What’s wrong with the Anthony character? Is he a serial rapist? Or people just don’t like him because he doesn’t conform to societal ideals of male beauty?
No, I’m still a fan. Granted Anthony has, in the past, been portrayed as desperate and his “wait for me!” plea to Liz was a bad idea, I don’t mind them getting back together. It’s been pretty clear over the years that Liz still cared for him and sometimes people just have to go through changes before they can make a relationship work.
It’s also not fair to compare this to Mike and Deanna. Granted they had known each other as kids, they hadn’t seen each other in years and had never dated until after Deanna’s accident.
Shaenon K. Garrity’s Why I Hate Anthony sums up my feelings about the character quite well.
A fun read, but damn, that’s a lot of thought for a silly funny pages strip.
Saw the link… after that much vitriol, Anthony just became my new all-time favorite cartoon character, evah.
I’ve no particular opinion on the predictable, tedious soap opera FBOFW has become (oh, wait, maybe I do after all), but I’ve got a question: how come everyone in the strip says "an’ " instead of “and”? Do Canadians routinely drop the d’s from spoken words? I know a few Canadians, an’ I don’t recall ever hearing that.
What about Rogov?
He’s a Michael Man – the phrase coined by Florence King to indicate a man of low sex drive (and sex appeal) who uses his ‘niceness’ to weasel his way into a woman’s life (and bed.) He’s a creep.
Anyway, at least the other shoe has dropped. Stupid comic strip.
ROFL! So a man who is NICE to women is now a creep??? Being nice to women is “weaseling” into her life???
That’s the most fucked up statement I believe I have ever heard.
Anthony is not truly nice. He claims he’s nice, but he (while married) hit on Elizabeth less than an hour after she was attacked and nearly raped (and he knew that because he was the one who broke up the situation), begging her to “wait” for him. He married someone he didn’t really love while pining away for Liz. He nagged his wife into having a child, and when she finally agreed, providing that he did the child care, he agreed to the arrangement - and then moaned over what a horrible woman she was for wanting to concentrate on her career. And now he’s necking with Liz when I’m not even sure he’s divorced yet.
Damn, missed the edit window:
And to answer The Controvert’s query about male beauty - believe me, he’s undergone a makeover (and probably more) from his last appearance. His hairline has moved forward, he has better glasses, he apparently had major cosmetic surgery on his nose, and he shaved the pornstache off. IIRC, his skin also appears much more clear. It’s not the looks. He’s ugly on the inside. He’s a whiny, unmotivated, stuck-in-the-mud man. Johnston idealizes staying near home and marrying your high school sweetheart (Mike married his, and is actually moving into his childhood home while his parents move down the block) rather than experiencing new things and potential for new growth.
As for the criticisms about spending too much time analyzing a comic strip - why not? No one blinks an eye at book reviews, movie reviews, even TV show reviews. This series started in 1979; it’s not some little one-off doodle on the funny pages. It boasts a history, continuity, real-time aging for much of its run, and Johnston promotes her stances on various issues and topics she has addressed, like homosexuality, the Canadian Native/First Nations community, disabilities, and so forth. If the creator considers it a fairly serious matter, so can we.
Finally, Johnston is heavy-handed in how she dismisses Liz’s other suitors, who fall all over her instantly, then show how unworthy they are nearly as quickly. Her escort at the wedding acts as if she’s so terribly interesting and lovely, then drinks himself into a stupor before the toasts are done. Her last boyfriend cheated on her, neatly glossing over how she ran away from commitment by not applying to stay in Mtigwaki (even though he applied for a transfer near her!) without even telling him. And so on, and so on. This match was inevitable and seen from miles away, in a fit of very poor storytelling and plotting.
Did you notice that Jess put quotes around the word “niceness?” Those are called scare quotes. It’s a little trick writers use to indicate that the description is not to be taken at face value.
Heh. I first read that as “plodding”. And, to be sure, Ms. Patterson did take her time with this “resolution.”
Wow that linked article was superb.
… I’m a little late, but Cordwainer Smith for the win!
Yes it was was and it utterly nailed everything wrong with Anthony.
I love FBOW. The strips about Farley’s death and the times he shows up again make me bawl.
But this storyline(the whole Granthony thing) is just…I’d come up with a more erudite phrasing but I know one from the comic strip oeuvre.
In the immortal words of Bill the Cat? It’s very “Ack. Ack. Gag. Barf.”
Exactly. She’s short, she’s not model-thin, and she talks with her mouth instead of her eyes the way Liz does. So she can only be the gal-pal, perfectly willing to attend a wedding where she doesn’t know anyone except her “date,” just so she can boost his ego and give him a thumbs-up as he ditches her.
Not that she’s missing much by not hanging out with Anthony from now on, of course. But it’s :rolleyes: worthy that Liz and Anthony are hooking up by default. Julia is the matchmaker, and Mason is too drunk* to care what Liz is doing. The only way they can get together is if there are absolutely no obstacles.
*I also don’t see how Mason had time to get that loaded. But since he apparently is, here’s hoping he comes to and makes a scene.
I’ll bet he tries to drive home wasted, thus creating next week’s “don’t drink and drive” theme. (If the wedding was taking place during the day, I’d be willing to bet his car would t-bone a bunch of kids headed for that telethon.)
Ickiness of Granthony aside, I just don’t understand the timeline of this wedding. It started two weeks ago, presumably on a weekend (since I believe it started in the early afternoon, and most daytime weddings on weekends). Then Lynn cut to April’s trevails in a 1980s teen movie, which took place during the schoolday. Or was it a weekend telethon?
Then once the requisite slow clap occured and the Lesson Was Learned, we’ve returned to the wedding. Huh? Are we supposed to infer that the wedding is taking place during a weekday? Or that it lasted longer than a week??? I know many couples treat wedding ceremonies as a huge event, but a weeklong marathon seems pretty hardcore. Perhaps Canadians have two-part weddings: ceremony one weekend, reception the next?
If this is all supposed to be on the same day … holy crap, this is one freaking long day.
If FBoFW had always been this flexible about its temporal mechanics, this wouldn’t be such a WTF situation. But Lynn used to be better about weaving her plotlines through a semi-realistic schedule. Ah but she used to be better at many things, so I guess this is no different.
For those sniffing “my, that’s a lot of interest in a silly comic strip” … it’s no different from those Dopers who have fun bitching about goofy stuff in Star Trek, Star Wars, or whatever floats their kitschy pop culture boats. Whining, obsessing, snarking on ‘light’ entertainment material is the stuff of many an enjoyable Cafe Society thread.
The thing is, Jess used it to differentiate Anthony from someone who could (presumably from the tone) “legitimately” insert himself into a woman’s life by being good looking! Sorry, it’s still pretty fucked up.