Elly: the prophet as a dead loss.....

[dreadedcandiru2]

As howtheduck reminded me yesterday, Elly's track record in predicting the future can be considered amazing: she always gets it wrong. Over the years, we've seen the following:

- Elly's dread of a future wherein a post-toddler Elizabeth would be as big a handful as her older brother when in reality she was a rather timid, tearful child.

- Her belief that nothing bad would happen to April just because she didn't take care of the back gate.

- Her dread that Elizabeth's decision to ride a motorcycle would lead her on the road to perdition when nothing at all came of it.

- Her waking nightmare that Michael's marriage to Rhetta Blum would lead to the frustration of his dreams of travel and adventure and the opposing fantasy that Deanna would encourage them.

- Her concern that April would prove a menace on the roadways when all signs point to her being more responsible than the rest of her family.

This leads me to believe that since she thinks the Settlepocalypse will lead to a Disney movie ending, Anthony is bound to find that marriage to Liz will end up being worse hell than his first. What's more, his attempts to find love elsewhere will begin shorty after they return from their honeymoon, assuming that he doesn't have a one-night stand with the chambermaid.

There are two reasons why Elly has such a horrid success rate. The first is that, as a Patterson, she has no sense of proportion. Non-events and minor inconveniences that ordinary people shrug off elicit shrieks and growls from her and her family. The second is that she's astonishingly ignorant of how the world works. She always expects the world to match her preconceptions, never admits that she might not know what's going on and thus always fails.

Comments

[apologyhat.livejournal.com]

Elly parents as if she's already lost control of her children. Even reading the older strips are depressing in this manner--she's too concerned about them getting in "trouble" or making her look bad than she is about making sure they grow up to be functioning, responsible adults. At least back in the day, Elly could admit that she was wrong, and that she struggled. Now, she puts the grand in grandma.

I agree with your comment about her having no sense of proportion. For example, this strip

http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002654.php

would be funnier if we didn't know that Liz's fourth panel speech balloon isn't just idle conern, but, rather, an accurate portrayal of how Elly would flip out over every damn thing that happens to her, and could maybe be interpreted as a slight.

[dreadedcandiru2.livejournal.com]

There's, of course, a phrase that describes what happened to Elly: self-fulfilling prophecy. She didn't lose control; she never wielded it in the first place because she was too afraid of imaginary menaces to confront real ones. Since she can't see what needs paying attention to, she'll spend the rest of her life spitting out chunks of the Yellow Pages.

[otemporaomores.livejournal.com]

At least back in the day, Elly could admit that she was wrong, and that she struggled. Now, she puts the grand in grandma.

The Sanctification of Elly-- from ordinarily flawed, harried young mother to "the glue that holds the Patterson family together" or whatever glurgarific phrase it is on her Foob Central bio-- is a major factor in the decline of the strip, as far as I'm concerned-- right alongside the Delicate Geniusification of Mike and the Great Liz Obliteration. The strip was a lot better before the characters were replaced by Mary Sues and empty hand puppets.

Elly's as flawed as ever-- less likable, even-- but now she's supposed to be this Amazing Rock of Womanly Strength. Also, yelling is funny.

[dreadedcandiru2.livejournal.com]

It's odd in a very sad way, isn't it? The more likable the Pattersons are supposed to be, the less they really are.