Prophecy of Doom
In today’s reprint in For Better or For Worse, Dr. John Patterson does the old “look at the mom to see how your wife is going to look when she gets old” business. Then he makes the joke about how he married Elly anyway, even though her mom was ugly. Yeah, that’s a funny one, John. Imagine the fun in the Johnston household when Ursula Ridgeway (Lynn’s mom) read that one.
Elly: But it was Rod who said it.
Ursula: But it was you who drew it and put it in a national paper.
Elly: I drew a picture of me with a giant, wobbly butt and put it in a national paper.
Ursula: Again, that’s you doing the drawing. And you had John say you were fine the way you were, even with your giant, wobbly butt. By the way, dear, you are actually very thin.
Elly: Thin! How dare you tell me such lies!! Oh! Yeah! Well, I think my nose is too small. I am going to start drawing myself with a giant nose.
Ursula: As long as you don’t draw me with a giant nose, then go right ahead dear.
Ironically, 20 years later Lynn Johnston does make Elly turn into her mother. Or rather I should say that she transformed both Elly and Marian from women with petite features into obese women with giant noses about the same time.
Elly: But it was Rod who said it.
Ursula: But it was you who drew it and put it in a national paper.
Elly: I drew a picture of me with a giant, wobbly butt and put it in a national paper.
Ursula: Again, that’s you doing the drawing. And you had John say you were fine the way you were, even with your giant, wobbly butt. By the way, dear, you are actually very thin.
Elly: Thin! How dare you tell me such lies!! Oh! Yeah! Well, I think my nose is too small. I am going to start drawing myself with a giant nose.
Ursula: As long as you don’t draw me with a giant nose, then go right ahead dear.
Ironically, 20 years later Lynn Johnston does make Elly turn into her mother. Or rather I should say that she transformed both Elly and Marian from women with petite features into obese women with giant noses about the same time.
posted by howard at 10:09 PM
14 Comments:
The more I read FOOB, the more I think that Rod and Lynn were a match made in heaven. I mean, it takes a special sort of ass to tell his wife that her mother is ugly, and he expects his wife will get that ugly, but that he married her in spite of this. And it takes a woman with an especially intractable personality disorder to then turn that into a "funny" strip that exposes the incident in papers across North America.
Those two should've stayed married. They are uniquely well suited to each other.
qnjones,
I'd have to agree with you there. The Almighty wanted to make sure that those two idiots stayed together so as to make life better for those around them. I imagine that Rod's relationships with other women had a short shelf life because of their refusal to deal with his crap. As for Lynn, she's got a lot of issues and she likes to share.
howard,
Ironically, 20 years later Lynn Johnston does make Elly turn into her mother. Or rather I should say that she transformed both Elly and Marian from women with petite features into obese women with giant noses about the same time.
Not only that, she'd turned both of them into what could best be described as John Patterson in drag. I know of the saying that sooner or later, spouses resemble one another but Lynn took that to a revolting extreme. It makes me fear for the Liz Caine and Deanna Patterson of 2032.
Keeping in mind that Lynn wrote this, it doesn't mean that Rod said it. Maybe Lynn reversed it and that's what she thought about Rod.
qnjones,
I mean, it takes a special sort of ass to tell his wife that her mother is ugly, and he expects his wife will get that ugly, but that he married her in spite of this.
And more importantly to think that she will take as a compliment that he loves her despite this ominous future of ugliness.
DreadedCandiru2,
I imagine that Rod's relationships with other women had a short shelf life because of their refusal to deal with his crap.
The rumour was that his affair was with a married woman who worked for Lynn, and that she has now left Rod and returned to her husband, so there is something to what you are saying.
As for Lynn, she's got a lot of issues and she likes to share.
Absolutely. Months of newspaper interviews with her dirty laundry and made-up stories of mistreatment.
Not only that, she'd turned both of them into what could best be described as John Patterson in drag.
It is interesting that you point this out. After all, Rod Johnston did not have a particularly large nose in real life in my opinion, and yet, he starts off at the very beginning of the strip with a big nose. We have seen enough of these reprints from the first year to see that Lynn had a hate on for Rod from the very beginning, and his nose size could be just another element of that.
Anonymous,
Keeping in mind that Lynn wrote this, it doesn't mean that Rod said it. Maybe Lynn reversed it and that's what she thought about Rod.
I am pretty sure that a lot of the more insulting things attributed to John Patterson in the comic strip were things which were either not said by Rod or taken out of context. Many times the whole strip has the feel of a woman who is passively and nationally showing her frustrations at something her husband said. I often think that Rod’s reaction to some of the strips was either “But, when I said that, it was because of this other thing that happened” or “I was just joking. I didn’t know you were that upset when I said that.”
On the other hand, husbands insulting their mothers-in-law is not uncommon in this strip. There were a number of strips where Michael Patterson would say insulting things about Mira Sobinski as a joke to Deanna. Deanna would then disapprove, but also laugh at clever Mike, calling her mother a witch (or something like that).
Of course, it is not certain that Rod said this. But we know from interviews that Lynn had a habit of taking things Rod said and turning them into strips, and that he didn't like it. Since almost every word out of John's mouth is assy in some way, my conclusion is the same, whether this particular strip is based in truth or not.
qnjones,
we know from interviews that Lynn had a habit of taking things Rod said and turning them into strips, and that he didn't like it.
Despite this fact, he stayed married to her for decades. I think you are right that they were well suited to each other. Statistically speaking, it is unusual for couples who have been married as long as Lynn and Rod were, to divorce. It's strange that after the two of them put up with each other that long, Rod would decide he had had enough.
We also know from interviews that Rod asked Lynn to not make John look so stupid, because people were starting to think Rod was that stupid. I'm not going to fall for Lynn's bash-Rod agenda.
I do not see what Lynn wants me to see in this strip. John never says Elly's mother was ugly. He does say he married Elly "anyways", but that could be taken as "and in twenty years you'll look like your mother and she's still an attractive woman." Or it could be taken as a dumb joke, which is how I look at it. John has just laid his heart on the line, with "I'll love you forever", and Elly has done nothing to reciprocate. Does she ever? So John makes a joke, because his attempt at intimacy has failed. Again.
My peers have always thought my mother was hot. I got a lot of "that can't be your mother, it must be your sister". I did have a boyfriend who joked that he saw what my mom looked like and decided he'd hang onto me because of that. We were totally unsuited, he was too hung up on looks. If a man told me he was with me because of my looks, that's when I'd be reaching for the coffee cups.
clio-1,
Or it could be taken as a dumb joke, which is how I look at it. John has just laid his heart on the line, with "I'll love you forever", and Elly has done nothing to reciprocate. Does she ever?
Thanks to AMU reprints which goes back to 1996, I can check this out. I have searched for “John” and “love” together and found the following interesting strips:
10/21/1997
Elly says, “I love the grey in your hair.”
11/27/1999
This strip was an interesting contrast to today’s strip:
John: You still think I look OK?
Elly: You look great.
John: What about the grey hair?
Elly: It’s silver and extremely attractive.
John: What about the sagging chin?
Elly: John, you have an expressive face with lots of character.
John: I’m glad you can love all my sags, bags, rolls and wrinkles, Elly.
Elly: MMM. (thinks) but I hate them on me!
6/21/2001
Elly says, “I love you, honey.” (thinks) When a man has a hobby (model trains) like this…you always know where he is!
Here she qualifies her love by thinking she loves him because she doesn’t have to wonder where he is, i.e. if he’s messing around on her.
12/11/2005
While looking out at Mike and the kids playing in the snow, Elly says, “Look, honey. Remember how you used to play with Mike and Lizzie in the snow? You showed them how to make forts and angels and snowmen. I’d watch from the window…and it made me fall in love with you all over again. (John then goes outside to play with Mike and the kids).”
That’s kind of a funny, sad one, actually. The humour is derived from how desperate John is for affection from Elly.
1/1/2006
Elly says, "I love you, honey!!" (After John agrees to fold laundry the way Elly wants him too).
Here she qualifies her love by coupling it with John's obedience to her way of doing things.
Overall, I can say that Elly gives John qualified love 3 times in the last 13 years.
If a man told me he was with me because of my looks, that's when I'd be reaching for the coffee cups.
I presume to hurl them, Elly style, at the oaf’s head.
Clio,
Believe Rod to be the victim of slander if you like. I've read some of his quotes in interviews and he comes across as every bit as much an ass as John Patterson, if not more so. At least in my estimation.
And while most women don't want to be loved solely for their looks, most married women want to believe that their husband finds them attractive. What John says here is clearly intended to state that he fully expects Elly to start looking unattractive in 10 years or so. Most people don't take "jokes" like that too well. It's an assy thing to say.
qnjones,
I've read some of his quotes in interviews and he comes across as every bit as much an ass as John Patterson, if not more so.
The recent quote from the Chicago Tribune article that made Rod look like an ass was a 4-year-old quote from a reporter whose bias for Lynn in the divorce was pretty evident. In other interviews, the assy quotes attributed to Rod are mostly taken from things Lynn said he said. In your favour is the old CBC interview with Lynn from 1980, where Rod has a few assy moments which are undeniably Rod, since you can see them coming from his mouth.
The problem with looking at these strips so many years after they have been done is:
a. Lynn Johnston has delivered enough nonsense in her interviews over the years to make it difficult to tell if she is telling truth or fiction, especially when it comes to describing things Rod did or did not do.
b. Rod Johnston hasn’t done any For Better or For Worse-related interviews in a long time.
c. The events happened almost 30 years ago, when Lynn was living in Lynn Lake and was not very happy to be there.
d. In the context of this strip and the story it is telling, clearly John Patterson is an ass. As for Rod, the author of the strip thinks he is an ass too. As to whether Rod really was an ass and said these things, we will never know.
qnjones said
What John says here is clearly intended to state that he fully expects Elly to start looking unattractive in 10 years or so.
Well, I disagree with that. For one thing, it would have to be 15-20 years or so for her to start looking like her mother. For another, I really don't think it's an assy thing to say, and I would not take it badly. Having a significant other who likes your looks is nice, I guess, but I want my s.o. to find me attractive because of my mind and personality -- and he does. Elly's far uglier inside than out, so her fears that no one will love her if she isn't pretty are well-founded.
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