Timeless and Ageless
In 2002, we had the strip sequence where Elly revealed to Connie that she turned 50 the prior year. This puts Elly’s birth year at 1951. In 1980 or 1979 with today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, Elly should be 28 or 29. Over time, I know that Mike and Elizabeth got younger, because Lynn Johnston supposedly froze time for 3 years out of deference to her kids. That meant when the strip started, little Lizzie hadn’t been born yet and Mike would have been 4, which ironically, is what he is now being in preschool in the new-runs. If I make the same application to Elly, then I can presume that when the strip started she was 32, about 3 years older than she would have been if time had not been frozen. This way, Elly is embarrased to confess her real age to the baby-sitter.
More difficult to explain is Connie Poirier’s age of 35, if she and Elly were roommates in university and the same approximate age. If this is true, then Elly is making herself appear younger to the baby-sitter.
The hard part of this strip then is, if we don’t really know what age Elly is, how can we determine what is supposed to be funny about today’s strip? 13-year-old babysitter Karen (or as we know her, a grown up Little Orphan Annie or a grown-up Margaret from Dennis the Menace), stares Elly down after she tells Elly her age. Elly gives her a shocked look like she is expecting Karen to be some age other than 13. Elly then confesses that she is 32 and looks embarrassed to do it, while Karen has a broad grin on her face.
I am completely dumbfounded as to what is going on. Let’s run through the possibilities:
a. Elly is surprised the babysitter is so young and feels as though she is old in comparison. If this is the case, then Elly’s confession of 32 could be a lie or the truth and have the same basic effect.
b. Elly is attracted to the babysitter and lies about her age to appear younger and more attractive to the babysitter. The babysitter sees right through the lie.
c. Elly senses a rivalry with Karen and lies to say she is older than she actually is in order to gain her respect. The babysitter sees right through the lie.
Regardless of which way you think about it, Elly is embarrassed to confess her age to a 13-year-old babysitter, who appears to be strangely satisified that Elly made this confession. The reason for Elly's embarrassment is unknown.
At the time of the strip, Michael is 6. The average age for a woman to get married in 1980 was about 23-24 years old. The average age for a woman to bear her first child in 1980 was about 25-26 years old. If Elly is 32, then she is right on the average. Could it be that Lynn Johnston, even back in 1980, had this strange expectation that a woman should be married directly after university at age 22 and pregnant shorly thereafter, like Thérèse Caine was?
If you read between the lines, the obvious story is this. When Elly was gone to Vancouver, John employed his overly-familiar baby-sitter, shown by her calling him Dr. P. John slept with this baby-sitter and although Elly could not prove the John did this, she suspected something. As a result she has to turn to a sitter recommended to her by Connie, with whom Elly is unfamiliar. Seeing the girl, Elly wants to confirm the girl's age to make sure John won't try to sleep with her, hoping that she will be like April was back in in 2003, when she was 11 years old and baby-sitting for the Mayes-- too young to sleep with John. Unfortunately, the girl turns out to be 13 years old, the age when Milborough girls are usually picking out their husbands. Despite being deceptively shorter than Elly, the baby-sitter still proves to be a threat. Elly then lies about her age in order to let the baby-sitter know that she is still young enough to compete with her for the affections of John Patterson.
Stupid yes? But it makes about as much sense as today's strip does.
More difficult to explain is Connie Poirier’s age of 35, if she and Elly were roommates in university and the same approximate age. If this is true, then Elly is making herself appear younger to the baby-sitter.
The hard part of this strip then is, if we don’t really know what age Elly is, how can we determine what is supposed to be funny about today’s strip? 13-year-old babysitter Karen (or as we know her, a grown up Little Orphan Annie or a grown-up Margaret from Dennis the Menace), stares Elly down after she tells Elly her age. Elly gives her a shocked look like she is expecting Karen to be some age other than 13. Elly then confesses that she is 32 and looks embarrassed to do it, while Karen has a broad grin on her face.
I am completely dumbfounded as to what is going on. Let’s run through the possibilities:
a. Elly is surprised the babysitter is so young and feels as though she is old in comparison. If this is the case, then Elly’s confession of 32 could be a lie or the truth and have the same basic effect.
b. Elly is attracted to the babysitter and lies about her age to appear younger and more attractive to the babysitter. The babysitter sees right through the lie.
c. Elly senses a rivalry with Karen and lies to say she is older than she actually is in order to gain her respect. The babysitter sees right through the lie.
Regardless of which way you think about it, Elly is embarrassed to confess her age to a 13-year-old babysitter, who appears to be strangely satisified that Elly made this confession. The reason for Elly's embarrassment is unknown.
At the time of the strip, Michael is 6. The average age for a woman to get married in 1980 was about 23-24 years old. The average age for a woman to bear her first child in 1980 was about 25-26 years old. If Elly is 32, then she is right on the average. Could it be that Lynn Johnston, even back in 1980, had this strange expectation that a woman should be married directly after university at age 22 and pregnant shorly thereafter, like Thérèse Caine was?
If you read between the lines, the obvious story is this. When Elly was gone to Vancouver, John employed his overly-familiar baby-sitter, shown by her calling him Dr. P. John slept with this baby-sitter and although Elly could not prove the John did this, she suspected something. As a result she has to turn to a sitter recommended to her by Connie, with whom Elly is unfamiliar. Seeing the girl, Elly wants to confirm the girl's age to make sure John won't try to sleep with her, hoping that she will be like April was back in in 2003, when she was 11 years old and baby-sitting for the Mayes-- too young to sleep with John. Unfortunately, the girl turns out to be 13 years old, the age when Milborough girls are usually picking out their husbands. Despite being deceptively shorter than Elly, the baby-sitter still proves to be a threat. Elly then lies about her age in order to let the baby-sitter know that she is still young enough to compete with her for the affections of John Patterson.
Stupid yes? But it makes about as much sense as today's strip does.
posted by howard at 10:59 PM
6 Comments:
howard,
Could it be that Lynn Johnston, even back in 1980, had this strange expectation that a woman should be married directly after university at age 22 and pregnant [shortly] thereafter, like Thérèse Caine was?
Yes, it could; she knew with her mind that Elly was exactly the age she was supposed to be but she didn't feel that with her gut. She never really got over how she was raised, I should think. I'd say the Ridgways were a bit on the old-fashioned side and drummed it into her that women should start popping out as many kids as they could as quickly as possible. This sort of thinking is also why she thinks 30 is amazingly old.
howtheduck, based on where this strip occurs in the first collection, I think it probably ran in December of 1979. Lynn herself was 32 at the time. Brace yourself--tomorrow she's likely to reprint a strip where John tells her she looks great and he can hardly wait to show her off because "you look as though your were rented!" Yeah, tell your wife she looks like a call girl--great plan, JFTF
April_Patterson,
Yeah, tell your wife she looks like a call girl--great plan, JFTF.
As I said, we were overdue for a bash-Rod strip so that one's presence makes perfect sense.
DreadedCandiru2,
I'd say the Ridgways were a bit on the old-fashioned side and drummed it into her that women should start popping out as many kids as they could as quickly as possible. This sort of thinking is also why she thinks 30 is amazingly old.
That may have been the thought, but the actions don’t match it. Lynn has a brother, I think, and that’s it. Back in the 1940s, during the post WWII baby boom and before the age of the contraceptive pill, you would think there would be a lot more Ridgeway siblings.
aprilp_katje,
based on where this strip occurs in the first collection, I think it probably ran in December of 1979. Lynn herself was 32 at the time.
Very likely then, these were a part of the original 6-month “work up” strips she had to have in place before the strip started, so it would have been created much earlier in 1979.
Brace yourself--tomorrow she's likely to reprint a strip where John tells her she looks great and he can hardly wait to show her off because "you look as though your were rented!"
It’s interesting then that even when she is trying to create 6 months of strips just to see if they fly with the syndicate that strip showing John’s insensitive side appeared that early into it. In a lot of the earlier strips, Lynn seemed to be anxious to push the “married woman’s perspective” and a lot of strip had John asking Elly what she did all day and things like that. At the time, the syndicate would have seen that as very appealing to the married, stay-at-home wife audience they were trying to reach. The presumption is that Cathy would already have nailed the working single woman audience. Little did they, or Lynn's audience, suspect that Lynn would use John Patterson to hammer her own husband in a public venue for 30 years.
Yeah, tell your wife she looks like a call girl--great plan, JFTF
It is a strange comment. These days, when the fashionable women all seem to be caught up in “prostitute chic” for the clothes they wear, it might be considered a positive statement. Back in 1979, which I remember very well from my high school days, the fashionable women were wearing very long dresses. I remember going to the prom and having to worry about stepping on my prom date’s dress. There would have been an extremely strong difference between that and a call girl’s looks.
monsor,
Lynn seemed to be anxious to push the “married woman’s perspective” and a lot of strip had John asking Elly what she did all day and things like that. At the time, the syndicate would have seen that as very appealing to the married, stay-at-home wife audience they were trying to reach. The presumption is that Cathy would already have nailed the working single woman audience. Little did they, or Lynn's audience, suspect that Lynn would use John Patterson to hammer her own husband in a public venue for 30 years.
Less still that she'd have an army of subliterate fans that want to see Rod bashed even harder.
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