The Termpaperinator

Well, look who’s managed to hang on to his teaching job. And like any Westview teacher, Les doesn’t try to hide his contempt for his students. Just look at the sidelong glance his disembodied head in panel one is giving. “Use your high-tech electronic gizmos in my classroom, will you?” TB again resorts to the trusty made-up website names, and references smart phones in a vain attempt to give his strip that “now” feeling. And for the coup de grâce, the cartoonist who regularly devotes whole Sundays to copping artwork from other cartoonists is going to have his avatar lecture the kids about plagiarism.

Infinit-Les-imal

File today’s strip under Pisses Me Off: a whole stupid week of Les fretting over what “that Hollywood producer” might do to his masterpiece. When at last Les grudgingly concedes to allow his book to be optioned, Ann tells him what many of you have been pointing out all week…that just because your book’s been optioned, doesn’t mean the movie will ever see the light of day.

There, There, My Dear

Erich
May 19, 2011 at 11:31 am

…I’m trying to remember the name of another author with a pragmatic attitude towards adaptations…when somebody asked him about Hollywood “ruining” his books, he replied “They’re not ruined. They’re still right there on the shelf.” Who said that?

redbird
May 19, 2011 at 5:17 pm

Erich: Finally found it at Slate:
“…Except, of course, it was supposed to be exactly that. Comics writer Alan Moore, whose dislike for adaptations of his books has been widely documented, is fond of telling a story about Raymond Chandler. When asked if he worried about Hollywood ruining his books, Chandler replied, “They’re not ruined. They’re right there on the shelf….”

My own research led me to this very old posting on a discussion board, where the expression is used by author James Ellroy (who I guess was quoting Chandler). Anyway, in today’s strip, Lisa’s Ghost says pretty much the same thing.

Today’s post title was inspired by Lisa’s cold, spooky hand on Les’ in panel 3, which in turn reminded me of this 80’s classic:
“There, There, My Dear” –Dexy’s Midnight Runners