Movies - TV
How Futurama Tried To Save Science's Pop Culture Reputation
By DANIELLE RYAN
The media often villainizes science as people tend to fear what they don’t understand, but the animated sitcom “Futurama” has tried to champion science and enlighten viewers whenever possible. The show seems to have found the perfect combination of comedy and science thanks to showrunner David X. Cohen and his writing team, who want viewers to know that science is actually good.
“Futurama” features wacky humor and silly stereotypical characters melded with scientific accuracy and nuanced math and science jokes. “Despite the stereotypes and all, we generally did make an attempt to portray science and math in a positive way where you could tell, I think, that the writers actually had a passion for the things we were writing about,” said Cohen.
The show’s writers know that science isn’t always morally clear-cut, especially early on in the exploration of an innovation’s potential, such as genetic engineering. To combat other entertainment detailing the possible negatives of new sciences, “Futurama” also points out the potential positives, like curing disease, and encourages viewers not to fear science and to explore new ideas.