Friday, 18 October 2024
The one with the stupid why Liz was a bitch to Candace for years on end: she told Liz the truth and imposed consequences.
Synopsis: When Liz confronts Candace, she still doesn't see the obvious thing: Candace wanted to see how low-down and gutless Liz was before moving in on Anthony.
Summary: It takes five or six years and Candace mutating into a ( Read more... )
Panel 1 starts with Elizabeth screaming at Candace as she is...what is Candace doing? I think it's supposed to be a drinking fountain. What do those really look like?
Instead of a handle to turn, it appears Candace has one of those drinking fountains you jab with your thumb.
Panel 2 starts off with Candace telling Elizabeth that she's low class and then Elizabeth points out that it was her idea. While that is true, Elizabeth went along with the idea and never once considered that it was low class. In fact, I will bet that until that moment when Candace told her it was low class, Elizabeth did not know that it was.
Panels 3 and 4 set up Candace as the evil one, which is OK. Candace is evil, but Lynn Johnston decides to bring Anthony into the evil.
I get the feeling that this was supposed to be Lynn Johnston rubbing it in so that Elizabeth plays the part of Patterson martyr and get comforted by Elly. However, Lynn might not have thought this one through. What Anthony is saying is that while he was still dating Elizabeth, he was actually more interested in Candace.
1, If he is telling the truth, then he is a scumdog for wanting to date his girlfriend's friend while he was still dating her.
2, If he is not telling the truth, then he is a scumdog for taking the situation and rubbing it in Elizabeth's face by pretending he was interested in Candace when he really wasn't.
Anthony is a scumdog either way, but for which reason?
The answer is number 2. He was rubbing it in Elizabeth's face by pretending he was interested in Candace, when in reality, Elizabeth means something to him, and he was hurt by it. Lynn is trying to play it as if Anthony was not hurt, but he practically tells Elizabeth that if she had left him for another guy it would have hurt. Lynn may not have thought about this, because that is pretty much what Elizabeth did. She dumped Anthony so she could chase after Grade 12 guys, the same way Candace did.
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Liz ends up making the trite observation that love just screws everything up.
Lynn parlayed that into a title without realizing what really screwed everything up: being slithering filth who don't know how to behave. This unwillingness to accept blame when she makes an ass of herself and alienates someone brings out the urge to spout deepities:
In the first instance, her infantile insistence that respecting somebody else's boundaries was a cruel imposition:
and the unwarranted presence of a mob of degens fighting for her right to just barge right on in and immiserate a threatening stranger drove the woman so bonkers, she fled and left everyone and everything she saw as trapping her behind. In the second case, Paul's realization that his complying with Liz's demands is not enough:
because clinging like a leech to some dick from middle school will always mean more drove him into Susan's arms. It's better to make shitty wordplay than to admit to being an entitled fuckup.
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Between teen Anthony making a lame attempt to gaslight teen Liz (which works, because Liz is an infant) and adult Anthony standing frozen as his daughter is upset, leaving the girl he cheated with to comfort his daughter, I just can't with any of these strips. These people are sick. Paul and Therese are the Winners in this little drama because they no longer have to deal with them.
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We're dealing with a snot-nosed brat who thinks his dad is a miser and slave driver because he expected Sonny Boy to go halfsies on car payments, gas and insurance. He and his fellow adult toddler deserve each other.
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As I've posted before, I wish Susan had used Liz's logic when Liz showed back up in Mtig- "I'm not you, Liz, but I'm here." But Pattersons never get their twisted BS view of the universe thrown back at them. It's always self-serving or it doesn't count.
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We get to see why Tuesday when Elly "doesn't" understand the problem because she suggested that Liz can't be cheated without giving Candace permission to do so because she's a miserable coward with a weakness a go-getter like her frienemy can exploit:
At least she had learned to do things for herself - unlike Liz and Dawn, who drove her nuts because they were so timid and passive. It was hard to talk them into trying anything new. Neither made an effort to grab control of her own life and go after what she wanted instead of waiting for someone else to make things happen. Liz, for example, had a crush on one of the guys in their class but was just sitting around wishing he would ask her out - and he, of course, was too chicken to make the first move.
Her take on this is rather amusing:
It was pure impulse that led Candace to ask Anthony to the Halloween dance after Liz broke up with him. Not surprisingly, he accepted immediately. She was, after all, more "in" with the cool kids than he was. She only hoped he wouldn't be too embarrassingly grateful and over-eager to show her off at the dance. To her annoyance, when the night came, Anthony had the nerve to act like their date was no big deal. He didn't even seem interested when she snuggled close in the slow dances. She had the crazy impression that he was more amused than aroused.
as it suggests that none of the three idiots involved have the least idea what the other two cretins are thinking or seeing.
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That would have been a great line for Susan Dokis. The biography tried to make her seem much more sensible, often calling Constable Paul Wright for even thinking he could have a relationship with cheating Elizabeth.
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No little girl would respond to the heartbreak of seeing her mother leave by hugging her dad's girlfriend. Francoise has not had time to establish that relationship. She'd seek comfort in her DAD's arms. Too bad Anthony has stepped out of the picture, leaving Liz the only comfort available. There is so much cruel emotional manipulation going on here, and Therese is dishing out none of it.
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But Liz is stupid and doesn't understand that Anthony is a scumdog father who wants what he wants, everyone else be damned. Then again, she fell for a damn lie because it made her feel good about herself:
so it tracks that someone with her issues might find it flattering that Anthony is willing to cancel Christmas if she can't barge into the home she broke:
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Like I said before, this emotional blackmail isn't going to work anymore once the kid is too old to believe in Santa.
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Just as it has with Connie, it's going to baffle these other awful people when she leaves the pesthole she sees as a prison and never looks back.
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Remember how Connie is still mystified by Molly and Gayle not wanting to be anywhere near her and her my way or else bullshit? It's been sixteen years since we've seen these scumbags and they're confused because Francoise would rather eat gravel than talk to them or go anywhere near Milboring.
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Lynn parlayed that into a title without realizing what really screwed everything up: being slithering filth who don't know how to behave. This unwillingness to accept blame when she makes an ass of herself and alienates someone brings out the urge to spout deepities:
Right. Elly looks pleased at the title, but what really happens is Anthony hangs around for another year and a half in the friendzone until Elizabeth decides she wants to have him as a boyfriend again. It would have made for a much more interesting story if Anthony had actually started dating someone else, but he exists for no other reason to be there for Elizabeth whenever she wants him.
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Which is a hyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge strike against him. Defining himself as OfLizardbreath demeans him as much as being OfHORMONEATTACK!! demeans Tracey.
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"Beau"? this is not the Civil War!
and another reason I think Lynn's a bible thumper. Only bible thumpers think it's normal to tell everybody to pray at a party.
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What adds insult to injury is that, as a Patterson, Liz assumes that people shut off like machines when she's not there to make their existences meaningful by being present. She doesn't realize that Anthony remembers the horrible way her older brother treated a girl interested in him:
She doesn't know about the insane home life Lynn and Beth gave him and how it made him the equivocating, morose, stoop-shouldered and sunken-chested loser he is. She doesn't and will never know his understanding of events:
That fall, his class moved from Junior High to the Collegiate a mile from his home. It was a long bus ride, but he was enthused about the new school. It was known for its superior science program, and for having excellent math teachers. He took on an extra heavy course load and plunged into his studies with enthusiasm. It was, to some degree, a strategic move in self-defence. Liz was getting bored with him. They hadn't seen much of each other during the summer. She was always eyeing the older boys, even when he was with her. All the signs were there that the end was near. If he was immersed in his courses, he hoped it would hurt less when she dumped him. The end came as a shock. He had assumed it would be gentle and bittersweet. They would talk a while, share some memories and agree to still be friends. Instead, Liz sent her friend Candace in the middle of a school day to tell him he was history. It was such a rotten a thing to do, his disgust overrode sorrow. Liz could be tactless at times, but this was unreal. He couldn't believe that, of all people, she sent Candace, a motor-mouth who would tell the story far and wide. To make it worse, he could see Liz and Dawn peeking around the corner while Candace told him, watching the whole miserable conversation and no doubt snickering at his humiliation.
This just made me think something horrible: it makes me think that there's a reason Elly keeps shilling Assthony: she hates how Liz 'got talked' into being the degen she was born to be. Add in a peasant buffoon who doesn't, won't and cannot get it through his thick bloody skull that a girl isn't obliged to return his feelings:
"Western. That's where Mike went." Gordon grinned. "I guess Liz is going there, too?" "No " Anthony kept his head down as he plugged in numbers. "I thought for sure she would since Mike loved it so much. But she decided to go to Nipissing University instead, in North Bay." "North Bay?" Gordon stared at him. "Whew! That's a long ways away." "Yeah." Anthony punched the keys in swift staccato. "She said she's ready to experience new things, new people. Says she feels tied down and wants more freedom." "Oh." Gordon looked crest-fallen. "I see. I'm sorry, Anthony." "Hey, Liz and I had a good couple of years." Anthony shrugged. "It couldn't last." "Don't know why not." Gordon sighed and rose. "You're one of the best. But women - who can figure them?"
taking pity on him because women baffle him by wanting free will and you can see why that partisan army formed to chase away the scary outsider.
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