2006-07-20
Explanation
The comic shows a dark scene where a father catches his son Bobby apparently stabbing an elderly person. The father shouts: "Bobby! No! Not on Tuesday!" The caption below reads: "The key to being a good parent is knowing when to set boundaries. For example, on Tuesday, Bobby isn't allowed to stop stabbing anyone." The humor derives from the absurd subversion of parenting advice.
The initial panel suggests the father is stopping his son from committing a violent act, which seems like responsible parenting. But the punchline reveals that the father's objection is not to the stabbing itself -- it is about the day of the week. The caption then further twists the logic: the rule is not that Bobby cannot stab people on Tuesday, but rather that on Tuesday, Bobby is not allowed to STOP stabbing. This creates a double layer of absurdity where the boundary being set is the opposite of any reasonable parental rule, satirizing parenting advice that focuses on consistency of rules without questioning whether the rules themselves make any sense.
The votey panel shows a stern-looking man saying "Be a man, and KILL KILL KILL!" -- extending the joke by parodying toxic masculinity and the kind of aggressive "tough love" parenting philosophy that the comic is lampooning, taken to its most extreme and violent logical conclusion.