Elly versus optimism...

The strip in which Elly overreacts to John's ham-fisted attempt to make her feel better about her imaginary bulk demonstrates another bizarre mental defect that comes into play whenever she's upset about something: her strong and baffling need to not accept reassurance. It doesn't seem to matter what the problem is just so long as Elly doesn't allow herself to see a bright side to it; the reason, of course, is that the spoiled child she'll always be wants desperately to be taken seriously. This means that if she has to admit that John is right about his having a slower metabolism and being twice her size anyway, he'd get to win. The sad thing is that she never learns; she doesn't want to see the bright side of anything lest she no longer be taken seriously.