0709: "I Am"

[lithiumliger]

title="Great, LO-M. Do you speak Bocce? I'm supposed to find one that speaks Bocce."

I knew it. Or maybe I didn't. The only Wikipedia article on Bocce that I can find is Bocce ball. That strikes me as an interesting language.

Edit: Wookiepedia on the other hand, is more reliable.

[iBeast]

Hah, strikes

[Belgarion]

Bocce... it's the language Luke's uncle needed a translator droid for in SWIV

Edit! I've been told by the awesome SW fans below that it was Luke's aunt who needed Bocce from the translator.

[Vorghagen]

Bocce... it's the language Luke's uncle needed a translator droid for in SWIV

Actually I think it was his aunt that needed Bocce. His uncle needed some binary language IIRC.

[Pfhorrest]

Hahah, "[e]L O[h] - [i]M". I lol'd.

[kingofdreams]

yes the uncle needed someone to talk with moisture vaporators...

also excellant, you'd be suprised ho many blank looks you get when you say I am that I am

[Airbuilder7]

Are the giant tube things supposed to represent anything other than massive amounts of power? And are they converging on a burning bush?

I thought this strip was about the LHC at first glance...

http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/publi ... shigh.jpeg

Hm. The LHC's trying to find the God Particle (or is the God Particle trying to find the LHC? ), so maybe in a way, it is...

[Scorpio3002]

I like the bold to emphasize LORD since everything else is already in caps.

[Lukeisheretic]

Weak comic IMO.
eh.
im not impressed by his recent comics

[westrim]

...What?

[Drooling Iguana]

I find this comic offensive as it implies that R2D2 is God's counterpart, when all True Believers know that he is God.

[KingLoser]

this is not the intervention you are looking for.

[skine]

I've tried at least a dozen times now, but I can't reconcile the accents in the two panels.
(I've also realized that I imagine accents while I'm reading)

The first one is the big booming "god" voice, and the second is Anthony Daniels.
I'm getting closer though, as God now "sounds" British.

[clanders]

Terrible, but quite on par with recent offerings.

[Omegaton]

Hahah, "[e]L O[h] - [i]M". I lol'd.

Ah, that explanation was quite appreciated, at least by me. Nice.

[rocketrat]

I totally fail to understand this.

[scottgoblue314]

Alright, I'll say it - "Get out of my head!"

And, yes, there is a reason for it. The other day I was visiting my younger cousins, and one of them just got the "Lego Star Wars" video game. During "Return of the Jedi," every time C-3PO got hit, my cousin yelled, "stop killing God!" Not every day you hear a 10 year old shouting that one.

[Lazar]

Yeah, I don't get it.

[Briareos]

And here I thought it was against his programming to impersonate a deity.

[PhantomPhanatic]

I definitely lawl'd. Haven't out loud in a while.

LO-M got me. That was good.

[fealuinix]

Soooo...

Abraham was an Ewok?

[Pfhorrest]

For those not getting it: recall in Return of the Jedi, when they're captured by the Ewoks, and 3PO is worshipped as some prophesied god "the Golden One". And they carried him around in a fancy wooden throne. Remember? So 3PO is God, to the Ewoks at least... and R2 is his own personal Jesus Christ.

[pgn674]

I think this is the scene from Star Wars IV: A New Hope, that the comic is referencing:

THREEPIO: I see, sir.

LUKE: Uh, you can call me Luke.

THREEPIO: I see, sir Luke.

LUKE: (laughing) Just Luke.

THREEPIO: And I am See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations, and this is
my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo.

LUKE: Hello.

And also, from earlier in the movie, the img title references:

A voice calls out from one of the huge holes that form the
homestead. Luke goes over to the edge and sees his Aunt Beru
standing in the main courtyard.

BERU: Luke, tell Owen that if he gets a translator to be sure it
speaks Bocce.

LUKE: It looks like we don't have much of a choice but I'll remind
him.

Luke returns to his uncle as they look over the equipment
for sale with the Jawa leader.

OWEN: I have no need for a protocol droid.

THREEPIO: (quickly) Sir -- not in an environment such as this --
that's why I've also been programmed for over thirty secondary
functions that...

OWEN: What I really need is a droid that understands the binary
language of moisture vaporators.

THREEPIO: Vaporators! Sir -- My first job was programming binary load
lifter...very similar to your vaporators. You could say...

OWEN: Do you speak Bocce?

THREEPIO: Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language for
me...I'm as fluent in Bocce...

OWEN: All right shut up! (turning to Jawa) I'll take this one.

THREEPIO: Shutting up, sir.

It can be found here: BlueHarvest.net - Star Wars: A New Hope script

And the chapter in the Bible it's referencing is Exodus 3:

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
...
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

That can be found here: Exodus 3 - Passage Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com. The King James Version says "I AM THAT I AM."

[skeptical scientist]

For those not getting it: recall in Return of the Jedi, when they're captured by the Ewoks, and 3PO is worshipped as some prophesied god "the Golden One". And they carried him around in a fancy wooden throne. Remember? So 3PO is God, to the Ewoks at least... and R2 is his own personal Jesus Christ.

Ok, so where's the funny part? Or even the part that's supposed to be funny?

I still don't get it.

[baltakatei]

I superficially understood the comic. It got a smirk out of me.

Then I read this comment:

And here I thought it was against his programming to impersonate a deity.

Then I was able to laugh.

[Steve the Pocket]

Wait. Wait.

I think I get it.

Spoiler:

God's counterpart is R2-D2 because God is YH-WH.

...Maybe?

No, probably not. I don't get it.

[Magic Molly]

Wait. Wait.

I think I get it.

Spoiler:

God's counterpart is R2-D2 because God is YH-WH.

...Maybe?

No, probably not. I don't get it.

That's not why i laughed at first, but that's pretty neat. Too bad randal doesn't say anything in these threads. (or at least not as himself)

That LHC reference is nice too.

[vole-in-hand]

So.. any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from the Old Testament?

[Chrisfs]

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law

Moses's father in law was Jethro?


From Beverly HIllbillies?

[Destichado]

My first thought upon reading this comic was the sneaking suspicion that Anthony Daniels had just recorded a reading of the Bible.

THAT would make sense.

[StClair]

And now suddenly, even retroactively, G-d sounds like Tony Daniels.

[sje46]

They worshipped 3PO as a god in Return of the Jedi.

[++$_]

Moses/Luke having his sandals off is a nice touch.

[Pfhorrest]

Wait. Wait.

I think I get it.

Spoiler:

God's counterpart is R2-D2 because God is YH-WH.

...Maybe?

No, probably not. I don't get it.

Considering that "I am that I am" has been (not uncontroversially) interpreted as etymologically related to "YHVH", I think that's a pretty good catch there.

Now imagine Threepio's voice "booming" (hah) forth from a burning bush. "I am Why Ach Vee Ach, The LORD your God, and the God of of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob... and this is my counterpart, Artoo Deetoo."

Yes sir, I think I like it.

[Soliloquy]

I just had to drop in and say I couldn't stop cracking up at this one. I'm not entirely sure why, even... but I haven't laughed this heartily for a long time.

[Utlah]

As an aside, does anyone else notice the similarity in the the comic's portrayal of the burning bush and that of Dreamworks' "The Prince of Egypt"?

[J L]

For those not getting it: recall in Return of the Jedi, when they're captured by the Ewoks, and 3PO is worshipped as some prophesied god "the Golden One". And they carried him around in a fancy wooden throne. Remember? So 3PO is God, to the Ewoks at least... and R2 is his own personal Jesus Christ.

Ok, so where's the funny part? Or even the part that's supposed to be funny?

I still don't get it.

Well, I guess it's really just an anti-climax ... and maybe, as has been pointed out, a pun on the Tetragrammaton: "I am YH-WH ... and this is my counterpart, R2-D2."

Which, in a way, is cool, albeit still a bit Force-ed.

[makc]

R2D2, along with other droids from SWs, are rare example of movies' artificial intelligence not determined to destroy humankind.

[mystichobo]

Is that the Yggdrasil is the background?

[Milna]

I think that the suggestion is LOM is the hebrew version of the name Elohim (eL-Oh-iM - LOM without the vowels) - although maybe it should be LHM. And also, LO-M is a make of protocol droid in Star Wars, not unlike C-3PO. SO C-3PO and God share a name?