Old Habits of Young Elly
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, like yesterday, is another Cathy-esque type of joke – 3 panels of rational thought followed by 1 panel of excessive behaviour. Although Elly did not maintain her habit of watching soap operas throughout the length of 30 years of the strip, the tendency to grab coffee and pastries to gain weight is a lifelong habit. Another lifelong habit appears to be the tendency to dribble food out of your mouth while you eat. Watching one soap opera a day cannot take credit for this. We saw yesterday that Lynn Johnston’s choice of soap opera name, “Sudden Illness”, betrayed her unfamiliarity with soap opera names. On the other hand, Elly has stuffed her face, while letting the crumbs fly so often, I have a feeling this is a behaviour Lynn Johnston knows very well. It’s good to know that as the strip went on, Lynn stuck with her strengths.
Overall, the strip works pretty well. Elly casts her judgment against soap operas, while at the same time embracing them. The image of the Pattersons realizing and embracing their flaws was a standard joke in the early days of the strip, and probably one of the reasons that readers liked them. Later on, the tone of the strip would change to judgment of something without embracing it, to the detriment of the strip. In this strip from June 5, 2005; Elly and John judge modern movies and reject them. In this strip from August 2, 2005; Elly actually goes so far as to cast judgment on people who are sloppy eaters. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Looking at the light-hearted tone of today’s strip, I wonder why Lynn would move away from having her characters embrace their flaws, which was at the heart of her creation. Or was it really at the heart of her creation? Is this the Charles Schulz influence? When you think about the Peanuts characters, many of them have flaws which they embrace as a part of their character, and that makes them endearing. Is Lynn Johnston writing this strip this way because she is imitating this aspect of Peanuts? Do we owe years and years of pleasant For Better or For Worse strips to Charles Schulz? Was Lynn following a practice of “What Would Charlie Brown Do?” After all, when Schulz died, Lynn confessed to Phyllis Diller that she lost interest in doing the strip. Shortly after this, the characters in her strips started turning mean.
To Charles Schulz, thanks for all those years of making Lynn Johnston better than she would normally be. We have seen For Better or For Worse without your influence and it is definitely for worse.
Overall, the strip works pretty well. Elly casts her judgment against soap operas, while at the same time embracing them. The image of the Pattersons realizing and embracing their flaws was a standard joke in the early days of the strip, and probably one of the reasons that readers liked them. Later on, the tone of the strip would change to judgment of something without embracing it, to the detriment of the strip. In this strip from June 5, 2005; Elly and John judge modern movies and reject them. In this strip from August 2, 2005; Elly actually goes so far as to cast judgment on people who are sloppy eaters. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Looking at the light-hearted tone of today’s strip, I wonder why Lynn would move away from having her characters embrace their flaws, which was at the heart of her creation. Or was it really at the heart of her creation? Is this the Charles Schulz influence? When you think about the Peanuts characters, many of them have flaws which they embrace as a part of their character, and that makes them endearing. Is Lynn Johnston writing this strip this way because she is imitating this aspect of Peanuts? Do we owe years and years of pleasant For Better or For Worse strips to Charles Schulz? Was Lynn following a practice of “What Would Charlie Brown Do?” After all, when Schulz died, Lynn confessed to Phyllis Diller that she lost interest in doing the strip. Shortly after this, the characters in her strips started turning mean.
To Charles Schulz, thanks for all those years of making Lynn Johnston better than she would normally be. We have seen For Better or For Worse without your influence and it is definitely for worse.
posted by howard at 10:51 PM
7 Comments:
I still think that Lynn needs to watch Dumbo and see that Schulz might have been her magic feather, but she was always able to fly. I understand and sympathize with the loss of a mentor, but it does a great disservice to one's late mentor if, after they have died, one simply loses all enthusiasm and turns in sub-standard work for years without being able to come to a decision about whether to continue or retire. The worse the strip gets, the worse it reflects on the creator and, by extension, the judgment of the mentor so often referred to in interviews as having the faith in her abilities and being an inspiration to her for decades.
howard,
The image of the Pattersons realizing and embracing their flaws was a standard joke in the early days of the strip, and probably one of the reasons that readers liked them. Later on, the tone of the strip would change to judgment of something without embracing it, to the detriment of the strip.
They stopped doing that roughly around the same time that Mira became a cardboard villain; if Lynn had kept that trend going, the two women would have a cup of cofee, dribble crumbs out their mouths as they ate and planned the ideal wedding together. Instead, Lynn's empathy for others dried up and we got a mess.
Interestingly, the soap opera addicts I've known were very old people and college students. I've known housewives who watched them occasionally, but life was just too busy to guarantee seeing the same one every single day.
I suspect this is Lynn's snobbish idea about what housewives who aren't also famous rich cartoonists do every day.
forworse,
The worse the strip gets, the worse it reflects on the creator and, by extension, the judgment of the mentor so often referred to in interviews as having the faith in her abilities and being an inspiration to her for decades.
The implication is that the work ethic and quality of work Lynn has bragged on for herself were in spite of her natural tendencies, as if Schulz were somehow forcing her do things she didn’t want to do. It’s clear Lynn likes drawing, since she seems to be unable to retire gracefully. It’s as if she likes doing the comic strip, but doesn’t like doing what it takes to make the comic strip good, and at this stage of her career realizes that she doesn’t have to. The syndicate, her fans or Charles Schulz are not making her do it.
DreadedCandiru2,
…if Lynn had kept that trend going, the two women would have a cup of cofee, dribble crumbs out their mouths as they ate and planned the ideal wedding together.
Maybe she would. Judging from Anthony and Liz’s wedding, Lynn Johnston seems to have some very odd ideas about what makes the ideal wedding. To your point though, Mira Sobinski could have represented the antithesis of Lynn’s wedding ideals without making Mira into a cardboard villain.
qnjones,
I've known housewives who watched them occasionally, but life was just too busy to guarantee seeing the same one every single day.
My wife went through a period as a stay-at-home mom where she watched a few soaps every day, but they did not maintain her interest for more than a few years.
I suspect this is Lynn's snobbish idea about what housewives who aren't also famous rich cartoonists do every day.
She does appear to be playing to stereotype.
Let us also remember that--per her letters--New Young Elly dropped out of her Creative Writing course. Partly because she missed a class or 2 because of sickness. But mostly because a "ridiculous" number of essays were required.
The first time 'round, Elly did actively try to improve herself. Now, she can't be bothered to read the paper, write an essay or housebreak a dog.
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