2013-05-03
Original: 2013-05-03 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title/caption (top): "WHAT'S THE USE OF EXISTENTIALISM?"
Panel 1 caption: IF YOU ARE FACED WITH A FIRING SQUAD
(A woman with reddish-brown hair and a blue shirt is tied with rope to a wooden post, looking unhappy.)
Panel 2 caption: YOU MAY THINK IT'S A WASTE TO SPEND YOUR REMAINING TIME MAKING A JOKE.
Woman (grinning): IF I WANT TO ESCAPE, WOULD YOU GIVE ME A SHOT?
Panel 3 caption: BUT YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF
(The woman is tied to the post, now seen from a distance, surrounded by four silhouetted soldiers/firing-squad members.)
Panel 4 caption: WOULD YOU BE ANY BETTER OFF WATCHING THE GUNS?
(Close-up of the woman, eyes scrunched and teeth gritted in an anguished or wincing expression.)
Votey:
A man in a helmet (sketchy black-and-white drawing) responds to an offscreen question.
Offscreen speaker: ARE YOU PREPARED FOR EMAILS ABOUT HOW YOU DON'T UNERSTAND [sic] EXISTENTIALISM?
Man: OH YES
Panel 1 caption: IF YOU ARE FACED WITH A FIRING SQUAD
(A woman with reddish-brown hair and a blue shirt is tied with rope to a wooden post, looking unhappy.)
Panel 2 caption: YOU MAY THINK IT'S A WASTE TO SPEND YOUR REMAINING TIME MAKING A JOKE.
Woman (grinning): IF I WANT TO ESCAPE, WOULD YOU GIVE ME A SHOT?
Panel 3 caption: BUT YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF
(The woman is tied to the post, now seen from a distance, surrounded by four silhouetted soldiers/firing-squad members.)
Panel 4 caption: WOULD YOU BE ANY BETTER OFF WATCHING THE GUNS?
(Close-up of the woman, eyes scrunched and teeth gritted in an anguished or wincing expression.)
Votey:
A man in a helmet (sketchy black-and-white drawing) responds to an offscreen question.
Offscreen speaker: ARE YOU PREPARED FOR EMAILS ABOUT HOW YOU DON'T UNERSTAND [sic] EXISTENTIALISM?
Man: OH YES
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic titled "What's the use of existentialism?" In panel one, captioned "If you are faced with a firing squad," a red-haired woman in a blue shirt is tied with rope to a wooden post, looking glum. Panel two, captioned "You may think it's a waste to spend your remaining time making a joke," shows her grinning as she asks, "If I want to escape, would you give me a shot?"—a pun on being shot by the firing squad. Panel three, captioned "But you should ask yourself," shows her tied to the post in the distance, flanked by four silhouetted soldiers. Panel four, captioned "Would you be any better off watching the guns?", is a close-up of her face wincing with eyes shut and teeth gritted, leaning into the bleak existentialist punchline. Votey (aftercomic): a rough black-and-white sketch of a man in a helmet. An offscreen voice asks, "Are you prepared for emails about how you don't understand existentialism?" and he replies, "Oh yes."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.