On the subject of Liz's berserk button.
Apr. 20th, 2015 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreadedcandiru2My guess is that by now, Anthony has blundered witlessly into a rhetorical ambush that has caused Liz to violently overreact to a question she doesn't want answered with anything like veracity. The question that faces us is wondering exactly what that trigger is. As I've said in the past, the other Pattersons don't like having certain questions asked and don't like hearing certain concepts because the truth clashes with their self-image. Here's a helpful list of said topics that should never be discussed if you don't want to either get screeched at or hit with something:
What this leaves us is wondering what it is that might set Liz off. We start to see hints of it when she accuses the Evil Career Woman of willing her to fall on her arse and hurt herself because she's an unfriendly and jealous ice queen who hates her for no reason. Further hints are to be had when she randomly damns the people of Mtigwaki for their obvious support of Paul and Susan making a fool of her because if they liked her, they would have lynched the two of them. This tells me that the question that might antagonize Liz to the point of violence is "Don't you think you're being unfair?"
As we saw when she squawked about the unfairness of having to look like a civilized human being and not injecting herself into any social gathering Anthony might attend, it enrages Liz when she's asked to consider the idea that despite her not looking out to start trouble, trouble sort of follows her because of factors she hasn't considered (such as Gordon setting up an argument to destroy Anthony's marriage to someone who makes him feel uncomfortable or a town being paralyzed by the awkwardness of the situation). What this means that as I type this, she's probably foaming at the mouth about the unfairness of being accused of taking out her dislike of Thérèse on Françoise despite the fact that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's Liz being a pissy, judgmental loon playing favorites and jumping down an innocent child's throat because she doesn't want to be reminded that she played a big part in wrecking her life.
- Don't make fun of Elly' imaginary ten extra pounds, don't tell her that the ten extra pounds don't exist and don't imply that she's a short-tempered, stubborn idiot who doesn't listen because she likes being angry more than she likes being right and don't tell her that brings most of her trouble on herself.
- Don't imply that John is a self-serving egomaniac who's too fragile to deal with anything other that blind, unthinking obedience from the people around him and don't call him unfair, unfeeling and unkind.
- Don't tell Michael that he's not the special snowflake his bloated ego turns him into and don't imply that he's being cruel to Liz because he's a jealous idiot.
- Don't make the mistake of implying that Deanna has anything like a character flaw and don't do anything stupid like tell her that any idea she might have is impractical and idiotic.
- Don't imply that the only reason that Becky is gross-buckets and evil is that she makes April feel insecure about herself.
- Don't tell any of them that people whose interests collide with their own aren't monsters trying to crush them out of malice, jealousy and family politics.
What this leaves us is wondering what it is that might set Liz off. We start to see hints of it when she accuses the Evil Career Woman of willing her to fall on her arse and hurt herself because she's an unfriendly and jealous ice queen who hates her for no reason. Further hints are to be had when she randomly damns the people of Mtigwaki for their obvious support of Paul and Susan making a fool of her because if they liked her, they would have lynched the two of them. This tells me that the question that might antagonize Liz to the point of violence is "Don't you think you're being unfair?"
As we saw when she squawked about the unfairness of having to look like a civilized human being and not injecting herself into any social gathering Anthony might attend, it enrages Liz when she's asked to consider the idea that despite her not looking out to start trouble, trouble sort of follows her because of factors she hasn't considered (such as Gordon setting up an argument to destroy Anthony's marriage to someone who makes him feel uncomfortable or a town being paralyzed by the awkwardness of the situation). What this means that as I type this, she's probably foaming at the mouth about the unfairness of being accused of taking out her dislike of Thérèse on Françoise despite the fact that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's Liz being a pissy, judgmental loon playing favorites and jumping down an innocent child's throat because she doesn't want to be reminded that she played a big part in wrecking her life.
