2010-07-02
Explanation
This comic reimagines the Garden of Eden story from Genesis with a comedic twist. In the first panel, God tells Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, warning that the tree will give them "knowledge of the funniest joke in the universe" and that it is "too great for you to hold." In the second panel, Adam lets out a stifled laugh ("Snrk!") while Eve looks at him disapprovingly, implying he has eaten from the tree. In the third panel, Adam cannot contain himself and blurts out "THAT'''S WHAT SHE SAID!" while a clock-like object (possibly representing God'''s watchful eye) appears in the sky. The final panel shows Adam and Eve being expelled through the gates of Eden.
The joke reimagines original sin not as a quest for forbidden wisdom but as learning the ultimate juvenile punchline. The funniest joke in the universe -- the knowledge so powerful that God himself warned against it -- turns out to be the simple, ubiquitous "that'''s what she said" innuendo. Adam could not resist using it, and the mere act of deploying this lowest-common-denominator joke was enough to get humanity expelled from paradise. The comic satirizes both the grandiosity of the Genesis narrative and the irresistible, almost primal appeal of cheap humor.
The votey panel shows Adam after the expulsion, smiling to himself and thinking "So worth it." Despite losing paradise, he has no regrets -- the joke was just that good (or at least that satisfying to deliver). This reinforces the idea that humans will always choose humor, even terrible humor, over paradise.