Horror in Foobville

[jamesq]

For the best take on why this is bad, read this.

In other news, who would have thought that Garfield would be so much more funny and terrifying without Garfield.

Comments

I disagree that it's "bad"

[http://users.livejournal.com/-grog-/]

I'm going to commit heresy here, but I'm going to speak in defense of this part of the FOBFW story:

(1) Both Liz and Anthony are very human characters. Both are flawed in many ways, and both struggle with their own feelings and expressing them - don't we all? My god - I know I struggle with that, and I suspect that most other people do to.

(2) We've seen them go their separate ways and come back together later in much changed circumstances. (Anthony is now a divorced, single father; Elizabeth is a teacher now that has lived apart from home and had a few flings of her own - experiences which are going to change anybody in subtle and surprising ways). My own life echoes this in some important ways.

(3) Criticizing what Anthony looks/acts like just annoys me. Relationships go much deeper than mere looks, and it strikes me as shallow and silly to criticize the character simply on such grounds. Let's face it, like in real life, not all of us are "pretty people", is it such a bad thing?

(4) I'll agree somewhat with the criticism that the story delivery has been slow, but you know what? Sometimes life is like that. Relationships grow slowly for some people - they evolve, they happen almost while the players don't even realize what's happening. I've actually enjoyed some of the twists and turns because I've been down paths that have been emotionally similar in my own time.

(and goodness knows, I'm definitely not the same person I was a few years ago!)

Perhaps the "majority" of FOBFW readers don't like the Anthony/Elizabeth story, but I have enjoyed it because it has elements that _I_ can relate to, and like a lot of other things about the strip, it's the "realness" of the characters that I enjoy so much. Is the real complaint that it's too close to home perhaps?

Re: I disagree that it's "bad"

[tyroticon.livejournal.com]

I will not argue with your right to enjoy what you do, and to not feel ashamed of doing so. I will, however, offer a few of the insights I've gleaned from the generally negative reactions to this storyline:

1) Am I right to assume that the first point you made refers to the point in question? If so, then yes, I agree that folks are leaping on the most fragile of excuses to bash the relationship. This is made all the worse by the fact that they have so many other legitimate moments and points from which to do so.

If you're speaking in general terms, however, the problem arises with the fact that Anthony's virtues aren't shown to the reader. We're told that they're there by characters serving as the author's apologists -- the same author who has to make other characters (Liz's ex-boyfriends and Anthony's ex-wife) unworthy, even when it's required moments bordering on retcon or a later walk-on moment.

2) Seeing echoes is fine, but I'd like to believe your circumstances didn't include pressuring someone who'd made it abundantly clear before the marriage that she didn't want children into having a baby. A lot of people find that sort of thing unforgiveable for good reason. I'm not one of them, but I am rather disappointed in the fact that the writer has pretty much hand-waved just how reprehensible that conduct is.

3) While I agree with you about how superficial the snipes at Anthony's mustache (now gone, I see) have been, it doesn't invalidate the general point that we always see the dorky-looking guy get the good-looking girl. The closest we've ever seen to the reverse is Cathy, and it's like trying to compare a few angry words at the dinner table to a mugging.

4) It's not so much that the delivery has been slow so much as it's been forced. There is an inevitable quality about this, and sometimes a defensive one. People don't see this as character growth because it does have a recycled feel to it, almost an effort to make Lizanthony into the new Elle John -- as well as a revisitation to the marriage between childhood sweethearts that Michael got.

I'll be honest with you: I think some people are only continuing to read this series because they're hoping to see Anthony get run over by a bus on the morning of his wedding. You're still reading because you enjoy this turn of events and the series in general. Others are still reading because of how much they hate this development.

The fandom's critical view of events isn't necessarily wrong, but the reaction sometimes borders on cancerous. If we don't like it and we can't fix it, the healthy thing to do is walk away from it. Instead, a number of fans have become stuck in the anger and denial stages, unable to reach acceptance.

Re: I disagree that it's "bad"

[http://users.livejournal.com/-grog-/]

but I'd like to believe your circumstances didn't include pressuring someone who'd made it abundantly clear before the marriage that she didn't want children into having a baby.

Ummm...no my past doesn't include that. However, your take on Anthony's marriage story is a bit different than what I recall - I got a very different read of that storyline, not that it matters - I'm not about to squabble over trivia at the moment - it's not like I have a shelf full of FOBFW books to refer to...

...it doesn't invalidate the general point that we always see the dorky-looking guy get the good-looking girl.

Now, as a criticism of the storyline, I accept the critique. However, on the other hand, I also think that criticism loses sight of the semi-biographical nature of the strip in the first place.

I don't think comparing Cathy with FOBFW is a good comparison - Cathy is more about the irony of being single where FOBFW is a rather different genre - I've always seen it as a blend between a soap-style story and Blondie.

People don't see this as character growth because it does have a recycled feel to it,

Yes, but again, this complaint misses the fundamental reality of Johnson's stories. A therapist I know once commented that "we often repeat the scripts of our parents" - and it's true in so many dimensions. From where I sit, Lynne Johnson has reflected that reality in a very human sort of way. (It may be entirely accidental, but that's how I read it)

I do think it's time for Johnson to "hang up her pen" so to speak - FOBFW has run its course, and although I'll miss the characters and the little window into their lives, I do think it's time to let it fade now.