Coming as this does from Tracey, a girl that had scheduled at least one dance date with Michael (and unknown others), who ended with Gordon after Mike went flaky on her for that one date, this statement of "Maybe you just weren't meant for each other" is particularly interesting.
First of all, it could mean that Tracey is talking about her own relationship with Mike.
At the dance, Tracey made a play for Martin Bean, who was there with his girlfriend/date, and it did not go well. Any intelligent girl knows that you don't try to steal a guy from another girl by playing the part of an awkward geek. Tracey might have intended to do that even if she went with Mike. She may have known her play for Martin was not going to work and she needed a fallback when it did not.
Gordon on the other hand, was interested in Allyson Creemore. So it was supposed to be this sort of "I have been rejected by the ones I wanted". Gordon and Tracey, having been rejected, can now consider each other and share a little post-dance intimacy in Gordon's truck.
The missing element to this story is Michael Patterson who did not have plans to go to the dance and chase after any other girl. He was done with Martha. He had not yet discovered Rhetta. Tracey was available and, in those days, before she started dating Gordon, she was cute and funny and had a personality. Really not Michael's type at all when you think about it. Nevertheless, for Michael, Tracey might have been a real interest, no matter what he told Gordon. Look how quickly she turned the rejection into interest in Gordon. If Michael had been there instead, that interest might have been directed at him and not Gordon.
I notice the way Mike picked Gordon to take her to the dance in his stead. He did not ask Lawrence, who had run off with Martha at one point for dancing at Mike's 13th birthday party and could not be trusted in the days before Lawrence turned gay. He did not ask Brian Enjo. He asked Gordon, who had sworn that he and Tracey would never be more than friends. Gordon even mentioned that. He should have been the safe choice.
Second could be the idea that Tracey knows best because is the only female character who knows everyone.
Tracey says, "Maybe you just weren't meant for each other", a statement that could just as easily have applied to Tracey as to Rhetta. Tracey had seen Michael around Martha and Rhetta and was friends with them both. Martha would have said she broke up with Michael because he was not paying attention to her. Rhetta usually says that long-distance relationships are hard and again, that goes to someone not taking the effort to make them work. Tracey may know that the girl who is meant for Michael is a girl who can tolerate not getting attention from him. Tracey would know that was not Martha or Rhetta or even herself. They were not meant for Michael.
Third is that Tracey has gone meta.
Tracey, having been dropped into the comic strip from nowhere, for the sole purpose of being Gordon's wife and the mother of his children, would be aware that "meant for each other" in this world means the author intended them to be together. At some point, Lynn Johnston decided it was not going to be Rhetta and maybe this is a meta reference.
Not actually seeing what really happened is also Thanos-like in its inevitability. The actual problem is that she tried disguising her own boredom with a relationship that didn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry as generosity via using his own ill-thought out words against him but since Elly is right for the wrong reason
, his taking this far too seriously blinds him to it. Pity, though......he used to be more honest:
As I've said before, Elly lives in fear of a mother who doesn't know it. She fears being disowned and Marian hasn't a clue why her child channels dead crazy old people.
Seriously, that "you know I can't date Tracey" makes no sense unless what Gordon means is "you know I can't date Tracey, we have to get together accidentally, so it seems sweet and an act of fate and stuff. NOBODY is allowed to actually DEVELOP a relationship from friendship in this strip."
And that "you weren't meant for each other" needs to be followed by "let's check the script, go ahead a few chapters and see what- oh my god. What the hell? Hey Mike, guess what? You've already met the girl you're 'meant for.' This is going to sound weird, but...."
Seriously, that "you know I can't date Tracey" makes no sense unless what Gordon means is "you know I can't date Tracey, we have to get together accidentally, so it seems sweet and an act of fate and stuff. NOBODY is allowed to actually DEVELOP a relationship from friendship in this strip."
Gordon and Tracey did the one date where they talked at length about how they could not date. But that also means, not eat lunch or talk with each other at school or hang out or any of the other things normally associated with friendship. Tracey is being held out there as the girl Gordon is intended to marry and he has to avoid being with her at all costs or he will realize that as if she is some kind of marital temptation. Mike and Tracey on the other hand. They are not as good friends as Gordon and Tracey, so they are allowed to go to a dance together. They would be a better match if Mike was not so self-centered.
And that "you weren't meant for each other" needs to be followed
Right. Rhetta seemed to be well-suited for Mike. She supported him as a writer and got the acceptance from Elly that Martha never did. The only problem getting in the way with them being meant for each other is that Mike does not have the basic skills to sustain a relationship and needs a woman who does not require them.
The only problem getting in the way with them being meant for each other is that Mike does not have the basic skills to sustain a relationship and needs a woman who does not require them.
Telling him to his face that his being a shitty boyfriend who's too busy disappearing up his own asshole to make things work is the problem isn't going to go well.
I'm sorry, and maybe I'm completely wrong, but....guys just do not have conversations like this after a break-up. They talk it out with one or two close friends, if at all. They don't sit down with everyone in town to talk about it over tea. Maybe they should, but they really don't. This is a girl thing.
Coming as this does from Tracey, a girl that had scheduled at least one dance date with Michael (and unknown others), who ended with Gordon after Mike went flaky on her for that one date, this statement of "Maybe you just weren't meant for each other" is particularly interesting.
First of all, it could mean that Tracey is talking about her own relationship with Mike.
At the dance, Tracey made a play for Martin Bean, who was there with his girlfriend/date, and it did not go well. Any intelligent girl knows that you don't try to steal a guy from another girl by playing the part of an awkward geek. Tracey might have intended to do that even if she went with Mike. She may have known her play for Martin was not going to work and she needed a fallback when it did not.
Gordon on the other hand, was interested in Allyson Creemore. So it was supposed to be this sort of "I have been rejected by the ones I wanted". Gordon and Tracey, having been rejected, can now consider each other and share a little post-dance intimacy in Gordon's truck.
The missing element to this story is Michael Patterson who did not have plans to go to the dance and chase after any other girl. He was done with Martha. He had not yet discovered Rhetta. Tracey was available and, in those days, before she started dating Gordon, she was cute and funny and had a personality. Really not Michael's type at all when you think about it. Nevertheless, for Michael, Tracey might have been a real interest, no matter what he told Gordon. Look how quickly she turned the rejection into interest in Gordon. If Michael had been there instead, that interest might have been directed at him and not Gordon.
I notice the way Mike picked Gordon to take her to the dance in his stead. He did not ask Lawrence, who had run off with Martha at one point for dancing at Mike's 13th birthday party and could not be trusted in the days before Lawrence turned gay. He did not ask Brian Enjo. He asked Gordon, who had sworn that he and Tracey would never be more than friends. Gordon even mentioned that. He should have been the safe choice.
Second could be the idea that Tracey knows best because is the only female character who knows everyone.
Tracey says, "Maybe you just weren't meant for each other", a statement that could just as easily have applied to Tracey as to Rhetta. Tracey had seen Michael around Martha and Rhetta and was friends with them both. Martha would have said she broke up with Michael because he was not paying attention to her. Rhetta usually says that long-distance relationships are hard and again, that goes to someone not taking the effort to make them work. Tracey may know that the girl who is meant for Michael is a girl who can tolerate not getting attention from him. Tracey would know that was not Martha or Rhetta or even herself. They were not meant for Michael.
Third is that Tracey has gone meta.
Tracey, having been dropped into the comic strip from nowhere, for the sole purpose of being Gordon's wife and the mother of his children, would be aware that "meant for each other" in this world means the author intended them to be together. At some point, Lynn Johnston decided it was not going to be Rhetta and maybe this is a meta reference.
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There must be screaming. A Patterson must shriek their anger. There is no other way!
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Not actually seeing what really happened is also Thanos-like in its inevitability. The actual problem is that she tried disguising her own boredom with a relationship that didn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry as generosity via using his own ill-thought out words against him but since Elly is right for the wrong reason
, his taking this far too seriously blinds him to it. Pity, though......he used to be more honest:
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I still think that first strip would be massively improved by another, final panel where Elly goes "what's birth control" and Michael facepalms,
Michael's even more illiterate than I thought if he thinks "dumped" has TWO syllables.
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As I've said before, Elly lives in fear of a mother who doesn't know it. She fears being disowned and Marian hasn't a clue why her child channels dead crazy old people.
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Seriously, that "you know I can't date Tracey" makes no sense unless what Gordon means is "you know I can't date Tracey, we have to get together accidentally, so it seems sweet and an act of fate and stuff. NOBODY is allowed to actually DEVELOP a relationship from friendship in this strip."
And that "you weren't meant for each other" needs to be followed by "let's check the script, go ahead a few chapters and see what- oh my god. What the hell? Hey Mike, guess what? You've already met the girl you're 'meant for.' This is going to sound weird, but...."
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Seriously, that "you know I can't date Tracey" makes no sense unless what Gordon means is "you know I can't date Tracey, we have to get together accidentally, so it seems sweet and an act of fate and stuff. NOBODY is allowed to actually DEVELOP a relationship from friendship in this strip."
Gordon and Tracey did the one date where they talked at length about how they could not date. But that also means, not eat lunch or talk with each other at school or hang out or any of the other things normally associated with friendship. Tracey is being held out there as the girl Gordon is intended to marry and he has to avoid being with her at all costs or he will realize that as if she is some kind of marital temptation. Mike and Tracey on the other hand. They are not as good friends as Gordon and Tracey, so they are allowed to go to a dance together. They would be a better match if Mike was not so self-centered.
And that "you weren't meant for each other" needs to be followed
Right. Rhetta seemed to be well-suited for Mike. She supported him as a writer and got the acceptance from Elly that Martha never did. The only problem getting in the way with them being meant for each other is that Mike does not have the basic skills to sustain a relationship and needs a woman who does not require them.
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The only problem getting in the way with them being meant for each other is that Mike does not have the basic skills to sustain a relationship and needs a woman who does not require them.
Telling him to his face that his being a shitty boyfriend who's too busy disappearing up his own asshole to make things work is the problem isn't going to go well.
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Very true. Mike never changes but his girlfriend's tolerance to looking for her boyfriend in that particular location did change.
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I'm sorry, and maybe I'm completely wrong, but....guys just do not have conversations like this after a break-up. They talk it out with one or two close friends, if at all. They don't sit down with everyone in town to talk about it over tea. Maybe they should, but they really don't. This is a girl thing.
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I do know some guys who do this but they're gayer than Oscar Wilde's picnic basket.
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Oscar Wilde's picnic basket is gay? Well, that explains a lot.
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I'm sorry, and maybe I'm completely wrong, but....guys just do not have conversations like this after a break-up.
I know I never had conversations like this after a break-up. My conversations were more like this:
Other person: I saw so-and-so (my ex-girlfriend) out with another guy.
Me: Yes. She broke up with me.
Other person: I got that. Why?
Me: I don't make enough money.
Other person: That makes sense.
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