Talking Futurama - Proposition Infinity
Added 2024-09-09 04:00:03 +0000 UTCIf our TalKing of the Hill discussion about capital punishment had your sides splitting, get ready to hear us talk about a marginally less depressing subject: the battle to legalize same-sex marriage! And this subject ties into the time capsule of a Futurama we're covering this month, where Amy's love for bad boys causes her to fall for Bender—and the two realize society doesn't accept their robosexual pairing. Will New New York legalize Amy and Bender's short-term love? Find out on this week's podcast, which promises to make 14 years ago feel like 140 years ago!
Comments
The "we're fighting for lots of stuff" line from Hermes always gets me in this episode. XP The tangent on Orson Card meanwhile is one that always depresses me as a sci-fi enthusiast. I loved Ender's Game back in the day, not yet knowing anything about the author. So I read it again recently to see if it was bad actually (as many folks seem to say now), fully ready to accept it if so. But it's still really solid sci-fi IMO, and more significantly feels (to me, at least) like such an earnest and heartfelt plea for readers to empathize with those who are suffering unjustly, and to very specifically not judge anyone for being different. And a heartbreaking cry over injustices enacted in wrathful ignorance, on top of all that. So I don't know if the author underwent some horrible change of heart after writing the book, or what. It's very disheartening.
N Rose
2024-10-19 20:47:49 +0000 UTCMy position on marriage equality is that LGBTQ people should have the right to make the same mistakes as everyone else.
Sean Ryan
2024-09-12 17:13:51 +0000 UTCIf I may, I want to give a brief shoutout to my home-state, Vermont. One thing you guys missed when going over the history of same-sex marriage/marriage equality was the brief window in the Aughts when Vermont made Civil Unions legal. In 1999, the VT Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples violated the state constitution. The legislature created the concept of civil unions, knowing that at the time, it might be hard to sell the whole concept of "gay marriage" to everyone. The governor at the time (Howard Dean,) signed the bill, and same-sex couples in VT were able to get civil unions by July of 2000. Vermont was also the first state to legislate full same-sex marriage into law in 2009. All previous states that had same-sex marriage did so either via a state supreme court ruling, or a ballot measure (which are not permitted under the VT constitution.)
Andrew Bouvier
2024-09-11 19:59:02 +0000 UTCI bet I made a similar comment under the WAC for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but I was impacted by that "bomb scare" in Boston. I was newly hired out of college and on the subway to work when everything came to a halt. We were stuck there for a long time, definitely over an hour, and I was so stressed out because I had no way to get in contact with work and as a newbie I feared for my reputation. Which was crazy because it was all over the news and I definitely wasn't going to be the only late to work that day. In defense of the response, the LED Mooninite was on a circuit board and quite crude looking. The ones that attracted attention were affixed to the supports of a highway overpass where foot traffic was minimal and subway trains go by quite fast so it was certainly odd. The response was still over-the-top, especially when talk of jailing or suing the guys who placed the pieces was talked up, but at least it was a memorable commute when so many are forgotten. I didn't have fond memories of this episode, but it's fine. I was amused by much of it. I think maybe when it aired there was a feeling that Futurama was a little late to the party on gay marriage? Even though Prop 8 was pretty recent and we still didn't have marriage equality across the nation. It's one of my favorite episodes of the season, now let's all cuddle, cuddle with our demons.
Joe Hodgson
2024-09-10 14:38:30 +0000 UTCAlways I found this episode quite weird and disjointed, or maybe it's the R34 animation of this episode that's all over twitter "and yes someone talented actually did it". Makes of this episode a bit more perverted to point of uncomfort, and the only part that saves this episode is the ghost booing in the crowd.
Fei wong fong
2024-09-10 04:00:05 +0000 UTC(“Freedom of Speech” by Rockwell meme) Democrats strategically adopting popular opinions to win elections and nominate progressive judges that help disenfranchised and disadvantaged people secure their rights under the Constitution is good actually.
John Halski
2024-09-09 20:27:59 +0000 UTCI did a rewatch of all of Futurama last year and was kinda dreading getting to this episode as a) was unsure how this would have aged and b) I remember it having a reputation as one of the Bad new episodes when it came out But similar to you I quite enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised that it hasn't aged too badly. Also as you go into it acts as quite an interesting time capsule of that moment in queer activism. Also the pre-op transformer joke did get a chuckle out of me on rewatch. Speaking as a trans person it just felt like light-hearted Futurama style wordplay rather than something intended as mean-spirited and mocking (as so many trans references were back then). Also Fry's not disparaging he's just like hey that's cool, which to me takes the potential edge off of it. But could equally understand someone finding it an uncomfortable/disparaging joke even if I personally found it funny.
Alex
2024-09-09 19:40:50 +0000 UTCMy parents were elementary school teachers and they hated hearing the arguments that they'd teach gay marriage in school. I remember my dad saying "We don't teach marriage at all, what the hell are you talking about?" But fundamentalists love making up arguments about what public schools do to drum up fear and further their own aims with destroying public education as well. So it was a disgusting two pronged attack. It sucks that public school is used to try to launder all these hateful ideas because parents are morons and don't bother actually looking into anything, so horrible shit gets passed. And as you mentioned, it was just all transferred to hate of trans people after marriage equality was realized and it had zero impact on straight couples, which, obviously.
Jonathon
2024-09-09 19:26:34 +0000 UTCThe thing about Nick Swardson that you guys are talking around is an open secret in the Twin Cities and entertainment scenes. I really hope he does get it together, he is very funny and a talented performer.
burro
2024-09-09 16:41:50 +0000 UTC
