2013-10-03
Explanation
In this comic, a man on a date announces that before they begin, he wants to disclose that he has a condition where he reacts to situations with the inappropriate emotion. His date responds bluntly: "That'''s probably because you'''re a f***ing idiot." In the final panel, the man, visibly smitten, says "Marry me."
The humor works on multiple levels. First, there is the absurdity of someone formally disclosing an "emotional condition" on a first date as though it were a medical issue, when really it just sounds like poor social skills. Second, the woman'''s brutally honest insult would normally be a date-killing response, but because of his stated condition of reacting with the wrong emotion, he responds to the harsh rejection with romantic enthusiasm -- perfectly demonstrating the very condition he just described. The comic is a tight, self-referential joke where the punchline simultaneously proves and illustrates the setup.
The votey panel shows a woman telling a child "And 9 months later, you were born," implying this terribly mismatched first date somehow led to a relationship, marriage, and children -- a darkly funny epilogue suggesting his condition of inappropriate emotional responses actually worked out in his favor.