The Missing Strip and its Effects
In this original storyline in For Better or For Worse back in 1979, after Elly and Connie came back from their night out the action shifted not to 2 boys and bathroom jokes, but to Elly with the kids reading a book to them on the chesterfield. Michael says, "I wish Daddy would hurry up an' come home..." Then Elly says, "I miss Daddy, too, Michael. We're just not a family without him." Then she continues with, "We don't realize how much we need our daddy until he's not here." And Michael concludes with, "Is that why he goes away sometimes?"
Awww! They miss John. They think about him while he is gone. It’s just like when they missed Elly while she was gone. It’s so sweet and heart-warming. It’s so obvious why this strip was cut from the original sequence. We can’t have any strips where Elly is getting along with her kids!!
Today’s strip is much more along the lines of what we need. We have seen young Michael Patterson with his expectation that traveling people are going to give him a present before, and it is time to see it again. With the original sequence, Michael misses his father, and then it is funny in contrast to see him turn from that sentiment to one of greed. In this version, Michael is being told by Elly that he missed his father, and then Michael forgets these instructions and goes to greed. Without the moment with the kids missing John, the whole tone of today’s reprint in For Better or For Worse changes. The kids never miss John. He has to buy their affection.
Thus ends one of the strangest For Better or For Worse stories that I can remember. To recap:
John does not give Elly a choice to go to his dental convention with him, and gives her the excuse that she would be bored. Elly gets so angry with him, she makes plans to attract other men, with the encouragement of her best friend, Connie. Elly goes so far as to actually attract a guy, but then feels guilty about it. Connie tries to help Elly feel better about her guilt by explaining that since she was married it didn’t count, and by pointing out that John is probably messing around on her at his convention.
Meanwhile, Lawrence has been waiting for his mother to come back to Elly’s house, where he is spending the night. Lawrence has shy bowel and expects his mother will help him out with this in some way, which he does not reveal. However, when Connie does not do that and goes straight home; Lawrence is forced to hang his head and reveal his problem to Michael. Together they sneak over to Lawrence’s house to use the bathroom, but they don’t flush in order not to attract Connie’s attention.
John returns from the convention and Elly tries to convince her kids to tell him they missed him. In reality, none of the Patterson kids mentioned John even once while he was gone and they fail to follow Elly’s instructions, revealing their only interest in their father is one of greed.
Awww! They miss John. They think about him while he is gone. It’s just like when they missed Elly while she was gone. It’s so sweet and heart-warming. It’s so obvious why this strip was cut from the original sequence. We can’t have any strips where Elly is getting along with her kids!!
Today’s strip is much more along the lines of what we need. We have seen young Michael Patterson with his expectation that traveling people are going to give him a present before, and it is time to see it again. With the original sequence, Michael misses his father, and then it is funny in contrast to see him turn from that sentiment to one of greed. In this version, Michael is being told by Elly that he missed his father, and then Michael forgets these instructions and goes to greed. Without the moment with the kids missing John, the whole tone of today’s reprint in For Better or For Worse changes. The kids never miss John. He has to buy their affection.
Thus ends one of the strangest For Better or For Worse stories that I can remember. To recap:
John does not give Elly a choice to go to his dental convention with him, and gives her the excuse that she would be bored. Elly gets so angry with him, she makes plans to attract other men, with the encouragement of her best friend, Connie. Elly goes so far as to actually attract a guy, but then feels guilty about it. Connie tries to help Elly feel better about her guilt by explaining that since she was married it didn’t count, and by pointing out that John is probably messing around on her at his convention.
Meanwhile, Lawrence has been waiting for his mother to come back to Elly’s house, where he is spending the night. Lawrence has shy bowel and expects his mother will help him out with this in some way, which he does not reveal. However, when Connie does not do that and goes straight home; Lawrence is forced to hang his head and reveal his problem to Michael. Together they sneak over to Lawrence’s house to use the bathroom, but they don’t flush in order not to attract Connie’s attention.
John returns from the convention and Elly tries to convince her kids to tell him they missed him. In reality, none of the Patterson kids mentioned John even once while he was gone and they fail to follow Elly’s instructions, revealing their only interest in their father is one of greed.
posted by howard at 11:05 PM
6 Comments:
And yet Lynn thinks that this bizarre slice of life is somehow superior to one in which Elly and Mike not only get along, they also miss John when he isn't there because they like him. Her attempt to make John look like a buffoon whose only beneficial quality is that he gives Elly respectability and a steady income backfires badly; it makes the man look like the victim of a group of horribly selfish and mean-spirited people.
I also think it's curious that Lynn replaced the strip where Elly takes John to the airport before his trip but keeps the one where she and the kids meet him afterwards. I wonder if this was at least in part to avoid a barrage of Coffee Talk posts asking where the kids were when Elly was dropping John off at the airport. Or maybe pointing out that nowadays, Elly wouldn't be allowed to accompany John all the way to the gate.
I agree about the overall effect of leaving out the bedtime strip where Michael shows that he misses his father. It seems as though John's kids don't care that he's not home and that Michael is only happy to see him because he expects a prezzie. Sad.
DreadedCandiru2,
Her attempt to make John look like a buffoon whose only beneficial quality is that he gives Elly respectability and a steady income backfires badly; it makes the man look like the victim of a group of horribly selfish and mean-spirited people.-
The main problem with the redo is that Lynn has taken away Elly’s respectability here by turning her into a woman who tries to cheat on her husband out of anger.
The most powerful element of this redo is the part where Elly is shown spitting at John after he has left. In the original, she takes him to and drops him off at the airport and merely thought-balloons a humourous, “You better not have fun.” In old version, you see her supporting John and not liking it; but you do not see the active disrespect of spitting. Think about this. How many times have you actually been angry enough at someone to spit at them after they left?
Lynn may be thinking that spitting is funnier than supportive thought-ballooning; but longtime fans will remember that when Liz spat at Warren on the phone, that was their breakup. The next thing Liz did was go to try to ask Anthony out on a date. In contrast, we see Elly going out on the town with Connie Poirier, with the intent of attracting another man by dressing “sexy and flirty.” Connie’s “Catch and release” metaphor has the unmistakable parallel of “one night stand.” A more innocent metaphor closer to the original story’s intent would have been window-shopping with a “Look but don’t touch” line. With “Catch and release”, there is a lot of touching, since the decision point is whether to keep the fish forever or remove the hook to release it back into the water with the permanent scars from your hook.
What happened with Lynn’s redo, is that Elly is no longer just dressing to go out so she can feel attractive. Elly is dressing to find a man in order to revenge herself on John, for not taking her to the convention. She plans to cheat on John, and only her guilt when she finds instant success keeps her from going through with it.
aprilp_katje,
Or maybe pointing out that nowadays, Elly wouldn't be allowed to accompany John all the way to the gate.-
This could well be the case. Lynn may be out-of-touch with some things, but airport procedure is almost assuredly not one of them, considering how often she has been taking vacations lately.
It seems as though John's kids don't care that he's not home and that Michael is only happy to see him because he expects a prezzie. Sad.-
It does fit in with Lynn’s ongoing theme never to reprint a strip which shows John Patterson in a positive light. So, the kids don’t care about him, and mom tried to cheat on him while he was gone. This strip is so much darker than it used to be.
It does fit in with Lynn’s ongoing theme never to reprint a strip which shows John Patterson in a positive light. So, the kids don’t care about him, and mom tried to cheat on him while he was gone.
The strange thing about this is, while it shows his wife and kids in a negative light, it doesn't necessarily paint John in a negative light. I pity John for having such a terrible family, but I don't see him doing anything wrong enough to deserve them. Lynn seems stuck at a 6-year old's level of insult: nobody likes you.
clio_1,
Lynn seems stuck at a 6-year old's level of insult: nobody likes you.-
It seems to me a lot like the ex-wife who goes through the family album and cuts out the pictures of the husband. Sometimes I wonder if this what the reprints are really about -- a nice trip through the Patterson family album with scissors in hand.
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