Futurama created a flexible reality full of bizarre but endearing characters, populating the absurd future-scape of the 31st Century with genuine desires and ambitions. One of the most consistent and entertaining traits came with Bender, the bombastic Bending unit who often served at the center of the show's episodes. One of Bender's most consistent character traits in Futurama is his love of music and desire to be recognized for his own singing skills.
An early beat in the first episode of Futurama, "Space Pilot 3000," involved Bender being briefly electrocuted while trying to help his new friend Fry. This inadvertently unlocked Bender's ability to dream for himself and act outside of his programming, with a quick joke in the following episode, "The Series Has Landed," revealing one of these ambitions was to become a folk singer. This desire was even brought to the forefront whenever Bender was exposed to a magnet, which messed with his internal processor and caused him to sing on command. However, Bender's desire to become a singer actually ended up being a consistent character beat, with Bender frequently conceiving little songs about himself throughout the show and singing them along for his enjoyment.
Two episodes explored the results of him successfully gaining fame for his musical talents. In Season 3's "Bendin' in the Wind," Bender was briefly paralyzed by a magnetized can opener. Meeting famous musician Beck while in the hospital, Bender joined him on tour as a washboard player and became something of an inspiration for broken robots around the world. Although he eventually regained his ability to move, Bender used the opportunity to write a song that briefly caught the full attention of a music festival. Later, in Season 7's "Forty-Percent Leadbelly," Bender tried again to become a popular musician, this time as a blues singer named Ramblin' Rodriguez, in hopes of finally achieving his dream of being a respected and admired musician.
Although he initially failed due to the lack of personal tragedy and the growth he'd gone through, Bender got the chance to live out his own blues ballad thanks to the accidental use of a highly advanced 3D-Printer -- even surviving the tragic events of the song and going on to be a hit singer at his funeral. All of these occasions speak to a surprisingly lyrical side of Bender, a character more frequently committed to theft and debauchery than anything else. There's an appreciation for art at the center of Bender's character, another touch that makes him stand out from the more autonomous robots that otherwise fill the galaxy.
As with many of the chief arcs at the heart of the series, Bender's repeated efforts to be a singer and his choices to try and achieve that dream speak to the importance and power of choosing one's own destiny -- capping off with Bender deciding he didn't much care about becoming a famous singer so much as enjoying music and just being famous. Notably, the second-to-last episode of the entire series -- Season 7's "Stench and Stenchibility" -- saw Bender throw himself fully into a small-time New New York dancing contest, where he found an unlikely rival in a little girl with just as much musical talent as him. For Bender, it's a point of pride to be recognized for his talents and to embrace them more openly.
KEEP READING: Futurama's Weirdest Romance Is Also Its Saddest