11Jun/1020
Phobia
by Jeff
Image text: Oh God, the tornado picked up snakes!
This is one of those xkcd's that's super emo. These are always a little awkward for me to read.
However, my interpretation of the second frame is that the black haired character is speaking in reference to relationships and dating and the like. She keeps turning away potential suitors with her phrase.
I don't think she keeps saying that every year to keep from becoming a storm chaser.
What's your interpretation of this Friday's emo xkcd? Who is emotional about what to whom?
June 11th, 2010
It relates to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show taking Obama to task over his many utterings of how it’s complicated.
See: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-takes-apart-president-obamas-complicated-oil-spill-responses/
Quote:
But it was the president’s professorial style, especially his oft-repeated comment that problems are “complicated,” that seemed to be Stewart’s most effective criticism.
June 11th, 2010
I think paul has a good specific reference. I can kind of see it as a general concept of avoiding your biggest fear by constantly challenging yourself by running towards other dangers our lesser fears.
June 11th, 2010
It is also perfect timing. The Daily Show piece about Obama and his many “it’s complicated” reasons aired June 8, which is only a few days ago.
June 11th, 2010
I don’t fully get this one, but I’m 100% sure that it’s not a Jon Stewart reference.
June 11th, 2010
Well, if you consider the “it’s complicated” as a throw-away joke, and concentrate on the basic premise, it seems to be saying that people have irrational fears of harmless things while chasing after things that are truly dangerous.
Like Indiana Jones’ famous line, “Why’d it have to be snakes?” when he has no fear of bullets, Nazis, ancient curses, or strange women; our heroine is happily chasing tornados rather than face her less dangerous fears.
Personally, I’m terrified of snakes.
June 11th, 2010
But it’s the blond girl who’s afraid of snakes not the dark haired one….
June 13th, 2010
But the Blond is driving. Thus she has to go after tornados too.
June 11th, 2010
I think its more to do with the dark haired girl’s realization that if you let yourself, you will always find reasons to put off things you want that are difficult or dangerous to obtain simply because they are hard and life is too “complicated” at the moment to risk the effort. She is saying that sometimes you need to reach out and take the dream, consequences be damned. I don’t think the snake has much to do with it at all, its just a lead in, a way to get the characters talking about fears.
June 11th, 2010
I have a feeling that the black haired girl is afraid of ‘complicated’ relationships, and that she’s using tornado chasing (a relatively dangerous activity) to avoid that. Note how she cuts off the blonde girl. What was she going to say?
June 11th, 2010
This has nothing to do with anything specific like Jon Stewart, or relationships. Copperhawk already has the right answer, but I will re-explain it and steal his thunder.
The blonde girl says she’s has a fear of snakes. The black hair girl says I have a bigger fear than that: a fear of putting off things in life, until the point where you run out of time.
There’s a quote that goes: “there is always a reason not to do something”. It means that life is too short to be afraid to do something. Be brave, and go out and do it; you never know when you’ll have another chance.
June 13th, 2010
This has everything to do with the post-existential reality of the superficial dichotomy of our everyday…
Crap, it’s just not funny when you have to argue about it’s meaning.
June 14th, 2010
Yeah, but some people don’t get it and others pretend to think that it’s funny even though they don’t get it b/c they’re afraid to admit that they don’t get it.
Here’s my take. The joke is the juxtaposition between two people who are not at all alike but are in a serious long-term relationship that is starting to wear on one of them.
Here, the blond and brunette are in a relationship. There is a clear disconnect between the two. It is demonstrated by the difference between the blond’s fear of something small–like snakes–and the brunette’s lack of fear of something as dangerous as tornadoes. She thinks snakes are cool, not scary. She probably likes a lot of other cool things that the blond thinks are scary.
The brunette feels stuck in the relationship and unable to really enjoy doing things she likes to do b/c the blond is so flaky, throwing a worry-wrench in anything that the brunette becomes interested in (even snakes). Thus, the relationship is “complicated” and the brunette’s deepest fear is wasting her life not pursuing her dreams. The brunette finally tells the blond of her fear of going through life not realizing her dreams. The blond is afraid that the Brunette is ending the relationship–”Do you . . .” is “Do you mean you’re breaking up with me?.” Rather than end the relationship, the brunette then reveals her wildest dream, fraught with danger. The blond, fearing losing the brunette, joins her dream. But, as should have been expected, the blond becomes the worrier again, putting a wet towel at the very peak of the brunette’s thrill of doing something exciting.
June 14th, 2010
Interesting take, schmu, and I’m with you all the way up to
“But, as should have been expected, the blond becomes the worrier again, putting a wet towel at the very peak of the brunette’s thrill of doing something exciting.”
I don’t see any support in the comic for this last bit. Are you seeing something I’m missing?
Otherwise, I think your explanation is probably the most complete, explaining the 3rd frame as well as brunette cutting off blond in the 4th frame.
June 15th, 2010
“Oh God, the tornado picked up snakes” has to be attributed to the blonde.
October 5th, 2010
No, it’s not. They’re friends. One sees a snake and says what she’s scared of. The other says what she’s scared of, which sound like it’s to do with romance. But it’s not: she wants to be a storm chaser. (I take the “Do you -” as being “Do you want to x?”) Then the alt text takes us back to the first panel. It’s not that complicated!
June 19th, 2010
I see it as meaning that living an adventurous life in order to avoid succumbing to phobias is itself a phobia. Either way you are making decisions based on fear of the alternative.
That said, I think I like Schmu’s explanation better.
June 28th, 2010
There is a snake. The Brunette likes snakes. The blond is afraid of snakes.
The brunette is afraid of putting things off.
The blond thinks about this.
The thing that the brunette doesn’t want to put off is chasing storms.
They both go chasing storms.
Which is sort of random. The sight of snake has resulted in them becoming storm chasers.
The image text is funny because it takes us full circle back to the blond’s fear of snakes.
The fear of “putting things off” is the fear of not having an experience rather than the fear of having an experience. By doing what she wants, is the brunette facing her fear of putting things off or is she running away from that fear? If you are afraid of snakes than confronting that fear means being around snakes. But if you are afraid of “putting things off” then not putting things off is giving into your fear, not defying it.
The fact that chasing the tornado confronts the blond with her fear of snakes is ironic.
They have run away from both their fears (snakes and putting things off) and now are confronted by greater real dangers, a tornado full of snakes.
July 1st, 2010
I read through all these explanations and I think none of them fits.
August 11th, 2010
I completely agree.
February 8th, 2011
I think the blond is afraid of snakes, which, is a reasonable fear but overshadowed by the brunettes own fear of committed relationships. When the blonde hears her friend’s fear, she tries to console her (She was probably trying to say “Do you want to talk about it?”), but the brunette cuts her off and changes the subject, because she doesn’t want to face her fear. Instead she ignores it completely and goes of to chase storms with her friend.