693: Children's Fantasy

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Children's Fantasy
I was going to be a scientist, but that seems silly now. Magical worlds exist. I've learned a huge truth about our place in the universe. I'm supposed to care about college? I mean, FUCK.
Title text: I was going to be a scientist, but that seems silly now. Magical worlds exist. I've learned a huge truth about our place in the universe. I'm supposed to care about college? I mean, FUCK.

Explanation[edit]

Children's fantasy stories such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Phantom Tollbooth involve a kid who is magically transported out of their time to some fantastic realm, goes through trials and becomes a hero, and then is returned to their own mundane world at about the same time they left with no one else realizing or believing what happened to them. The growth of the protagonist often involves learning self-confidence.

The comic illustrates this type of story and considers what the rest of the child's life would really be like as they reach adulthood. If they tell their friends, spouse, and family what happened to them, no one will believe them and these loved ones will think them a bit crazy. If they don't tell anyone, they are pretending that the episode never happened. Either way, it seems this would not be an enjoyable experience to live with for their entire adult life.

The title text continues the thought by pointing out the impossibility of contributing anything to the scientific world after visiting a magical world, as the child would know many scientific baselines, and, indeed, most regularly practiced scientific theory to be false, but would be unable to say anything or convince anyone of what they knew.

Transcript[edit]

[Kid is sitting on the ground with his chin in his hand.]
Kid: I'm such a loser-
POP
[Princess sticks her head through a portal.]
Princess: Come quickly, young one!
Kid: Holy crap, a portal!
Princess: My kingdom needs you!
[He falls through.]
Kid: AAAAAA
[We see him on horseback, helmeted wielding a sword. There's a castle on the horizon and two moons in the sky. There are a few other riders as well.]
[Kid, with helmet and sword, stands before King, Princess, and another warrior. Princess is holding out a ring.]
King: You've saved our kingdom and found your self-confidence. Now it's time to return home. Goodbye, young hero!
Princess: Take this ring to remember us!
[Kid stands alone, holding the ring.]
Kid: Well, I guess I spend the rest of my life pretending that didn't happen or knowing that everyone I love suspects I'm crazy.
Kid: This'll be a fun 70 years.


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Discussion

The title text continues the thought by pointing out the impossibility of contributing anything to the scientific world after visiting a magical world, as the child would know many scientific baselines, and, indeed, most regularly practiced scientific theory to be false, but would be unable to say anything or convince anyone of what they knew.

That explains it. Damn! I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait (talk) 12:19, 27 January 2015 (UTC)


What if this applies to the TimeCube guy? --Pudder (talk) 15:50, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Actually you won't relate the story to anyone for very long due to the skepticism and out right disbelief you wind up facing. Eventually you never repeat what happened to anyone anymore but YOU know it did. You wind up living a nomadic life due to the need to try to find somewhere or someone that will believe you but that doesn't ever happen.

And it does affect how you live the rest of your life because; how do you top that adventure in a world that doesn't believe in magic or people with special powers?

As you grow older you become bored and begin to wish it was all over with so you wouldn't be so depressed about the loss of that world. Eventually you'll get your wish but it makes life seem like an eternity. Until it's not. Trust me on this. Jakee308 (talk) 19:01, 8 June 2015 (UTC)

For me, it immediately made me think of Michael Ende's "The Neverending Story", but I'm also German, and I think a lot of people my age grew up on Michel Ende's books (literally ALL the other ones are great, too!). The film is only the first (and more conventional) half of the book, and the rest pretty much deals with the issue of chosing the fantasy world or the one you came from. Then again, there is at least the bookseller who knows his adventures are real. 172.68.54.100 23:53, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Reminds me of ChalkZone where Rudy would draw a circle on the chalkboard, and then go through the circle and enter another dimension, the Chalkzone. Quipyowert (talk) 06:52, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

In all fairness, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster does address this. Milo is eager to use the tollbooth/magical portal for another adventure with the friends he made along the way, but the tollbooth is gone, with a note from whoever left it for him in the first place ("For Milo, Who Knows The Way Now") explaining that other kids need it, and that he will make his way back to that world and to others, but he'll be smart enough to figure out how to on his own. Milo is sad at first, thinking of his friends in Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, but then he starts thinking of all the things there are to do, and see, and learn in OUR world as he grows, and mutters to himself, "Maybe I'll make it back there someday...but there's so much to do right here."

The last paragraph ends with a quote from another comic but the sentence which contains this quote sounds as if it would continue after the quote elaborating onto what he regressed. 141.101.99.63


Write a book! That's how you get your story across and have young people believe you! 172.70.162.5 19:56, 8 August 2022 (UTC)