I liked this one, but I have a feeling the "OMG it's a rip-off" haters are going to have a field day after that alt text.
Welcome To TV Tropes | How To Write An Example | Text Formatting Rules | List Of Shows That Need Summary | TV Tropes Forum | Know The StaffI saw the Alt Text as a big Take That! to the "it's a ripoff" people.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"No. This isn't a currently existing trend, that's the whole point. Let's go back as far as the Dark Ages. Who had more children, peasants or scholars (i.e. monks)? In the Renaissance, who had more children, farmers (where children could help with the work) or scholars (where children distracted from the work). Victorian times or for that matter third world countries now, where are all the children? In poor families where children are supposed to taking care of their parents when they get old.
The comic isn't a stab at Idiocracy. It's a stab at smug people taking the movie at face value. I've heard people moaning about how true the premise of the film is - and of course anyone, even the worst trailer trash you can imagine, assumes he belongs to the smart ones dying out.
On top of that it's a Family-Unfriendly Aesop. Yeah kids, intelligence is genetic, sorry. You're screwed. Better forget about going to college, you'll be a loser anyway. And let's cut down on the education budget while we are at it, save it for the offspring of rich white folks. They are producing the geniuses after all.
Idiocracy is a funny movie.
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Nobody intelligent thinks that it's an accurate assessment of the future, including Mike Judge. It's a lampoon of current-day pop culture (with a little historical allegory with "Ow! My Balls!").
Anyway, both of the characters in the strip yesterday were tools, for different reasons. That's okay, because it's a comic strip.
Is The Simpsons somehow not funny because both Bart and Homer are jackasses?
"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary GygaxAaaand a new SMBC is up
. And the "alt-text drawing thingy" is...
I found that very amusing.
My title is no longer sticking out of its box, but I couldn't think of anything better to put here.This
is my favorite SMBC to date
@Jethro: I'll change my mind about this comic when I see another good xkcd again, which, frankly, I don't have much hope for. If you like cheap, contrived sex jokes, pointless references/memes, and painfully bad author tracts, GO FOR IT!
When I see another topic that brings me greater joy long enough to participate in, I'll go for it! (I have.) As for the "bitching": You seem to be under the impression that you can make the whole badness go away by accusing me of "bitching" (Apparently not kissing Randy's ass counts as bitching.) and calling me a "hater." (Which isn't true, I still like the older ones before he got all crappy.) Wait, no you can't! Valid criticism doesn't go away with instant dismissal!
@Ana: No. You are wrong. Wrong in the wrongest way you can be wrong by being wrong.
Do you mean it's not happening now, and is therefore not current? Because that's what current means. It might not be a NEW trend, but's still a CURRENT trend. According to you, the poor and/or stupid people had more children than rich and/or intelligent people. I sound about right, thanks.
"The comic isn't a stab at Idiocracy. It's a stab at smug people taking the movie at face value." You'll notice no such distinction is actually made, and we have to accept that because he sure doesn't tell us otherwise.
The main premise of the film is, not genetics or intelligence, but consumerism and advertising. You know, electrolytes! Brawndo and stupid marketable sheep! The stupidity thing is just a plot device to set up the main plot, dealing with commercialism. This is all, OK? It takes the focus of the film, with the stupid people just being a vehicle for satire.
I don't see where it say, explicitly, that intelligence is only derived from genetics (Genetics helps, but that's not the end-all method here as you suggest). It's all about how stupid people raise stupid kids. It's that whole "how you're brought up" sort of thing.
I don't think you have to be "educated" to be intelligent, but it certainly helps you articulate yourself. (I know people who didn't finish high school, but are plenty intelligent.) Also, the movie says nothing about "rich white folks". (That just came out of nowhere. Again, I know plenty of poor white folk.) There is no racial theme in the movie. Everybody is equally stupid in it. It sounds like you got issues that really don't belong here.
Again, and this is important people, Randall says 'nothing' in terms of debating Idiocracy. He jumps at Random dude, puts words in his mouth, makes an outrageous claim that makes no sense (People worried about societal decline cause more harm than societal decline. Part of the decline is worse than the whole of the decline? MADNESS I TELL YOU.), pulls this out of his ass without supporting it, gives him no time to make a rebuttal, and walks away with a smug "Nobody will sleep with you" line that is generally only used by people who look like jackasses and lose arguments.
It says "Mr. Lostman is leering at the keys." as I post this. Hmmm. I wonder if this means something.
On a different note: While being trite as usual, 604 doesn't automatically make my blood boil. You know, other than lending credence to that whole RIPPING OFF SMBC AND ZACH WEINER thing. Also, I have no idea why Zach looks up at Randall; it should be the other way around.
[1]
You know if I was a more cynical man, I'd assume Zach just emailed Randy the joke. As a promotional stunt perhaps? It's not like Randy hasn't used Zach's material before... But this is neither here nor there and opens a whole new can of worms I'd rather not address.
If I seem extraordinarly rude, assume I only meant to be normally rude of an acceptable level because my post deleted itself and it's hard to reconstruct that perfect level of cynicism. I wholeheartedly expect "tl;dr" and "RAAAAGE at stickfigures" as a means to dismess me.
The promises of children are worth less than the children themselves.Lostman, can you please not steep to personal insults, as that is... what do you cal it... oh, a dick move.
Also "I liked the old one" doesn't mean you're not a hater. You constantly post in this thread (and this thread only) complaining to no end about one comic strip. Apparently the rest of the community means nothing to you, which I see as a bit of an insult, but seriously. Look in the mirror. You're a troll.
@Lostman: You might want to look up the word "trend." As I pointed out, less intelligent people always had more children then scholars, so following your logic we are in a downward spiral since the cavemen times. Yeah, I remember reading about Crystal Spires and Togas and Magitek on the Floating Continent 2 million years ago before the stupification got us.
And don't even try to twist the premise of the film to better suit your arguments. The premise is laid out clearly in the first 2 minutes and it isn't consumerism and advertisement, thats just a motif of the movie.
Anyway, the discussion is over. Learn some common decency instead of dicking around like you are on xbox life.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. 'Idiocracy' was a movie? I thought it was some sort of philosophical-political concept or something. Figures that I need to start spending some more time on Wikipedia.
Anyway, the comic itself felt a little like what would have been a Shark-Jumping moment. Using something that wasn't even released anywhere outside of USA, it just felt like he just forgot that he had a world-wide audience (and he just seemed a little too bitter for my own tastes). That's just my opinion. I don't really care either way. Thankfully, his next few got back to his usual quality (hilarious and relevant).
edited 3rd Jul '09 2:29:57 AM by catch_the_sun
My troper wall's now my troper page, yay! Come to IJBMToday's made me smile. It didn't make a lot of sense, but it was delightfully silly.
Welcome To TV Tropes | How To Write An Example | Text Formatting Rules | List Of Shows That Need Summary | TV Tropes Forum | Know The StaffAgreed. Expecially the alt-text. Question: Is that even possible?
My troper wall's now my troper page, yay! Come to IJBM

I think someone on these forums quoted an Egyptian tomb hieroglyph text complaining about how the youth are going to waste.