Thoughts on 6ACV12 - The Mutants Are Revolting - SPOILERS

[#80 :]

Um, what?

1.  Most people have heard of both Brown University and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

2.  Just because someone mentions that The Simpsons has made fun of Brown University in the past doesn't mean that that's the only reason he or she recognizes it.

3.  Just because someone didn't think that "Brown University" was named after the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case doesn't mean that he or she has never heard of the case.

4.  Although I can't say for sure, I really think that if the writers had thought that naming a mutant sewage-treatment vocational school "Brown University" would be perceived as a reference to either the Supreme Court case or a skin tone, they would have scrapped the name immediately.

5.  Lambasting other people for allegedly being ignorant while misspelling "college" is pretty rich.

Whoa calm down speedracer! I never said that you never heard of Brown vs. Board of Education the key words here are "that never heard of Brown University". I was implying that you and HipNoJoe have either heard both or only have heard of Brown University. (I had got the impression that you heard of both and HipNoJoe only heard of one and at the very least not know the name of the case.) Plus both of you were insisting it was not a racial related joke so of course I'm going to get the impression that at least one of you might not know.

Secondly most people who don't live in Rhode Island or in the nearby area have heard of Brown University. #16 isn't all that high of a rating of top colleges.

Thirdly part of the reason for my explanation was to point out the irony of the joke which I was not offended by in any way but was rather amused.

Fourthly if at least some of the writers went to Harvard then they should have been intelligent enough realize that some people might interpret the joke as being a reference to the court case and that some people might get offended by it enough to decide if it's better if the idea was scraped. It's highly preposterous that they wouldn't given that they probably spent weeks writing that script.

Fifthly unless you know the writers personally don't go around insisting that they are very sensitive people and would never ever do something intentionally that would offend people... No wait they would! Because many of the season 6 episodes spoofed some of today's controversial issues so I guess it wouldn't be above them to spoof issues that were controversial in the past.

Lastly hey I'm only human and a lot people posting something on a message board of a fandom don't do that much scrutinizing of what they wrote. (Which you obviously do due to the huge stick up your butt.) Plus when I type fast I don't spend that much time pondering if I spelled a word right while I'm typing it, spelling errors and typos are bound to happen.

[#81 :]

Did someone already beat me to this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTR06YItGVo

I think the animators got their inspiration for Fry's, Leela's, and Hermes' 90 degree angle dancing from the singer's index finger.

[#82 :]

i do have to say that it was nice to see fanny again, as itwgy was such an awesomely epic movie.

[#83 :]

...Fifthly....Lastly...

The most interesting thing about that was Naw, seriously, it is not that big of a deal, though I am sticking to my widely believed fact that the Brown reference had nothing to do with race.   No one would touch a third rail like that for a poop joke.

I do have to admit that the Metropolis reference went right over my head.  I guess I have to sit through it now.  I've long been interested in seeing that film but never made the commitment to go through with it.  You can take me to task for the miss or my ignorance on that one if you'd like.

[#84 :]

5.  Lambasting other people for allegedly being ignorant while misspelling "college" is pretty rich.

Internet Rule #23: If you're going to complain about another poster's spelling, you should spell-check your own post.

I think it's a 50/50 chance that Fry's preexisting genetic fucked-up-ness is what prevented him from being mutated; it's also possible that, like cyber_turnip said, it was just the writers writing themselves out of a corner.

But remember that Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender aren't in their original universe (TLPJF); killing Elenear Roosevelt may have had an effect of making the lake non-toxic.

also, did my eyes decive me, or did i see a can of 'angry norwegian anchovies' outside of the land titanic?

Maybe that's what I saw ...

A question for those of you who watched this in a better format than TV ... When Fry is heading down to the toxic lake, he passes by a box which has some writing on it; what did it say?

[#85 :]

Whilst I sort of agree with you, I didn't mind her changing her mind seeing as she just seemed to go with what her husband wanted. And Mayor Poopenmeyer just seemed to be going with whatever she told him to do throughout, so I didn't mind him legalising it either.

To be honest, I didn't have a problem with any of it. I just have a problem because I don't think we'll see any mutant-prejudice in the future. Although I may be wrong. They could probably get an episode out of the mutants being discriminated against now they're on the surface.

And I agree with you as well.  I didn't mind her changing her mind and I realize the mayor acts like a drone a lot.  My problem was all it took was the story of one mutant to change her mind; just like that.  She went from "hating" them to wanting equality for them in that split second.  I would have preferred her to battle with the issue for awhile, finally coming around when she found her husband was still alive....something like that.  People don't just change life perceptions in a split second (at least in the real world)...it takes a bit.

And I agree with your second statement.  Just because she and the mayor are in favor of mutant's rights, does not mean everyone else is and the writers could always bring this up later at some point if they wanted.

[#86 :]

She didn't hate them. She used the good old "not in my neighbourhood" argument.

[#87 :]

Indeed.  And the story did involve her husband.  Which, uhm, is sort of significant for her.

[#88 :]

I would believe her husband sort of controlled her until his "passing", after which she became more selfdependant. Now he's back, and she's back to her old self. Sounds sane to me, at least.

[#89 :]

Yeah.  I think she honestly was missing her husband.  And regardless of act, he would be willing to sway her mind.  I'll agree, that it did seem out of the blue.  And they didn't do more about the passenger lists to make it more 'mysterious'.  But that's what you get for a plot slightly longer than the minutes given to it.

[#90 :]

The most interesting thing about that was Naw, seriously, it is not that big of a deal, though I am sticking to my widely believed fact that the Brown reference had nothing to do with race.   No one would touch a third rail like that for a poop joke.

Family Guy and South Park might.  The Simpsons definitely wouldn't (Simpsons producers have gone on the record about this sort of thing before), and Futurama writers are cut from pretty much the same cloth as Simpsons writers for obvious reasons.

[#91 :]

Family Guy and South Park might.  The Simpsons definitely wouldn't (Simpsons producers have gone on the record about this sort of thing before), and Futurama writers are cut from pretty much the same cloth as Simpsons writers for obvious reasons.

Have you seen the date on that article? It was written 19 years ago when people were more sensitive about that sort of thing. Since then Matt Groening might have eased up a bit. Plus just because Matt Groening doesn't approve of certain jokes doesn't mean they will never appear on his shows. He once stated that he wasn't going to do any Bill Clinton sex scandal jokes on the Simpsons yet one of his writers made a joke about it anyway. If I am not mistaken at least one of the current Futurama writers has written scripts for Family Guy. Also Futurama is on cable and on the same channel that airs South Park no less. They can get away with more crap now.

I have to ask you what is so offensive about naming a college that is an obvious spoof of the negro collages (which even to this day are partly funded by donations just like the one in this episode) to be named after a court case that allowed blacks in the south to have the choice go to other colleges besides the negro colleges as an obscure reference in a joke with more than 1 meaning? This is a very mild race related joke that has nothing to do with racial stereotyping and more to do with political irony in general if you ask me.

[#92 :]

Have you seen the date on that article? It was written 19 years ago when people were more sensitive about that sort of thing. Since then Matt Groening might have eased up a bit. Plus just because Matt Groening doesn't approve of certain jokes doesn't mean they will never appear on his shows. He once stated that he wasn't going to do any Bill Clinton sex scandal jokes on the Simpsons yet one of his writers made a joke about it anyway. If I am not mistaken at least one of the current Futurama writers has written scripts for Family Guy. Also Futurama is on cable and on the same channel that airs South Park no less. They can get away with more crap now.

I have to ask you what is so offensive about naming a college that is an obvious spoof of the negro collages (which even to this day are partly funded by donations just the one in this episode) to be named after a a court case that allowed blacks in the south to have the choice go to other colleges besides the negro colleges as an obscure reference in a joke with more than 1 meaning? This is a very mild race related joke that has nothing to do with racial stereotyping and more to do with political irony in general if you ask me.

If the writers' intent was in fact as you say, I'd find it distasteful that the name of the Supreme Court case and/or historically black colleges had been combined with a piece of toilet humor, though I wouldn't say I found it "offensive".  However, many comedy writers, for better or worse, still treat black Americans and black American society as a protected category and step very, very carefully around that area.  It's possible that your interpretation is correct, but I remain highly skeptical.

[#93 :]

Speedracer, Brown University is not a historically black college. It's an Ivy League college in Rhode Island that's been around since the 18th century.

I think it's simply a scatological double-entendre playing on the name of a notable university. Plain and simple.

[#94 :]

Speedracer, Brown University is not a historically black college. It's an Ivy League college in Rhode Island that's been around since the 18th century.

I am well aware of this.  Read the last couple pages of the thread.

I think it's simply a scatological double-entendre playing on the name of a notable university. Plain and simple.

This is exactly what I have been arguing.  Ratraccoon has been arguing otherwise.

[#95 :]

Good, I'm glad we agree. DXC went to Harvard, so it's obviously just a jab at another New England university.

[#96 :]

Jesus, guys, why can't you be as ignorant to all the collegiate humor as I was and just think of the Brown University thing as a dookie joke?

Anyway:

Why does everyone seem to want a ret-con on the mutant revolt? I like it, keep it as canon. What's wrong with the mutants being at the surface from now on? Is everyone mutantist?

I don't want it to be ret-conned, I just kind of expect it to be. I tend to give the writers little credit when it comes to maintaining continuity. Keeping the mutants on the surface would be the right choice from a continuity perspective--I'm just saying that the only mutants I would particularly care about seeing are Morris and Munda. The rest of the characters would probably, like others have said, remain in background shots of New New York.

[#97 :]

it's very basic. it is a crack on brown university. speedracer is just plain wrong. get over it.

[#98 :]

'Brown' University.  Cuz like, sewage is brown?  End of joke.

[#99 :]

it's very basic. it is a crack on brown university. speedracer is just plain wrong. get over it.

If by that you mean that speedracer is in all likelihood correct, then yes.

I think it's simply a scatological double-entendre playing on the name of a notable university. Plain and simple.

This is exactly what I have been arguing.  Ratraccoon has been arguing otherwise.

[#100 :]

You guys really need to look at where our arguments started at page 2. We were arguing about the Brown University thing being either a triple or only a double entendre. I was arguing that it was a triple entendre with the third one being an ironic joke about naming it after the Brown vs. Board of Education since it was the only college that the mutants were allowed go to. At this point we both agree it's a rip on the real life Brown University and a poop joke.(Though I originally didn't think it was a dumb joke about that college because I hadn't heard of it when this argument began.) Considering that much of this episode is an allusion to the civil rights movement I wouldn't be surprised if the writers gave it that name partially for that reason.
speedracer is arguing against it because he/she thinks it's in bad taste.

[#101 :]

I understand what you're saying, but as has been said, that third aspect (the civil rights one) of the name was probably unintentional. It's great that you are making these connections about the joke and the plight of the mutants in general; I just find it unlikely, as speedracer and others seem to as well, that that was the intention. No, you are correct in that we can't speak for the writers, but I never got the impression that the mutants were meant to always represent, or represent in this episode, one specific group from history. They were (until now, I suppose) a Futurama version of a lower class, and maybe that's all they needed to be for story purposes (much like the show's robots, which have been sporadically been treated as members of some sort of caste but most of the time are just robots, not especially different from other characters). Further connections are probably just coincidences.

[#102 :]

I don't want it to be ret-conned, I just kind of expect it to be. I tend to give the writers little credit when it comes to maintaining continuity. Keeping the mutants on the surface would be the right choice from a continuity perspective--I'm just saying that the only mutants I would particularly care about seeing are Morris and Munda. The rest of the characters would probably, like others have said, remain in background shots of New New York.

I fully agree. I do expect to see mutants in the background, maybe a mention of them being maltreated (some prejudice is to be expected). I would also like more Leela-parent stories, at least if they are inspired. I don't mind them as secondary characters getting into a plot now and then. Them facing problems integrating with society could be something, if it's pulled off well - otherwise, I wouldn't mind skipping it and having them do a Cubert.

[#103 :]

Mutant Fry creeps me out but it was a good episode. My fave scene is where Bender hols that cake it was amazing

[#104 :]

She didn't hate them. She used the good old "not in my neighbourhood" argument.

Yes, that is true.  I was just being lazy and didn't want to type it all out...hence my use of the word "hate" with quotes.  However, my overall point is still true, people don't change their minds on strong issues in a split second...they have to mull it over and it takes awhile.

[#105 :]

Yeah.  I think she honestly was missing her husband.  And regardless of act, he would be willing to sway her mind.  I'll agree, that it did seem out of the blue.  And they didn't do more about the passenger lists to make it more 'mysterious'.  But that's what you get for a plot slightly longer than the minutes given to it.

Again I agree....(seem to be doing a lot of that...lol) but she decided on equal rights for mutants before she found out her husband was still alive to verify the story and all.  It would have been more believable if she was mulling the issue over, hesitant to believe the story of a mutant (playing devil's advocate, they could have made it all up to play on her emotions and try to get what they wanted...though I know the writers would not get that complicated with the plot).  Again, I have no problem with her switching her opinion.  I just felt it was done in the cheesy "somebody gives a big speech, character instantly switches mind" mode which I do not like.

[#106 :]

She didn't hate them. She used the good old "not in my neighbourhood" argument.

But she lives on another planet ... Why would she care whether there are mutants on the Earth's surface?

[#107 :]

Pretty good episode, not a fave but I liked it. Bender holding the cake was ace, and it's always good seeing the mutants...

7/10

[#108 :]

I thought it was pretty good, if a bit contrived.

[#109 :]

She didn't hate them. She used the good old "not in my neighbourhood" argument.

But she lives on another planet ... Why would she care whether there are mutants on the Earth's surface?

She subsides on an planetoid (not a planet) not long from Earth, but she is an Earthican, and a New New Yorker for that matter. Imagine the futuristic version of someone living on the countryside.

[#110 :]

At the end of the episode during the pary. were fry and leela doing the bender from pharaoh to remember?

[#111 :]

did i see a can of 'angry norwegian anchovies' outside of the land titanic?

Yes.  Was it really that hard to notice?

[#112 :]

did i see a can of 'angry norwegian anchovies' outside of the land titanic?

Yes.  Was it really that hard to notice?

yes, yes it was, at that time. i watched the episode on my phone, and i didn't rewind it.

[#113 :]

...I didn't notice it.

[#114 :]

She didn't hate them. She used the good old "not in my neighbourhood" argument.

But she lives on another planet ... Why would she care whether there are mutants on the Earth's surface?

She subsides on an planetoid (not a planet) not long from Earth, but she is an Earthican, and a New New Yorker for that matter. Imagine the futuristic version of someone living on the countryside.

It's still not in her neighborhood.

did i see a can of 'angry norwegian anchovies' outside of the land titanic?

Yes.  Was it really that hard to notice?

yes, yes it was, at that time. i watched the episode on my phone, and i didn't rewind it.

Twenty years ago, you'd have been locked up in the loony bin for saying stuff like that ...

But why did you watch it on such a tiny screen? There's also this wonderful 20th century invention called ... um ... Lite-Brite!

[#115 :]

It's still not in her neighborhood.

Seeing as it takes ten seconds to travel to the moon from Earth, I'd say it is. Also, NNY is her original home. I would definitely care what happened to Linköping even if I moved to a neighbouring city, or for that matter the countryside.

[#116 :]

It was an OK episode, but it could have been any other episode than the one-hundreth episode.
And it didn't have as much funny as it should have.

[#117 :]

I liked it because the brought back the mutant issue and that banning issue that was presented in first seasons.. and made an aparently permanent change for that , i like those eps..

Tought not many jokes (somehow i laughted when i saw those two sport Yatchs racing arround in the Madison Cube , it was as random as absurd) and the later part was rushed, the actual "revolution" seemed too short and the final untangle quite cheap..

Still even yet i liked it.. i like eps when they take action and dont just do stupid things for the lols

[#118 :]

It's still not in her neighborhood.

Seeing as it takes ten seconds to travel to the moon from Earth, I'd say it is. Also, NNY is her original home. I would definitely care what happened to Linköping even if I moved to a neighbouring city, or for that matter the countryside.

This.  Amy commutes between Mars University and Earth semi-regularly,  Leo Wong is a contributor to Richard Nixon's presidential campaign, etc.

[#119 :]

I liked the episode.  It felt like a continuation of the original episodes.  This episode made me happy the series came back.  I'm glad that they are getting into the Futurama lore that was established in the original run.  The sewer mutants are a staple of Futurama and I'm glad that they integrated them into this season.  Also, this finally had something that I thought was gone forever, a delivery!  They are still a delivery company! Who would have known?  This was a great episode, probably the best so far this season.  This show is getting better, I am happy to be a fan.