How Elly Saved Connie from the Personal Ads
In today’s For Better or For Worse we get the reprint of the strip which originally followed right after the one that Lynn Johnston redrew for Saturday. Instead of taking the opportunity to modernize the strip to mention a web-based dating site; Lynn Johnston has opted to stick Connie with the original personals ad. By placing Monday’s strip in between, Lynn makes it seem like Connie wrote the ad; went to tell Elly who was not there and “talked” to John instead; and then produced the ad when Elly approached her about it later on. If I were to continue my theory from yesterday that Lynn is hinting about something between John and Connie, then today’s strip could easily be interpreted as Elly lecturing Connie about her man obsession, while Connie’s response is not really to Elly’s lecture but to the idea about whether or not she will continue doing things with John. That interpretation works surprisingly well.
The interesting part about this strip is what is being condemned and by whom. The what is the advertisement in the Personals. However, the who is Elly Patterson, the same person who was trying to set up her friend with her brother. It seems a little hypocritical for her to complain about Connie’s man obsession all things considered. I remember back in the 1980s, personals ads were considered to be a little sleazy and they were known for attracting weirdos. What you really have is Elly’s opinion that Connie’s man obsession is OK if you are set up by friends, but not OK if you are set up from a personals advertisement. This is possibly the reason why Lynn didn’t update the strip to say web-based dating, because many of them are considered higher class than the old personal ads from the 1980s. That and the possibility that Lynn Johnston has never heard of web-based dating.
Given that Connie’s hunt for a man continued on for years after this strip was originally printed, the perspective of the strip really is that Connie dodged the personal ads bullet thanks to Elly’s intervention. Thanks Elly! You saved Connie from dating some crazy nutcase who wants to sleep with a lot of different women and who has an unhealthy obsession with his mother. Now let’s bring on Ted McCaulay for Connie.
The interesting part about this strip is what is being condemned and by whom. The what is the advertisement in the Personals. However, the who is Elly Patterson, the same person who was trying to set up her friend with her brother. It seems a little hypocritical for her to complain about Connie’s man obsession all things considered. I remember back in the 1980s, personals ads were considered to be a little sleazy and they were known for attracting weirdos. What you really have is Elly’s opinion that Connie’s man obsession is OK if you are set up by friends, but not OK if you are set up from a personals advertisement. This is possibly the reason why Lynn didn’t update the strip to say web-based dating, because many of them are considered higher class than the old personal ads from the 1980s. That and the possibility that Lynn Johnston has never heard of web-based dating.
Given that Connie’s hunt for a man continued on for years after this strip was originally printed, the perspective of the strip really is that Connie dodged the personal ads bullet thanks to Elly’s intervention. Thanks Elly! You saved Connie from dating some crazy nutcase who wants to sleep with a lot of different women and who has an unhealthy obsession with his mother. Now let’s bring on Ted McCaulay for Connie.
posted by howard at 11:03 PM
13 Comments:
Actually, I would have guessed that Lynn does a lot of web-based dating. She would have one of those ads that unintentionally signals that she is a crazy emotional nutcase, like:
DWF, 60ish, self-made millionaire, attractive but with an extra 10 pounds some days and also arm flaps, looking for a man who is NOT A CHEATER (like most men) and not that interested in sex, and who is not threatened by my fabulous success, but also is not looking for me to support him (I have two ungrateful adult children to support and my ex-husband took all my money so it's not like I can afford it anyway, I can barely buy groceries with the few tens of millions I have left). Must be willing to move to wonderful metropolitan Corbeil (pop. ~2000), which is so much better than that rural hellhole known as Lynn Lake (which according to a 2004 census has about 800 residents, all of them adulterers). Should work out regularly but still have a gut so I won't feel bad about myself. No freaks, emotional nutcases, or model train enthusiasts need apply.
Anyway, I'm a little tired of Lynn's double-edged sword for singles. On one hand, singles are freaks for not being married. But on the other hand, if they have to make an effort to find a partner, or have some travails along the way, they are totally out of line and out of control. Yes, Connie here is acting kind of desperate. But many of her individual acts are not that crazy. I know a number of normal people who met via personal ads. Also I don't like that one little semi-meltdown over her inability to find a date means that she is dismissed as someone who has gone completely insane. I mean, it sounds like John practically threw her out of the house in Saturday's strip. It's as if singledom is equated with insanity. Please. My single life is nice, quiet, and orderly. Shall we compare that to Lynn's insane divorce drama, hmm?
howard,
Given that Connie’s hunt for a man continued on for years after this strip was originally printed, the perspective of the strip really is that Connie dodged the personal ads bullet thanks to Elly’s intervention. Thanks Elly! You saved Connie from dating some crazy nutcase who wants to sleep with a lot of different women and who has an unhealthy obsession with his mother. Now let’s bring on Ted McCaulay for Connie.
We know that Connie does get put through the wringer by Ted and his mother, Evil Old Scottish Person. We also know that if she'd ran the ad, she'd get mauled just as badly by a clone of Ted and HIS mother, Evil Old Ethnicity-to-be-later named-later person. Either way, she's going to get scorched but good in much the same way so it really makes no difference who does it. Since the Pattersons are stupid, they'll see a distinction we do not: the means by which the jerkwad love interest entered Connie's life. Since Ted appeared out of nowhere instead of being actively searched for, they can empathize with Connie.
::snerk:: That ad is hilarious and so fitting, qnjones.
My husband and I met through a personals ad--over 16 years ago. :)
Since Ted appeared out of nowhere instead of being actively searched for, they can empathize with Connie.
He appeared in the Pattersons' house, as he was house-sitting while they were on vacation in what turned out to be the wrong cabin. Connie took pity on Ted's helplessness and did the housework for him.
Love the ad! Nail. On. Head.
"Connie took pity on Ted's helplessness and did the housework for him."
Eesh, yet another strip that's not timeless at all. People these days don't generally think being able to do housework is a female secondary sexual characteristic.
It sounds like a set-up for a porn movie. Yes, she "helped" him with "housework", that's why she was at your house Elly, uh-huh. Actually a lot of Lynn's ideas seem to be like that: hunky cop drives many miles to meet hot teacher, single neighbor pours her heart out to her best friend's husband while bf is out of the house, a bunch of firefighters come over and leave their boots on...
qnjones,
That’s a very funny Lynn advertisement.
On one hand, singles are freaks for not being married. But on the other hand, if they have to make an effort to find a partner, or have some travails along the way, they are totally out of line and out of control.
Lynn Johnston has had characters express it from time-to-time, but she really pushes that “fate” thing as the means to find a spouse and has been pretty consistent about it starting from Connie and going all the way to Elizabeth with Anthony.
It's as if singledom is equated with insanity. Please. My single life is nice, quiet, and orderly. Shall we compare that to Lynn's insane divorce drama, hmm?
There is a tremendous pressure in our society to get married. I remember in my university days doing a research paper on how manners affected the forming of the young United States, and running across a startling statistic. In 1980, 85% of the people in America were or had been married by the time they reached the age of 40. In 1890, it was only 40%. The concept of the maiden aunt or the confirmed bachelor seems to have died out. Judging from the almost 50% divorce rate in the US, I think it is fairly safe to say that maybe these ideas should come back. It seems to me that there are a large number of people who should not ever get married to anyone. Of course, if everyone stuck to the “fate” idea espoused by Lynn Johnston to find a spouse, I think the number of persons getting married would plummet dramatically.
::snerk::
What happened was that Elly noticed the house was clean and tidy and said something like, "You're the one who took care of the house while we were gone, were'nt you?" And she needled Connie for going against her ideals about gender equality. Connie then unleashed the "but he was so helpless" defense.
clio-1,
People these days don't generally think being able to do housework is a female secondary sexual characteristic.
Except when they are advertising cleaning products. The “helpless man who is corrected and helped by the knowledgeable woman wielding the cleaning product” is still a very popular commercial standard.
It sounds like a set-up for a porn movie.
You have reminded me of one of my favourite Mike monthly letters:
Mike's Letter, April 2006
It was a late but sober night. Jo Weeder and I seconded ourselves in an all night café with our dearest of cronies. We couldn't get enough time together. We couldn't get enough of the joy that comes from being with people who knew you when - and loved you when, and can laugh now at everything. It wasn't a reunion, it was a communion of souls, of spirits, of like minds.
It was four in the morning when Weed and I unlocked the door to our room and fell, fully clothed, into bed. Now that was like j-school...minus the pain.
Jo fell asleep instantly. I listened to him breathing and remembered the times we'd slept on dorm room floors and apartment hallways after an evening at the pub.
howard,
The concept of the maiden aunt or the confirmed bachelor seems to have died out. Judging from the almost 50% divorce rate in the US, I think it is fairly safe to say that maybe these ideas should come back. It seems to me that there are a large number of people who should not ever get married to anyone.
We've spent the last three decades being shown this, haven't we? The Lizthony debacle was a text-book example of two people who had no business being in any form of relationship getting together and making the world worse by putting those who did through the wringer. April predicted that the two of them would plow through the lives of people actually capable of building a life with another person out of pea-brained spite. We can also safely add Elly, John, Mike and Deanna to that list.
"The “helpless man who is corrected and helped by the knowledgeable woman wielding the cleaning product” is still a very popular commercial standard."
Yeah, along with the "woman does all the cooking and cleaning while man and boys sit on their thumbs, which she's fine with for some reason." I don't know who they're marketing to with those things; they're insulting to women, to men, even to children. I actually think they've gotten worse since I was a kid, too, though men have been doing more of their fair share than they were twenty years ago. There's some kind of psychosocial study to be had there.
dreadedcandiru2,
April predicted that the two of them would plow through the lives of people actually capable of building a life with another person out of pea-brained spite.
She certainly ended up being right about that. As I have said before, the story of Anthony and Elizabeth works better that way - the story of 2 self-obsessed lovers destroying everyone foolish enough to get involved with them. I must admit that one of my majour disappointments is not getting to see Lynn Johnston write the story of their post-wedding life, as she would continue to try to portray them as a couple in love and would fail just as miserably as she did during their courtship.
clio-1,
I actually think they've gotten worse since I was a kid, too, though men have been doing more of their fair share than they were twenty years ago.
There is the key ingredient. Although men have been doing more, I understand as a societal average, women still do more household work than men and I wouldn’t be surprised if women are the ones who purchase the cleaning supplies. Even though the commercials are offensive, there may be quite a few women out there for whom the division of labour situation is still accurate.
While I have never been near either town, I suspect that life in Corbeil is very different from life in Lynn Lake, despite their similar populations. Corbeil is within 10 miles of North Bay, a fairly decent-sized city by Canadian standards (population over 50,000). Lynn Lake is hundreds of miles from any city the size of North Bay, and a good portion of the drive to such a city would have to be on unpaved road.
I personally might be able to bear living in Corbeil due to its access to a decent-sized city, but living in Lynn Lake would be a major culture shock for me.
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