FOOB: Whatever Happened to Gratitude?
For Better or For Worse continues its spiral around the bowl.
Here’s the backstory: the girl with the big hair is Rebecca, once Becky, now spelled “Rebeccah” from when Lynn Johnston went through her “H” phase. Apparently, adding an “H” to the end of a name makes it all the more dramatic and romantic, as her son Michael does with Sheilagh, the main character of his tawdry bodice-ripper best-selling-novel-to-be.
Anyway, Becky was originally in April’s band 4Evah (note the “H”), but left for bigger and better opportunities. This caused a falling out with April and the rest of the band. What’s interesting is that LJ portrays Becky as a bad apple (she’s supposedly slutty (having gone “roadside”), mean, selfish, and self-absorbed), but it’s always April and her friends talking smack about the girl behind her back. In any event, Becky now performs as “Rebeccah”: she’s an up and coming teenaged pop star. 4Evah added a new member, Eva, and has changed the name to 4Evah and Eva.
Panel 1: You may be asking yourself at this point, “How is it that, considering all that being an up-and-coming teenaged pop star entail, is Becky still attending a public school, and why, if she’s so up-and-coming, is she playing a school dance?” I would respond that none of this should be true, but given that Luann spent weeks beating a dead horse of a storyline in which the popular bitchy girl was tricked into thinking she’d be in a Spielberg movie, propelled by plot devices too embarrassing for Saved by the Bell, I’m inclined to give LJ a break. However, it is odd that someone whose career is supposedly taking off is “totally pumped” to play in a high school gym.
Panel 2: From Becky’s expression and hand position, along with April’s glare, the reader is to surmise that Becky is being her typical self-absorbed, selfish self, rubbing her success in April’s face. As someone who’s been a performing musician for most of his life, I think the opposite is true. If Becky’s band is that big, then April should be showering Becky with thanks.
It’s no secret that 4Evah and Eva stinks. I know it, Josh knows it, the foobiverse knows it, and even April’s own bandmates know it.
Speaking from experience, getting an opening slot for a band that draws more than you is a fantastic opportunity, and one that many bands shell out a lot of money for: a buy-on. Unclefucker did this with Mindless Self Indulgence back in 2003. They gave us a bargain since our two bands were friends: we had to give them “only $12,000.” Was it worth it? Fuck yeah, every penny. Our otherwise unknown band played for upward of a 1000 people a night, across the country. Newport Music Hall; The Whiskey; the Orbit Room. This was no small thing.
So what’s April’s reaction to this gem of an opportunity, which I’ll point out Becky is giving away at no charge? Glare. Act all bitchy. No grace or class. And Becky’s the jerk? Gimme a break!
Panel 3: I really have nothing to add here, other thanto point out how short Becky’s skirt is, and how carefully the ass-sway was captured. This emphasizes Becky’s sluttiness, and thus her lack of character. -Sigh-… it’s usually been my experience that slutty girls were a lot more fun and down-to-earth than the Little-Miss-Priss types, but then this strip is all about elevating LMP types to their rightful pedestals. The only thing missing in panel three is an animated ass, wiggling two and fro as becky walks away. Notice that immediately, April starts talking shit about Becky, behind her back.
Panel 4: Classic: April and her boyfriend/drummer Gerald get a opening slot for a band that is much more well-known than theirs, and all they can do is think up nasty names for the person who helped them out. There’s a saying: be careful of how you treat people when you’re on your way up, because they’ll remember when you inevitably fall from grace. Becky is being very nice to her former bandmates, and they’ve done nothing to merit this good treatment. April has no grace to fall from.
This series will, inevitably, lead to some event in which Becky gets her comeuppance. At Foobiverse, they expect an “Ashley Simpson moment”, where Becky gets caught lip-syncing and is booed off the stage. Unfortunately, they’re probably right, but speaking as a musician, I’m calling bullshit.
This goes to the very heart of what’s wrong with this strip: for all the pretense at “realism” Lynn Johnson has decided well in advance who is a hero and who is a villain. Anyone who is not a Patterson, or who doesn’t side with the Pattersons 100%, is a villain. Pattersons behaving badly are still heroes, and any good behavior on the part of a non-Patterson does nothing to balance out the character’s inherent villainy.
Reality is a lot more complex. I don’t know why I keep reading the strip.
October 27th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Your behind the scenes stuff is great. I loved learning about a buy-on. If only Lynn could do research like this. The big pop singer playing the school Halloween dance is lamer than a middle school production of Bye, bye, Birdie.
I agree with the lip-sync potential. That story has been around since at least Deadman’s Curve.My prediction is that 4-Evah folds, but Eva becomes a big star while April goes to vet school. This is almost too easy.
October 27th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
However, it is odd that someone whose career is supposedly taking off is “totally pumped†to play in a high school gym.
That can be taken two ways. Or maybe three. It could be that Becky is simply eager to show off in front of a can’t-miss crowd (probable). Or it could be a case of the Lynnions not thinking these things through (possible, especially since, as you pointed out, if RebeccaH was really all that, she probably wouldn’t still be attending R.P. Boire). Or it could be the way I choose to take it: despite Becky’s overwhelming stardom, what really means the most to her is the acceptance of her peers. Poignant. Touching. And a humanizing effect on Becky. Which is highly unlikely to be intentional.
October 27th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
And I forgot to say that I, too, appreciate your insight! Lynn has even less of a clue about professional musicianship than she has about First Nations society.