Explain this cartoon?
December 8, 2008 2:44 PM   Subscribe

I don't understand this cartoon. Anybody offer a hint?
posted by Bruce H. to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (28 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Because "unstable" girls are stereotypically "easy"? That's my guess.
posted by nitsuj at 2:51 PM on December 8, 2008


Or he'll stop talking to you.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:51 PM on December 8, 2008


It's such obvious advice no one would ever give it, plus few people self-identify as "unstable".
posted by GuyZero at 2:52 PM on December 8, 2008


It's such obvious advice no one would ever give it, plus few people self-identify as "unstable".

Syndicated comics aren't generally known for their deep, insightful nature. They're more daily distractions than anything else. (I'm ignoring the fact that your grandmother clips Family Circus cartoons and sends them to loved ones - they're just cheezy nostalgia and childish cutesy fluff.)
posted by filthy light thief at 2:54 PM on December 8, 2008


My guess: She's so unstable that she has a history of actually announcing to guys, as soon as she meets them, that she's unstable. Presumably, this scares them off.
posted by ROTFL at 2:56 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


My theory is that it is just not very funny.
posted by brennen at 2:58 PM on December 8, 2008 [21 favorites]


Hmm, the guy is double-fisting with his back to them. Maybe the joke is, he's an alcoholic, everyone knows she's unstable, and they're both going to put on their game faces and there's no happy ending possible. Maybe just a little riff on how absurd dating rituals are.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:58 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


Also: Brennan's theory. It's Harry Bliss, so...yeah.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:59 PM on December 8, 2008


Yes, I should clarify that it's not really all that funny. It be funnier if the advice-giving-woman whispered something edgier, like "Don't mention the vagina dentata". As it stands, it's kind of bland and smacks of recycled stand-up routines. But the setup really doesn't go anywhere particularly funny that hasn't been covered by lots of other comedians.
posted by GuyZero at 3:00 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


I guess if you look at it closely enough, the woman receiving the advice is rubbing her hands together and has this psychotic look about her. So that would corroborate the above.

However, I have no explanation for why the guy has a catatonic Frankenstein stare and is clutching two cups simultaneously.
posted by softsantear at 3:03 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


I take this to mean that the guy at the bar is, at first glance, desirable. He is picking up two drinks, from which I think we are to infer that he has just asked the woman on the right if she would like a drink, then proceeded to make good on his offer.

He is about to return, and the woman who waits for him, we are told, is possibly unstable. We can guess that an unstable person, while seeking the same human connections as any of us, wouldn't necessarily know not to tell a new acquaintance that they are unstable, especially during their first meeting, upon which the future of their entire relationship (or lack thereof) rests.

The woman on the left is offering a timely suggestion, and apparently knows her well enough to think that this particular suggestion will not be taken the wrong way, implying that the woman on the right is well-known for her stability issues, or lack thereof, and if she wants to impress this guy she ought to hide what a kook she is for at least a half an hour.

Carrying on into speculation: That her friend thinks she can hide her instability long enough to make a new friend implies that the woman on the right isn't so unstable that she can't function, which bodes well for the sale of condoms in that particular bar's bathroom.
posted by o2b at 3:05 PM on December 8, 2008 [4 favorites]


I thought she was warning her friend not to repeat her own mistake, which resulted in some dude keeping his hand on her shoulder all the time. Clearly that guy is there for a reason.
posted by TonyRobots at 3:17 PM on December 8, 2008 [2 favorites]


Is it clear whether the guy is supposed to be Frankenstein's monster?
posted by hermitosis at 3:20 PM on December 8, 2008


The woman giving the advice is there with her husband. They've set-up a date with the single woman and the guy at the bar so that they'll have a couple to hang out with. The married friend has done this many times before, but the relationship's never last. She blames the single friend for driving the men off, and wrecking many of her husband's friendships. This is a last ditch attempt before she writes her girlfriend off as a spinster.
posted by saffry at 3:25 PM on December 8, 2008


That "Ying-Yang" tag certainly doesn't clarify anything.

Unless Mr. Bliss means Yin Yang, which means he could be referring to the push/pull of gender-specific double standards that make up the modern Western dating ritual.

In which case it sounds like most of the folks above have the right of it (or a more entertaining interpretation), then.
posted by batmonkey at 3:27 PM on December 8, 2008


It's a corollary to 'be yourself', with a pinch of what Greg Nog said.

Frankenstein at the bar is oddly cartoon-hot.
posted by carbide at 3:29 PM on December 8, 2008


Response by poster: >> Is it clear whether the guy is supposed to be Frankenstein's monster?

I would say no, but my roommate made the same suggestion.
posted by Bruce H. at 3:32 PM on December 8, 2008


(I'm ignoring the fact that your grandmother clips Family Circus cartoons and sends them to loved ones...)

Dude, my Grandparents are DEAD!
posted by GuyZero at 3:33 PM on December 8, 2008


Some people think that unstable = quirky = interesting. I know I had that whole phase in high school where I self-identified as weird, and I know people who wanted to be seen as "crazy".

The last thing you want some girl approaching you at a bar to say is "To tell you the truth, I'm a little unstable. Ha ha ha."

Or, I guess it would be a good thing to hear, because then you can avoid.
posted by ODiV at 4:06 PM on December 8, 2008


However, I have no explanation for why the guy has a catatonic Frankenstein stare and is clutching two cups simultaneously.

Visual joke. He has thing about stability. Hates eccentricity. Left and right must be balanced.
Obscure. Not terribly funny.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:27 PM on December 8, 2008


Most guys would be turned off by someone being "unstable." If she presented this information directly, he would surely be scared off right away. Presumably, her friend wants to give her the best chance possible with the guy.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 5:10 PM on December 8, 2008


Wow, even though I didn't really feel like I understood this cartoon, I was on a way different track from everyone else. I imagined that the guy was some sort of predator, and that telling him she was unstable would make that woman easy prey for him and his (possibly drugged) drink. Seriously, that's what I was thinking. (Maybe I need to check my paranoia?)

Either way, I don't think it's funny.
posted by cider at 6:34 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


Thank you, O2B for the explanation of the two cups. I had a hard time with that one, but of course it makes sense now.
Anyway, I think the joke is that first impressions in a bar are often misleading. I'm imagining the guy talking to his friends six weeks later about the psycho chick who calls him all the time; "Man, if only I knew she was unstable!"
posted by purpletangerine at 6:53 PM on December 8, 2008


I doubt that was the original caption.

As a totally wild guess, I would say the original caption was "Whatever you do, don't tell him you're borderline."

But then the cartoonist was prevailed upon to change it, or an editor changed it, because someone decided not enough of their demographic would know what 'borderline' means.
posted by jamjam at 7:09 PM on December 8, 2008


I found this very funny as it is- and I don't laugh terribly easily. I've met girls who either announce their instability or try to hide it, and this kind of advice given in the comic makes me laugh because I could never see the friends of the girls I knew being so honest about the problem.
posted by niccolo at 7:11 PM on December 8, 2008


Looking through the archives of the strip, it seems that Bliss isn't really about deep readings; whatever funny's there jumps right out and goes HEY, HERE'S THE FUNNY. So I think it's just that it's obvious advice.
posted by mendel at 7:42 PM on December 8, 2008


Mod note: few comments removed - this isn't really a joke-off here...
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:52 AM on December 9, 2008


Epilogue: I open the NYTimes dining section this morning and the front illustration is by Harry Bliss. It features the same Frankenstein guy, but it seems he has passed up the "unstable" gal and gone with her friend.
posted by softsantear at 7:41 AM on December 10, 2008


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