Comment by mitthrowaway2

When we say "f(x, y) = 0" in this context, we also usually have a separate definition for f(x, y) provided, where that f(x, y) is not necessarily 0 at for all x,y. And so this constraint "f(x, y) = 0" means "find pairs of x and y such that it makes f(x, y) become 0".

If "f(x, y) = 0" is actually the definition of f(x, y), then yes, it would be a pretty boring graph.