Difference between revisions of "255: Subjectivity"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Explanation)
(Transcript)
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:[Tall slide, seen from the ground.]
 
:[Tall slide, seen from the ground.]
 
:When I was a kid, my school playground had a really tall slide that always made me nervous.
 
:When I was a kid, my school playground had a really tall slide that always made me nervous.
 +
 
:[Tall slide, seen from the side.]
 
:[Tall slide, seen from the side.]
 
:We moved away, but the slide stuck in my memory, becoming a skyscraping monster.
 
:We moved away, but the slide stuck in my memory, becoming a skyscraping monster.
 +
 
:[Car and a sign pointing to school zone.]
 
:[Car and a sign pointing to school zone.]
 
:Years later, I was passing through my old town and remembered the playground.
 
:Years later, I was passing through my old town and remembered the playground.
 
:I drove to the school to see the slide that my inner six-year-old thought was so towering.
 
:I drove to the school to see the slide that my inner six-year-old thought was so towering.
 +
 
:[Huge slide, Cueball beside it.]
 
:[Huge slide, Cueball beside it.]
 
:AND IT <u>WAS</u> HUGE!
 
:AND IT <u>WAS</u> HUGE!

Revision as of 20:19, 20 October 2013

Subjectivity
Or maybe the slide is like Aslan, and gets taller as I do (except without the feeling of discomfort when I reach my teens and suddenly get the Christ stuff)
Title text: Or maybe the slide is like Aslan, and gets taller as I do (except without the feeling of discomfort when I reach my teens and suddenly get the Christ stuff)

Explanation

Parodies the experience of finding that things you saw a child are much smaller than you'd perceived them to be: Cueball is convinced that this will be the case with his childhood slide, only to find that it is indeed quite large. (As a child it's roughly four times his height, whilst as an adult it's only about double.)

The title text references Aslan, a character from The Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan is often regarded as a Christ figure, but since Narnia is a children's series many readers don't realize this until long after they've read the books – another instance of how perspective changes with age, and of the comic's title, "subjectivity".

Transcript

[Tall slide, seen from the ground.]
When I was a kid, my school playground had a really tall slide that always made me nervous.
[Tall slide, seen from the side.]
We moved away, but the slide stuck in my memory, becoming a skyscraping monster.
[Car and a sign pointing to school zone.]
Years later, I was passing through my old town and remembered the playground.
I drove to the school to see the slide that my inner six-year-old thought was so towering.
[Huge slide, Cueball beside it.]
AND IT WAS HUGE!
I KNEW IT!


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Discussion

I did the same thing once when the park was still in existence. The slide was only 12-15' high. That was huge though compared to the "kiddy" slide which was only 6' or so.

Still it was a disappointment. I always remember that thing as being as tall as the trees nearby.

These days you can't even find a slide let alone a tall one. We've lost our adventurous spirit and it starts with the children. Jakee308 (talk) 20:15, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

About the Aslan reference. In one of the later books one of the children meets Aslan and he is bigger than he used to be. Aslan answers that it is because the child himself (or herself) has grown. Any other Narnia nerd out there remembers this or is it just my memory making things up for me? 198.41.241.73 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Narnia nerd here... “Aslan" said Lucy "you're bigger". "That is because you are older, little one" answered he. "Not because you are?" "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger".” (C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian) 108.162.219.165 09:28, 1 October 2015 (UTC)

Be bold! You two were free to edit the wiki to expand on the Aslan reference if you wanted, and the page would've been better for it! (Other people can always revert edits if they turn out to be inaccurate.) DownGoer (talk) 04:53, 27 June 2023 (UTC)