2012-08-05
Explanation
This comic features a character arguing that gravity is the "gay force," using a series of increasingly strained analogies to make the case. The character points out that gravity is a force of attraction where like attracts like (mass attracts mass), it has only one pole (unlike electromagnetism), many of the most attractive users of gravity are "flaming" (like stars), and even the word "gravity" contains "G-r-A-v-i-t-Y." The other character is gradually won over by this absurd chain of logic, exclaiming "Oh my God... you'''re right" after the spelling argument.
The joke plays on the technique of motivated reasoning, where someone can make anything sound convincing if they cherry-pick observations and reframe them. Each of the character'''s points technically describes gravity but only seems related to homosexuality through deliberate wordplay and double meanings. The humor escalates as the analogies get more ridiculous, culminating in simply highlighting the letters in "gravity."
The final panels show the aftermath: asked how the argument went, the character says "check the news," revealing a headline that reads "Anti-Gay Factions All Go to Space" with a quote: "Up here we only allow electromagnetism!" This is the punchline -- the anti-gay groups, convinced that gravity is indeed the "gay force," have fled to space to escape it, not realizing they cannot actually escape gravity. The votey panel adds another layer, with someone on the rocket saying "Bad news, captain, our rocket is shaped like a wiener. Damn."