I think it says a lot about me when I believe that the perfect protagonist for this day and age actually lives one thousand years in the future. As far as I am concerned, no fiction character comes close to nailing the further nuances of the human condition in the 21st century as Philip J. Fry.
Now, I'm sure that when all is said and done, the history books will revere the Simpsons far higher than Futurama, and in a way I can't fault them. When one looks at the influence on popular culture that has reverberated from the Simpsons, it is impossible to understate how important it has been in the fields of humour, reference and more broadly, what can constitute an animated TV show. However, I have never be able to say that I have been emotionally moved watching the Simpsons. No, that's the job of Futurama.
Futurama was first broadcast in 1999 and after 13 years, 98 episodes and four straight-to-DVD films, it still, for my money, is the most consistent, hilarious, intelligent and emotionally engrossing show on television. Now, there are episodes that are contain some of the finest examples of contemporary humour (Roswell That Ends Well, Fry and the Slurm Factory, Mars University etc etc), but I'm going to focus on what I consider to be the upper echelon of episodes that not only leave one chuckling, but also profoundly affected (see: the Luck of the Fryrish, Jurassic Bark, Parasites Lost, the Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings, the Late Philip J. Fry and to a lesser extent, the Cryonic Woman and Time Keeps On Slipping).
To me, all the truly great episodes concern not only the miserable themes of alienation, inadequacy, loss and unrequited romance, but also the potential for one to be a better person, regardless of whether one is celebrated for it. The beauty of Philip J. Fry is that, despite his horrendous intellectual deficiencies, he still operates as the everyman due to his displacement from his natural time (our present era (well, give or take ten years)) to 1000 years into the future. Hence, his confusion is our confusion, especially in the earlier series. However, it is not a stretch, especially considering the current trend for contemporary satire in the show, to further compare his separation from the world around him to our position now. Look around you. Give or take a couple of hover cars, we're not a million miles away from the backdrop of New New York. Despite this aiding in the show's satire, the two are very different for Fry. This is what gives him a underlying sense of tragedy. The show's liberal use of time travel aside, Fry can't never return to his previous life.
Fry's stupidity may harken back to the Simpsons clan, but he also has a strong moral side that, unlike that yellow family, never seems forced. Consider the conclusion to Parasites Lost. He wants to woo Leela, yet he knows that the romance will only satisfy him if she is truly in love with him for all his flaws. The worms are cast out and Leela rejects him. Although I can imagine an ending like this shoehorned onto Bart Simpson, it really doesn't suit. In fact, the only instance of Fry truly succeeding in wooing Leela occurs in Time Keeps On Slipping, but unfortunately this is lost due to time skipping forward. Now that's a tough break.
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Other musings
I watch too much Futurama.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final is hosted in LA tonight. I think I'm going to stay up and watch it whilst writing a couple of reviews for New Empress. Hip hip.
I've spent the Jubilee (urgh) weekend watching an awful lot of films (Prometheus, Othello, Ran, Duck Soup, Quatermass and the Pit).
Time to eat pizza and watch the Trouble With Harry.
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