338: Future

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 20:21, 5 December 2014 by 108.162.216.209 (talk) ((Dgbrt & Davidy²²) My best stab foy you two)
Jump to: navigation, search
Future
But the past was much too cramped!
Title text: But the past was much too cramped!

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Confusing, bad grammer
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic is a play on being stuck in the past literally and figuratively, and is about lost opportunities. To understand this comic you have to look at it one cell at a time without looking ahead as looking ahead eliminates the irony of the comic.

A voice calls out to Megan, who is with Hairy, beckoning her to explore the future with the speaker. In the future we see Cueball alone, without Megan, and see her response "I can't". The joke is that Megan is literally trapped in the past while Cueball is figuratively trapped in the past.

Because Megan is not with Cueball in the final frame, Cuball calls her to come. If his calling her to the future had an impact she would be there, and he would not have called (see grandfather paradox). This would also it would violate the rules of causality as a future event cannot have an impact over a past event. Therefore because Megan is not in the last frame, she is literally stuck in the first frame (which represents the past).

Harry could be a younger and therefore harrier version of Cueball, or a interloper who ruined Cueball‘s chances with Megan, but from the comics perspective, it does not matter. Cueball is thinking about the past, when Megan was around, and therefore Cueball is figuratively stuck in the past.

The title text is another pun. Cueball says the past was too cramped. This is also true in both the literal and figurative sense. There are twice as many people in the first panel as there are in the last panel so it is literally more cramped. The relationship between Megan and Cueball did not work out therefore the past was figuratively cramped as there were not many options for there relationship to work out.


Transcript

[The comic has three panels. In the first panel, Hairy and Megan are holding hands. There is a voice bubble originating from Cueball standing in the third panel.]
Cueball: Come explore the future with me!
[And Megan says something which goes to the third panel.]
[The two voice bubbles cross in the middle of the second panel.]
[The voice of Megan says…]
Megan: I can't.


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

I think the explanation with Megan not able becuase she could be dead wrong. It is because she is in love with Hairy. Cueball is in my oppinion just in the other side of a larg frame that has been split to make the time issue clear. The future is what Cueball wish to enter together with Megan but she do not wish to do so. I have written an alternative explanation - but will leave it to other to decide which is more true to the intent of the comic. Kynde (talk) 18:58, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Please discuss this first before editing the explain. And try to understand the explain first. I'm doing a revert on your edit. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:52, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
WP:BOLD. I'm reverting your autorevert. You've already been warned about this in the past. At least try to understand the content of an edit before undoing it. Davidy²²[talk] 20:29, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Please let's do discuss major edits BEFORE it's included into the explain. This one wasn't helpful. I do change AND not undo by always all my edits. And I did mention that edit here at the discussion page right before.--Dgbrt (talk) 20:45, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Your unwillingness to read/disagreement with the content does not make his additions valueless. Davidy²²[talk] 21:25, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Please let's do discuss major edits BEFORE it's included into the explain. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:49, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

She says "I can't" not "we can't"

Imo, this comic needs two axes of time to make sense lol. AzureArmageddon 02:26, 6 October 2023 (UTC)