explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1408: March of the Penguins

2014-08-16T00:17:34Z

FractalgeekUK: Responding to RenniePet (and hopefully this time as an acceptable discussion...)

Isn't it Danish not Megan? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.195|141.101.99.195]] 05:30, 15 August 2014 (UTC)
: No, Danish has longer hair. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.47|108.162.245.47]] 05:37, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

: Also, if it were Danish, she would have a good come back for black hat. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.108|108.162.216.108]] 13:54, 15 August 2014 (UTC)BK

Would Movie Ages (http://www.xkcd.com/891) be just as pertinent, if not more so, than Timeghost? Should we include a reference to it in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.170|173.245.54.170]] 14:08, 15 August 2014 (UTC)DBrak
: Good idea. I think we should, so I've included that reference now.<br />--[[User:Das-g|Das-g]] ([[User talk:Das-g|talk]]) 14:42, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

This is totally off-topic, but I can't help myself. I remember reading somewhere that the film was made by a French team (I think) and they realized they had a hit on their hands. But when they were negotating with a distributor for the USA market that it was demanded that all reference to the penguins' amazing behavior being due to their evolutionary development had to be removed. "Evolution" was a dirty word for the USA market. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 22:28, 15 August 2014 (UTC)
I don't think RenniePet's comment is off-topic; the same audience that they deleted "Evolution" for used it as an example for family values and ID - is the "Oh God" dialog an allusion to whether Black Hat been playing God? --[[User:FractalgeekUK|FractalgeekUK]] ([[User talk:FractalgeekUK|talk]]) 00:17, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

1408: March of the Penguins

2014-08-15T10:44:06Z

FractalgeekUK: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1408
| date = August 15, 2014
| title = March of the Penguins
| image = march_of_the_penguins.png
| titletext = You ARE getting older, though.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very basic explanation. Could use some fleshing out.}}

Many of the xkcd comics outline ways to make people feel older by referencing various pieces of popular culture that are outdated or feel like they happened a long time ago (for instance, [[1393: Timeghost]]). This seems to be what Black Hat is doing as he walks in on Megan to announce that all the penguins from {{w|March of the Penguins}} (a 2005 documentary about emperor penguins) are dead. Megan is familiar with these sorts of antics, and so, frustrated, she simply acknowledges Black Hat's statement by agreeing that everyone is aging. Black Hat, however, reveals that he is not trying to make her feel old, he is announcing that he has killed the penguins, and is "trying to apologize". This obviously gives the situation a much darker tone, especially since Black Hat is likely not truly apologizing, as he is very unapologetic in his [[72: Classhole|"classhole"]] tendencies.

{{w|Emperor penguins}} actually live about 20 years on average, so barring any intervention by Black Hat, most of the younger penguins and much of the older penguins in the movie are still alive as of this comic.

The title text emphasizes that we still have all the reasons to feel depressed since, apart from the penguins' fate, we do get older.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Black Hat walks in, Megan is at a desk]
:Black Hat: All the birds from ''March of the Penguins'' are now dead.

:Megan: OK, I ''get'' it. We're all aging.

:Black Hat: What? No. I'm not trying to make you feel old. They were alive last night. I'm trying to apologize.

:Megan: Oh God

{{comic discussion}}
--[[User:FractalgeekUK|FractalgeekUK]] ([[User talk:FractalgeekUK|talk]]) 10:36, 15 August 2014 (UTC): Why has Black Hat killed them? ''March of the Penguins'' has been seen by the American Religious Right as an exemplar of traditional family values and even ID. Megan's comment alludes to BH having been "playing God".

1408: March of the Penguins

2014-08-15T10:36:54Z

FractalgeekUK:

Talk:1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T13:55:57Z

FractalgeekUK:

Reading the Wikipedia page on the Oort Cloud didn't help me understand the joke. I don't know if it has anything to do with comets, or the asteroids getting smashed up by them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 05:15, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
:The asteroid becomes a cost after being severely burnt by the sun. It warns the other asteroid not to go over there. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.55}}
::Which, the title text indicates, is a warning that's utterly ignored... (Also being "right back" indicates a slower perceived thought process. As is probably the case for anything out there in such cold(-ish) depths of space.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 11:05, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
::: What does "becomes a cost" mean? is that a slang expression? 12:02, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
At least according to my freshman year science teacher, the Oort Cloud is just a theory, and hasn't been proven. Perhaps that should be made more clear?

----
What's here looks exactly in line with current comet theory: A comet is "perturbed" by interactions with other objects out there, and at that distance the sun is a very bright dot, no more. On return (chancy, based on both/either burning up or being in a no return hyperbolic orbit), what has come back is fragmented and with two tails. What I'm not seeing is the second level joke - it's in the movie "I'm going to check out x" form, but I don't get the specific quote. [[User:FractalgeekUK|FractalgeekUK]] ([[User talk:FractalgeekUK|talk]]) 13:55, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1246: Pale Blue Dot

2013-08-03T18:18:25Z

FractalgeekUK: Added reference to modern "blue spot" pictures being taken

To call this a "simple call for funding for space exploration" completely misses the point of the Ba'al theology with which it is intertwined.

:I think it completely misses all the points of the comic. --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 11:44, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

:This comic makes philosophical claims that cannot be falsified. Randall can't be serious about the soul eater. That's so dark. Theology? Sort of. But quite undeveloped. More like mythology. Does make one wonder: Why is there ''really'' something rather than nothing? ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 12:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)''

:Took at shot at adding something on this. (Long-time reader, first-time editor. Will create account at some point.) --[[Special:Contributions/173.13.203.241|173.13.203.241]] 14:58, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

:(I wrote the following this morning, before anyone else had made any Talk/Discussion points, but then rushed out without saving it properly. Probably now not relevent, but here you are anyway...)
:"This is a simple call for funding of space exploration."??? I'd say that (whatever Randall, and I, think about the importance of funding space research) it's more an affectionate parody of the "Consider this pale blue dot..." speech, which it subverts by suggesting that arguably the ''most'' intellectually interesting image of the planet is indistinguishable from a manufacturing error in a LCD array (presumably in a computer projector) ''or'' from the kind of photo you get when you don't take the lens-cap off of a digital camera. Or so my take on it, is... [[Special:Contributions/178.98.215.19|178.98.215.19]] 18:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
::I did a deeper explain later, but Ba'an connects to this sentence. So that has to be explained, too. But in general you are correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:19, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I'm sure Randall is talking about Stargate and the character {{w|Ba'al_(Stargate)#Ba.27al|Ba'al (Stargate)}}. This even does make more sense on the last sentence at the title text. While we have two theories on this the comic is incomplete.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
: I disagree. I don't believe Ba'al from Stargate was ever called "Ba'al the Annihilator" or "Ba'al, the Eater of Souls". I think Randall's just making up it up. [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 17:25, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
: I also disagree, though the description as stands is currently incorrect. "Ba'al" is not a specific deity in the Northwest Semitic pantheon, certainly not one "associated with demonic or otherwise evil forces", it's a title that had been used for several different deities. However the name is often included in Jewish and Christian demonology where it probably got its "evil" connotation. [[Special:Contributions/69.28.44.231|69.28.44.231]] 18:30, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
::I absolutely disagree to you. Randall calls the US Congress for a higher budget, just to enhance our level on space technology. This really does not map to historical religions. And: Ba'an at Stargate is also a Lord. My two NASA budget cents.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:19, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
::: My disagreement with your suggestion didn't owe anything to the objections I raised about the historicity of the term "Ba'al". I don't think that his reference was to any specific deity in any particular pantheon, fictional or otherwise. The whole point of the alt-text is an ironic context for the motivation for space exploration; Sagan especially was an advocate of space exploration for the sake of knowledge and human progress, so the quasi-religious/mystical and nihilistic mantra here is in stark contrast to that (expected) rationale for exploration, and I think it's fitting given the initial premise: the insignificance of Earth against the cosmos. I really don't see the clause "to join with Ba'al" having anything to do with 'leading humans to the same technology level Ba'al' since it assumes Ba'al is a technological entity which only stems from the Stargate interpretation. [[Special:Contributions/69.28.44.231|69.28.44.231]] 20:23, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
::: ^ +1. About Stargate, I can't claim to know what happens in season 9 and 10, but I've seen every episode in 1-8 and I've never seen him referred to as "Ba'al the Annihilator" or "Ba'al, Eater of Souls". I grant that the Ba'al from Stargate is a System Lord, and a pretty badass one, but how does that help you prove your point? If Randall was trying to allude to Stargate, I think it would be much more obvious, like "Lord Ba'al" or something. The name "Ba'al" has been present in mythology long before Stargate used it. [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 01:21, 3 August 2013 (UTC)
::::"Annihilator" and "Eater of Souls" is an invention by Randall, it also does not really match to your mystics. Further more the last sentence of the title text is not about a god, it's about technology we do not have right now. OK, the very last sentence is: Thank you. My 1337 NASA budget cents.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:40, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

On a completely different track, as is often the case, the main text can work in a contemporary way, as well as with knowledge of the historical reference: In this case, the publication by NASA of shots of Earth from Saturn and Mercury, in a conscious homage to the original "blue spot" picture. Eg [http://www.space.com/22076-earth-photos-saturn-mercury-offer-perspective.html] --[[User:FractalgeekUK|FractalgeekUK]]