Role Reversal
In the past year, we have seen Lawrence Poirier usually be the instigator when it comes to getting Michael to do foolish things, whether it comes to grabbing things at the back of your throat, or drinking water from a drain pipe, or learning how to insult someone. Rarely will Michael be the instigator, except when it comes to tricks being played on his own family, where Michael excels.
In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, Michael is the instigator of trouble. Lawrence did not seem to have any problem daring Michael to do something, especially since it never put Lawrence in harm’s way. In the case of smoking, Michael is the one causing the trouble, but unlike the other times, Lawrence seems to be opposed to it instead of starting it up. I think the big difference is that Mike expects them both to smoke. It is one thing for Lawrence to put Michael at risk, but he doesn’t like to do the same. One of the interesting things to note is that Lawrence has an expectation of getting real sick if he smokes. I wonder where he got that information.
A question I have about this strip, which maybe someone out there can answer. We saw little spots dropping out of Uncle Phil’s pipe when Lizzie was playing with it and now the same with Michael. It makes Phil’s pipe look empty. Can you light a pipe with nothing in it? I suspect not. However, I do notice that Michael is leading Lawrence to his house before they light the pipe. Although the temptation is to think this because Mike doesn’t want Elly to catch him; the other possibility is that there is some material to burn over at Lawrence’s house, i.e. tobacco that Connie has specifically for the purpose of entertaining Phil. Naturally, Elly would not have tobacco to entertain her brother, and would expect him to bring his own.
In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, Michael is the instigator of trouble. Lawrence did not seem to have any problem daring Michael to do something, especially since it never put Lawrence in harm’s way. In the case of smoking, Michael is the one causing the trouble, but unlike the other times, Lawrence seems to be opposed to it instead of starting it up. I think the big difference is that Mike expects them both to smoke. It is one thing for Lawrence to put Michael at risk, but he doesn’t like to do the same. One of the interesting things to note is that Lawrence has an expectation of getting real sick if he smokes. I wonder where he got that information.
A question I have about this strip, which maybe someone out there can answer. We saw little spots dropping out of Uncle Phil’s pipe when Lizzie was playing with it and now the same with Michael. It makes Phil’s pipe look empty. Can you light a pipe with nothing in it? I suspect not. However, I do notice that Michael is leading Lawrence to his house before they light the pipe. Although the temptation is to think this because Mike doesn’t want Elly to catch him; the other possibility is that there is some material to burn over at Lawrence’s house, i.e. tobacco that Connie has specifically for the purpose of entertaining Phil. Naturally, Elly would not have tobacco to entertain her brother, and would expect him to bring his own.
posted by howard at 10:31 PM
5 Comments:
howard,
It is one thing for Lawrence to put Michael at risk, but he doesn’t like to do the same.
That would probably explain why he was on Mike's bike when he broke his leg; he was trying to show him that nothing would go wrong when something did.
It could be. I can see it now:
Lawrence: You can bicycle on this solid sheet of ice next to these pile of concrete and parked cars. No problem.
Mike: Even I am not that stupid.
Lawrence: I'll show you how easy it is and then you can do the whole ride from the beginning to the end. I dare you.
That's certainly better than:
Lawrence: My mom left me to go chase after your uncle Phil.
Mike: Sorry, man. I bet I know a way you can get her to come back.
Lawrence: What?
Mike: Ride a bike on the ice and when you crash, you'll get hurt and your mom will have to come back.
Lawrence: OK, but I'm riding your bike.
1. Six year olds don't find pipe smoking cool. They didn't in 1980 - cigarettes were cool, pipes were for old dorky professor types - and they don't today.
2. Six year olds don't understand the idea of hiding to do something forbidden. They just take it around the corner and do it - they have no sense of consequences yet.
3. Why would Michael think that Connie's is the best place for Phil's pipe? One would assume that he has no concept that Phil and Connie are thrashing the mattress, and Phil stays with them when not mattress-thrashing, so his own house would be the most logical place for it.
4. What does this say about Lynn's understanding of her own kids back when they WERE kids? Sure, she's a clueless, bitter old woman today, but this was from back when things were "better". Right?
FDChief:
Six year olds don't find pipe smoking cool. They didn't in 1980 - cigarettes were cool, pipes were for old dorky professor types - and they don't today.
If I'd worded my header for tomorrow's strip like this, I wouldn't have been 'called' on saying that a six year old would do dumb crap is implausible.
Six year olds don't understand the idea of hiding to do something forbidden.
I know that but Lynn doesn't. She can recreate what she sees but she can't understand why it happens.
FDChief,
1. Six year olds don't find pipe smoking cool. They didn't in 1980 - cigarettes were cool, pipes were for old dorky professor types - and they don't today.
I do remember a time when corduroy jackets with patches on the elbows and pipe smoking briefly came back into vogue sometime in the late 1970s. My mom dated a guy during that time who was considered cool by his friends and not the slightest bit like a professor.
2. Six year olds don't understand the idea of hiding to do something forbidden. They just take it around the corner and do it - they have no sense of consequences yet.
That’s true. What we have here is a plot device to get the pipe into Connie’s hands.
3. Why would Michael think that Connie's is the best place for Phil's pipe? One would assume that he has no concept that Phil and Connie are thrashing the mattress, and Phil stays with them when not mattress-thrashing, so his own house would be the most logical place for it.
The only thing I can come up with is that Connie may have pouch tobacco in her house to entertain Phil, while Elly most assuredly will not.
4. What does this say about Lynn's understanding of her own kids back when they WERE kids? Sure, she's a clueless, bitter old woman today, but this was from back when things were "better". Right?
Lynn’s best strips involving kids are ones where the story is taken from something her kids were doing. Here we have a situation clearly invented by Lynn and not related to reality, and it shows.
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