2014-05-09
Explanation
The Joke
The comic is structured as a "Good Idea / Bad Idea" comparison. The "Good Idea" is a Star Wars-themed wedding, showing a happy couple dressed as Jedi. The "Bad Idea" is a Star Wars-themed divorce, where one spouse says "I find your lack of faith disturbing" (Darth Vader's famous line). In the final panels, the other spouse objects: "You were emotionally unfaithful before I was physically unfaithful!" A mediator or judge responds: "Ms. Burke, please phrase your grievance as a quote from the original trilogy."
The Humor
The comedy works on multiple levels. First, there is the inherent absurdity of extending a themed wedding's commitment to a themed divorce — if you start a marriage in character, why not end it in character too? Second, repurposing Vader's menacing line about "lack of faith" into a marital accusation about faithfulness is a clever double meaning. The final panel escalates the absurdity by establishing that the divorce proceedings have formal rules requiring all statements to be phrased as Star Wars quotes, turning a bitter personal argument into a ridiculous constraint. The specification of "the original trilogy" is an additional jab, reflecting the common fan insistence that only the original three films truly count.
References
"I find your lack of faith disturbing" is one of Darth Vader's most iconic lines from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). The "Good Idea / Bad Idea" format is reminiscent of a recurring segment from the animated TV show Animaniacs.