I always thought that Lynn was quite aggressive in portraying the three Patterson children as Obviously, Blatantly No Doubt About It Heterosexual as early as possible. She could include one gay character but it was never going to be one of her Pattersons, just like her Pattersons were never going to date someone outside their own race or do drugs or drink (because I strongly suspect those are equally "questionable choices" in Lynn's eyes. She couldn't even have any of her characters experience debt, unemployment that resulted in hardship, the serious illness of a child, or any of the extremely common difficulties that harass perfectly average people throughout their lives- and don't even get me started on the absolute impossibility of depicting an affair by John or Elly. It's like she was writing a comic version of the Brady Bunch.
Mike is hanging around his best friend, Weed, which is a reference to Lynn's son's use of weed. She cannot say outright that Mike was smoking weed, but that is pretty close.
Elizabeth drank a lot and is frequently shown with significant hangovers, which is a reference to Lynn's daughter's drinking habits.
Lynn did not mind portraying the Patterson kids poorly if it meant she could also send a nice, judgmental message to her children via the comic strip. Nevertheless, I agree with all your other points.
Lynn is either too bloody chicken to flat out tell people things to their face or so bloody stupid, she has a five year old child's idea of what people know.
True. I remember when she had the comment where she put a reference to someone in her comic strip expecting them to notice and contact her and then they didn't.
Sunday January 4, 2015 Lynn’s Notes:
I have always had fun with sound effects and radio broadcasts, labels and names. Jim Borecki is the name of a good friend, with whom I have lost touch. I tried to contact him by putting his name in this strip, but so far I have not been able to find him.
"This is 2024, so I changed my hair, put glasses back on, and am hanging out at my old school instead of home trying to keep that stupid B&B Anthony insisted on starting just before COVID hit clean despite the fact that we never get any renters because nobody wants to stay in a suburb of Toronto. Yes, I've gone insane and no, this updating of the strip in ways like this doesn't work."
This not understanding that it's not actually hypocritical to want to be attractive and equal stems from what I see as Lynn's inability to understand social norms. As by way of example, Little Miss I Don't Ever Want To Think is genuinely astonished that people are allowed to form an opinion of her without her permission:
"They're calling you 'milk and cookies' because that's what they call young female teachers who hang out with underaged male students, even to the point of inviting them in for snacks and sitting on their beds in their bedrooms. Yeah, you have a reputation, Miss Patterson."
Lynn appears to have insisted that if she said that her dalliance with Rod while she was still married to Doug was totally innocent, people should just accept that.
That particular reference comes from The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston with this story:
Baby Aaron arrived on April 11, 1973. He was born into a world of turmoil. Both Doug and Lynn’s parents lived on the West Coast, so they didn’t really have any support or anyone to help guide them through the murky waters of early parenthood. Lynn tried to find consistent freelance work, while learning to be a mother and maintaining a household on her own. Despite his promise, Doug was drinking heavily and spending many unexplainable nights away from home. Six months after Aaron was born, Doug moved in with a woman he’d been secretly seeing for some time.
I was relieved, actually. In my mind, I had left him many times. To be separated was something for which I was mentally prepared…or so I thought. I fell apart. I lay on my bed wondering how I could cope. I needed someone who would
( ... )
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I always thought that Lynn was quite aggressive in portraying the three Patterson children as Obviously, Blatantly No Doubt About It Heterosexual as early as possible. She could include one gay character but it was never going to be one of her Pattersons, just like her Pattersons were never going to date someone outside their own race or do drugs or drink (because I strongly suspect those are equally "questionable choices" in Lynn's eyes. She couldn't even have any of her characters experience debt, unemployment that resulted in hardship, the serious illness of a child, or any of the extremely common difficulties that harass perfectly average people throughout their lives- and don't even get me started on the absolute impossibility of depicting an affair by John or Elly. It's like she was writing a comic version of the Brady Bunch.
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I will have to disagree on a few points:
Mike is hanging around his best friend, Weed, which is a reference to Lynn's son's use of weed. She cannot say outright that Mike was smoking weed, but that is pretty close.
Elizabeth drank a lot and is frequently shown with significant hangovers, which is a reference to Lynn's daughter's drinking habits.
Lynn did not mind portraying the Patterson kids poorly if it meant she could also send a nice, judgmental message to her children via the comic strip. Nevertheless, I agree with all your other points.
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Lynn is either too bloody chicken to flat out tell people things to their face or so bloody stupid, she has a five year old child's idea of what people know.
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True. I remember when she had the comment where she put a reference to someone in her comic strip expecting them to notice and contact her and then they didn't.
Sunday January 4, 2015 Lynn’s Notes:
I have always had fun with sound effects and radio broadcasts, labels and names. Jim Borecki is the name of a good friend, with whom I have lost touch. I tried to contact him by putting his name in this strip, but so far I have not been able to find him.
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( ... )
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Liz does not understand equality become Lynn doesn't.
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Every character is Lynn.
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"This is 2024, so I changed my hair, put glasses back on, and am hanging out at my old school instead of home trying to keep that stupid B&B Anthony insisted on starting just before COVID hit clean despite the fact that we never get any renters because nobody wants to stay in a suburb of Toronto. Yes, I've gone insane and no, this updating of the strip in ways like this doesn't work."
Reply
This not understanding that it's not actually hypocritical to want to be attractive and equal stems from what I see as Lynn's inability to understand social norms. As by way of example, Little Miss I Don't Ever Want To Think is genuinely astonished that people are allowed to form an opinion of her without her permission:
( ... )
Reply
"They're calling you 'milk and cookies' because that's what they call young female teachers who hang out with underaged male students, even to the point of inviting them in for snacks and sitting on their beds in their bedrooms. Yeah, you have a reputation, Miss Patterson."
Reply
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Lynn appears to have insisted that if she said that her dalliance with Rod while she was still married to Doug was totally innocent, people should just accept that.
That particular reference comes from The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston with this story:
Baby Aaron arrived on April 11, 1973. He was born into a world of turmoil. Both Doug and Lynn’s parents lived on the West Coast, so they didn’t really have any support or anyone to help guide them through the murky waters of early parenthood. Lynn tried to find consistent freelance work, while learning to be a mother and maintaining a household on her own. Despite his promise, Doug was drinking heavily and spending many unexplainable nights away from home. Six months after Aaron was born, Doug moved in with a woman he’d been secretly seeing for some time.
I was relieved, actually. In my mind, I had left him many times. To be separated was something for which I was mentally prepared…or so I thought. I fell apart. I lay on my bed wondering how I could cope. I needed someone who would ( ... )
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Robot! Did you have trouble attracting teenage boys when you were younger?
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Stupid strip speaks for itself.
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