Oops. After creating this yesterday, I kind of missed that whole "posting it" step. In my defense, I'd run my first half marathon and was a bit sore!
Dawn’s Bad Haircut
2 years ago
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One moment, the foobs were in a teal-and-lavender monstrosity of a wedding, and the next they were propelled back into the past. But it was a different version of the past. What happened?
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16 comments:
While I find it amusing that Joe would rather see Yammersnarfing than Yammerparenting, I think that the 'funniest' thing of all is that someone is missing out on a chance to explain Canada to the world. I've always thought that Lynn's making the Pattersons Canadian-in-name-only was the stupidest thing she's ever done; it would have been better if she'd explained our way of life, our hopes, our dreams, our fears (mostly of being swallowed up by the States and thus losing our identity) to the world.
I think that the 'funniest' thing of all is that someone is missing out on a chance to explain Canada to the world. I've always thought that Lynn's making the Pattersons Canadian-in-name-only was the stupidest thing she's ever done; it would have been better if she'd explained our way of life, our hopes, our dreams, our fears (mostly of being swallowed up by the States and thus losing our identity) to the world.
Yes! I'm not sure when exactly I learned that the Pattersons are supposed to be Canadian, but I remember being surprised. Other than sometimes dropping a location name or accidentally slipping in some non-U.S. terminology, the only distinctly Canadian aspect I can think of that Lynn purposely included on a regular basis was her "Remembrance Day" strips, featuring Grandpa Jim and selling poppies.
And it's disappointing to me because I'm interested in the cultural differences. I don't want to be shielded from them, as if I'm too stupid to understand them--or, for that matter, to decipher "favourite" and "cheque."
It's pretty insulting that Lynn apparently thinks we dumb Americans would be "confused" by the fact that Canada has a different Thanksgiving Day than us. We really do know that Canada is a different country than the U.S. It's not exactly a difficult concept.
It's pretty insulting that Lynn apparently thinks we dumb Americans would be "confused" by the fact that Canada has a different Thanksgiving Day than us. We really do know that Canada is a different country than the U.S. It's not exactly a difficult concept.
I know! She seems to assume we're all idiots. >:-(
Well, the assumptions that Americans are incapable of understanding foreign concepts isn't unique to LJ -- recall the bowdlerizing of the American editions of the Harry Potter series: "sneakers" instead of "trainers," "sweaters" instead of "jumpers," to the point of changing the title of the first book to the meaningless "Socerer's Stone." It's really insulting, though to be fair, given who was running the country from 2001-2008, understandable.
It would have been years ago that I read this, but I recall that Lynn once said in an interview that the readers were once "confused" by a strip that involved Farley popping open a bag of milk, because bagged milk is a Canadian thing - and from what I understand, only in certain part of Canada.
So, obviously, because the readers missed something that esoteric, it became necessary to portray the Pattersons as being generically North American.
Robert, I'd heard about the Harry Potter series doing that--it's a shame. When I was a kid, I remember that when I read something by a British author, I enjoyed learning about those kinds of differences.
Stephanie, I believe the "bags of milk" thing is included in the Q & Eh section of the official site. As I recall, it's an Ontario thing? But yeah, it's a poor reason to purge the strip of location-specific references.
I think probably the biggest thing Canadian about that strip (from what I remember) is the occasional Maple Leaf and the occasional reference to Toronto.
When I first realized FBOFW was based in Canada I thought about Vancouver as its base of operation, oddly enough. Didn't know about the Vancouver connection (or, more importantly, its tenuousness), but it was the vibe I somehow picked up.
Ah! I've read all the Harry Potter books, but never caught that title change! "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". WTF! Does the world think we Americans are idiots? Geez! I learned all of my British slang and terms from books written by British authors, and it certainly didn't hurt my tender, spongy American brain!
*goes off to stew*
PS, now I'm curious about why milk comes in a bag in Canada...wouldn't it be harder to pour?
Destroyer of Worlds, there's a YouTube video with a guy demonstrating the Ontario milk-in-a-bag procedure. :)
There were occasionally more Canadian strips. This strip and this strip in particular were a standout for embracing Canada. I wish there had been more like it. Oftentimes, the closest you would get is strips like this.
As for Canadian Thanksgiving, in the AMU reprints "Thanksgiving" is mentioned generically here and here, but the Pattersons are never shown celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving from 1996 to 2009 (the extent of the AMU reprints archives).
howtheduck, I did think, in passing, of Grandpa Jim and his special Canadian dance. Thanks for linking that! I'd forgotten that Elly laughed so hard she cried. ("Thank you for the laughter and the tears!" :-P) Like you, I wish there'd been more of this kind of thing.
I remember Liz's visit to meet Eric's mother--most notably because he has his dog do a trick that shows up again later with April and Edgar--and Rudy ends up throwing his back out trying to replicate the dog's trick.
Wait...the Harry Potter books got their first US editions in 1998, when Clinton was president.
So saying they did it because of Bush makes no sense. :/
There's a few times there's been something I don't quite recognize in the strip, and attributed it to that fact that it's Canadian. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is once when Liz was in middle school, she scored a 70% on something, and didn't seem upset by it; she just blithely mentioned it to her parents, who also didn't react. In the US (or, at least when I was in school. I recently returned to college after graduating 5 years ago, and am baffled by the garding system they use), a 70% was an extremely poor grade, only one point away from failing. So I assumed Canada has a different grading system.
Other times, characters have done something strange, and I assumed they were Canadian habits, but I have since learned--no, they're just Johnstonian.
And if LJ really wanted to emphasis the Canadianness of the strip--how about replacing that annoying "Hum!" with "Eh?"
And if LJ really wanted to emphasis the Canadianness of the strip--how about replacing that annoying "Hum!" with "Eh?"
I know--I wish she would. 0_o
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