2011-11-09
Explanation
This comic presents "The Victorian Legitimacy Test" -- a humorous rule for determining whether a complaint is legitimate. The rule states: "If you can say your complaint like a Victorian Lord without it sounding stupid, the complaint is legitimate."
In the first example, a man says "You cheated on me!" in a dramatic, accusatory tone. This is marked as "Legit" with a green checkmark, because accusing someone of infidelity sounds perfectly natural and serious when delivered in a Victorian manner. In the second example, the same man tries: "You know perfectly well I prefer the other brand of macaroni sal..." before trailing off and admitting, "Okay, you were right. It sounds stupid." This is marked "Not Legit" with a red X, because petty complaints about grocery preferences sound absurd when elevated to Victorian-era gravitas.
The joke satirizes how people sometimes treat trivial complaints with the same emotional intensity as genuinely serious grievances. By applying the Victorian Lord filter, the comic provides a comedic litmus test for distinguishing real problems from petty ones. The votey panel takes it further with the man shouting, "You incorrect-macaroni-salad-buying harlot!" -- attempting and failing to make the trivial complaint sound dignified by using Victorian-style insults, which only makes it more ridiculous.