Futurama: Cultures: Mutants

Mutants.  What exactly is a mutant?  Where do they come from?  How did they evolve?  Well, in the world of New New York, they live in the sewers and they pretty much match the stereotypical mutant profile:  Genetic freaks with misplaced, mismatched or missing altogether appendages.  My personal theory is they were mutated during the many destructions of Earth throughout the ages.

They aren’t allowed o­n the surface, but they don’t seem to take it personally.  Their entire civilization is built upon the flushed discards of the surface world (How the hell did someone flush that nuclear warhead?) and they can be extremely gracious hosts (when not making a “snackrifice” of you for El Chupanibre).

They don’t show up a lot in the series, but they play a pivotal role:  Leela’s homeworld.  That’s right, Leela is a mutant!  Her parents passed her off as an alien to provide a better life for her.  We learn that they secretly watched out for her all of these years (creepy).

After that, they’re the o­nly mutants we see for the most part.  Leela has them visit the surface with a special day pass, but must stand them up to play super-hero.  She also gets to experience their parenting skills when she’s accidentally youthened (along with the rest of the staff) in a weird experiment o­n the Professer.  She and Fry date and try to fit in with the fifties era vibe of the mutant youth culture.

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Futurama reviews are © 2006 Chrystal Litchford.
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