Contradictions
There are a few contradictions in the dialogue of the today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse.
Anne: So, is your brother seeing someone, El?
Elly: I don’t know, Anne. I haven’t really asked him.
Elly: But he told me the girl Connie saw in his apartment plays the cello. He said they were working on some music – and they were just friends.
Contradiction: Elly hasn’t asked Phil if he is seeing someone, BUT she did ask about his relationship with the “’Allo?” girl to get that elaborate explanation.
Anne: Does that mean she still has a chance?
Elly: Maybe.
Contradiction: There’s a pretty girl in Phil’s house when he is not there and the reason Phil is associated with her is because they are working on some music. And yet, when Phil is not there, how can they be working on some music? We know from the strips coming up that Connie and Phil are not back together until Phil moves to Milborough.
Elly: Maybe. I don’t like to pry, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.
Contradiction: Phil lives in Montreal. Elly lives in Milborough. Considering that, there is no difference between prying and keeping your eyes and ears open. This is assuming that Elly doesn't have some kind of Superman-like abilities, where she can see and hear over long distances.
Elly: When you keep your eyes and ears open…it’s hard to keep your mouth closed.
Contradiction: Actually, if you are actively trying to see and hear things, it’s very easy to keep your mouth closed. It’s the talkers who don’t see and hear things.
So it turns out Phil didn’t really break Connie’s heart by leading her on. Connie broke her own heart by jumping to the wrong conclusion about the “’Allo?” girl. The story is back on track for when Phil moves to Milborough the next year and starts courting Connie. What was the purpose of this story again? To show Connie was a nitwit?
Anne: So, is your brother seeing someone, El?
Elly: I don’t know, Anne. I haven’t really asked him.
Elly: But he told me the girl Connie saw in his apartment plays the cello. He said they were working on some music – and they were just friends.
Contradiction: Elly hasn’t asked Phil if he is seeing someone, BUT she did ask about his relationship with the “’Allo?” girl to get that elaborate explanation.
Anne: Does that mean she still has a chance?
Elly: Maybe.
Contradiction: There’s a pretty girl in Phil’s house when he is not there and the reason Phil is associated with her is because they are working on some music. And yet, when Phil is not there, how can they be working on some music? We know from the strips coming up that Connie and Phil are not back together until Phil moves to Milborough.
Elly: Maybe. I don’t like to pry, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.
Contradiction: Phil lives in Montreal. Elly lives in Milborough. Considering that, there is no difference between prying and keeping your eyes and ears open. This is assuming that Elly doesn't have some kind of Superman-like abilities, where she can see and hear over long distances.
Elly: When you keep your eyes and ears open…it’s hard to keep your mouth closed.
Contradiction: Actually, if you are actively trying to see and hear things, it’s very easy to keep your mouth closed. It’s the talkers who don’t see and hear things.
So it turns out Phil didn’t really break Connie’s heart by leading her on. Connie broke her own heart by jumping to the wrong conclusion about the “’Allo?” girl. The story is back on track for when Phil moves to Milborough the next year and starts courting Connie. What was the purpose of this story again? To show Connie was a nitwit?
posted by howard at 11:54 PM
4 Comments:
And yet, when Phil is not there, how can they be working on some music?
I wondered that too, but maybe he went out for a pizza, or she was waiting for the cable guy for him or something. It's an odd, seemingly purposeless setup, though.
The purpose of the story line does, indeed, seem to be to show that Connie is a nitwit. Unless we find out that Phil was lying about the cellist being just a friend, which is still possible.
So it turns out Phil didn’t really break Connie’s heart by leading her on. Connie broke her own heart by jumping to the wrong conclusion about the “’Allo?” girl. The story is back on track for when Phil moves to Milborough the next year and starts courting Connie. What was the purpose of this story again? To show Connie was a nitwit?
Probably; I guess that's what Elly was really trying to say when she fretted about how Connie had her head in the clouds. If I'd known that that was Elly-speak for "Connie has the IQ of spore mold" last Winter, I'd have been able to avoid typing sequences about cheating cheaters.
Clio,
I wondered that too, but maybe he went out for a pizza, or she was waiting for the cable guy for him or something. It's an odd, seemingly purposeless setup, though.
What it does is (a) explain why Elly would say to Connie that Phil thought her visit was great without lying about it and (b) allow for Phil to unencumbered enough to court Connie a year later in 1982.
Unless we find out that Phil was lying about the cellist being just a friend, which is still possible.
They could be just friends the same way Connie and Phil were in this strip and this strip. Kind of like they were just friends who happened to be sleeping overnight in Toronto after Phil’s New Years’ Eve, the “’Allo?” girl could just be a friend who happens to be at Phil’s apartment when he is not there and feels comfortable answering the door and taking packages for him.
DreadedCandiru2,
If I'd known that that was Elly-speak for "Connie has the IQ of spore mold" last Winter, I'd have been able to avoid typing sequences about cheating cheaters.
Cheating cheaters may been exactly where Lynn Johnston was headed until she read the reprints coming up ahead and realized that she had to “get the story back on track.” Back in 1981, the storyline was that Connie was divorced from Lawrence’s father and had very little experience with men. She gets a little attention from Phil Richards and overreacts with her trip to Montreal, where she ties a visit to Phil’s apartment and his workplace as a part of a visit to her cousin. Then she is humilated to discover that when she thought Phil was interested back in Milborough, it turns out he was just being friendly.
With the new-runs, Connie and Phil have been corresponding for a year and are sleeping overnight together and she is buying him intimate gifts. The trip to Montreal is no longer to visit the cousin but appears to be a booty call. Connie’s visit to the Jazzy Club is no longer to play the meek mouse to be noticed by Phil, but an attempt to seduce Phil away from a woman Connie thinks is living with him. All the elements are there for cheating cheaters, except the fact that Lynn wants to go to straight reprints.
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