So, Mary Lou says he had "the nerve to say it might not be his!" This implies she is extremely offended by his presumption because it is not true. If she was not sure herself, she wouldn't be mentioning this to Gene, in my estimation. The whole conversation definitely leads to the conclusion that when she said, "It almost certainly is!" she meant that she felt the child would ironically be a boy. I could of course, be misinterpreting this, but I believe the intent is deliberately unclear. In any event, why heap such abuse on a comic character and make all sorts of ridiculous presumptions about her "bad character" when she really is ambiguous?
acter, Jimmy Johnson certainly did write it so that the only conclusion one can come to is that Mary Lou slept around. On Jimmy Johnson's blog you can find the strip of 18 June 1997. Here is the dialogue: Panel 1 - Mary Lou: 'Good riddance!' Panel 2 - Mary Lou: 'Do you know what he had the nerve to say?' Panel 3 - Mary Lou: 'He said it might not be his!!' Gene: 'Boy!!' Panel 4 - 'It almost certainly is!' The look on Gene's face in the last panel makes it clear he understands the implications of what Mary Lou has said. And so does Jimmy Johnson. Here is some of what he has to say about the strip: 'My purpose, as much
as I had one, was to make Mary Lou appear human and imperfect, but I
wanted her to be a sympathetic character. While it is true multiple
mistakes do not necessarily make one less deserving of sympathy, this
strip creates ambiguity and argument that do not further the story line.' Yes, he knows what 'almost certainly' means. And so do you. So does everyone. Mary Lou is no better than she ought to be, as they say in Yorkshire.
Hedgewitch, I don't know if you listen to country music, but your comment about your husband reminded me of a recent song by Rodney Atkins. I like Gus. He's a good grandpa, and I think he's also a good dad.
I've been over to the web site. We scare them over here. They think they're more civilized. I think they check in here just to spook themselves. To everyone over at arloandjanis.com....BOOOOOO!
HedgeWitch: Funny about the gun polishing. When my own daughter announced that she had acquired a boyfiend who worked at a local convenience store (they both do, working their way through college) I went to the store to meet him. I walked up to the counter and introduced myself as his girlfriend's father. Then I invited him over to the house, to see my knife collection. He got a kick out of that and took me up on the offer. We get along very well.
Mary Lou has seen and done a lot, for her tender years. She's written as a bright, street-wise young lady who may not always have had the right values, but certainly does now. She is well aware of how the ignorant of the world may view her, but she makes no apologies. This is the kind of person I would admire in real life - someone who has seen it, done it, survived it, and grown from it. She's no one's fool. Gene could learn a lot from her. Kudos to JJ for the finely tuned character development.
I like Gus, he seems like a good dad/grandfather and I don't think Mary Lou's unexpectant pregnancy reflects that badly on him. Sometimes things happen.
I expect my husband to be a great deal like Gus. I feel sorry for any boy who dates our little girl because my husband will put them in a world of hurt. Aaron collects antique guns and I'm sure he will be polishing one when a boy comes for a date.
mojito ... I don't know how much 'green' you see, but I am getting a gold color for her hair. ...
Is Janis's t-shirt yellow? If so, your monitor is ok.
