Monday, January 13, 2014

REACTION PAPER: Space Pilot 3000 (Futurama S01E01)

Futurama is in itself an illustration of how humanity intervenes with the supposedly purely beneficial impact of the advancement of science and technology. Utmost innovation does not guarantee utmost comfort in life. People are inevitably, at first, in some ways slaves of science, but they grow out of it when they fail to perceive the rationale of things they perform routinely for science.  As Philip J. Fry said, “It’s up to you to make your own decisions in life. That’s what separates people and robots from animals…and animal robots.” Science’s provisions assure us of security, yet our responsibility to be wary of its consequences and to be deliberate in choosing what to accept in our lives remain within us.

One subtle depiction of time travel that Futurama did was inconvenience; the traveler is most likely not knowledgeable enough of the period’s culture he is destined to experience. As a result, he finds difficulty in adapting to that environment. Of course, everything about time travel is thrilling; but the part where you get yourself accustomed to an alien domain is the great challenge. Besides, escaping reality by departing today for another time does not make the predicament in the least better. In the case of Fry, he rejoiced in having been accidentally delivered to the future where he would apparently lead an entirely different life. He deemed his life miserable, so he thought that the accident was a blessing in disguise.

He met a robot, named Bender, in the line for the suicide booth which he mistook for a phone booth. Together they embarked on a journey as fugitives to escape their assigned Fate. In the end, the Fate Assignment Officer realized that it was high time she quit her job, which only involved her obsequiously following her boss’s orders around, her personal views and values completely neglected. She cannot make decisions by herself; she would disrupt her system if she does. This is just like how we unconsciously let science be our ultimate boss- an utter human flaw that results from our lack of understanding of the significance of things unrelated to science: wisdom, relationships, family, friends, and emotions, among others. Fry’s act of surrendering to his Assigned Fate is equivalent to his surrendering to what he is destined to be and stop running away from it. There are instances when people use science in an attempt to alter destiny; although in one way or another, there is always a good effect, the end never seemed to appear satisfactory to the proponents. Though sometimes we loathe the fate that we have come upon, it still is the product of our actions and decisions and therefore the reflection of our being as a whole. It may not always be in our favour, but at least we can do something about it- better than having your arm implanted with a career chip thus going through life performing a job you did not partake in deciding.


Apple Czarline C. Cruel

2013-59992

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