Will Do Anything for Cookies
One of the recurring themes in the Patterson family is how Michael and Elizabeth will do almost anything for a cookie. I think there is a special part of a kid’s head devoted to this idea; because I remember when I was a young fellow, my favourite character on the Sesame Street TV show, was Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster, by and large, seemed to be a fairly unintelligent monster, or at least a monster who was unaware that the first person singular subject of a sentence was “I” and not “Me.” Nevertheless, when it came to getting cookies away from other characters on the show, he was matched by no one. Even Ernie, who was known for tricking cookies away from his old, buddy Bert; could not keep his cookies out of the paws and mouth of Cookie Monster.
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse fits that theme. Young Michael draws a picture of his mother and gets a cookie in return. Then he takes the same picture, declares it to be his father, no doubt in the hope of another cookie from his dad. The part which doesn’t work for me is the picture. My kids, at that age, were obsessed with the idea that what they drew was what they drew. If they drew a picture of their mother, then that was who it was. End of story. There was no switching around and saying it was someone else. It was who it was.
In the same situation as Michael Patterson, my kids would have drawn another picture, this time of their father, and tried to use it to get a cookie out of me. Or, if they thought their mother was the soft touch, they would have drawn another picture of her. They would not have ever tried to take the same picture and tell me that it was me, when they drew it to be a picture of their mother. They just didn’t think that way.
As for the Patterson kids, it is probably a different story. Their obsession with cookies is at a whole different level.
The November 23, 2007 strip is one of the best examples of Pattersons using and abusing cookies. It turns out that little Lizzie is so upset by Michael’s taunting of her with a cookie, she actually manages to say the word “Gookie.”
In the June 25, 2008 strip, Elly proves to be a soft touch for cookies and Michael takes advantage of that to supply cookies to his friends.
In the June 29, 2008 strip, young Lizzie is almost completely incoherent as she talks on the phone, except she manages to get out, “Cookie. Num-num!” She knows what is important in life.
In the September 11, 2008 strip, young Michael manages to keep cookies away from Connie and Lawrence Poirier and declares, “The rude dude gets the food.” as he eats a cookie.
In the October 25, 2008 strip, Michael goes to Mrs. Baird’s house to ply her for cookies and is quite successful.
As you can see, Michael Patterson is clearly the same personality as Cookie Monster, except Cookie Monster is a little nicer.
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse fits that theme. Young Michael draws a picture of his mother and gets a cookie in return. Then he takes the same picture, declares it to be his father, no doubt in the hope of another cookie from his dad. The part which doesn’t work for me is the picture. My kids, at that age, were obsessed with the idea that what they drew was what they drew. If they drew a picture of their mother, then that was who it was. End of story. There was no switching around and saying it was someone else. It was who it was.
In the same situation as Michael Patterson, my kids would have drawn another picture, this time of their father, and tried to use it to get a cookie out of me. Or, if they thought their mother was the soft touch, they would have drawn another picture of her. They would not have ever tried to take the same picture and tell me that it was me, when they drew it to be a picture of their mother. They just didn’t think that way.
As for the Patterson kids, it is probably a different story. Their obsession with cookies is at a whole different level.
The November 23, 2007 strip is one of the best examples of Pattersons using and abusing cookies. It turns out that little Lizzie is so upset by Michael’s taunting of her with a cookie, she actually manages to say the word “Gookie.”
In the June 25, 2008 strip, Elly proves to be a soft touch for cookies and Michael takes advantage of that to supply cookies to his friends.
In the June 29, 2008 strip, young Lizzie is almost completely incoherent as she talks on the phone, except she manages to get out, “Cookie. Num-num!” She knows what is important in life.
In the September 11, 2008 strip, young Michael manages to keep cookies away from Connie and Lawrence Poirier and declares, “The rude dude gets the food.” as he eats a cookie.
In the October 25, 2008 strip, Michael goes to Mrs. Baird’s house to ply her for cookies and is quite successful.
As you can see, Michael Patterson is clearly the same personality as Cookie Monster, except Cookie Monster is a little nicer.
posted by howard at 9:52 PM
4 Comments:
howard,
My kids, at that age, were obsessed with the idea that what they drew was what they drew. If they drew a picture of their mother, then that was who it was. End of story. There was no switching around and saying it was someone else. It was who it was.
Thanks to the loads of people on Coffee Talk who tell haters and picky-faces like us to lighten up, smile and stop that nasty habit we have of thinking, Lynn feels more confident than ever in not letting facts or knowledge get in the way of a punchline. It doesn't matter to her or Inman that no six year old would actually do this; it's funny so they like it.
DreadedCandiru2,
It doesn't matter to her or Inman that no six year old would actually do this; it's funny so they like it.
I can understand that. Certainly, if this strip were being done over in Dennis the Menace, it would fit very well. Dennis regularly does things that a regular kid his age would not do, and so it is in keeping with the reality that has been established there. Lynn Johnston, on the other hand, regularly mixes in stories that are taken directly from her own life or from the lives of other people; so you get this element of “My kids did the exact same thing.” That becomes the established reality for her strip. Every time you see one featuring antics of the kids, you are therefore invited to compare it to your own children or children you know to see if it fits your own reality. When I read Dennis the Menace, I never compare Dennis to my children; because I know Dennis is not anything like a real kid. Whereas, I know that Michael is based on Lynn's real son, Aaron. Consequently, whenever Lynn would go to a “Mike = Dennis the Menace” kind of story, it becomes very obvious she has stepped from one reality to the other, just as it is when she does jokes in the style of Cathy or Peanuts.
I remember when I was a little kid, that when I drew something, it angered me if a grown-up asked me what my drawing was supposed to be, because it was always clear to me what I'd drawn.
Muzition,
...because it was always clear to me what I'd drawn.
Exactly. I remember those exact same sentiments. As an adult looking at your kid's work, you then have to grasp at whatever is there that is clear and oftentimes your kid will be glad to explain it to you. "Those are the ears. That's the nose." etc. A kid Michael's age would not try to represent a drawing of his mother as his father to his father, because it would obvious to him that it was his mother. What we had in today's reprint was something an adult might do to a kid's drawing.
The thing the strip most reminded me of was pictures of the older John and Elly where they started to look so much like each other, you really needed the hair bun to tell the difference.
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