Comments on: Happy

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:51:40 +0000

This comic would have been much better received in 1995, when that connotation was actually somewhat better known (mainly owing to people being more nervous about homosexuality).

However, even if it makes sense, it’s still not a good joke. It’s the comedic equivalent of making fun of British people for calling cigarettes “fags.”

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:17:57 +0000

It gives you a decent throught experiment by which you could understand how misunderstanding could arise when a old word takes on a new meaning. Reminds me of the scene in the movie Blast from the Past when the old-fashioned, naive main character responded to the statement that a certain other character is gay by telling him, “Good for you;” our main character was obviously under the mistaken impression that the word was being used in the traditional, old-fashioned sense.

By: Powers

Powers — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:01:10 +0000

Yes, Dan, that’s what’s confusing everyone. But Reine obviously thinks that “happy” is an accepted euphemism for “gay”. The fact that this belief is idiosyncratic at best (and unheard of at worst) *is part of the joke*.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:08:22 +0000

But “happy” does not mean “homosexual.”

If that is what the artist intended, he’s got his connotations all screwed up.

By: Lord Jubjub

Lord Jubjub — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:26:21 +0000

It seems to me that Reine is confusing ‘gay’ and ‘happy’, thinking that the terms are interchangeable in relation to homosexuality.

Once Ford realized that Reine thinks he’s gay, he’s no longer quite as happy as he was.

By: Powers

Powers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:29:51 +0000

It can’t be “different connotations of happy”. Reine indicates she’s uncovered some sort of secret in the third panel of the first strip. “Yes! I knew he was really content with his life!” doesn’t make sense. “Yes! I knew he was homosexual!” does.

In the second strip, Reine makes it clear that she means “happy” in a sense different than “not miserable”. The only possible sense of “happy” that isn’t the opposite of “miserable” is “gay-but-I-don’t-want-to-say-’gay’-so-I’ll-say-’happy’-instead”.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:05:36 +0000

Gay can mean happy; gay can mean homosexual. But there’s no transitive property at work here; happy doesn’t mean homosexual.

It’s gotta just be the different connotations of happy. That is, they both mean happy as in not sad, but they have different perspectives on what that specifically means.

By: Gary

Gary — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:25:37 +0000

My first thought was along the line of “He’s not really happy. He only *thinks* he’s happy”.

But it didn’t make much sense that way either.

By: Renard Muldrake

Renard Muldrake — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:10:16 +0000

“We’re all gay, and it’s okay, ’cause gay means happy and happy means gay.” - Big Gay Al’s boat ride

Really, after reading through all the responses I agree with the interpretation that it’s supposed to mean the woman has a more complicated, specific idea of happiness than the man, and that’s supposed to be the “joke”. It still doesn’t make much sense.

By: Jeff S.

Jeff S. — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:39:13 +0000

Don’t you mean, ‘”Happy” Meals’? Meals designed for their “special” dietary “needs”. I “so” love “quotation marks”!