"Oh, darling, you know we writers must occasionally stretch a point...
May 28, 2019 9:21 AM Subscribe
to heighten the dramatic situation."
Over at the Shatner Chatner, Daniel Mallory Ortberg rates the spirited, gay aunts of fiction.
Ortberg previously, in abundance.
Ortberg previously, in abundance.
Aunt Gertrude from the Hardy Boys novels is also missing; shameful!
posted by amk at 10:48 AM on May 28, 2019
posted by amk at 10:48 AM on May 28, 2019
I love the Shatner Chatner. Always fun to see it here. :)
posted by mordax at 11:35 AM on May 28, 2019
posted by mordax at 11:35 AM on May 28, 2019
amk, Aunt Gertrude's there! See the listing for "Aunt Trudy."
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:39 AM on May 28, 2019
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:39 AM on May 28, 2019
Glad to see Wodehouse represented.
“On the cue 'five aunts' I had given at the knees a trifle, for the thought of being confronted with such a solid gaggle of aunts, even if those of another, was an unnerving one. Reminding myself that in this life it is not aunts that matter, but the courage that one brings to them, I pulled myself together.”
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:46 AM on May 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
“On the cue 'five aunts' I had given at the knees a trifle, for the thought of being confronted with such a solid gaggle of aunts, even if those of another, was an unnerving one. Reminding myself that in this life it is not aunts that matter, but the courage that one brings to them, I pulled myself together.”
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:46 AM on May 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
Aunt Beast and Auntie Mame are my favorites for drastically different opposing reasons.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:08 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:08 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
I came to find Aunt Dahlia, wasn't disappointed. Then I got a little worried because you couldn't differentiate between her and Aunt Agatha with this writeup. If someone needed a Dahlia but ended up with an Agatha that would be big problem.
posted by mark k at 5:20 PM on May 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mark k at 5:20 PM on May 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I've always modeled my aunting practice on the nicer of Wodehouse's aunts. There seemed to be hordes of aunts around when I was growing up. Actually it was about seven, but it seemed like many, many more, and Wodehouse's description of "aunt calling to aunt like mastodons across a primeval swamp" rang very true for me. Nowadays there are far fewer aunts around, and I find myself called upon as aunt to god-children and the random offspring of friends.
As well as Wodehouse, there are some terrifying aunts in Saki's stories - the early twentieth century seems to have been a golden age for them.
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:28 PM on May 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
As well as Wodehouse, there are some terrifying aunts in Saki's stories - the early twentieth century seems to have been a golden age for them.
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:28 PM on May 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yep, any list of Aunts without Bea (or Aunt Esther of Sanford and Son or Aunt Clara of Bewitched - although Uncle Arthur is rather aunt-ish) is sadly incomplete. As much as the Amazing Ortberg is an expert of all things, rather less so in regards to TV sitcom history.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:56 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:56 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Needs Aunt Lily and Aunt Vivian, the Darling Mermaid Darlings.
posted by Phssthpok at 6:48 PM on May 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Phssthpok at 6:48 PM on May 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I need to dig out my Wodehouses again: I couldn't remember which Aunt was the good and deserving one, and which was the one who ate broken bottles and wore barbed wire next to the skin...
posted by jrochest at 9:03 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jrochest at 9:03 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also notably absent is the author Raymond West's Aunt Jane Marple.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 9:08 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 9:08 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
the early twentieth century seems to have been a golden age for them.
WWI created a generation of maiden aunts in Britain by killing off the men who would otherwise have married them.
posted by Segundus at 9:55 PM on May 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
WWI created a generation of maiden aunts in Britain by killing off the men who would otherwise have married them.
posted by Segundus at 9:55 PM on May 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
WWI created a generation of maiden aunts in Britain by killing off the men who would otherwise have married them.
Bertie's aunts are both married, though!
I had six aunts growing up. It is...a lot.
posted by praemunire at 1:04 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Bertie's aunts are both married, though!
I had six aunts growing up. It is...a lot.
posted by praemunire at 1:04 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Before the war, the institution of aunts was already in place (lots of examples in Saki). A lot of men who worked in the UK colonies arranged their family lives in a particular way: he'd be accompanied by his wife, but their children would be left in the UK to be raised by another relative, and then sent to boarding school.
posted by vincebowdren at 5:34 AM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by vincebowdren at 5:34 AM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
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But otherwise, yes to all of these.
Unlike Ortberg, I never dreamed of trying to live up to Auntie Mame, because really who could?
Aunt Bea was not on this list!! Poor Aunt Bea.
posted by emjaybee at 9:56 AM on May 28, 2019 [9 favorites]