Today The Dinette Set asks the reader to ponder the similarities and differences between four of its main characters: Burl, Joy, Dale, and Marlene.
To start with we have Marlene. Marlene seems to genuinely delight in the good fortune of her neighbor who is able to afford new carpet. Admittedly it is possible we are meant to read her statement as being jealous or disingenuous. But such a reading is contradicted by her T-shirt, which indicates she esteems carpet so highly that she engages in interstate travel to indulge her passion.
Then we have status-seeking Joy. In the best possible interpretation, Joy is so desirous to elevate herself above Marlene that she massages the facts to give the impression that she and Burl are members of an exclusive carpet-owning community. In the worst possible interpretation, she tells an outright lie for the sheer pleasure of torturing her carpet-loving neighbor. Note, however, that any charitable interpretation regarding Joy must explain away the further status-seeking gesture of giving her husband the "new cup" while forcing Dale to drink from the "old cup".
Next up is Burl, whose exact motives are somewhat murky. Perhaps he is reflexively correcting Joy's mischaracterization. Perhaps he is sadistically correcting Joy to destroy her attempt to feel important. Perhaps he is adding to Marlene's misery by letting her know that this particular carpet dream will forever be beyond her. Perhaps he is just bragging that he got it cheap because it was discontinued. In this particular case, intent is much less important than the effect, which is to devastate both women. Burl, you can rest assured, will be sleeping downstairs with the carpet tonight.
And finally there is the mute Dale, Burl's useful idiot. A chameleon of a man who simply blends in with the strongest personality in the vicinity because he lacks any personality of his own. Despite not having taken an active part in this episode, the inane grin on his face seals his fate, which is to also spend the night alone.
And in the end, today's panel is a personality test for the reader. Are you a Marlene? A Joy? A Burl? Or a Dale?
Going out of business! All marginalia must go!
- Ye Gods! Joy can also swivel her head 180°!
- The carpet pattern is showing through the (apparently) transparent legs of the TV table.
- Carriage Lane is a bed and breakfast in Murfreesboro, TN. Is the implication that Burl and Joy purchased used motel carpet?
- Anyone with a theory on Joy's shirt, I'm all ears.
2 comments:
It's nice of the TV folks to only use those parts of the screen that are not covered by Dale's fat head.
I'm also running into parse errors when I try to figure out the 3-d layout of the room. Why does the carpet go so high up in the frame in the middle of the room, well above the line where the door comes down to on the left? Does the door stick into the room somehow (there's that shading there, maybe that's it).
Ach, brain error. Reboot.
But I'm a Dale, I think.
I'm so confused. If that's Marlene, why does Joy call her Verl? I only noticed because when I first read Joy's statement, I interpreted the long dash as a hyphen, "Verl-exclusive carpet", as if "Verl-exclusive" was a type of carpet.
When did they get such a humongous window on the wall behind the TV?
Maybe "Born Every Day" refers to a sucker. So she's a sucker who votes, which implies that voting is useless and only fools would do it.
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