Farley's Too Big for Michael
Looking at the drawing of Farley the dog in the final panel of today’s For Better or For Worse, I can see pretty well why Lynn Johnston only drew the top part of Farley’s head in the first 2 panels of the strip. Farley looks a little bit more rabbit-like than dog-like. That’s OK, though. Since John turns into a disembodied head and hands in the last panel, I can hardly complain about Farley the rabbit. As for the art, this dog training story has been pretty lazy artwork for Lynn Johnston. Seeing the severe decline in the quality of the art from year one to year two, it makes me wonder when the art improved after year two and what Lynn’s motivation for improving it was.
As for the joke, this is similar to the dog and grandma video which floated around the internet a few year back. The part that is hard to tell is if Michael pulls up smartly on the leash while saying “heel” before or after Farley the dog bounds off. If it is before, then we are getting demonstration number 2 of why obedience school is a waster of money. I didn't realize Lynn hated them so much.
As for the joke, this is similar to the dog and grandma video which floated around the internet a few year back. The part that is hard to tell is if Michael pulls up smartly on the leash while saying “heel” before or after Farley the dog bounds off. If it is before, then we are getting demonstration number 2 of why obedience school is a waster of money. I didn't realize Lynn hated them so much.
posted by howard at 10:33 PM
8 Comments:
howard,
If it is before, then we are getting demonstration number 2 of why obedience school is a waster of money. I didn't realize Lynn hated them so much.
As I said, she doesn't believe in them; they didn't "work" back when she had the real Farley so they're "obviously" a scam. It seems to me that she unconsciously sabotaged his training regimen because she knew better than the person at the obedience school. Having thus confused and agitated the poor animal. she was able to achieve the desired result: the unnecessary destruction of a helpless animal so she could crow about having been right. Using the victim of her hateful idiocy as a cash cow seems somewhat wrong.
Of course, if the whole family had been given lessons with the dog, maybe Michael wouldn't be having this problem. Maybe Michael pulled dumbly instead of smartly, and thus the "heel" command failed. John, in his one lesson at obedience school, has failed to become dog-training expert.
DreadedCandiru2,
Having thus confused and agitated the poor animal. she was able to achieve the desired result: the unnecessary destruction of a helpless animal so she could crow about having been right. -
This storyline does have the feel of a reason used in a power struggle over getting rid of the original Farley. However, there are a few organizations Lynn regularly bashed in her comic strip, like the police department, doctors who over prescribe medicine, modern movies, etc. It could be that dog trainers fall into that category for Lynn.
Using the victim of her hateful idiocy as a cash cow seems somewhat wrong.-
The cash cow is much later. At this point in the strip, Farley is a comic strip dog in the same vein as Ruff from Dennis the Menace. It is not until his death, did Farley turn into the “Everyone loves Farley” dog. Consequently, Beth Cruikshank should take credit for Farley being a cash cow.
aprilp_katje,
Of course, if the whole family had been given lessons with the dog, maybe Michael wouldn't be having this problem. Maybe Michael pulled dumbly instead of smartly, and thus the "heel" command failed. John, in his one lesson at obedience school, has failed to become dog-training expert.-
Those are the 2 weaknesses of this strip. This is not a strip which is going to end up on the walls of any animal trainer; unless it is as an example of what not to do.
Yeah, as I recall, in the latter years of Farley's appearances, the -only- Patterson who consistently showed Farley love and affection was Liz!
And that, mostly because she was an extremely insecure, nervous girl, who found a dog's non-judgmental love soothing. Not because she found Farley special in himself. During that era, John and Elly either chewed out Farley for being a dog.
(Always for reasons that were ultimately their own fault.)
After Farley died, there was a ret-conversation where Michael claimed that Farley was actually closest to Elly, that he was "her dog more than anyone else". I recall it made the younger me a bit annoyed.
Anonymous,
And that, mostly because she was an extremely insecure, nervous girl, who found a dog's non-judgmental love soothing.-
That’s a storyline Lynn told several times using Edgar and Shiimsa also – the magical animals who always knew to soothe the main character when no one else would.
After Farley died, there was a ret-conversation where Michael claimed that Farley was actually closest to Elly, that he was "her dog more than anyone else". I recall it made the younger me a bit annoyed.-
Lynn is fond of that kind of post-death ret-con. When Grandma Marian died she was magically transformed into super-grandma, praised by Michael and fondly remembered by Elizabeth, as she wore the magic wedding dress. When I look back at the strips involving live Marian though, it was almost always Grandpa Jim who was spending time with the grandkids. It would have been interesting, after Lynn wrote the Grandpa Jim death, to see who would have been retconned to be his favourite.
howard,
It would have been interesting, after Lynn wrote the Grandpa Jim death, to see who would have been retconned to be his favourite.
The choice of Jim's posthumous favorite would clearly have been between Mike, Liz, Meredith and Robin. Odds are it would have been Meredith because of her uncanny resemblance to a long-lost relative. (April, of course, would suddenly have become his least favorite Patterson; Lynn is too peevish and cold-hearted to allow her Designated Butt Monkey any form of happy ending.)
Dreadecandiru2,
That would be my guess also. Anyone but April.
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