Why We Love Futurama Making Us Look Stupid

The new installment of Futurama tackles the popular obsession with NFTs. While proclaiming that NFTs aren’t really digital art, the cast then gets sucked into a scheme to produce some Bender NFTs in order to cash in on his likeness. Meanwhile, Bender mass-produces digital images of himself, while calling buyers suckers, dragging both the buyers as well as the producers of NFTs in the process.

But the Futurama writers aren’t just making fun of us when they write their jokes; they’re making fun of themselves as well, referencing their own history as fodder for jokes as well as AI, binge-watching, and their parent company, Hulu. This might be why we feel so good being made to look stupid by an animated science fiction show, because we’re just glad to be included.