Sunday, 6 October 2024

[dreadedcandiru2]

The one where Mike doesn't want Elly to learn that her need to be Master Chef was in vain.

Synopsis: We find friends and totally not gay couple Mike and Weed at the farmer's market. Mike tells Weed not to tell Elly that he appreciates the taste of vegetables when the flavor and vitality hasn't been boiled out of them by a pea-brained maniac with a

Comments

[dreadedcandiru2]

When we contrast the contemporary version:

[jjamele]

"Don't tell my mom that I would have eaten vegetables as a kid if she hadn't insisted on boiling the life out of them. If she finds out that all of her CUT CUT CUT and SLICE SLICE SLICE and CHOP CHOP CHOP was in service of ruining the taste of vegetables, her head would explode."

[dreadedcandiru2]

That's the thing of it: Elly's need to assert her creativity is destructive. Eating stodgy meals that sit in a child's stomach like a burning lead weight tends to ruin a person's ability to look forward to meals and to love things. Aaron eats mushrooms in the here and now because they are prepared properly by someone who knows what he or she is actually doing.

[jjamele]

Elly's being the "Mom" and "Wife" of the house was always strictly performative; she was constantly ironing things that didn't need to be ironing, aggressively sweeping areas of the house that didn't need to be swept, cooking things that didn't need to be cooked, shaving things that didn't need to be shaved, so she would Look Extremely Busy at all times. Meanwhile, the ACTUAL work of being with children and educating them and encouraging them? That requires actual effort, so No.

[dreadedcandiru2]

The quickest damn way to ruin clothes is to rush through the laundry without reading the fabric care instructions. Since that would require muscle memory and reduce effort and not make her the victim, we see her ironing people's underwear. Since cooking simple meals people love would give her time to herself, that's why she bought a crock pot to sweat over so she wouldn't.

The problem is that the woman clearly labors under the impression that being around children is a demeaning horror that would destroy her identity and turn her into a babbling simpleton who can Never Care About IMPORTANT Things.

[jjamele]

She wouldn't have to shave sheets if Mrs. This House Conserves Water had used cold water and the delicate cycle. I bet she's one of those loons who washes sheets several times a week too.

[dreadedcandiru2]

Learning about fabric care means paying attention to her surroundings. She doesn't want to do that because she thinks that if she doesn't know what's going on around her, she can't be blamed for it.

[aprilp_katje]

I call BS that Mike would even be thinking about not telling mommy that he enjoys fresh produce. 🙄

Also, I hate it when Lynn has her characters using mockingly faux French like "bone idea." F all the way off with that, Lynn.

[dreadedcandiru2]

1) Lynn wants to believe that Aaron cared about her opinion.

2) She can barely speak and write proper English so meddling with foreign languages is a super-bad idea.

[howtheduck]

I will have to disagree with that BS call. Mike was shown snacking on apples a lot during his youth.

[chocolate_frapp]

I have no doubt in my mind that Elly thinks cooking veggies correctly is for "ethnic" people....

[dreadedcandiru2]

Why, yes she does.WE boil the life out of food because we are British.

[chocolate_frapp]

The Two Fat Ladies, the GBBO guys and Gordon Ramsey pretty much killed the "Brits can't cook" stereotype but Elly certainly never got that memo.

[dreadedcandiru2]

What I see happening is her not being smart or patient enough to follow a recipe. She's like the female lead in Ranma 1/2.

[aprilp_katje]

Also: Am I the only one who wouldn't just eat an apple right then are there after buying it at a farmers market? I always wash apples before eating them. I know some people are like, "But you don't have to do that when you buy from a farmer, because the apples aren't waxed and treated like a supermarket apple." But still they have been touched and otherwise handled. So I won't eat them unwashed. And carrots: I peel them before eating, so also no eating a carrot I just bought from a stand.