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I never appreciated Futurama when I was younger. At the time it felt like worse Simpsons but in the future. But later on I realized it’s a really good critique

I never appreciated Futurama when I was younger. At the time it felt like worse Simpsons but in the future. But later on I realized it’s a really good critique of our contemporary society disguised as the future looking back on us with Fry standing in for the audience. Some of the jokes are funny because they’re so biting.

canadianfella 5y ago
Biting?
spywaregorilla 5y ago
The simpsons was pretty on spot too, but it was easier to just laugh at homer if the satire was over your head
THJr 5y ago
I remember an interview they did with some of the writers, and they were talking about how they included certain items (eg. room-size computers) to be silly and anachronistic, but others (eg. dvd players) to help relate things to current times. They said that when they were writing the final seasons, the team couldn't tell which items in the earliest seasons were supposed to be relatable and which were supposed to be silly.
BurningFrog 5y ago
Well, a critique of society 2 decades ago.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
kadoban 5y ago
A _lot_ of sci-fi in general is social commentary and/or recreational sociology. By moving the setting to an unfamiliar one, you can make parallels to back to _familiar_ societies in a way that allows the audience to see them with a new eye. It's a nice trick to get around familiarity blindness and sidestep some biases.
- handrous 5y ago
  Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Merits is entirely an exercise in this. "Gee, the apparent pointlessness of these jobs sure is dystopic, huh?" pauses, stares significantly straight at the audience "Turning every little thing into a carefully-metered financial transaction sure is dystopic, huh?" pauses, stares at audience "These screen-centric disconnected lives sure are dystopic, huh?" stares at audience "Really horrible how they shit on the infirm or those who otherwise fall out of society and don't take their pointless jobs seriously enough, huh? I mean, what an awful system, right? Why, this is so obviously terrible and evil that it'd never exist in real life, in such a blatant way. Just ridiculous." stares at audience, judging them "Amazing how this society's mass media so effectively and complete captures and commercializes dissent, isn't it? How awful!" stares at audience "All these people could have just left and gone off into the forest instead of participating in, being ground down by, or willfully perpetuating this nonsense, and didn't just because that's scary and unfamiliar? What kind of cowards and/or monsters must these people be?" stares loooooong and hard at the audience
- godelski 5y ago
  Most stories are in general, but sci-fi in particular looks at society, politics, and their relationship to technology. Sci-fi frequently addresses issues of wealth inequality. I'm always amazed at how many people didn't realize Blade Runner was a critique on Reganomics.

canadianfella 5y ago

Biting?

spywaregorilla 5y ago

The simpsons was pretty on spot too, but it was easier to just laugh at homer if the satire was over your head

THJr 5y ago

I remember an interview they did with some of the writers, and they were talking about how they included certain items (eg. room-size computers) to be silly and anachronistic, but others (eg. dvd players) to help relate things to current times. They said that when they were writing the final seasons, the team couldn't tell which items in the earliest seasons were supposed to be relatable and which were supposed to be silly.

BurningFrog 5y ago

Well, a critique of society 2 decades ago.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

kadoban 5y ago

A _lot_ of sci-fi in general is social commentary and/or recreational sociology. By moving the setting to an unfamiliar one, you can make parallels to back to _familiar_ societies in a way that allows the audience to see them with a new eye. It's a nice trick to get around familiarity blindness and sidestep some biases.

handrous 5y ago
Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Merits is entirely an exercise in this. "Gee, the apparent pointlessness of these jobs sure is dystopic, huh?" pauses, stares significantly straight at the audience "Turning every little thing into a carefully-metered financial transaction sure is dystopic, huh?" pauses, stares at audience "These screen-centric disconnected lives sure are dystopic, huh?" stares at audience "Really horrible how they shit on the infirm or those who otherwise fall out of society and don't take their pointless jobs seriously enough, huh? I mean, what an awful system, right? Why, this is so obviously terrible and evil that it'd never exist in real life, in such a blatant way. Just ridiculous." stares at audience, judging them "Amazing how this society's mass media so effectively and complete captures and commercializes dissent, isn't it? How awful!" stares at audience "All these people could have just left and gone off into the forest instead of participating in, being ground down by, or willfully perpetuating this nonsense, and didn't just because that's scary and unfamiliar? What kind of cowards and/or monsters must these people be?" stares loooooong and hard at the audience
godelski 5y ago
Most stories are in general, but sci-fi in particular looks at society, politics, and their relationship to technology. Sci-fi frequently addresses issues of wealth inequality. I'm always amazed at how many people didn't realize Blade Runner was a critique on Reganomics.