Blast off!

Nakakatuwang isipin na magkakaroon ng isang cartoon na ukol sa mga pananaw sa hinaharap. Sa katunayan, hindi ko sinusubaybayan ang seryeng ito sa hindi ko mawaring dahilan ngunit noong araw na ito’y pinapanuod sa ami’y napukaw ang atensyon ko. Dahil nga sa cartoon ito’y napakabilis ng mga pangyayari at mga transisyon kung saan mula sa pagdedeliver ng pizza noong gabi’y biglaan na lamang mayroong tumulak kay Fry, ang bida, sa isang tube at napayelo ito kung kaya’t nabuhay pa sya makalipas ng maraming taon nang hindi tumatanda (ang paliwanag sa pagkakatulak ay ipapakita sa mga susunod na palabas). 

Nakakatuwang nakakabahala ang mga ipinakitang mga makabagong teknolohiya sa pilot episode ng serye.  Tatlo rito ang siyang tumatak sa aking utak: ang suicide booth, mga priniserbang ulo ng mga kilalang tao, at ang nakatakdang computer-generated na trabaho mo.  Sa suicide booth at mga chips na magtatakda ng buhay mo, palagay ko’y ito ang repleksyon ng mga krisis na kinakaharap ng mundo o kaya ng bansa nila noon. Ito ang mga kanilang “palokong” suhestyon sa rumaragasang numero ng mga nilalang na depressed na maaaring ipahiwatig na ang teknolohiya sa hinaharap ay mayroong negatibong nosyon. Imbis na ang teknolohiya ay gagamitin sa pagpapaunlad, ito ang siyang ginawang instrumento upang maglimita at tumapos ng buhay ng tao sa mas mabilis at praktikal na pamamaraan. Kumbaga, ang mga tao ay sumusunod na lamang sa mga pattern at sistema na para bang ang mundo’y naging teknikal—isang malaking makinarya. Imbis na ang sangkatauhan ang kumontrol sa teknolohiya, ang teknolohiya ang siyang nangibabaw.

2012-25207

Guevarra, Julie Ann Olino

Meddling with Time

Futurama is a show centered on the main character, Fry, as he traveled through time, 1000 years after the present. Having a bad life in the present time, he was actually happy that he finally escaped everything. Not entirely though, because despite being in the future, he can't escape the fact that being a delivery boy seemed to follow him. I really liked the way they showed the audience that despite all the changes, the awesome technology and all, we still can't avoid that there are things that will always remain as they are, no matter how much we want to change them.

The first episode showed that despite all the absurdities, everything was as normal as it could get. The technology that was showed is actually what people would normally think of if asked about the future world. It was the expected future, or at least what I expect. Transportation is easier, aliens and robots are already part of the society (or at least an alien), and time travel seemed so normal already. It's amazing to see a glimpse of the expected future. But what made it so interesting is that the people still have their own dilemmas in life despite the technology that is made to make life easier in the first place. Problems still existed, probably more complicated compared to the present problems. It's sad to think that the advancement of technology comes with a price, especially if it is abused by us.

Time travelling has always been so interesting for me. Will it happen in the future? How? There are so many questions and somehow, Futurama showed that it's not so mind-boggling. It seemed so simple to them, like it is such an ordinary thing to happen for a person to come to the future from the present. Maybe it is possible, maybe it's not. But one thing's for sure, meddling with time may not always be as good as we think it is. For me, time is something that we shouldn't meddle with. We, humans, should know our limitations. And I think this is one of them.

Chrystine L. Cobarrubias
2013 - 59986

Futurama: Into the Fututre

          The show, Futurama, is mainly about the adventures of the main character and his friends. These adventures were all possible through a "time machine" and an accident.

         Fry, the main character, was delivering pizza when he accidentally got into a cryonic machine. That machine could freeze anything or anyone inside it for a period of time which is manually set. That machine is deaing with low temperatures, in accordance to its name “cryonic”, to freeze anyhting so that it could preserve that thing until it reaches the end of the set period of time. It means that time travelling is achieved by preservation of a body going only to the future and not to the past. It was not actually a time travel machine but rather an instrument to preserve a body.

         After going through preservation, Fry found himself into the future. The place was clearly generated by technology and science, which were much more advanced that what are today’s. Almost everything was more convenient and instant. There was a faster way of transportation, shown by the vacuum like tube which could transport anyone to wherever he wanted to go. There were flying vehicles that could be managed by common individuals. Even suicide was more convenient, like one could have himself killed-if he wanted to-by going into the suicidal booth. That concept of suicide implies that the society seems less humanized, as if teachings and principles of religion are forgotted or less prioritized. Manual work were also done most by robots, for more “human” power and also for humans to have more comfortable time. Another example of faster operations in the future, according to the show, was how one’s profession could be decided by a machine. There was also a machine which could identify one’s relative through bloodlines, implying that authority had track on everyone. Research and information were also easier and more fun to gather as shown by the heads of great people who could narrate important information on different fields of knowledge.

       The show features the future as a period when everything is instant and convenient through advance science and technology. But together with the advancement of science, principles of “morality” are less prioritized.  

2013-52498

Nikka Marie Sales

"The Future"

            Futurama is a science fiction show that gives us a glimpse of what the future looks like for them. Nowadays, these types of shows and movies are often. But Futurama had a different view. The show did not for see the future in the conventional way where things are all good. Most futuristic videos show that everything is all good and easy in the future. They show us that life is so much easier and convenient. All the problems of the world today are all solved and dealt with. Technology has been mastered by the society, giving rise to very advanced pieces of technology.

            But in Futurama’s case, it was different.  Not everything in the future, as they perceive it, is good. Although life is definitely easier and more convenient, some of today’s problems are not solved. Some are even made worse. Technology is not in full control by the society. And the worse of all, critical changes in the lifestyle of men and women were made. People can no longer choose freely what they want to be or what they want to do for a living.
            Futurama is actually trying to tell us that those really good things that are said to be in the future are only as good as how we want it to be. Flying cars and teleportation portals are not going to be made by time alone. These perceptions of having exceptional advancements in technology are only going to be made possible in the future if we do something about it right now. It is not wrong to dream of wonderful things to arise in the future. But let us remember that the playmaker in getting to the future we want is no other than ourselves. No one can really say what the future looks like, but we can say how we want it to look like.

2013-40983

A Glimpse of What May Be in the year 3000

Futurama is a show that takes us to the future. Its take on the future of Science and technology is that it will continue to progress with the help of the aliens for the earth to continue to survive. The future will be full of advancement but perhaps with many of these, there happen to be stupid inventions too. The show makes us see that human desire for a convenient lifestyle these days may likely affect the future. The result is endless technology fitting everybody’s wants and needs. However, since everyone thinks of his or her own convenience, a culture of selfishness develops. The show tells us that because of this everyone wants an equal part of everything, no advancement in any human person shall stop this culture. The goal is about just advancing technology. The show portrays that in the year 3000 there will be a different sense for the value of both humanity and environment unlike what we have now. The dignity of everyone will be set aside and they have to work their best to maintain the progress of the earth, and what you do best is what will help it and maintain its equilibrium. There will be no more choices and no more freewill. There will be less sense of sentimentality becaus “You gotta do what you have to do.” That’s how one person could help. The show also tackled about time travelling and its perks. Time travel was made possible by freezing flesh to preserve the bodies and let it awake after a very long period of time as long as it is preserved well and well managed. It’s amazing  that the show tackled it in a positive and near to reality type of time travel. One could not go into the past but only in the future and to wait for the future to come is the best way to travel time and not go back.
In any case, the show, Futurama gave us possibilities and and glimpse of what may things most likely be in the year 3000. We shall await for the future and see great things that may come about. All I want to say is that there are pros and cons on it. But I rather live the present than the future. And, I would love living this life where everybody is free to do what he want in life and not be governed by a thing called technology. I want a life where technology is used for the betterment of everyone and for it not to be something will like to make better until it will eventually enslave us. I hope that the future will be bright for humanity and the environment and that we continue to value the dignity of these two.

A View of the Future

Futurama shows a future where the dreams of the scientists that started centuries ago finally came true. There were anti-gravity cars, portable tubes that transport people from one place to another, a live robot, a time machine, floating live heads in jars, and a lot of other things. The show also showed how Earth has welcomed alien species into humanity, like Leela, the one-eyed career counselor.  

Futurama is set in New New York at the coming of the 31st century. It was built over the “Old New York,” which has become a city of underground ruins. Technology has advanced way beyond what it is now. Its development was used for the convenience of every living thing on the planet; for transportation, for food, for shelter, and for social life. Although, it can be seen that it was also abused. For instance, the suicide booth was invented. Indeed, even death became more convenient. As technology elevated in the 31^st century, it seems that the global problems we have today have also escalated. The Earth was literally covered by a vulnerable sheet of atmosphere that when damaged can suck everything inside the Earth out. Basically, global warming became even more extreme, along with poor government and substance abuse. Apart from these it seems that technology has completely taken over humanity, even the career of the people. In the pilot series, the story almost revolves around how Fry tries to escape from Leela and her desire to insert a career chip in him. It seems that with the new technology, your destiny can already be written.

The two common ways of executing time travel are through teleportation and cryonics. In the series, Fry came to the future through the latter method. During Fry’s cryonic sleep, the outside of the window shows an invasion of flying spaceships that neutralize the city of New York. As a new civilization emerges, the same things that destroyed New York came to destroy it a second time, finally giving birth to New New York. While Fry was in his cryogenic sleep in the time capsule, he was of going forward to the future without aging at all. I believe this is the effect of the freezing of cryogenetics. Maybe if he wasn’t frozen, he would have aged in the progression in time.

The setting in Futurama could actually be a glimpse of our future. In fact, I am 70% sure that with our growing technology, New New York would actually be real, giving rise to a new Earth ruled by technology. 

by Nicole Tesoro

2013-68145

Futurama- Reaction Paper

What if we could turn back time? What if we knew what’s in store for us in the future? These are some of the thoughts that cross our imaginative minds whenever we have time to spare, wishing that time machines existed to turn these thoughts into reality.

                Futurama deals with the concept of time machines and time travelling to the future. The idea of this sound pretty nice, but we have never thought of the possible effects and consequences of this to us.   At first, it really seemed cool, the idea of being the only one from the past living in the future with robots and aliens. But then, it seemed that there was no sense of “fun” in the future. Their occupation was decided for them based on their skills, even if they did not want to. Robots were sad, which was really weird because they had emotions. People were depressed and are not happy with the way they live their lives that they even had suicide machines!

                I think that in our own time today, we should do whatever we can to improve our lives, be happy and cherish each and every moment, enjoy our gift of free will and democracy, and make it count for us not to experience the sad and depressing image of the future.

Time lapse

"Behold the world of tomorrow!"

The cliché in shows that revolves around traveling to the future is their unrealistic representation of the advancements of science and technology. This shows our great imagination and our hope for a better tomorrow. But this also brings great disappointment  to people when our incredibly impossible hopes of the future let us down. The story of Futurama is one of these shows.

Futurama is an animated series set in the 31st century when a below average character named Fry accidentally gets frozen in a cryogenic chamber in the 21st century and thaws after a millennium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama). The events afterward show a fantastic representation of the future where almost everything is impossible in this age. The show itself is dark and gives many reasons to the media to shut it down. The show was canceled a few times but prevailed against all odds and completed the series until it's final finale. The show is dark and for adults mostly because of its mature content, example of which are the drinking robot, the politically incorrect languages, incredibly sad moments like when Fry's dog waited for his return until it died on the sidewalk, and many more. The suicide booth that was said to be made in 2008 shows how vast the number of incredibly depressed people are (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth#Futurama).

The greatest and  most realistic event on the show is its take on how time travel affects the traveler. Right at the time when Fry thaws out from his frozen sleep, he tells his taught about being in the future. Sure he showed a happy expression, but the sadness of when he said that all the people he knows and loves are dead, is such a sad moment and implies how horrible it is to be alone.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeHoatqdB7U)

2013-70005

What Will It Be?

Futuruma is a cartoon that I was already familiar with before the meeting where Sir showed us the pilot episode. But sadly I've only watched a few episodes in between of i-don't-know-what season. I found it so hilarious because they show the future of the earth in the worst possible way.
It was a first for me when I saw the first episode. I never knew that the plot was actually like that and that Fry was frozen for a certain number of years that's why he was one of the few humans in the entire cartoon. Most the times, a lot of people would find it funny. But have we ever gave a deep thought about it that if we view our society now, that is actually the most accurate future that we can actually achieve?
The technology and science as we see is already very advanced and we have already even found out about the existence of aliens and is now coexisting with them. But because of the advancement of these areas, we can also notice that we began to neglect the other aspects such as our environment. The suicide booth is not quite surprising as well, since if the rate of depression in people's lives right now is already so high, it's number skyrocketing is already understandable.
Watching this cartoon or anything that is perhaps related to how our future will look like, have we really done anything to avoid these worst case scenarios from happening? If it's about the awareness level, we can say that almost all of us are already aware of this. But why are we not doing anything. Actions are louder than words. We have to act now and apply what we know for the betterment of our future. Not only in the technology aspect but in every area of our life. If you ask any person what the future will look like, enthusiastically they would say it would be a beautiful world. But will it really be like that? For you, our future, what will it be?

Grandiehl Shyrr G. Enriquez

2012-29603

Future Reaction

         Being swallowed by a cryogenic containment capsule set for a thousand years then coughed up in world where your friends (if you have any) and family have all turned to dust or ashes must be terrifying. But not for our young hero Fry. Ladies and gentlemen, the first episode of Futurama by Matt Groening, whose head was seen in the head museum in the episode. Did you see it? Now that’s first-rate American humor. Anyway I have some points to discuss so I’ll just get on with it.

           Wait! Before that, I have to answer the guide questions! Here we go. The series predicts a great advance in science and technology. It shows us a future world where most of the things we thought were scientifically impossible as of the current moment exists. Even time travel existed in that world, but time travel with the use of cryogenics. In that world, there probably is a time machine, but in the first episode the only method disclosed was through the icy capsule which accidentally caught Fry. The time travel was also only forward into the future, with no method of reversing the time push.

          Numero uno! Cryogenic containment is a wonderful idea but I seem to get a bad feel about it. I am not really knowledgeable when it comes to recent discoveries and breakthroughs in the field of cryogenics, but I think this still isn’t possible for humans. And of course, experimenting on humans is taboo, thanks to the ethical code of the scientific community. But of course, someone, somewhere may already have experimented with storing people in icy graves, I mean storages, and obviously the results wouldn’t be published. We can’t disregard the possibility of that after all. Anyway, if they manage to turn people into blocks of ice at temperatures hovering just above, really just a little above absolute zero and not deal any damage to the body, we may be able to do it. You know, since by the second law of thermodynamics, all things go into entropy, and in our version, we turn into dust. But if there is no or an insignificant amount of energy present in the system, the flow into entropy would be disrupted, therefore retaining the form of the object or being for as long as the temperature is held constant. Well that’s just my theory on how they would probably do it. It’s difficult trying to trust third-rate writers like me on this, but if you’re convinced by the explanation, you’re welcome to do so. Anyway since we’re on this topic, if you have time, watch “Forever Young” by Mel Gibson, I think. He’s a soldier that got frozen in a cryogenic chamber and he was accidentally freed by some kids playing in the worn-out facility where he was in. Must-watch, I guess, so I won’t spoil it too much.

        How would you feel if you were forced to be in a line of work that you don’t really like? Living every day would probably suck and the masses would probably strive to build a true communist community. Anyway, one of the things we’ve seen in the first episode of Futurama was the machine that determined a person’s occupation, based on god knows what. It probably chooses the job where you’d be most efficient at by, again, god knows what criteria it is. Looking at our current society which is strongly and comfortably seated in the house of our lord Capitalism, *scoffs*, it would seem to be a good idea to create that sort of machine in order to increase efficiency in order to have more and more and more of everything. It doesn’t care about concept of true happiness. It only makes people serve under it and bring it more of everything by brainwashing people into thinking that by having more of the things they want, they will be happy. Which we all know is a whole load of smelly bolus. Greed is the primary value. Okay enough with the socio-economic analysis thingy. There’s also this anime called Psycho Pass. In that anime’s world, people’s potentials and aptitudes are measured by a colossal mainframe supercomputer, then it sends them off into their designated niches according to the results of the supercomputer’s analysis. A person’s possible occupation is not limited to only one though. If a person’s skills and potentials line up with one or more departments, then a person can choose which one he or she prefers, though there is always an optimum selection, according to the algorithm that supercomputer is using. Sometimes though there people who are labeled as good-for-nothings by the supercomputer. Quite harsh isn’t it? If a supercomputer like this were to exist in contemporary society and the people were forced to obey without question, chaos would ensue. Definitely. Technologies like that should probably be created but only as a guide, not as a definite path that a person should follow. We shouldn’t dictate the wills and the hearts of people. If someone should do so, they should be labeled as corrupted demons. Maybe I’m being too judgmental, but it is common sense right? Unless, of course, you’re a sociopath.

          With all things said and done, the aforementioned technologies might actually be realized in the future. Science and technology has been shifting its focus time and again, so there will be a time when the need would rise for these technologies, and therefore they would be invented. Though probably not how we would imagine it. With science, things are usually easier said than done, since well, there’s a cost attached to the doing part. But hey, who knows? The future might probably look like the one presented in Futurama. I don’t prefer having aliens as colleagues though. Not being racist here, just individual differences considered. But again, who knows, they may be walking among us, as we speak…

John Paul N. Ada

2010-46567