John Hogs the Driving or John the Driving Hog
It’s a rare moment when For Better or For Worse takes a camera into my world, but today’s reprint is one of those moments. I well remember the days on long car rides when my wife would insist on driving almost the whole way, because the alternative was keeping the kids happy. We have an annual trip to Texas to visit grandparents (and other assorted relatives) which ran about 16 hours in either direction, including bathroom and food stops, when my kids were little. Now they are older, there are fewer bathroom stops and a lot less stalling on getting back into the car once they have gotten out, so the trip runs closer to 14-15 hours. It was a long enough trip where my wife would eventually get tired and would be forced to let me drive. However, on many of these trips, I might drive no more than 4-5 hours of it. Our kids were pretty demanding and there was little relaxing when they were little.
The joke of the strip is that John thinks he is doing Elly a favour by insisting that she doesn’t have to drive, so she can “relax and amuse the kids.” I think any real parents would realize what is happening is John has taken the wheel so he can relax and not have to amuse the kids. Either John is clueless because he doesn’t know what it takes to amuse children, or John is selfish for not taking on that responsibility himself to relieve his wife. The first choice doesn’t work logically because John is there in the car and knows exactly what it takes to amuse the children.
That being said, the comic strip does cross out of my camera zone in the final panel. I would not ever try to entertain kids with a hand puppet over the back of my seat. That would be way too uncomfortable. Also, Michael would have a seat belt on, and my little one-year-old would not be handling a sucker. If it weren’t for those distractions, the giant smile on John’s face and the haggard look on Elly’s face would be pretty funny.
The joke of the strip is that John thinks he is doing Elly a favour by insisting that she doesn’t have to drive, so she can “relax and amuse the kids.” I think any real parents would realize what is happening is John has taken the wheel so he can relax and not have to amuse the kids. Either John is clueless because he doesn’t know what it takes to amuse children, or John is selfish for not taking on that responsibility himself to relieve his wife. The first choice doesn’t work logically because John is there in the car and knows exactly what it takes to amuse the children.
That being said, the comic strip does cross out of my camera zone in the final panel. I would not ever try to entertain kids with a hand puppet over the back of my seat. That would be way too uncomfortable. Also, Michael would have a seat belt on, and my little one-year-old would not be handling a sucker. If it weren’t for those distractions, the giant smile on John’s face and the haggard look on Elly’s face would be pretty funny.
posted by howard at 9:25 PM
15 Comments:
howard,
I think any real parents would realize what is happening is John has taken the wheel so he can relax and not have to amuse the kids. Either John is clueless because he doesn’t know what it takes to amuse children, or John is selfish for not taking on that responsibility himself to relieve his wife. The first choice doesn’t work logically because John is there in the car and knows exactly what it takes to amuse the children.
The second also works better because he's been shown to not care in the least that Elly feels overburdened; whenever he does have to confront the depression that Elly seems to suffer, he either changes the subject or spouts some non sequitur about his mother that shows us just how little he thinks of Elly's feelings.
With the simple amendment to some dialogue earlier in the week, it could have been explained that Nizzie was crying because Elly had gutted her bunny toy in front of her, turning it into a puppet in anticipation of the car journey. Continuity returns!
just how little he thinks of Elly's feelings
Well, not caring about Elly's feelings is a point in anyone's favor in my opinion :P.
DreadedCandiru2
he either changes the subject or spouts some non sequitur about his mother that shows us just how little he thinks of Elly's feelings.
I think I have missed the strip where John talked about his mother. Have his parents been mentioned in the reprints or new-runs?
forworse,
Nizzie was crying because Elly had gutted her bunny toy in front of her, turning it into a puppet in anticipation of the car journey. Continuity returns!
There you go! That’s the perfect example of the “reading between the lines” that Lynn Johnston expects of her readers.
Clio,
Well, not caring about Elly's feelings is a point in anyone's favor in my opinion :P.
For Feelings or Worse
Even puppeteers as brilliant as the late Jim Henson needed to be able to see what they were doing in order to pull off a good show.
Somehow, I don't think the lackadaisical, blind hand puppetry of Mrs. Patterson will actually entertain the children.
Mike: "So, what happened then, Mister Floppy Bunny Hand?"
Mister Floppy Bunny Hand: "Rocks fell, everyone died."
*flops limply*
Mike: "Uhm, again?"
Mister Floppy Bunny Hand: *long suffering sigh* "Yes, again."
*flops limply*
Liz: (thinking) "Hey! The more I lick this candy, the more colors I see! BEAUTIFUL COLORS...*...dude, I'm a trippy cow, grazin' on the colors..."
Even puppeteers as brilliant as the late Jim Henson needed to be able to see what they were doing in order to pull off a good show.
Somehow, I don't think the lackadaisical, blind hand puppetry of Mrs. Patterson will actually entertain the children.
Mike: "So, what happened then, Mister Floppy Bunny Hand?"
Mister Floppy Bunny Hand: "Rocks fell, everyone died."
*flops limply*
Mike: "Uhm, again?"
Mister Floppy Bunny Hand: *long suffering sigh* "Yes, again."
*flops limply*
Liz: (thinking) "Hey! The more I lick this candy, the more colors I see! BEAUTIFUL COLORS...*...dude, I'm a trippy cow, grazin' on the colors..."
Gah. Sorry for the double post.
Even puppeteers as brilliant as the late Jim Henson needed to be able to see what they were doing in order to pull off a good show.
True. As I recollect he mounted televisions so that his muppetteers could see how what they were doing looked. I did a very brief stint at puppetry for a summer in my youth, and the technique there was a black curtain where the performers could see the outlines of the puppets between them and the stage.
Somehow, I don't think the lackadaisical, blind hand puppetry of Mrs. Patterson will actually entertain the children.
I remember doing hand puppets for my kids when they were Lizzie’s age. Basically it was “Make the puppet move. Kid grabs puppet off hand. Kid hugs on puppet. Kid gets tired of puppet and drops it. Adult picks up puppet. Repeat.”
Liz: (thinking) "Hey! The more I lick this candy, the more colors I see! BEAUTIFUL COLORS...*...dude, I'm a trippy cow, grazin' on the colors..."
There are some possibilities here, although I believe it was Mike who was into drug use in his later years. Liz grew up to be a drunk, which doesn’t mean she couldn’t have done some candy experimentation.
howard,
I was thinking of the strip where Elly said she was capable of more than baking cookies and picking up socks; John's idea of a conversation-killed was to whine that his mother did just that.
That's "conversation killer".
I was thinking of the strip where Elly said she was capable of more than baking cookies and picking up socks
Yeah, she can bite through phone books. Also, her powers of whining are unmatched, and she's able to find her only enjoyment in shopping, ignoring all other forms of recreation. Plus Elly has the capability to not grow or change a single bit from young adulthood to middle age, except to get uglier and shriekier. She's amazing!
It'll be interesting to see whether the strip where John makes the reference to his mother is repeated. Probably. It's not too long after John whines to Jean that he doesn't like the idea of working mothers because he believes "a house should be a home." (This gets a "bwuh?" from me no matter how many times I read it.) Since Mike is in school full-time, Elly raises the possibility of working part time.
Elly: Come on! --I can't spend my life baking cookies and picking up socks.
John: My mother did!
In the original run, the arc began just a couple of strips after the "camping" arc.
howard,
It's not too long after John whines to Jean that he doesn't like the idea of working mothers because he believes "a house should be a home." (This gets a "bwuh?" from me no matter how many times I read it.)
It's really rather easy to see why John is so insistent on the issue; simply put, the idea of an Elly that can provide for herself without having to depend on him is a threat to his precious male ego. If she can work and make a go of it, he thinks that it means that he's obsolete and must die. Things in the Foobiverse are really simple once you realize that the characters all fear being useless and unnecessary.
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