Editing 653: So Bad It's Worse

{{comic
| number    = 653
| date      = October 23, 2009
| title     = So Bad It's Worse
| image     = so_bad_its_worse.png
| titletext = You think it's so legendarily bad that you'll torrent it and sit through it just for the kitschy nerd cred. I, too, once thought as you did.
}}

==Explanation==
The graph in the comic shows the enjoyability of movies - going from good to okay to bad, then popping back up with "{{tvtropes|SoBadItsGood| So Bad It's Good}}". The term is used to describe movies that are so terrible that, ironically, watching them is actually an enjoyable experience, even if just to poke fun or marvel at the absurdity of how bad they are. The comic lists ''{{w|Plan 9 from Outer Space}}'' and ''{{w|The Rocky Horror Picture Show}}'', two widely known films of this type.

However, the graph warns of showing ''{{w|The Star Wars Holiday Special}}'', as it manages to wrap back around from "So Bad It's Good" to being {{tvtropes|SoBadItsHorrible| So Bad it's Horrible}}. ''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' is a prime-time comedy special based on ''{{w|Star Wars}}''. It is widely known for its terrible quality, and has never been fully released (although an animated segment that introduced {{w|Boba Fett}}, which {{w|George Lucas}} has approved of, has been released as a bonus feature on a DVD).

The bottom of the comic shows [[Cueball]], [[Megan]], and [[Ponytail]] watching a movie with alcohol - first enjoying it, then merely watching, then not watching it and unhappily drinking.

The title text refers to {{w|BitTorrent (protocol)|torrents}}, which are a way to obtain large amounts of data over the internet. Since the ''Holiday Special'' was only aired once on television and was never released on VHS or DVD, torrents of the TV recordings are one of the few ways to actually see it. According to [[Randall|Munroe]], he had torrented a copy of the film and intended to watch it in its entirety, in spite of its terribleness, just to cement himself as a nerd. However, he underestimated how bad it really was, and could not make it all the way through.

The title text may also contain an subtle play on a line of ''Star Wars'' dialogue. In ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}'', {{w|Darth Vader}} says to {{w|Luke Skywalker}}, "''Obi-Wan once thought as you do''. You don't know the power of the dark side! I must obey my master." The implication here being that "kitschy nerd cred" is the "dark side" being served by those who would sit through a torrent of ''The Star Wars Holiday Special''.

==Transcript==
:Protip: Even at "Bad Movie Night," avoid the Star Wars holiday special.

:[A graph plots movie enjoyability against movie quality. It drops steadily through points marked "Good Movie" to "Okay Movie" to "Bad Movie," rises up again for "So-Bad-It's-Good (Plan 9, Rocky Horror, etc)," and then drops off the bottom of a graph with an arrow pointing to where "Star Wars Holiday Special" would be. There are three mini-panels below the graph, arranged from "Good" to "Bad" along the movie quality axis.]

:[Three friends are on a couch, drinking and gesticulating enthusiastically.]
:[The same three are sitting quietly, with a bottle on the floor.]
:[The three are sitting around a table, drinking and looking miserable.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]