Under normal circumstances, you might read a line like "May I speak to the decision-maker of the house?" as a ham-handed intro to an obvious joke.
But this is The Dinette Set, and a line of dialog which does not have Mamet-like verisimilitude to normal human speech patterns calls attention to itself and lets the reader know that, rather than being a ham-handed intro, it is part and parcel of the panel's overall theme.
One immediately imagines the telemarketer on the other end of the line, forced to adhere to this awful script through the twin tyranny of an overbearing boss and periodic recording of sales calls. They are allowed no scope for decision-making in their job; that particular power has been denied by corporate overlords.
Enter Burl.
At first glance it seems like the dialog is meant to be ironic. Burl is asking for permission to handle a call intended for a decision-maker; Joy is the decision-maker in this household. And yet, that flies in the face of everything we know about overbearing, domineering, nearly-psychotic Burl's relationship with Joy. Read more carefully, of course, Burl's dialog is elliptical; Burl is making the decision to ask Joy whether she would like the distinct non-pleasure of dealing with a telemarketer. Or perhaps he is making a conscious decision to inflict Joy on the telemarketer.
Either way, it is distinctly unclear if anyone has decision-making power in this family and, by extension, in the world at large. The panel decries the lack of decision-making power we all face as a fact of the Modern Condition. We are all just cogs in an elaborate machine, with no real ability to influence events even within our tiny personal domains.
Or, as stated by the shirt with the world's most succinct recap of one-half the rules of Simon Says: "Simon Says: Do As You Are Told."
Simon Says: Check out the marginalia
- Warning: Screen door pants on an aging Lothario.
- Based on the amount of hair, I think the picture on the credenza to the left is supposed to be a young Burl and Joy. Based on the beanie, I think the picture on the right is supposed to be Burl as a youth; admittedly it is not distinguishable from an older Burl in a beanie.
1 comment:
That thing Burl is talking into is definitely not a phone. Especially since the thing it's attached to is clearly just a flat rectangle and not at all the base of a phone. So I guess this panel is just another reference to Burl's childishness (like his desire for a balloon a while back), as he's using something else (though I have no idea what) to play phone. We the readers are fortunate that the strip is written from an omniscient viewpoint, and so we get to see the telemarketer voice that's only in Burl's imagination.
Also, what the heck is up with the lamp? It looks to me like it's clear with some kind of creatures suspended in it.
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