The Wongs: Money Before Everything?

Welcome back, Fanaticals! Today we are going to take a dive into the elusive Wong Family; from their riches to their family ethics, we will be covering theories into why Amy acts the way she does, and why her parents act towards the alien she loves.

Some people consider Amy Wong as a forgettable character, others consider her a rich and snobby, silver-spoon baby; however, I find Amy to be a bit of an enigma. She's very complicated, and a lot of it stems down to her parents and their odd sense of importance. Let's take a look into the Wong family.

Her Parents are Obsessed with Social Status

While some people will say "this is obvious", it's also a bit confusing on how they handle it. Her mother is almost always heard to be saying that she just wants grandchildren. It's obvious that her parents do not care who she has children with, as long as they are rich.

Proof of this is during the first "Titanic"-type episode they show, when they are in space. Her parents introduce her to Kif because "he's a Captain" (never mind at the moment that it's only acting Captain), but yet when she formally introduces him to them over a year later when they really begin dating, they do not approve of him whatsoever.

Fastforward to when Kif falls pregnant by Leela, they suddenly don't care anymore because Kif and Amy are Smismars and are giving them grandchildren. Yet, after he has the babies, they once again go back to pushing Amy to have children, and even disapprove of her and Bender's relationship that takes place after an argument with Kif.

Even in the newest season, when the kids suddenly come back to land, all of the sudden they are okay with Kif again. They seem to be obsessed with having an Heir for the Wong fortune, but yet are also obsessed with making sure Amy is with someone who comes from a family with money.

Amy has Mixed Feelings About Her Social Status

This brings up an interesting thought when you think about how Amy is when it comes to her parents being rich; it is a combination of shame, pride, resentment, and (to an extent) ignorance.

In one of the first episodes, Leela asks Amy if she is a part of the "Mars Wongs" showing that her family is quite well known for being rich; it is with embarrassment that she admits the name of her Sorority was "Kappa, Kappa, Wong". However, her pride of being rich comes during a Valentine's episode when she walks in and buys a car, literally telling the salesman that her father is buying and he's rich so there's really no limit. Yet in the very same episode, she vents to Fry about the fact that she doesn't fit her parents' image and that is one reason she is always in a track suit which shows her resentment towards her parents.

The worst part, in my opinion, is the fact of ignorance of the real world due to their social standing and wealth. During an episode on Mars when the Robot Mafia takes over, she tells her parents they can come live with her but when her mother asks her about who she thinks has been paying her rent, Amy's only reply is, "What's rent?" The other fact that when she went to buy the car in the above-mentioned Valentine's episode, she states that she will pay higher than the price tag, and when Leela corrects her that she is supposed to go lower she even admits to believing that it was an auction. Her moments of obliviousness about these practical matters causes an issue with her independence and knowledge of basic life skills; in a way, her parents over sheltered her while trying to get her to conform to their image and did her a huge disservice for when she ventured out as an adult.

It is this disservice that causes the random bubbles of resentment to pop up in how she acts towards her parents. All of this leads to a massive issue as it becomes apparent her many mixed feelings of being rich.

Amy has Multiple Sorority Affiliations

For anyone who knows Greek Life in college, it is not possible to be a part of more than one Sorority or Fraternity. Yet, as I stated earlier, when Leela meets Amy, it comes out that she was President of "Kappa, Kappa, Wong", which in this case could label her a Founder's Legacy. However, later there is also a later episode where her father is discussing with the Dean purchasing ANOTHER Sorority. This means that she is not legacy at all, and that her family basically bought the sorority that she was President of; although that is more theory than fact, as we do not find out the history of KKW.

The biggest discrepancy in this matter, comes during the episode when they are "escaping" from Earth, and the ID Machine claims that it was in the same Sorority as her; as she walks away, they both say, "Sigma, Beta, see ya later!" This means that unless Greek Life rules changed that much over 1000 years, ONE of those could not be a NPC Sorority. This would beg the question if the Sigma Beta Sorority is the one her father was talking about buying with the Dean of Mars U.

It was theorized in my household that she was in multiple due to how long she was in college, as if you notice the Professor tells her that she was ready for her Doctoral Exam "16 years ago". Unfortunately, said person in my household that thought up that theory does not know the Greek Life ruling of one House per lifetime under the NPC. So, the real question is, did the creators forget the original Sorority, or was it intentional to (once again) show her family's wealth?

The random discrepancies that are found throughout our favourite shows can lead to both confusion, and random fan theories; but can also be a bit of an annoyance sometimes. What are your thoughts about these theories/discrepancies? Did Amy's parents do her a disservice, or did they prep her like an Heiress of the Regency Era? Come join our community and share your thoughts with us! Join me tomorrow as we dive into some of the more Legal Theories behind several episodes. Until then, keep on theorizing!