Bender's name

[on:]

I know Bender was manufactured as a bending unit, addressed in the show and the commentaries. But personally I have always placed a double, clever meaning to his name.  When a person goes out drinking, parting, gambling, or degenerate behaviors they call it "going on a bender".  Was this ever a real intention of his name or is he simply a robot that bends things?

[Reply #1 on:]

He's named after the guy Bender from The Breakfast Club. As far as I know, they never intended it to be a double meaning about someone going on a drinking/smoking/ something crazy Bender.

[Reply #2 on:]

I can pretty safely say that while they may not have named him particularly after that phrase, that they atleast were aware of it and thought that it added to the character nicely.  Hell, it may have even inspired Bender's behavior.

[Reply #3 on:]

Bender's behavior always came down to the idea "we can get away with almost anything because he's a robot." His character would've been pretty much the same regardless of what he was called. No doubt they made the connection between his name and the way he behaves shortly after (I'm positive they made at least one joke about it in the course of the show's run), but as far as the origin goes, Box Incorporated's right on the money; The character was named after John Bender from The Breakfast Club.

[Reply #4 on:]

That's kind of why I brought up the question.  Early on when the show referred to him as a "bending unit", the first thing that clicked to me was he was a unit that went on benders.  It was more of a joke to make a robot specifically to make bends.  I've watched every episode and listened to every commentary and couldn't find any references or connections and just wondered if anyone else made that connection or if I was out in left field somewhere haha

I also didn't know the name came from the Breakfast Club, thank you for that tit bit of knowledge!

[Reply #5 on:]

There are some sly hints throughout the show that suggest Bender might be homosexual/bisexual, and "bender" is a British slang term used to describe a gay person, so maybe there's a third meaning to his name.

[Reply #6 on:]

There are some sly hints throughout the show that suggest Bender might be homosexual/bisexual,

I think that "anything-he-can-sexual" is more like it.

The term gender-bender was also explicitly referenced in Raging Bender, so the writers were at least aware of this connection back in Season 2.

But the name, c'mon, people. The name is and always has been a Breakfast Club reference, which has been confirmed by Groening, Cohen, and DiMaggio. Any extra meanings that are applied to this are either merely convenient coincidence (or serendipity if you prefer), or an opportunity to glimpse into the psyche of the person applying the label.

Bender's name was decided before he was a bending unit, before he was an alcoholic, and before he was a hedonistic vehicle for his own sexual appetites (although nowhere near as much as Hedonismbot is).

It's possible that he' a bending unit because of the name, although he went through several incarnations at the hands of the creative team before the show began. In one early concept, he was a short-order cook at a greasy diner, and looked very different to the way that he does now (artwork of this phase of Bender's design is on one of the Fox Run DVD's as bonus material).

There's clever insight into a deeply-buried joke, and then there's over-analysing things in the face of the explicit word of the creator of them. This thread is, sadly, not the former.

[Reply #7 on:]

Wow, calm down buddy. I made my own connection and just wondered if anyone else saw it or if there was any real connection. The repercussions apparently of sharing an honest curiosity and personal insight without the consideration of possibly ripping the fabric of space and time has been an unexpected relentless persecution and torment. I'm going to throw myself off a bridge now

[Reply #8 on:]

I'm going to throw myself off a bridge now

That's probably for the best. Make sure that it's a tall one, with either deep water or solid concrete beneath it, and do try to be sure that you don't jump onto either a pedestrian or vehicular thoroughfare. That would just be inconsiderate.

[Reply #9 on:]

And thus, another life is taken thanks to Tnuk's mighty brain and analysis. Damn you...damn you.

[Reply #10 on:]

It wouldn't surprise me if the decision was at least partly helped by the fact the name Bender can be span to have so many meanings. But, you know, it's your call if you consider it enough to top yourself.

[Reply #11 on:]

I missed so much being caught up on message boards with geeks hehe

[Reply #12 on:]

You're trapped here now. There's no escape!

[Reply #13 on:]

You're trapped here now. There's no escape!

Actually, there's a logout button in the top right corner of the page. There's really no need to keep people here against their will. Especially not if there's a bridge somewhere out in meatspace that they need to jump off of.

[Reply #14 on:]

Ha!  Its like being pestered by Hubert Farnsworth in real life, I love it!

[Reply #15 on:]

Except it's not real life, it's on an Internet message board safely behind your computer. You blithering nincompoop.

[Reply #16 on:]

You blithering nincompoop.

That's a bit rude. You unrelenting snotmuncher. 

[Reply #17 on:]

What the hell is wrong with you people? I came to this board because I love Futurama, was curious about Bender's name and to have a little fun.  Instead I find myself being attacked by this weird self-proclaimed smart person and his weasel side kick as if I misquoted a Star Trek episode at a Star Trek convention.  The sad part is, I'm being attacked by wordy lack witted stories with no points, on a message board that is on my pooter which is apparently not part of reality.  My circle of friends consist of writers, musicians, physicists, and doctors (all of which can appreciate Family Guy as well as Futurama) whom I don't have to explain to them when I'm being ironical and facetious when I say "I'm throwing myself off a bridge".

So feel free to respond with another wordy epilogue that goes no where or another lack luster witless response while I have sex with my wife this morning, go to work and converse with people who actually have some what of a sense of humor.

Sorry beamer, this "fresh face" is going back to a message board that contains a less  amount of egocentric dbags

[Reply #18 on:]

Or you could take that that one guy likes to point out every detail that's "wrong" and argue about it to death and think if someone would really response to a facetious comment seriously.

So, see you tomorrow, if you survive the bridge and next morning.

[Reply #19 on:]

What the hell is wrong with you people?

Almost every single one of us was enough of an obsessive fan to sign up for an internet messageboard about a science fiction cartoon that's been cancelled multiple times, and then take time out of our day or week to come here and talk about it. That's about as much of what's wrong with us that we all have in common.

I have to confess that slightly disappointed that you've decided to have sex with your wife rather than throwing himself off a bridge. I mean, you've had sex with your wife plenty of times. How often do you experience throwing yourself off a bridge?

I guess that you're just closed-minded, and not open to new things.

Sorry beamer, this "fresh face" is going back to a message board that contains a less  amount of egocentric dbags

Good luck with that. No, seriously, good luck with finding one of those. PEEL's probably the friendliest place on the internet where you'll actually be able to get a worthwhile discussion out of people. Nearly everywhere that's more tolerant of general numbskullery is quickly overtaken with it, and nearly everywhere that's less tolerant of the sort of topics and tangents which are often explored here is so restrictive that it's actually hard to discuss anything with any intrinsic value.

I find myself being attacked by this weird self-proclaimed smart person and his weasel side kick as if I misquoted a Star Trek episode at a Star Trek convention.

Where did any of that happen? I feel like I must have missed something. Nobody has attacked you (feel free to point out exactly where you feel they have, if you disagree), and nobody here has a "weasel sidekick" as far as I know. Although, a weasel sidekick sounds like a pretty awesome thing to have. Or, a weasel army that does your bidding. Possibly with the aid of cybernetic implants.

Hm. I should look into the possibilities of weasel mind-control, or at the very least, taming weasels and teaching them to dance whilst wearing little top hats and tailcoats for my amusement.

I came to this board because I love Futurama, was curious about Bender's name and to have a little fun.

We have fun over in Off-Topic. This part of the board is about Futurama, and is therefore srs bsns. Supr srs bsns only plz.

As for your curiosity about Bender's name, googling would have taken you to wikipedia, which would have obviated your question. You could then have spent your time here asking a better question. Not to mention, one in the right sub-forum (really, this thread ought to have been placed in the Human Resource Department, and a quick search would have revealed that Bender's name was first brought up as a topic of discussion in 2004 and your question was answered there in 2006).

Please note, this is not some sort of attack. I'm just letting you know that you could have satisfied your curiosity without the need for interaction with any of us, sparing you from the subsequent embarrassment of failing to deliver on your promise of jumping off a bridge.

Speaking of which, if you do it, make sure that we get pictures!

[Reply #20 on:]

And if you have to write a note blaming PEEL for your demise, remember that the full spelling of PEEL is N-E-C-K-N-O-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N-S.

[Reply #21 on:]

Another asshole poster who thinks sex is better than posting on message boards about animated TV shows. What a dick. Oh, by the way, if you do come back nugzi, just so you know, there are some actually cool people on this site that won't reply to you exclusively in insult form. Not everyone, but a couple. Just try to ignore the sarcasm and Tnuk's...charm, and you'll get along great here.

[Reply #22 on:]

I made the association between Bender's over-the-top addictive personality and his name after I'd been watching the show for a while. Probably took me as much as 15 minutes into the first episode to figure it out.

And yeah, you're among a bunch of sarcastic jerks here. Try to look past our sarcastic jerkiness and see our loveable sarcastic jerk parts.

[Reply #23 on:]

Well..didn't know about the term "Going on a Bender"* until I read this thread, so it was good for something.


* Yep, I've kept on and still keep on wondering why a few folks on Peel suffer from the illusion I could speak a halfway decent English