For Better? HA! Definitely For Worse.

[lls_mutant]

So, I read For Better or for Worse, and I've ranted about it here recently, about how the strip has totally jumped the shark. But today, I nearly banged my head on the table. Seriously.



I don't like Liz/Anthony. I never did. They seemed to be dating in high school because they got along, and I always got the impression it was more a treading water thing. Sure, people get together with childhood sweethearts, but Mike already married Deanna, and Gordon and Tracy got together in high school. So, from a literary standpoint, it doesn't make sense to hook Liz up with Anthony, either. You'd think.

So Anthony married this career bitch Therese who never seemed to have time for her family and was money-oriented and tacky, right? They had a kid that Therese never wanted, and then she eventually had an affair and left, telling Anthony that he could have the house and full custody of the kid. We all remember those strips, right?

Well, now Lynn Johnston seems to think that we need to understand this romance better. Which is fine. So she's flashbacking it, with Elizabeth telling Candace things. But the stuff they're saying MAKES NO SENSE. Liz insists Therese tried to change Anthony, but we see her thinking Anthony looks like a fool (wearing particularly bad shorts), and suggesting he cut a very large sandwich in half. Yesterday, Candace says that Therese took Anthony for all she could get. Um, what did she take? She left the house and the baby! But today... today...

Apparently, after having the baby (and judging by the lack of hair, not long after having the baby), Therese became depressed. Hello, LJ, that's called POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION. It's a very real condition and can be very scary, from what I've been told. And at this point, it's very well publicized. And yet, there's absolutely NO sign of Anthony feeling anything towards her but resentment that she's depressed. Therese does recover, go back to work, and eventually start an affair. And apparently, after dealing with this, Anthony is left with trust issues and debt.

I'm a little dubious on how much debt Therese left, but I can see where maybe they qualified for the mortgage on both salaries, and her leaving left Anthony with a bigger mortgage payment than he could handle. But the trust issues...

Okay. There's NEVER any reason I would condone an affair. If you're not happy in a relationship, you have two options in my mind: 1.) you figure out what's wrong and work with your partner to try to fix it, or 2.) if it's really serious and beyond fixing, you leave. However, that said, people do make mistakes. I consider infidelity a major moral crime (especially marital infidelity), but I do recognize that sometimes people make mistakes and they learn from them. So I do respect that Anthony had trust issues from his wife cheating on him. But what about him?

Sure, Anthony never slept with Liz. But go back through the old strips, and every time they're around each other, every character seems to comment on how Anthony still has serious feelings for Liz. In fact, Liz realizes he's in love with her. While I don't condone what Therese did, I find it a little more understandable given that her husband WAS constantly mooning over an ex-girlfriend. And this isn't supposition or subtext. This is black and white, in words, in the strip. Spelled out. I mean, Anthony asked Liz to wait for him.

Ugh. I'm sorry, but I just cannot like Anthony any more. Or Liz, for falling for all of this. Sure, I suppose there are two sides to every story, but still. This is just really shoddy writing.



On a totally unrelated note, I found this Picture of Snape and the Evanseseseses by pojypojy. I thought it was really funny and probably fairly accurate. Enjoy!

Comments

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

I think of you every time I read FBOFW these days as you're just about the only person I know who seems to dislike the direction it is heading as much as I do!

Childhood romance =/= perfect partner for adult life every. single. damn. time. I suppose the series will end with April getting married to her high school boyfriend, Whatshisname, as well.

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

And for some reason my thoughts on Anthony were cut off, but I'll sum them up by saying that he didn't strike me as an ideal husband what with his obvious adoration of Liz and that even if he did give his wife whatever she wanted, that doesn't mean he treated her in a loving fashion.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Check out binky_betsy. You will very much enjoy it :)

Yeah, it's the every damn time part that gets me. And the Anthony constantly loving Liz part. IF he showed some remorse about marrying Therese, realized that he never should have done it because he never stopped loving Liz, and that what he did was truly painful for HER, too, I'd be much more forgiving. But yeah. Just do not like where he's going- especially since I can see where he could have been. ::Sigh::

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

Exactly -- Therese was barely even two-dimensional, as though the only purpose she served was to create a daughter for Anthony and give a reason for him to be away from Liz. She had no feelings to hurt, it seemed.

Liz has evolved as a person over their separation but he has not, so why should the reader believe that he's the right person for her now? I liked the one who flew the helicopter, though his name escapes me.

[aome.livejournal.com]

Heh. I love the A/L storyline, and am happy Johnson finally stopped futzing around and got them (back) together. I felt Anthony's expression in the "PPD" panel looked concerned, although Liz didn't dwell on the significance of the depression. I think it's because, as real and serious as PPD is, it doesn't really change anything in terms of how things ended between A/T because she was already treating him like crap, and she had had a child for the completely wrong reasons, so even if she DIDN'T have PPD, I think it still would have ended the same way.

I don't really go for the common HP view that teen sweethearts live Happily Ever After without some kinks along the way - I know it happens occasionally, but not that often, successfully, so I think it actually works in A/L's favor that they went their own ways while they figured themselves out, and can now come together with a been-there-done-that list of experiences and a better idea of what they're ready for. And I hated all of Liz's prior bf's - she seemed to fall for some true jerks - I'm surprised *she* doesn't have more trust issues. Anthony has always struck me as doing his best in any given situation - I remember he really did try to please Therese, regardless of how she treated him, while they were together. And I don't remember the timing of the "wait for me" request - where he and Therese were in their relationship (ie before baby, after baby, what).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Aside from the fact there are SO many childhood sweethearts in FBoFW, I have to admit that's not a big issue for me with Liz and Anthony. It annoys me, but it could be worse, I suppose.

I guess what bothers me is that I went through some of the old strips (I have several of the collections), and starting from Anthony's engagement on through the marriage, every time Anthony and Liz see each other it ends with a character commenting on how Anthony has feelings for Liz. If it's that apparent to people, it must be apparent to Therese, too. And that must hurt, to know your husband still has active feelings for an ex. I never blamed Liz, because Liz seemed to do her best to maintain a friendship but not encourage those feelings, but I could understand why Therese was upset.

Not that I think Therese was totally blameless, mind you! If she really didn't want a baby, she should have stood her ground, and like I said, I don't ever condone marital affairs. She should have left Anthony first, then gotten involved with someone. And the baby shower was incredibly tacky, which I felt was meant to reflect on Therese's character. I guess the problem I have is in the contradictions that we're seeing. The biggest one is Candace saying Therese took Anthony for everything, and then remembering that Therese told Anthony he could have the house and full custody. When Anthony told John he was getting a divorce, he told him that Therese packed some things and left, saying he could keep pretty much everything. And those strips were only a year or two ago.

I don't have a problem with the marriage falling apart, because that's what some marriages do. And in some ways, the strip has it correct in that people form misguided perceptions of each other. (Sadly, I can see many of the problems Liz is trying to describe in the A/T romance in my BIL's romance.) But I'd like to see LJ let Anthony take some of the blame here, too. The "wait for me request" came well before Anthony got a divorce- right after (like, as he was driving her home after) Howard tried to rape Liz. That was in the summer, and the divorce didn't happen until late winter/spring. Plus, there were always thought-bubbles about how Anthony wished things were different.

I definitely agree Eric was scum, although I thought LJ did that REALLY well. (Because there are plenty of scummy guys out there!) I liked Paul, though. I felt sort of bad for him, too. He got completely cut out of the loop as to what Liz was thinking. (I also really hated the "one of his own kind" logic people used about him hooking up with Susan.) Again, I don't think he should have cheated, but Liz made some major decisions without even talking to him about it (moving back home), and again, she was partly responsible for the deterioration of the relationship. And I really wish LJ had had the courage just to make Warren a booty call :) That's kind of what it seems like he is!

I guess that's what a lot of it boils down to, for me. There are instances where one party is truly wronged (like Liz and Eric), but it often takes two to screw up a relationship. I'd just like to see Lynn Johnston acknowledge that Liz and Anthony made mistakes with Paul and Therese, rather than casting ALL the blame on them :P

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

It's really bizarre the way everyone has to marry their childhood sweethearts! I didn't mind Liz/Anthony when they were teenagers - he was dorky but supportive, she was fun but flighty - but they've both done so much since, and the whole "Anthony really wanted Liz but used Therese to have a baby then she's evil for leaving" storyline really gives me the creeps. Also, Liz was having a great time (in both her career and personal life) away from home, and I'm kind of depressed that she had to move back. I've been reading this strip since I could read so I find it all very confusing and emotional!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I've been reading it for years and years, too, so I'm sad to see it going the way it is, too.

I would have liked to see Liz either stay up in Mtig or go someplace else. Honestly? I'd like to see Liz stay single for a while. She's not that old, and lots of women don't settle down until later- if at all. I always felt like that's why Liz's relationships kept not working out- the character was screaming "I'm single!" and the creator was not listening. ::Sigh::