For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 12, 2009

I’m sorry, Lynn; these are just not funny anymore. And as a father who cooperated fully in raising our four children to responsible adulthood, I also find them insulting.

not everyone is as equal as you, max. and the concept of relaxing while amusing kids on a long car trip is amusing (to me, at least) since it’s so patently ridiculous. too bad you don’t appreciate it, but obviously there are still a lot of folks who do.

I could always sort of zone out. It’s safe to court highway hypnosis when you aren’t the one driving. Had some of my best fantasy adventures, staring out the window at the rushing scenery….

“Relax and amuse the kids” - as big a contradiction in terms as “military intelligence”.

I find it all too true. However on our long car trips, I have to drive and entertain the kids while husband sleeps. Course he sleeps through everything and is zero help around the house so I would be glad for any relief.

4deer. you have it right….best “trips” ever. Sometimes being 10/11 was the best of times.

Don’t take things so personally, Max. As a wife and mother, I don’t get offended when Elly freaks out about stuff that I wouldn’t. It’s just a slice of life, not meant to apply to everyone.

I remember reading long books or staring out the window on our road trips growing up. My kids are good at amusing themselves, esp on our 9 hour trips overseas with a 8 hour drive the next day. But they also watch about 1 hour of TV a month, so they’re very creative and used to playing by themselves.

Although, recently we went on a 7 hour drive with friends and I was jealous that their kids slept through about half of it. Sometimes some peace and quiet is nice.

Those kids are out of control. My dad wou;d have made one warning about (“If I have to stop this car…”) and that straightened us out but quick!

I envied my big brother who could read during long trips. I couldn’t, I’d get carsick.

Elly should INSIST on switching places not just give him the evil eye.

Macushlalondra said Elly should INSIST on switching places not just give him the evil eye.

I’ve noticed a lot of anti-male sentiment in your posts. Lighten up, it’s just a comic strip.

GiantBrain (how ironic), you have a selective memory, and they’re just comments. Or are you feeling extra sensitive today?

By the way, I actually love men – it’s grumpy people that I don’t.

I don’t see any anti-male sentiments, just the truth. Iagree with you lightenup!

And the other side of the story is that when the kids and mom are tired, dad gets to nap and let mom do the driving.

At first I thought it was just me. But judging by some of the comments over the past few weeks, I’m obviously not the only one who has noticed this development.

We all know the story of why Lynn Johnston stopped the strip and started over with a different perspective. And whereas I (and others) maintain a degree of empathy and/or sympathy for her circumstances, that still doesn’t justify the change in the strip.

The change I am of course referring to is portraying the husband as a clueless, self-absorbed buffoon with the potential for philandering. While I can understand her need to vent because of her own circumstances, in the process, this portrays the male lead in the most derogatory and stereotypical way. And as another poster said this morning, I also find such a portrayal insulting.

Just imagine the hysteria if the roles were reversed and Elly was the one portrayed in that fashion. The reaction would be swift and furious. Well, you can’t have it both ways. So kindly stop with the negative male stereotyping.

for BlitzMcD and all others who think the “early days” have somehow changed…..

today’s strip IS an original from the 1970’s. I’ve been a longtime fan and sent this one to my mom (now decieased) as a joke to remind her of the good old days traveling with dad.

it’s not rocket science to be able to see the differences between the original strips and the “refreshed” ones

I remember using comic books, and my imagination about where our travels would take us. I loved travelling with my parents as a kid. I met so many other kids from all around Canada and the USA.

Anyone else notice that Elly is using one arm over the seat back to attempt to entertain the baby? She IS already doing what she can from the front seat, which is not very relaxing. However, I don’t see this as particularly bitter, she’s just giving John a “hello, can’t you see that I am?” look….and she’s not yelling at anyone either. I think she wants to give her arm a break–that’s a very awkward position!

It’s interesting how every week we’ll have a few comments stating that the humor or relationships portrayed in a given strip are somehow out of date, or “no longer funny.”

Does the Li’l Abner strip get the same response?

Perhaps it would help if the strips showed the original publication date, like on Lynn’s own site.

The trick to road trips with kids is to keep them up all day running around (with one of the parents up too mind you and the other sleeping as best as they can) then pile into the car around 8 o’clock or 9 pm and drive. This is how my family did it, we didn’t wake up until we were almost were we needed to be (unless we were going to the happiest place on earth, lol). on the plus side, you got two sleeps at the same motel so you save some money too :D

C’mon, John! Even mothers like Elly need to take a break from amusing the kids when on a road trip!

OakDragon, where on Lynn’s site does it give the original dates of daily strips? This is how I take your meaning, and I haven’t found it at FBORFW.

gab4x4! That’s what MY family did for long car trips, too, when I was a pup!

As far as the assumed male or female bashing goes….the strip is supposed to be funny….it wouldn’t be without the exaggerated style that goes on. Lynn’s just fun’in you.

My brothers, sisters and I used to take long trips for the vacations, we brought the travel games, reading books or comic books and others to keep us busy instead of being a boredom on long trip. Nowadays there have TV, DVD in the SUV or so. It is so lucky than what we had in our times. Sigh!

Agree in general w/Max and Blitz, the strip not funny or poignant anymore. Being a woman, I was a bit more tuned in to the stereotypical old-fashioned woman roles illustrated in the strip since it started over the male roles, but now I notice both and I get that little ‘twinge” when I read it. I sense an undercurrent of hostility from Lynne re: relating to her historical circumstances, but I feel that it undermines the potential of the strip. Some things are best left in the past, and this also learned from my own personal experiences, hostility over others’ behavior is one of them, and apparently now old comics are too.

When we went on long car trips, we played the licence plate game, looking for new and interesting provinces or states that we had not seen before. Plates from Alaska or the Northwest Territories were extra-special - you couldn’t expect to see them more than once in your lifetime.

Since everybody is saying what annoys them about this strip, what annoys me (and I know that’s supposed to be the whole point of the joke) is that she’s volunteering to drive, which he takes literally, instead of saying “I need a break from amusing the kids - I want to drive for a while.”

Oh well. I don’t usually let comic strips get to me.

Burgundy2, she actually lives near North Bay, not Thunder Bay. Right in the middle of the province’s best camping, an hour and a half from Algonquin Park and less than an hour from all kinds of other great camping.

RinaFarina, I absolutely agree! Elly should ask for what she wants, not volunteer.

I never saw a lot of the original strips. Was John portrayed as such a buffoon back then?

Rina: Good point; Elly should be more direct about stating the actual nature of the problem. On the other hand, there’s no doubt that John GETS the actual nature of the problem, and is hoping Elly will continue to be too unassertive to lay it on the table. He’s playing the game by her rules, but he’s definitely playing the game.

beep-beep-beep! OK, back the trucks up over here and over there. set up a HAZMAT containment tent over the infestation verify secure attachment and comence fumigation of obnoxious, rude, insulting varmints. (s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s)

OK people, lets move along. Nothing to see here.

Oh, puleeez! How hard can it be? Just load the kids up with Valium before you hit the road! See? PROBLEM SOLVED!!

Oh please. We have the right to criticize a comic that we no longer find funny. There’s no need to bring out the Zyklon-B.

I agree with with a lot of people who seem to have come out of the woodwork today to say this. The strip is outdated, not funny, and is mean-spirited pretty often. I’ve noticed that a lot of the comments on here tend to be advice towards the comic characters on how to fix the “funny”situation they’ve gotten themselves into. The the comments go off on an tangent where people talk about their own memories that are related to the subject matter, which I do enjoy since they’re often funnier. I never see any laughter or anticipation for tomorrow’s strip.

Yes, I know these are mostly repeats with some new strips thrown in once in a while, but they’re so old that they might as well be new again since most of us have never seen them before. So…we judge them with today’s attitude. A timeless classic should be just that, timeless. Even if the clothes and the language are different, the basic humanity of the characters should come through. Instead we get to see Elly hating being a housewife, hating being a mother, hating everything about her life and suffering away without making any real changes. That’s not a comic strip! That’s a therapist’s strip!