A Conversation

Thursday, September 16, 2010 1:38 PM By Simon

That went on in my English class. Transcribed to the best of my ability.

(talking about the excellent Ray Bradbury story 'There Will Come Soft Rains', which led to the dangers of technology)

Teacher: Has anyone seen Fern Gully?

Nobody: *has*

Teacher: *describes, in case we saw it when we were too young to bother with the title*

Nobody: *persists*

Teacher: It's like Avatar.

Kid: I love Avatar!

Other Kid: Avatar sucks!

*incomprehensible jargon*

Teacher: It's basically Avatar, but animated. Now, 'There Will Come Soft Rains' has been adapted to a Disney movie, I think it's popular.

Some Kid: Shaggy Dog?

Teacher: What? No, Smart House.

Class: *oh!*

Teacher: Of course, they put it into modern day, but the house is still a main character. Except now she's a mom.

Class: *what?*

Teacher: And the house is played by a TV actress.

Me: *knows*

Everyone else: *doesn't*

Me: *smug*

Teacher: She's on Sons of Anercki (how she pronounces it)?

Class: *?*

Teacher: Has anyone heard of Futurama? She's the voice of Futurama?

Kid: Who on Futurama?

Me: Leela.

Kid: Oh! I love Futurama!

Everyone else: *confused*

Teacher: She was the mom? Who got attacked by this other gang? But didn't tell her husband? On the season finale?

Me: *sigh*

Teacher: Right. Anyway *talks of similar themes, why we are doomed if we let technology do all the work for us, etc*

Scene.

Thought I'd share.

4 comments:

Robert said...

Lol. Don't you love being the only person in class who knows anything about movies! And Smart House was one of my FAVORITES back in the day...

September 16, 2010 at 3:02 PM
SugaryCynic said...

I remember Smart House! And There Will Come Soft Rains is one of my absolute favorite Ray Bradbury stories!

September 16, 2010 at 5:48 PM
Luke said...

I fully relate. I believe my favorite quote was "She's the voice of Futurama." Personification at its best... :)

September 16, 2010 at 6:52 PM
"Yojimbo_5" said...

I weep.

And, sadly, the teacher is lowering the bar, rather than trying to raise it. All to avoid the sound of crickets...which will be there, anyway.

When I was in college, I had an elaborate plan for a film of "The Martian Chronicles," and the "There Will Come Soft Rains" segment had the house blithely engineering its own destruction to "The Waltz of the Flowers" from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." I still think it's a wonderfully dark idea, and would love it if someone took it and ran with it.

September 19, 2010 at 11:46 AM