2014-11-19
Explanation
The Joke
An older woman is giving a presentation about why investment in space research is good for society -- it could lead to discoveries in materials science, or help us observe climate change. But she admits that is not why they are really there. She reveals that when she was a young girl who was shy, introverted, and not very good at math, a teacher told her: "Do you see this matter, sweetheart? Do you see me sending a fucking spaceship on a fucking asteroid? ... With my all-seeing eye, you can calculate the mass, density, the chemical makeup, the orbital velocity, and the gravitational wobble of every single object in this solar system." The experience of having a teacher show her the awe-inspiring power of science and space exploration transformed her and drove her into science. In the final panel, she holds a model rocket and shouts "Look at me now, bitch! Look at me!" at the sky, showing she has dedicated her career to proving herself and honoring that teacher's inspirational (if profane) challenge.
The Humor
The comic subverts the typical "inspiring teacher" narrative by making the teacher's motivational speech hilariously aggressive and profane. Instead of gentle encouragement, the teacher essentially bullied the young girl into becoming a scientist by showing her how awesome space exploration is in the most intense way possible. The humor comes from the contrast between the wholesome setup (a shy girl who needs encouragement) and the delivery (a teacher screaming about sending "a fucking spaceship on a fucking asteroid"). The final panel completes the joke: the woman has indeed become a successful scientist, but her motivation is less about the noble pursuit of knowledge and more about a decades-long spite-fueled vendetta to prove herself, screaming "Look at me now, bitch!" at her presumably deceased teacher. It is a comedic take on how sometimes the most effective motivation is not kindness but raw, unfiltered challenge.
References
- The comic references real space missions that involve sending spacecraft to asteroids, such as NASA's NEAR Shoemaker mission (2001) or the Rosetta mission by ESA, which landed a probe on a comet in November 2014 -- right around when this comic was published.