Monday, August 3, 2009

Doll nostalgia

I know that Elly looks different in every single panel. I did consider doing something about that, but then I considered my source material!

13 comments:

DreadedCandiru2 said...

The answer, of course, is that she's living in the real damned world. If she were to get to know the real people around her instead of moan, scream and bellow because they don't synch up with some illusion that's been fixed in her brain since she was eight, she might get to like them and realize that life outside the Mattel gulag she's holed up in is pretty damned good.

April Patterson said...

If she were to get to know the real people around her instead of moan, scream and bellow because they don't synch up with some illusion that's been fixed in her brain since she was eight, she might get to like them and realize that life outside the Mattel gulag she's holed up in is pretty damned good.:

So true. Elly's just too rigid to realize that.

Taryn said...

This looks like the beginning of a beautiful thing - Elly descending into pure madness.

Do you think you could do a series where she loses her mind? Maybe a one-off showing her in a padded cell?

I'd give my eye teeth to see Elly in Bellevue!

Taryn said...

^PS...I'm team_kelpfroth. ;)

April Patterson said...

Do you think you could do a series where she loses her mind? Maybe a one-off showing her in a padded cell?

Heh--I can think of at least one scenario that would lead Elly to that situation. I'll keep the thought in my evil mind. ;)

Anonymous said...

Lynn herself indicated in a strip or two that some of Elly's odder fixations come from childhood play. For instance, Elly's need to dominate John's clothing choices was blamed on her parents never allowing her a Barbie and Ken doll set. o_o

April Patterson said...

For instance, Elly's need to dominate John's clothing choices was blamed on her parents never allowing her a Barbie and Ken doll set. o_o

I came across that one recently! I guess it's a good thing Elly doesn't have access to Sims videogames. You just know she'd be on that game day and night and let the kids starve while she made sure her Sims ate regularly.

RogueFiccer said...

Good one. Elly's thought in the last panel is so much like something Lynn would write it's disturbing.

April Patterson said...

Elly's thought in the last panel is so much like something Lynn would write it's disturbing.

I also can't help imagining that LJ has similar thoughts on her real-life family vs. the Pattersons. The comic characters are her dolls, and she has complete control over them. Her children and now ex-husband have free will, which makes things so much more messy!

Clio said...

My dad made me a lovely dollhouse and I loved decorating it with handmade stuff. I never really played with the family I got for it, and in retrospect they were the Pattersons: Dad, Mom, older son, younger daughter. When I wanted to play out stories, I played with Barbies -- and those stories tended heavily toward fantasy, horror and murder, with the Kens always getting the short end of the stick.

I remember how aghast my best friend and I were when we were stuck playing with another girl, and she wanted the Barbies to dress up pretty and go to proms and get married, and that was it. I have a feeling Elly was a lot like that poor kid. My friend and I set about traumatizing her by having a crazed jealous Barbie with a gun show up at the wedding and hold everyone hostage, and we thought that was rather mild...

April Patterson said...

Clio, I was the same way with my doll house. I enjoyed furnishing it with the miniature furniture--especially the baby grand piano--but the people didn't interest me much. I don't remember that much detail about my Barbie-playing, though I did have the townhouse and Cousin Skipper. I also had a vintage 1960s Barbie with bouffant hair. And one Ken. Ooh, and a Jamie Summers (Bionic Woman). :)

Anonymous said...

THAT IS SO ABSOLUTELY ELLY!!! You have captured her essential essence perfectly!! You must have a camera in Lynn's studio. XD

Anonymous said...

Clio - you have pretty much also described MY childhood play with MY Barbies (and my brother's hapless (and awesomely poseable) GI Joes - I never had Ken dolls.) XD

-- Karisu
(who also wrote the "Absoluetly Elly" comment above)