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| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
− | There's a common punchline in which the plot lines of two thematically-different works of fiction (usually movies) are compared in greatly-abbreviated form, and the speaker sarcastically concludes that the two movies are "basically the same". For sake of example, Disney's ''{{w|Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin}}'' and {{w|James Cameron}}'s ''{{w|Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic}}'' [http://imgur.com/gallery/kasCMYd both feature a story] in which a lower-class boy and an upper-class girl fall for each other, among other cherry-picked yet interesting parallels. But due to the different emotional tones of the films, most people would not consider them to be at all similar (one is a family-friendly "happy ever after" tale and the other is a period romance that turns into a disaster thriller).
| + | {{w|50 Shades of Grey}} began as a fanfic of Twilight written on the internet then transformed into a book to be later turned into a {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|movie}}. {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)|The Martian}} was originally a serialized story written by Andy Weir on his blog that was later compiled into an ebook for people to easily download, then published into a physical book, and has now had a {{w|The Martian (film)|movie}} created based on it. |
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− | This comic spoofs the idea. Instead of comparing plot lines of two movies, [[Ponytail]] and [[Cueball]] compare the respective movies' development histories.
| + | ==Transcript== |
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− | ''{{w|The Martian (Weir novel)|The Martian}}'' was originally a serialized story written by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir}} on his blog which was later compiled into an ebook for people to easily download, then published into a physical book, and has now had a {{w|The Martian (film)|movie}} created based on it. The movie was officially released in the US on the same day this comic was released (October 2, 2015).
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− | ''{{w|Fifty Shades of Grey}}'' began as a {{w|fan fiction}} of a well known brand (the {{w|Twilight (novel series)|Twilight book series}}). It was originally written on the internet by {{w|E. L. James}}. It was then transformed into a successful book series which was later turned into a {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|movie}} released in February 2015. The book was already referenced back in 2012 in [[1128: Fifty Shades]].
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− | Since ''Fifty Shades'' is a romance story about a sadomasochistic relationship, and ''The Martian'' is a very technical story about surviving completely alone on a hostile planet, the two books could not be any more different, hence the joke due to the juxtaposition.
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− | Cueball continues the joke by joining the two titles using red for Mars, to make a new book title, that should cover both books: ''Fifty Shades of Red.'' Ponytail says to Cueball that such a book would be irresistible for him. She does this by daring him to say that he wouldn't read it, believing he could not say so without lying.
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− | It is possible that the brand that ''The Martian'' derives from is {{w|NASA}} itself. ''The Martian'' has been compared to the film {{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}} by Randall in [[1536: The Martian]]. ''Apollo 13'' does indeed glorify the roles of the NASA engineers, and ''The Martian'' does a similar thing. That Randall would go see this movie as soon as it was released was already made perfectly clear back in June when he released the comic [[1536: The Martian]] showing how excited he is about the book. He then really looked forward to the movie.
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− | Randall indicates in the title text that he has just seen the movie (certainly possible, if he caught a midnight screening; perhaps he drew this comic in advance and wrote the title text after) and finds the Sojourner rover adorable. Of course, he could also have seen it in the trailers.
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− | The [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/BB-8 BB-8] mentioned in the title text is the {{w|astromech droid}} from the movie {{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}} and is available as a toy (see also BB-8 on the [http://www.starwars.com/databank/bb-8 official Star Wars] home page). {{w|Sojourner (rover)|Sojourner}} was the Mars ''Pathfinder'' robotic rover.
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− | '''Spoiler alert''': The rover was used by Mark Watney, the protagonist of ''The Martian'' (played by Matt Damon in the movie), to allow him to contact Earth.
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− | Randall indicated that he thinks the Sojourner is much cuter than BB-8, and that he would like to have one as a pet. He then states that the Sojourner has always been the cutest among all the [[:Category:Mars rovers|Mars rovers]]. The cuteness of Mars Rovers is also mentioned in [[2433: Mars Rovers]]. There have been five so far, the other four being {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}, {{w|Spirit (rover)|Spirit}}, {{w|Curiosity (rover)|Curiosity}}, and {{w|Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance}}, three of which have already been used in xkcd comics: [[695: Spirit]], [[1091: Curiosity]] and [[1504: Opportunity]].
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− | ==Transcript==
| + | :[A three-panel comic of Ponytail talking to Cueball. The second panel has no dialogue.] |
− | :[Ponytail is talking to Cueball.] | |
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| :Ponytail: So it's a work of fiction about a well-known brand. written on the Internet by an enthusiast, republished as a bestselling book, and then made into a big movie. | | :Ponytail: So it's a work of fiction about a well-known brand. written on the Internet by an enthusiast, republished as a bestselling book, and then made into a big movie. |
| :Cueball: Yup. | | :Cueball: Yup. |
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− | :[Ponytail holds her hand to her chin. Beat panel.] | + | :[Ponytail holds her head in her hand for one panel] |
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− | :[Ponytail is talking to Cueball again.]
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| :Ponytail: Yeah, ''The Martian'' and ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' are basically the same book. | | :Ponytail: Yeah, ''The Martian'' and ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' are basically the same book. |
| :Cueball: "''Fifty Shades of Red?''" | | :Cueball: "''Fifty Shades of Red?''" |
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| {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
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− | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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− | [[Category:Fiction]] <!--50 shades and Martian -->
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− | [[Category:Mars rovers]] <!--Title text-->
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− | [[Category:Star Wars]] <!--Title text-->
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− | [[Category:Space]]
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− | [[Category:Twilight]] <!--The well-known brand that 50 Shades of Grey is based upon-->
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