2014-11-27

XKCD Isn't Funny - #1452 - JURASSIC WORLD


Happy Thanksgiving, everybody (who lives in America)! And before I get into the actual comic, let me just give you all some nice, [reference]-style asskissing and say that I'm thankful that I'm able to entertain you all with my insipid words.

The setup and punchline of this comic feel disconnected, like Randy was going to do something else and decided against it, or maybe the he thought of the punchline and setup separately, which would make sense considering that White Hat's namegiver disappears in the final panel (seriously, Randy, that's almost like a new level of lazy. It's one step over just ending the comic at two panels because you got bored drawing it).

Actually, why is White Hat here at all? White Hat's existence has pretty much always been as a strawman for Randy to stab, right? So why is he here in a faux-dramatic role?

This is a clear attempt at a bait and switch. What I would have done is used exact dialogue from the recently released trailer. I'd have also taken out Hair Girl to give the dialogue one tone. Because of her nitpicks on White Hat's monologue, the buildup/bait made weak and more comical, which takes away from the punchline being that all the dramatic buildup is to Green T-Rex.

Imagine a typical dubstep, you have the buildup and the drop*, just like a rollercoster. What makes it work is the difference between the softer beginning and the hard hitting middle. If the drop is almost the same level as the buildup, then it doesn't actually feel like a drop. If the faux-dramatic buildup is made fun of, the punchline doesn't feel like an unexpected left hook and the joke fails.

Also shouldn't Green T-Rex be in a cage or something else befitting a dangerous creature?



*Anyone preparing to correct me on what is or isn't "real" dubstep is encouraged to realize that I really just don't care that much.

No comments:

Post a Comment