The Fashions Time Forgot
According to Elly Patterson’s weekly letter on the For Better or For Worse website, she is taking up jogging to lose that weight she gained from eating 2 lollipops over Valentine’s Day. According to yesterday’s strip in For Better or For Worse, Anne Nichols is taking up jogging to lose the 20 lbs necessary for her to feel comfortable taking up the swinging lifestyle. Ultimately, Elly will continue her jogging habit with Connie Poirier, and will stop jogging with Anne. Now that I think about it, did Anne stop jogging because she got tired of it; or did she perhaps, lose that 20 lbs, try the swinging lifestyle, discovered she did not like it, and then stopped jogging with Elly because she no longer wanted to be a swinger? Maybe this is the side story that Lynn Johnston will tell in new-runs. More likely, Lynn will recycle a series of jogging jokes in her new-runs she has already told 5-6 times over the years. The “jog to the pastry shop” strip looms in our future.
In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, Anne and Elly try out jogging suits to motivate themselves to jog, on the premise that people who walk in jogging suits look like idiots. How exercise fashion has changed since 1980. Remember that the Jane Fonda Workout and Olivia Newton John’s Let's Get Physical did not happen until 1982. The movie Flashdance was in 1983. Within a matter of 2-3 years after this strip was originally presented, it became dated. In 2009, you look back at it and say, “Remember back when women used to be embarrassed to wear color-coordinated jogging suits in public?” And my honest answer to that question would be, “They were?” As I carefully examine the reprints, I keep getting the same feeling I did back in the 1970s, when I was a young lad and first discovered the idiosyncrasies of the 1950s, thanks to 50s retro, the TV show Happy Days and Nick at Nite. As for young people today, they can look at these old strips and say, “So that’s how things were when mom and pop were growing up? Weird.”
In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, Anne and Elly try out jogging suits to motivate themselves to jog, on the premise that people who walk in jogging suits look like idiots. How exercise fashion has changed since 1980. Remember that the Jane Fonda Workout and Olivia Newton John’s Let's Get Physical did not happen until 1982. The movie Flashdance was in 1983. Within a matter of 2-3 years after this strip was originally presented, it became dated. In 2009, you look back at it and say, “Remember back when women used to be embarrassed to wear color-coordinated jogging suits in public?” And my honest answer to that question would be, “They were?” As I carefully examine the reprints, I keep getting the same feeling I did back in the 1970s, when I was a young lad and first discovered the idiosyncrasies of the 1950s, thanks to 50s retro, the TV show Happy Days and Nick at Nite. As for young people today, they can look at these old strips and say, “So that’s how things were when mom and pop were growing up? Weird.”
posted by howard at 9:43 PM
9 Comments:
howard,
As I carefully examine the reprints, I keep getting the same feeling I did back in the 1970s, when I was a young lad and first discovered the idiosyncrasies of the 1950s, thanks to 50s retro, the TV show Happy Days and Nick at Nite. As for young people today, they can look at these old strips and say, “So that’s how things were when mom and pop were growing up? Weird.”
This is why her decision to try to make the strip timeless is such a bad idea; if she'd simply have started that we actually were back in what was supposed to be 1981, things like this wouldn't be commented on. We'd know that fashions were different and move on. By claiming that this doesn't take place in any era, she's made the same mistake Alan Alda made when he turned the 4077th into a temporal enclave of the late seventies stuck in 1950s Korea; I halfway expected the last episode of MASH would have everyone arrested by the Anachronism Police.
By claiming that this doesn't take place in any era,
I don't know if she has actually made this claim. People on the Coffee Talk asked the question when the Shania Twain thing came up, but I don't think they got an answer. In one interview Lynn talked about removing typewriters; however, the history for Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marian still includes their meeting during WWII. To be honest, with Mike in preschool and Deanna leaving at that time, I doubt that the author herself can answer the question. She seems to be pulling in strips from collections 1 and 2 at random, and then writing new stories based on her recollections from 30 years ago. I get no sense that she has an actual goal or purpose in mind, other than to occasionally draw stuff and take 1-2 week vacations every month.
What annoys me is, if she's going to rerun old strips, and tweak some of them, and add some new-old ones, she should use the opportunity to fix the storyline inconsistencies! Her vision of Anne Nichols eventually developed into the idea that she was ultra-Catholic, perpetually fat, with low self-esteem, and into organic food before her time. Connie was the jogging friend who would probably consider a threesome!
Therefore, this strip and yesterday's as well do not fit with the "final version" of Anne's character. If you're going to edit things, edit stuff that makes sense! She should've changed these strips to be Connie, not Anne, and drawn some new ones showing that Anne is, say, too shy to exercise in public and thinks threesomes are morally outrageous.
The wild inconsistencies bug me more and more because I hadn't seen the old strips since I was a kid (and some not at all). I never realized the extent to which FOOB was screwed up. Ugh.
Actually Lynn did respond about Shania Twain and timelessness:
I'm trying not to have any real time specific elements in the strip so that it will be comfortable for folks to read now. I realize there will be some bending of the "rules" such as the Shania Twain reference, but this is only to keep younger readers in the loop. The original lady in writing was "Cheryl Ladd". She may be as easily recognized today, but perhaps not!
I will only be doing "new runs" until I feel the story is strong enough to play out as it was originally written. At that time, you will enjoy NO changes, no swing from the original, and nothing new...and, no, I can't say when that will be!! For now, I want to make the earlier work better than it was. I may make an error here, an omission there...but I'm givin' it all I got!! ... and my philosophy is: If you do your best...that's about all you can do!
Lynn
qnjones,
If you're going to edit things, edit stuff that makes sense!
It would have made sense to make swinger Anne mesh with ultra-Catholic Anne. It seems more like what Lynn is trying to do is to put strips together with a common theme, much like she did during the hybrid period. The modern day strips would follow a plot sequence that starts on a Monday and ends on a Saturday. In some respects, I get the idea that Lynn is trying to do something like that with the old strips where she may have originally written a storyline that ran for 2-3 days. However, when she is doing this, she doesn’t seem to be taking the time to figure how that works together. For example, today’s strip makes it seem like Anne is taking up jogging so she can become a swinger, which is almost assuredly not the original intent of the storyline. More likely, Lynn put yesterday’s and today’s strip together because they both talked about exercise and weight loss.
aprilp_katje,
Actually Lynn did respond about Shania Twain and timelessness:
I stand corrected by the continuity goddess, once again.
I will only be doing "new runs" until I feel the story is strong enough to play out as it was originally written.
After seeing the new-run era for 5 months now, do you have any sense of what “strong enough” means?
For now, I want to make the earlier work better than it was.
I cannot fathom how she thinks this is the case, when a large number of the strips have been duplications of jokes she has done before in other strips, where she did them better. Do you think she is just talking about the art? Even Lynn, when she copies a joke she has done before, cannot think this is a “better than it was” situation.
Do you think “better than it was” means more Farley and removing every strip where John was a nice guy? If so, then I could buy her statement.
After seeing the new-run era for 5 months now, do you have any sense of what “strong enough” means?
I'm afraid I don't--especially since her new-runs create new continuity gaffes just about every week.
I cannot fathom how she thinks this is the case, when a large number of the strips have been duplications of jokes she has done before in other strips, where she did them better. Do you think she is just talking about the art?
Excellent question. It's possible that she's fixating on the art. But even so, it's difficult to understand why she gives the actual content so little attention.
Even Lynn, when she copies a joke she has done before, cannot think this is a “better than it was” situation.
I hope not--they all seem to fall into the category of "pale shadow of the original."
Do you think “better than it was” means more Farley and removing every strip where John was a nice guy? If so, then I could buy her statement.
This theory does make sense. First, she seems very focused on merchandising the book and plush toy; and second, she does seem to have an insatiable appetite for making Rod/John look bad.
Does Lynn currently own a dog who could serve as a model for new Farley strips?
Honestly, while "a gag a day where a dog gets into mischief" isn't something I personally consider the most interesting plot a comic strip could have, there are millions of people who love dogs and would enjoy a truly Farley-centric FBOFW. Furthermore, such a FBOFW would probably have fewer continuity errors, so Lynn would get fewer complaints about that.
I'd rather see that than Connie's dating issues or Anne talking about swinging.
I think LJ does have a dog, Joshua. I don't remember whether it was a relatively recent interview or the official website, but I do recall coming across a reference to her having one.
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