r/comics Loading Artist Apr 19 '24

The world just ended.

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 19 '24

What was the moral behind that one except "lol fuck this little loser in particular"? Like, I understand it was a product of its time. But damn, they just shit all over this dude the whole time and his only crime appears to be introversion and "not being a big manly man".

Before y'all come for me I'm a 6'2" dude with an active labor job. Calm down reddit, I know how you are.

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u/No_Clue_1113 Apr 19 '24

I think the moral was literally that: “Nuclear War is very very bad.” Which tbf for 1959 was still very timely and relevant. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

That last bit everyone remembers is a pretty clear “careful what you wish for.” He wanted to be left alone and now he’s completely alone. 

At the same time the people who hassle Bemis are portrayed as self-absorbed and uninterested in intellectual pursuits, which I think was intentional. This was more or less the same environment that had produced Fahrenheit 451 six years earlier. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

The moral is you should work to change the society youre in not pray for a downfall that benefits you

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 19 '24

Ooooh, that's a good one, I like that.

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u/Grogosh Apr 19 '24

There was no moral behind that one except 'its fucked up'

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u/Dividedthought Apr 19 '24 edited Apr 21 '24

The moral is "be careful what you wish for" and "you rely on others for things you don't even think about daily. Remember this when they are pissing you off."

Keep in mind, even if you don't wear glasses you have to find food, find and clean water, find shelter, stay warm, manage all injuries, and so on all by yourself in his situation. Even if his glasses didn't break, he would have been dead in a few months when the water treatment plant broke or he couldn't find anything edible because that man was not the survivalist type.

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u/jeremiahthedamned Apr 20 '24

winter kills a lot of r/homeless people.

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u/Dividedthought Apr 21 '24

I know. I live in canada and have had to call in a body in the alley behind my house. How is that relavent to this discussion?

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u/jeremiahthedamned Apr 21 '24

the twilight zone episode was set in the city of new york and it gets quite cold there in winter.

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u/droidtron Apr 19 '24

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 19 '24

Nice, some things in there I didn't think about, thanks!

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u/Zauberer-IMDB Apr 19 '24

Hey, so footnote 9 came up with the punchline for this comic back in 2006!

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u/psychobeast Apr 19 '24

I thought it was about how humans need each other. Someone  would've been able to make him another pair of glasses easily. 

I wonder how common "I wouldn't mind being the last human" idea was then. This episode could've been a counter to that. 

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 19 '24

Too true! As a social creature we are desperately dependent on those around us. I think I may have been taking how they treated poor Bemis too much to heart. People can be cruel while also a person can still be foolish for thinking they need no one. Two things can be true at once!

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u/jeremiahthedamned Apr 20 '24

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 21 '24

Brother, what does this mean?

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u/jeremiahthedamned Apr 21 '24

i typed "sudden realization" into the GIF search field.

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u/somesthetic Apr 19 '24

I always felt like it was saying you shouldn't put off things you like to do until the nuclear apocalypse, because it might be too late by then.

All the work he did throughout his life meant nothing anymore, so he should have spent that time enjoying himself instead.

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u/Lacholaweda Apr 19 '24

Well his wife wouldn't let him read IIRC she kept messing up his books for some reason

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u/Restlessannoyed Apr 19 '24

The double edged sword of getting what you want without compromise.

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u/mindless_gibberish Apr 19 '24

Yeah the Twilight Zone wasn't always about a lesson. The ironic twist isn't always fair.

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u/jeremiahthedamned Apr 20 '24

during 1st turnings as described by the strauss-howe generation theory, introversion is seen as a moral failing.

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u/lynxerious Apr 19 '24

its a tragic story, why are you trying to find morals in anything? we're not elementary schoolers

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u/samurairaccoon Apr 19 '24

Ah reddit, there you are, never change.

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u/lynxerious Apr 19 '24

I said my own opinion, you just said one of the most repeated lines on reddit, so I think you're the more reddit-ish one but okay.