. The strip should actually be called "The Endless Woe of Elly Patterson" or something. No matter what the stimulus, Elly's response is always the same: despair.
howard,
That’s quite a bit of hair stuff in Farley’s fur and I wonder how he got Farley to stand still and take that kind of treatment. The answer is that Farley is a wonder dog, and incredible with children, and be sure to buy his book when it comes out in April.
At least when she's shilling the book she's not distorting the timeline so that's one good thing.
qnjones,
Mike is five years older than Liz, and she is just a baby still, really. I think kids like that tend to play alone more. It doesn't seem that weird to me.
That could be. In the past, when Lynn went with the “torture the dog” kid sequences, she often had the Patterson child operating with their friends and not their siblings. I would have expected Lawrence to be there. It seems to me that if Mike were trying different hair styles off on Farley, he would want an audience.
At least he didn't play Hair Stylist on Lizzie. When I was little, my mom once caught me playing Beauty Parlor with my little sister...and a pair of scissors.
That might have been more fun (and more realistic) than Mike with Farley; because Lizzie probably would have cooperated. I cannot see any dog Farley’s age going along with Mike’s hair design plans. Puppies are too squirmy.
My daughter once applied makeup (permanent magic marker) to my son’s face to make him look like a tiger. It was pretty effective, and took awhile to get off his face. On the other hand, we have some great pictures of him, before the face-cleaning.
DreadedCandiru2,
No matter what the stimulus, Elly's response is always the same: despair.
Despair? I would go with shock and horror. If Mike were my kid and Farley my dog, my next step as a parent would be to get the camera. Consider how Elly goes on about her slides and photo albums, you would think she would too.
At least when she's shilling the book she's not distorting the timeline so that's one good thing.
Timeline, no. But she seems to be losing her grip on how to draw Farley. It’s no wonder they had to pull in 2 artists aside from Lynn to work on that Farley book.
Mike is five years older than Liz, and she is just a baby still, really.
Ooh, this reminds me of another timeline issue I guess Lynn will never reconcile. Mike and Liz were originally four years apart, and this shifted to five years much later (well after April was born). Though if Lynn's even thinking of that at all, I'm guessing she might have enough self-awareness to figure the strip is unlikely to stay in papers long enough for that to become an issue.
I've heard of a term for children 5 years+ separated from any other (especially any younger?) sibling: "pseudo-only-child". I think it is widely seen that they don't interact in the same way with their sibs, because of the age difference.
I see Elly's reaction as shock and horror, and it is really grating on me. There can't ever be a shocked, but amused expression? A snicker? Something other than the horror! the horror!? He's a first-grader. He hasn't done anything horrible. It's fixable. Get over it.
There are no sweet moments. There are no strips with Elly or John struggling not to laugh while trying to discipline the kids for funny misbehaviour, much less just seeing what their kids do as entertaining or amusing. Errgh.
howard,
Despair? I would go with shock and horror. If Mike were my kid and Farley my dog, my next step as a parent would be to get the camera. Consider how Elly goes on about her slides and photo albums, you would think she would too.
An Elly who got out a camera any time someobody did something weird would be a more interesting character than the wet blanker we have now. I don't know about you but I'd rather read about Keep-that-camera-away-from-me Elly that Easily-Outraged Elly any day
This is an old gag. P. 11 of "What, Me Pregnant?" has Mike rummaging through cupboards, only to find that Liz has stolen his brush and hairspray so she could give Farley a Mohawk.
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Anonymous,
I have that collection. Instead of being horrified the Liz is using his stuff on Farley, Mike is cheesed off. It's just another day of being forced to not only put up with Lizardbreath but get lectured about how family is family so STOP PICKING ON YOUR SISTER.
aprilp_katje,
Mike and Liz were originally four years apart, and this shifted to five years much later (well after April was born).
Maybe this explains why Grade 1 Mike is 5 years old.
InsertMonikerHere,
I see Elly's reaction as shock and horror, and it is really grating on me. There can't ever be a shocked, but amused expression?
This is Lynn Johnston using a comedic shorthand. She think Elly’s horrified expression is funny, and so that what she uses, even if it is not appropriate for the circumstance.
There are no sweet moments.
In the original reprints, there were some sweet moments, but they were extracted out because they made John and Michael look too good. It is one of the downsides of the author using her strip to seek revenge against her ex-husband and those who side with him.
Anonymous
P. 11 of "What, Me Pregnant?" has Mike rummaging through cupboards, only to find that Liz has stolen his brush and hairspray so she could give Farley a Mohawk.
I see. So this falls into the category of reusing material that has yet to be reprinted, which is a common category for the new-runs.
DreadedCandiru2
An Elly who got out a camera any time someobody did something weird would be a more interesting character than the wet blanker we have now.
She did make an appearance in this strip, and if you compare it to today’s strip, you can see it was a much better strip for it. Of course, the big difference in that strip was that there is no mess for Elly to clean up. I think a mess completely affects her outlook.
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