Introduction to Futurama

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Introduction to Futurama

• Futurama
• Set in the next millennium, follows the exploits
  of Fry, a pizza delivery boy who was
  cryogenically frozen by accident for 1,000 years
  Leela, a female cyclops Bender, an immoral
  robot, and others as they work for an
  intergalactic delivery service owned by Fry's
  great, great, great... nephew, Professor Hubert
  Farnsworth.

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Thesis

• The notion of the sacred, in the past, was
  largely associated within a religious content and
  context. However, the modern understanding of the
  sacred is moving away from the abstract religious
  notion, to a more inclusive and individualistic
  understanding of the sacred.

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The Origin of the word Sacred

• According to Encyclopedia Britannica
• The term sacred comes from Latin sacer (set off,
  restricted). A person or thing was designated as
  sacred when it was unique or extraordinary.
  Closely related to sacer is numen (mysterious
  power, god).

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Definitions of Sacred

• Traditional
• concerned with religion or religious purposes
  i.e. "sacred texts" "sacred rites" "sacred
  music"
  
• worthy of respect or dedication i.e. "saw
  motherhood as woman's sacred calling"
  
• worthy of religious veneration i.e. "the sacred
  name of Jesus" "Jerusalem's hallowed soil"
  
• made or declared or believed to be holy devoted
  to a deity or some religious ceremony or use i.e.
  "a consecrated church" "the sacred mosque"
  "sacred elephants" "sacred bread and wine"
  "sanctified wine"

• Modern
• Emile Durkheim - the sacred force, he concluded,
  was society itself. I.e. Anything could be a
  sacred object
  
• Sacred manifests itself in concrete forms that
  are also profane.
  
• Mircea Eliade the sacred may be seen in
  virtually any sort of form in religious history
  a stone, an animal, or the sea.
  
• Not all people find the sacred manifested in the
  same form, what is profane for some, is sacred
  for others ( and vise versa).

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Lakoff and Johnson

• Lakoff and Johnson DO NOT believe that there is
  such a thing as objective (absolute and
  unconditional) truth. (159)
  
• Religions, therefore, can not make a claim to
  hold absolute truths (181)
  
• Within society, religion can be viewed as being
  in the domain of subjective understanding (192).
  I.e. Religion is entirely private, where the
  individual is free to think whatever they want.

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Futurama? Notions of the sacred?

• 5min13sec Bender is interpreted as God by the
  villagers
  
• 524 Bender proclaims himself God ( Mental
  Lord)
  
• 534 Bender asks for a Sacrifice / Donation
• 607 Commandments are created 1 God needs
  Booze. End of commandments
  
• 740 Benders people injured while building
  the brewery and liquor industry attracted
  organized crime
  
• 803 Bender moved by followers actions and
  suffering and beings to cry, which causes a flood
  

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Futurama and the sacred cont

• 908 Followers pray for wealth, Bender drops a
  coin and crushes them
  
• 927 Farmers pray for sunlight, Bender provides
  too much sunlight and burns the crops
  

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Futurama and the sacred cont

• 1002 Fry does not give up on finding Bender,
  despite the lack of support from others (CLIP)
  
• 1137 Meanwhile, Benders people have split
  into two groups. The infidels and the followers.
  Infidels no longer believe in Bender, because he
  does not answer their prayers. Because they have
  relocated to his behind and he can not hear their
  prayers.
• 1150 One group asks Bender to smite the
  other. Bender says no, as every time he had
  interfered, he had made things worse. Solve your
  own problems
• 1220 - Fry does not give up hope, Can not give
  up hope when it is hopeless, you have to hope
  even more
  
• 1300Two groups get into a nuclear war and
  exterminate one another.

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Futurama and the sacred cont

• 1520 Bender aimlessly moves toward a
  mysterious galaxy, that begins communicating with
  him
  
• 1535 Bender asks galaxy various questions,
  including Who built it? It has always been. Are
  you God? Possible. It feels compassion for all
  living things.
• 1605 Fry makes journey to the monastery and
  asks to use telescope to search for Bender (CLIP)
  
  
• 1658 God is love suggestion

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Futurama and the sacred cont

• 1907 Leela asks Fry to stop searching after 3
  days, Bender will not be found. (Clip)
  
• 1954 Frys last attempt to find his friend is
  not a waste of time

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References

• Cnet Networks Entertainment. Futurama by
  tv.com, 2007. Available at
  
• http//www.tv.com/futurama/show/249/summary.html
  
  
• Encyclopedia Britannica. Sacred by Frederick J
  Streng, 2007. Avaiable at
  
• http//www.britannica.com/eb/print?articleId109
  486fullArticletruetocId
  
• 9109486
• "Godfellas." Futurama Season Four. Writ. Jeff
  Westbrook and Kristin Gore.
  
• Dir. Mike Smith. Fox.. DVD. Twentirth Century
  Fox, 2001.
  
• Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We
  Live By. USA University of Chicago
  
• Press. USA, 2003.
• Word Net. Sacred by Word Net Princeton
  University, 2007. Available at
  
• http//wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?ssacred