The Return of Pete
Originally the story was that Connie was married to Pete Landry and Lawrence was their son. Then it was rewritten that Lawrence was the son of Pablo da Silva and Pete married and divorced Connie after Lawrence was around. Then back last September, in a new-run strip, Lynn Johnston retconned away Pete by having Connie say that she was never married. With today’s For Better or For Worse reprint, it appears that Lynn has forgotten she did that retcon because the reprint talks about Connie’s marriage to Pete.
The fact that Lynn Johnston forgot she retconned this is not too exciting. Considering Lynn's track record with her new-run retcons, it would have been more impressive if she actually remembered one. What is more interesting is the belief expressed by Elly Patterson that all housewives have soap operas. It’s one thing to embrace gender stereotypes, but when was there ever a stereotype that housewives had to watch soap operas? As I recollect the soap opera-watching housewife, was considered to be the lazy housewife.
On a personal note, my wife's mother is in the hospital right now, so if you are inclined to say a prayer for someone, she could use one.
The fact that Lynn Johnston forgot she retconned this is not too exciting. Considering Lynn's track record with her new-run retcons, it would have been more impressive if she actually remembered one. What is more interesting is the belief expressed by Elly Patterson that all housewives have soap operas. It’s one thing to embrace gender stereotypes, but when was there ever a stereotype that housewives had to watch soap operas? As I recollect the soap opera-watching housewife, was considered to be the lazy housewife.
On a personal note, my wife's mother is in the hospital right now, so if you are inclined to say a prayer for someone, she could use one.
posted by howard at 11:35 PM
8 Comments:
Prayer said for your mom; that is is higher priority issue than snark. Hope she's well soon.
As for Lynn: If this isn't something like encroaching Alzheimers, for which she deserves sympathy instead of snark, she's seriously bankrupt as a creator and has no respect for her readership AT ALL.
Oops, I meant "mother-in-law". Well, she's SOMEONE's mom...
.
Had it been previously established that Connie was a housewife when she was married to Pete? It seems an unusual choice. First, it would seem to be out of character with otherwise career driven Connie. Second, I have a hard time imagining a man like Pete content to be the sole support of a wife and a stepchild if there was not also a child of the marriage. The only men I have known who did such a thing were rather saintly, and I thought Pete was supposed to be kind of a jerk.
Oh well. Bad writing is par for the course for Lynn.
howard,
On a personal note, my wife's mother is in the hospital right now, so if you are inclined to say a prayer for someone, she could use one.
She's got one. There are, after all, more important things than being reminded that Lynn can't (or won't) keep her story straight or that the Pattersons are mindless conformists who assume everyone is just like them; I hope she gets better.
Thanks for the prayers Anonymous and dreadedcandiru2. As of this morning there is no new news about my mother-in-law. In her situation, oftentimes no news is good news.
qnjones, to answer your question: Had it been previously established that Connie was a housewife when she was married to Pete?
I believe this reprinted strip was the strip that established that originally. In the Who's Who bio for Connie Poirier, it was explained that Pete was an extreme traditionalist who insisted that his wife did not work. So, instead of being considered saintly, he was painted as villainous for taking Connie's career away from her (and for being too much like Connie's father).
Howard - been saying prayers for your MIL and the doctors treating her.
BTW - there was a strip with Elly helping Connie dye her hair (&a followup with Elly discussing Connie with John) where they established that for Pete's sake Connie became a redhead and a gourmet cook. That doesn't mean SAHM, but maybe I forgot one or two items in that list which could have implied that further.
*slaps forehead* This retread has me all turned around! Duh. This is an original strip! I'm a moron.
OK, the question I want to ask is, was Connie divorced prior to the start of the strip in 1979? Or was she married during the course of the strip, only to have Lynn cut that stuff out?
no, she was divorced. She was never shown with a husband. The only guy mentioned by name was Pete Landry, in the context of her ONLY relationship (which was why it was hard for her to let go). However, "after they got divorced, Lawrence's dad moved back to Brazil" was told to Liz directly. (No law against somebody named Landry being from Brazil, of course.)
Post a Comment
<< Home