Reaction Paper for Futurama

Reaction Paper for Futurama by 2013-71244

Before I watched this, all I knew about Philip J. Fry was he was a well-known picture in the world of memes.

(a picture that sums up my 'clueless-ness' in all of this.)

Then I watched Futurama episode 1, which portrayed the future (and time travel) in a cool sort of way. In this show, year 3000 is very advanced in terms of technology, and very “racially diverse” in the sense that humans co-exist with aliens and robots; contrary to my belief that the future would be made of desolate, atomic bomb – damaged places, and human survivors would be little to none (Well, the episode did show a very ruined New York underground, so maybe year 3000’s past through all that crap).

Fry’s time travel was done via cryogenics—a machine preserved him for 1000 years. Then he came out in year 3000 without having aged a day since New Year’s Day 2000. And all I could say while watching this happen was:

Seriously. Though it’s a bit disappointing that time-travel here is only a one-way, forward journey—travelling to the future can still be done by cryogenics, but going back to the past is still impossible. (And may I just insert a life lesson here about past mistakes)

Okay, so here goes my opinion about this future society.

In year 3000, people are born into New New York with a career and a life wholly planned out for them. They have career chips “installed” into them—fates fully determined by computer. Which in my opinion is a bit choking. Though it gives people a sense of purpose and usefulness in society, it takes away the person’s chance to choose what he/she wants for himself/herself. On that note, I sympathize for Fry’s eternal fate in being a delivery boy.

And maybe that was the reason instant suicide booths were very accessible in future New York. Good thing there was Professor Farnsworth and the Planet Express Ship to save Fry, Bender and Leela from boring fates.

As a change of topic, I liked those heads in the museum and how they can still talk and stuff. Also the developing relationship between Fry and purple-haired Leela (pardon my shipper tendencies).

Although the future was portrayed as a relatively “better” society compared to the present, it didn’t come off as perfect. I liked it that way—it showed a realistic, believable way of predicting what happens in future society.