Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

help-2

2018-05-28 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
help-2
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This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

The Joke

A man prays to God, asking "Dear Lord, how do I get fit?" God begins to answer through what appears to be a TV or screen: "My son... pushups are an excellent full body--" but before God can finish, the man immediately switches to praying to Satan instead: "Dear Satan, how do I get fit?"

The comic captures a universal human experience: asking for help or advice, but immediately rejecting any answer that involves actual effort. The man doesn't want divine wisdom -- he wants a shortcut. The moment God starts recommending something as basic and unglamorous as pushups, the man decides he would rather try the Devil, presumably hoping Satan will offer some kind of effortless cheat code to fitness.

The Humor

The humor lies in the instant, shameless pivot from God to Satan the moment the advice turns out to require work. It satirizes how people approach self-improvement: they ask for guidance but really want to hear that there is an easy way out. The implication is that Satan's fitness plan would involve some kind of Faustian bargain -- selling your soul for abs -- and the man considers that preferable to doing pushups. The comic also plays on the trope of God giving wholesome, sensible advice versus Satan offering tempting but dangerous shortcuts, applying it to something as mundane as exercise rather than moral dilemmas.

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