Futurama’s Fry “Not sure of anything anymore” after meme-breakdown
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I’m pretty sure he’s not sure.
Does a man become a meme, or does the meme become the man? That’s what Futurama’s Philip J. Fry is now finding out.
The animated star has been hospitalized after he reportedly had a nervous breakdown in his New New York home earlier this month. We spoke with his wife, Turanga Leela, who was with him when it happened.
“We were sitting on the sofa browsing the web when we scrolled upon some “Not Sure” memes,” she recalled. “I noticed Fry was kind of quiet, so I looked over at him and he was just staring into his can of Slurm. There was sweat dripping down his face. I asked if he was OK, and suddenly he just flung the can on the floor, stood up and yelled ‘NOT SURE!’ and just lost it.”
Leela promptly called the police when Fry began running around frantically, flailing his arms and screaming out the various memes they had read.
Despite the many versions of the “Not sure” text, Fry doesn’t speak in the actual scene depicted above.
The “Not Sure” meme was created in 2011. It features a still from Futurama of Fry squinting suspiciously with overlaid text that expresses unsureness about a random topic. Examples include:
“NOT SURE IF REAL LIFE OR JUST FANTASY!”
“NOT SURE IF FART OR DIARRHEA!”
“NOT SURE IF DÉJÀ VU OR PSYCHIC!”
Fry was yelling similar phrases when the police arrived and apprehended him. He was immediately hospitalized and will remain so until further notice. According to Fry’s doctor, Dr. John A. Zoidberg, his condition has since stabilized, although he is showing signs of lethargy and depression. When asked questions, his only response was, “Not sure of anything anymore.”
What brought this beloved cartoon star to such a dismal state? While it is not sure what caused the episode, Zoidberg suspects that the overuse of the meme on the internet is to blame.
“It is possible that Mr. Fry became overwhelmed by the amount of exposure and mockery ‘Not Sure’ brought forth,” Zoidberg explained.
This would not be the first time a meme has affected Fry negatively. Back in 2010, an image of him from Futurama was circulated, which showed him holding a wad of cash and exclaiming, “Shut up and take my money!” Since then, the meme has seen continuous use as an expression of excitement toward making purchases. According to his best friend Bender Bending Rodriguez, the image turned Fry into a compulsive shopper.
“Seeing his face associated with all those purchases must’ve made him snap,” said Rodriguez. “Now, whenever he sees one, he throws his money around like a lunatic. Not that I care, though. He’ll buy me anything now! It’s great!”
Dr. Zoidberg has likened Fry’s issues to a bizarre case of looking-glass self – an instance of an individual seeing how society perceives them and adopting that same perception of themselves.
“He sees his face all over the media. He sees how the world depicts him and he finds himself needing to fulfill that role,” Zoidberg explained. “In this case, his impulse to embody the meme has caused him to have an existential crisis. He has lost his sense of meaning. He truly is ‘not sure’ of himself.”
Where does Philip Fry go from here? How will he cope in a world that shares and consumes images so rapidly? Fortunately, he has friends and family to support him through the journey.
“One thing’s for sure, he’s not going to be allowed on the internet for a while,” Leela declared. “He’s going to have to learn to see himself through his own two eyes, and that means no more browsing for us. It’ll be hard, but we’ll get through it together.”
Brandi-Anne Hibbs
Brandi-Anne Hibbs has been quietly stalking and observing memes for over a decade, but still doesn’t quite understand their nature. Nevertheless, she’s dedicated to making sense of them through writing!
