Futurama - "Welcome to the New Age!"

Joben Ryan A. Padre

2013-42972

          One of the most commonly used concepts in science-fiction stories is time-travel. The idea of going to another time never gets old. It always pokes the interest of viewers and readers mainly because it is impossible. But is it really impossible?

          Showing the possibility of time travel, Futurama presents science, technology, and society in a very unique and interesting manner. The main character, Fry, accidentally falls into a cryonic tube and is frozen, only to be defrosted after a thousand years. In my opinion, technically, he didn’t travel time because he didn’t skip any years; he was just frozen. However, the story is somewhat similar to those with time-travel related plots.

          Though the show presents the future in a comical manner, we cannot deny the fact that most of the things found in the show’s interpretation of year 2999 would be very enjoyable and astonishing especially to human beings of today. We have always dreamt of floating cars, robots, and the like, so waking up to a world full of such would be pretty delightful for most people. This is the new age.

          The show presented a glimpse of what could possible happen a thousand years from now. It depicted how a typical person would react to a thousand years of change. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t a hundred percent enjoyable. One of the most difficult challenges that time-travel presents is the concept of change, and how the person who travels through time adjusts to these changes. In Fry’s situation, his whole life was typically gone. He had no job, no existing interests, no girlfriend, no job, and almost had no family left. The idea of being alone is somehow attached to that of time-travel and if I were to decide, I wouldn’t go to the future if it meant leaving everything I have behind.

          People say that digging up the past is very dangerous but I think dwelling in the future is equally risky. In the show’s case, where time travel is a one-way road and you can never go back, you will surely consider if you really want to skip to a thousand years from now.

          The only constant thing in the world is change.