Talk:1589: Frankenstein

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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I get all that—I came here to find out what the moon landing reference is all about. Any ideas? 108.162.249.191 04:45, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

xkcd has referred to "moon landing hoax" theories and their proponents (whom xkcd disparages) a few times, including 202 "YouTube", 258 "Conspiracy Theories", and 1074 "Moon Landing"; this is (at least) the 4th such reference. Mrob27 (talk) 05:16, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
He says that, because he is a MONSTER, and has a damaged brain from a complete moron instead of from a famous scientist. You know - the plot of the movie ;) 162.158.115.22 08:58, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Frankenstein A.K.A Elvis. Judging by that hairstyle Prack (talk)

I suggest the moon landing reference is simply Randall's monster subverting the attempt to redefine the canon. If Randall succeeds in redefining the monster's name, then it also becomes canonical that the moon landings were faked. Randall is unlikely to agree with the canon he has just created.141.101.98.127 10:16, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
That was my thought too (just not formulated quite as clearly). 198.41.238.33 11:38, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
I respectfully disagree. The monster saying that the moon landings were faked does not make anything surrounding the moon landings canon. It just makes it canon that the monster Frankenstein now holds this belief. Alternatively, in the story, The Doctor's creation was seen by the populace as an abomination amalgamated from human corpses. In the same vein, moon landing conspiracies are also amalgamated from several different sources each contributing their own theories to support the believer's general consensus, the moon landings were faked, and in the eyes of the populace this idea is an abomination. I'm surprised he didn't go for the low-hanging climate change is a hoax reference that would have been more recent for readers. In either case, it is fairly common for adherents of theories that run contrary to the scientific community to be labeled and name called by supporters of the scientific community. Especially in matters of religion.--R0hrshach (talk) 16:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
These are good points. It makes sense that Frankenstein was made with the brain of a conspiracy theorist. I don't think Frankenstein is trying to subvert The Doctor's or the comic author's canon-forming efforts, or anything so sophisticated. I do think these thoughts, in some form, should be in the article. It was not at all obvious why a moon landing hoax reference is in the comic, to me it was irrelevant noise. Mrob27 (talk) 16:43, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

"The doctor" is a joke in itself because it's analog to "The monster" of the original, so it's likely to start the same discussions the other way around. 162.158.90.212 09:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

While it is also likely a direct callback to the Doctor Who naming issue by capitalizing the word "doctor", I agree that the alt-text is intended to make both "Doctor Frankenstein" or "The Doctor" correct, like the comic makes both "Frankenstein" and "the monster" both now canonically correct. "The Doctor" naming issue is also fairly commonly corrected, but for a different reason and is extremely specific to people who grew up watching the original show. For quite a while during the Classic era, The Doctor's actor at the time was credited as "Dr. Who" or "Doctor Who", despite often being introduced (by himself or his companions) as "The Doctor" during the actual dialogue of the show. So, I'm guessing that Randall's saying that either name in all three of these cases (the monster/Frankenstein, the doctor/Dr. Frankenstein, and The Doctor/Doctor Who) would be the correct name to use. -- PopeChris (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Am I the only one thinking that the mouse over text is a matter of intentionally misunderstanding that the question wasn't about Dr. Who? --some guy108.162.238.175 13:51, 12 October 2015 (UTC)