Not Employed For Her Punning Ability
It was good to know in today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse, that Dr. John Patterson’s dental assistant looks a lot more like April Patterson than Shania Twain. Of course, this could be how Lynn Johnston thinks Shania Twain looks.
The more interesting part is a theme I have noticed where Dr. Patterson seems to like dental assistants who do word play. Jennifer, Dr. Patterson’s assistant in 2003, was clearly expected to make a pun on the word “explorer” in this strip from June 22, 2003. Today’s assistant from 1980 tries, but “out-of-date” to “date I got out of” is weak at best. With this kind of requirement for working with John, I can see why he might have difficulty keeping an assistant.
The comparison between that June 22, 2003 strip and today’s is very interesting.
In 2003, Lynn Johnston put Grandpa Jim in a mask covering his mouth for getting his crown. There is a mask on Mavis Snodwigg which shows up in the final panel, but not in the prior 2. It’s too bad, Lynn couldn’t be bothered to draw it in all the panels, once she realized she had left it out of panels 2 and 3. Of course Lynn also appears to be so distracted by drawing the mask in Panel 4 that she forgot to draw Mavis’ glasses in Panel 4.
In 2003, Lynn drew the detail of the dental bib on Grandpa Jim, so it had those little absorbent stripes across. Mavis Snodwigg looks like she is wearing a cloth napkin tied around her neck.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer, are actually sitting down while they work on Grandpa Jim. With Mavis Snodwigg, they haven’t learned how to lower the head on the dentist chair, so they are standing for the operation. The last time I had dental work, the dentist and the assistant both sat.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer appear to be using dental tools for the operation. With Mavis Snodwigg, it appears to be a pen, a turkey baster, a rubber hose, and dental floss. Also, judging from Dr. Patterson’s fist in Panel 2, in addition to nitrous, he appears to be beating Mavis in the head as an additional anesthetic.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer are operating without an overhead light. With Mavis Snodwigg, there is an overhead light in Panel 2, that immediately disappears in Panels 3 and 4, but at least it was there.
As for the theme of the strip, where John Patterson actually says that Ted McCaulay’s attitude towards women is so out of date, all I can say is “pot meet the kettle.”
John’s only statement about the matter during the whole Ted sequence this week is “Forgive me for saying this, Ted – but you need someone else in your life!” Behind that is the idea that a man needs a woman, and he needs it to be someone other than his mother. This is very close to saying that women exist to meet men’s needs.
Dr. Ted, on the other hand, defines his needs as “cooking, cleaning, laundry, and romance.” He says he has a consistent source with his mom for the cooking, cleaning and laundry. He says that after marriage, the romance cools off, and all that is left from a woman is her cooking, cleaning, and laundry; so he plans to play the field.
As far as I can tell, the difference between Dr. John Patterson’s attitude towards women and Dr. Ted McCaulay’s attitude towards women is Dr. Ted defines what needs of men that women exist to meet.
The more interesting part is a theme I have noticed where Dr. Patterson seems to like dental assistants who do word play. Jennifer, Dr. Patterson’s assistant in 2003, was clearly expected to make a pun on the word “explorer” in this strip from June 22, 2003. Today’s assistant from 1980 tries, but “out-of-date” to “date I got out of” is weak at best. With this kind of requirement for working with John, I can see why he might have difficulty keeping an assistant.
The comparison between that June 22, 2003 strip and today’s is very interesting.
In 2003, Lynn Johnston put Grandpa Jim in a mask covering his mouth for getting his crown. There is a mask on Mavis Snodwigg which shows up in the final panel, but not in the prior 2. It’s too bad, Lynn couldn’t be bothered to draw it in all the panels, once she realized she had left it out of panels 2 and 3. Of course Lynn also appears to be so distracted by drawing the mask in Panel 4 that she forgot to draw Mavis’ glasses in Panel 4.
In 2003, Lynn drew the detail of the dental bib on Grandpa Jim, so it had those little absorbent stripes across. Mavis Snodwigg looks like she is wearing a cloth napkin tied around her neck.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer, are actually sitting down while they work on Grandpa Jim. With Mavis Snodwigg, they haven’t learned how to lower the head on the dentist chair, so they are standing for the operation. The last time I had dental work, the dentist and the assistant both sat.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer appear to be using dental tools for the operation. With Mavis Snodwigg, it appears to be a pen, a turkey baster, a rubber hose, and dental floss. Also, judging from Dr. Patterson’s fist in Panel 2, in addition to nitrous, he appears to be beating Mavis in the head as an additional anesthetic.
In 2003, Dr. Patterson and his assistant Jennifer are operating without an overhead light. With Mavis Snodwigg, there is an overhead light in Panel 2, that immediately disappears in Panels 3 and 4, but at least it was there.
As for the theme of the strip, where John Patterson actually says that Ted McCaulay’s attitude towards women is so out of date, all I can say is “pot meet the kettle.”
John’s only statement about the matter during the whole Ted sequence this week is “Forgive me for saying this, Ted – but you need someone else in your life!” Behind that is the idea that a man needs a woman, and he needs it to be someone other than his mother. This is very close to saying that women exist to meet men’s needs.
Dr. Ted, on the other hand, defines his needs as “cooking, cleaning, laundry, and romance.” He says he has a consistent source with his mom for the cooking, cleaning and laundry. He says that after marriage, the romance cools off, and all that is left from a woman is her cooking, cleaning, and laundry; so he plans to play the field.
As far as I can tell, the difference between Dr. John Patterson’s attitude towards women and Dr. Ted McCaulay’s attitude towards women is Dr. Ted defines what needs of men that women exist to meet.
posted by howard at 9:41 AM
7 Comments:
howard,
As far as I can tell, the difference between Dr. John Patterson’s attitude towards women and Dr. Ted McCaulay’s attitude towards women is Dr. Ted defines what needs of men that women exist to meet.
There's another difference; Ted is up-front about what he expects. He's no Train Man who'll deceive himself and everyone around him; he tells women what he wants and means it. Because he dares be blunt, he's a super-bad guy in the eyes of Canada's First Family of Dissembling Twerps.
dreadedcandiru2,
What is oddest about John Pattersons's comments is that in 1980, much of the conflict over an expectation of what women are or are not supposed to be in a marriage come from John and Elly. Back in 1980, the main criticism of Ted McCaulay was that he was a momma's boy and he did not propose to Connie Poirier when he had the chance because of that. It's a strange refocus to put on Ted, what used to be on 1980's John.
Hm, yesterday Mavis Snodwigg did not wear glasses. Did her eyesight get worse, or does John issue free glasses with each dental exam?
(My "verification" word is "alumni"; does Blogger want me to go to my 25th high-school reunion this coming fall?)
They could be the 'glasses' that my dentist gives his patients when working on teeth so the water spray, etc. etc. doesn't go in their eyes. I thought these were pretty standard, but maybe not. They are in the final panel, Lynn just didn't draw the arm for them.
aprilp_katje,
(My "verification" word is "alumni"; does Blogger want me to go to my 25th high-school reunion this coming fall?)
It could be. My next high school reunion comes up next year for 30th. I will have to check to see if Blogger starts giving me hints.
Anonymous,
They could be the 'glasses' that my dentist gives his patients when working on teeth so the water spray, etc. etc. doesn't go in their eyes. I thought these were pretty standard, but maybe not.
I cannot recollect a time when I ever had dental work while I was wearing dental anti-spray glasses. Nevertheless, it’s possible that Dr. John Patterson uses them; but I don’t ever remember seeing him use them before. Checking through the old strips, I did find one from 2004 with John using both music headphone and dental glasses. The glasses are clearly drawn and are clearly dental anti-spray glasses. What a difference in detail between then and now!
They are in the final panel, Lynn just didn't draw the arm for them.
I see them now. No arm and an extremely small frame, like they are now pince-nez.
howard,
With Mavis Snodwigg, it appears to be a pen, a turkey baster, a rubber hose, and dental floss.
Lol! That reminds me of the "Cow Tools" Far Side strip.
The idea that a man needs to settle down with a woman is just as dated as Ted's idea that women are for "cooking, cleaning and laundry", which corresponds with the idea that men are there for paying bills. I still don't know what John gets from Elly besides cooking, cleaning and laundry. Maybe he thinks he gets childcare from her as well.
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