2014-05-12

XKCD Isn't Funny - #1367 - INSTALLING

 

Reading this comic was a weird experience for me, since I was actually grinning by the end of the dialogue, but it faded as soon as I reached the caption.

I'm going to admit up front that this review is going to be even more subjective than usual.

To start, I just really like people presenting terrible ideas with a straight face. Like on The Dismal Jesters or Ninten Speaks (although the latter hasn't updated in two years or so), where Jim/Ninten will tell Jonathan/the viewers of an idea they had. The idea is always ridiculous, mostly unsound, and usually illegal. They then proceed to defend it, often to the bitter end in the former's case, against actual logic.

So, that out of the way, the only problem with the comic I had pre-caption was that there wasn't any argument from the girl (come to think of it, it's weird that she just stands there with no reaction whatsoever) for the guy to defend his stupid idea from, but even that I probably wouldn't complain about too much.

The problem with the caption is that it essentially amounts to "Look how stupid I am for thinking up this terrible idea!". It's like saying "Don't worry, I know this is all made-up, I'm not actually in any danger. The humor of the terrible idea comes from the absurdity of a person saying the terrible idea. No one would pitch an idea like that in real life, they'd be arrested. Saying "that was a joke" is like an actor saying "Phew, good thing that was just a movie!" after a tense action scene, it shatters the illusion.

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