Robots in Futurama
The animated television series Futurama takes place in a future where advanced technologies such as robotics have become a part of everyday life. In the series, sentient robots, such as Bender, the show's breakout character, are common. In the show, robots have the same rights as humans; they can vote (as shown in "A Head in the Polls") they hold jobs (for example, the acting robot Calculon,) collect salaries, serve in the military ("When Aliens Attack" and "War is the H-Word") and at least one has been president (John Quincy Adding Machine). Despite this, they are often referred to, or treated as, property.
Design
Robots in Futurama usually take two forms, most are roughly humanoid in appearance, with a torso, a head and two arms. All humanoid robots, except for Hedonism-Bot, have square pupils and most have a storage compartment in their torsoes. Methods of locomotion vary, and robots have been seen with legs, treads, wheels and even hovering. The original humanoid robots were designed by Professor Hubert Farnsworth while working for Mom's Friendly Robot Corp.. In Crimes of the Hot, he revealed that these humanoid robots pollute heavily as their fuel cells are alcohol powered.
The other form of robot common to the series is that of appliances. These seem to be regular appliances or vehicles that have installed artificial intelligence. Robots in this form have been seen as fans, coffee makers, robot arms, vending machines, greeting cards and even the Planet Express Ship. Unlike humanoid robots, these robots are property, and are treated only as appliances. A few robots are hybrids of these two designs, and may have the body of an appliance, such as speakers, but also have arms and legs or other humanoid features.
Robots are the only non-biological lifeforms. Despite being built, they are considered "alive." They are built to fulfill a specific purpose, and are assigned a job that best matches their skills.
In the episode Mother's Day it is stated that all robots have antennas, including non-humanoid robots, as robots of all types are seen to participate in the ensuing revolution. Some robots seem to be general purpose, but most are built to fulfill a specific function, and have body parts and a name to match, such as the Bending Units Bender and Flexo.
Robots can get high by abusing electricity, such as in Hell Is Other Robots, which is compared to both illegal-drug use and masturbation, and high or frequent doses can be damaging or fatal.
Culture
Robots in Futurama have a unique subculture which is sometimes compared to modern-day African-Americans. This includes frequent discrimination due to their former status as property (a reference to slavery,) the highly evangelical style of the robot religion Robotology, as well as the heavy use of blacksploitation catchphrases by URL, the recurring robot police officer.
Robots in the show have a wide range of personalities and jobs, many interacting with or working alongside humans daily (despite this, it is still taboo for humans to date robots.) In addition, robots have their own equivalents of many aspects of human culture, such as robot oriented sitcoms, robot mental institutions, robot holidays and even a robot mafia. Robot apartments are usually small closets where a robot can shut down for the night as well as store possessions. The robot population of earth is greater than at least 3% the human population (in the episode "A Head in the Polls" human voter turnout is only 6% and is evenly divided between two identical candidates, the robot vote then sways the election in favor of the third candidate Richard Nixon, showing there are enough robots to outvote the three percent of humans that voted for either candidate) though there are probably far more robots than this minimum figure.
Prominent Robots
see List of recurring robot characters from Futurama
References
- "Mother's Day." Futurama. Fox Network. 2000-05-14. No. 14, season 2.
- "When Aliens Attack." Futurama. Fox Network. 1999-11-07. No. 12, season 1.
- "I, Roommate." Futurama. Fox Network. 1999-04-06. No. 4, season 2.
- "Space Pilot 3000." Futurama. Fox Network. 1999-03-28. No. 01, season 1
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