The Pattersons versus actual effort.
Jul. 26th, 2015 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreadedcandiru2At first blush, the Sunday strip that Elly not see any sort of use in all the hard work Brian had to do to programming his jumping man computer sprite because she can make a crude flip book in seconds looks like the bog-standard "Elly versus technology" strips that had her do battle with machines that weren't designed for an impatient idiot who resents the fact that the world doesn't have to freeze in place because she doesn't feel like catching up. The problem is that the computer is not really the problem. What I think that the problem happens to be is that Brian can't say "Computer....make a jumping man" any more that Phil can play something Elly can sing along to without having to do anything haaaaaard and baaaaaaad and wrooooong like thinking about what she's doing.
This is because if you look at the strip's history, you'll notice it's the hard work, dedication and skill that are the real problem the Pattersons have with other people. After all, whenever you see the Martian yap about the war Becky doesn't realize that she's declared, what she really means is that she resents that Becky is driven to get good at something because her parents declare that to be a pernicious and unnecessary hindrance to the good life. This ill-informed yapping about her turning her back on friends and fun to chase an evil, distracting star is little more than the balm people who don't have the stamina or will-power to get what they want use to soothe themselves when confronted with genuine greatness. It was ever thus, though. For every man or woman of genuine skill, there are at least a thousand resentful pygmies kicking at his or her shins because they won't put in the effort but still expect a pat on the head and a cookie for breathing.
Also, for those of you who talk about how much rushing about Elly does and how tired she always seems to be, let me point out that she wouldn't have wasted all that time if she put in real effort. If she'd learned to do the dishes and the laundry properly, she'd have saved herself at least ten man-years of wasted effort.
This is because if you look at the strip's history, you'll notice it's the hard work, dedication and skill that are the real problem the Pattersons have with other people. After all, whenever you see the Martian yap about the war Becky doesn't realize that she's declared, what she really means is that she resents that Becky is driven to get good at something because her parents declare that to be a pernicious and unnecessary hindrance to the good life. This ill-informed yapping about her turning her back on friends and fun to chase an evil, distracting star is little more than the balm people who don't have the stamina or will-power to get what they want use to soothe themselves when confronted with genuine greatness. It was ever thus, though. For every man or woman of genuine skill, there are at least a thousand resentful pygmies kicking at his or her shins because they won't put in the effort but still expect a pat on the head and a cookie for breathing.
Also, for those of you who talk about how much rushing about Elly does and how tired she always seems to be, let me point out that she wouldn't have wasted all that time if she put in real effort. If she'd learned to do the dishes and the laundry properly, she'd have saved herself at least ten man-years of wasted effort.
