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Futurama: Characters Connected By Emotions

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Jeanne Seepaul
Professor Cordova
ENG 300Q
June 26, 2015
Characters Connected by Emotions
Imagine being transported a thousand years into the future with no friends, family, and an entirely new society that is unfamiliar to you. This is exactly what happens to the main protagonist, Fry, in the show Futurama, created by Matt Groening. In the first episode “Space Pilot 3000”, we learn Fry’s position in the past as a lonely pizza delivery guy whose job leads him into a lab where he falls into a time capsule. Then we fast forward 1000 years to an unfrozen Fry who has no role in this new society of the future, but he slowly realizes he has a chance to change who he is. He says: “You know, I’m the luckiest guy in the whole future. I’ve been given …show more content…

This town that they live in is mundane and could exist in many parts of America making the show relatable to anyone that lives in or near a town called Springfield. This fictional family’s life and struggles in the middle class represent clichéd circumstances that middle class Americans face every day; they are just overly dramatized for humor. Middle class families usually struggle with making enough money to both pay the bills and for buy the things that they want. These families often have two parents, more than one child, a car, a home, and maybe even a pet, so their finances must be allocated to account for all of their expenses. The income they make may barely be enough to keep their possessions or feed the family. The Simpsons address these problems in many episodes. In “And Maggie Makes Three”, for instance, we learn the Simpson family’s struggle to support their two kids Bart and Lisa before their third child, Maggie, was born. Homer finally pays off his debts and says to his wife: “Don't worry, Marge, I've come up with a perfectly balanced budget. There will be exactly enough money for you, me, Bart, and Lisa, if we make a few small sacrifices” (“And Maggie Makes Three”). We later learn that Marge is pregnant with a third child, Maggie, who Homer didn’t account for in this budget. Many families in the middle class live on a budget that allows them to pay for the items they need. In this episode, Homer is only making this budget because he wants a fun new job, but this idea is real. Marge is cognizant of the financial burden that would come with having a third child since having two children is already hard enough to finance, and now there is greater demand for money. This is a common stereotype in America, having to constantly work just to make enough money to pay bills. In the end a sacrifice must be made

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