"PICKLE RICK" 🥒🐀💉
Rick and Morty is a frankly bizarre show that began from a short animated film about Doc and Marty from Back to the Future engaging in oral sex. If that doesn’t give some idea of what you’re in for by continuing reading, I take no responsibility for your innocence.
I will, unfortunately, admit that the show is good, and I do genuinely enjoy it, but its main controversy (aside from the graphic sex and violence that can be present in a lot of adult animation) is the fandom that supports it. As with most cases, the fans that go viral and have the loudest voices are a small part of the fan base. I hope. I believe. I try not to have a whole lot of faith in humanity when talking about Rick and Morty. If you have come across Rick and Morty in your general internet usage, I can almost guarantee that what you have come across is “PICKLE RICK!!” The loudest part of the fandom, which may also be the misogynistic, not so fun, people to be around probably fall into the same category of fans from some other films and tv shows such as Breaking Bad and Fight Club.
While the show does a great job at examining nihilism in modern society, the loudest part of the fandom can tend to miss the message; as put by ‘thescotchinthenorth’ “People rightly like all these works because they are good, but the original post implies that if a guy says they are his favourite work, he is probably misunderstanding the point of the work and instead idolising the male protagonist and is unable to recognise their flaws.”
Some people will see a character that nobody likes, that everyone leaves, that people get mad at and empathise with them. And that’s not inherently bad, everyone has these experiences, everyone has characters they relate to, but in these characters, they see reasons that can explain away other people’s feelings so they are still in the right. In the case of Rick Sanchez, he is a genius, the smartest man in every universe. So people don’t like him, and according to Rick, this is not because he is unlikeable, but because they cannot comprehend his genius. So when the few people that relate and have their own problems, are called insensitive, arrogant, or whatever other quality, it’s not that they are these things – it’s that those people just don’t comprehend their genius. If Rick Sanchez is unlikeable and a genius and this viewer is unlikeable, then they must also be a genius… At the end of the day, the very often used quote from the social network can very easily be applied. –“You're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.”
Rick and Morty is an absurdist comedy; so you can’t think about it too hard.
“Absurd or nonsense humour highlights the ridiculousness of life, pushing normally accepted realities to nonsense extremes, giving the audience a fresh perspective… Through the juxtaposition of incongruous entities, personalities, values or behaviours, absurd humour creates scenarios in which the characters have nonsensical manifestations, aims or perspectives.” - CheekyMonkeyComedy
A lot of comedies will have a comic relief character whose purpose is to relieve tension when things get dark and heavy. Elsa runs away and she makes a talking snowman, Cinderella is trapped in her own home, Jaq and Gus lighten the mood, when we listen to Captain Hook’s fears, Smee shaves a seagull’s ass. To avoid Disney likeness, instead of a character, adult animation tends to use nonsensical humour, like boobs and penises.
The absurd comedy balances the deeper thought and hard-hitting realities the show can provoke. In the episode Pickle Rick in Season 3 there are two storylines, one where Beth Smith, Rick’s daughter, tries to take the family to therapy, and the second storyline where Rick turns himself into a pickle, because why not? When the family is in therapy, Beth is forced to confront the idea that her father has manipulated her to get out of the session, by turning himself into a pickle. Beth’s relationship with her father has been a pressing issue for her and her family from the beginning of the show. She has both issues with abandonment and attention stemming from Rick abandoning her for his work. She puts a positive relationship with Rick above her marriage and her children. When Rick finally arrives at the therapy session as a pickle, dead rat hybrid he is pulled into the emotional issues that have been brought up. Rick’s genius is his excuse for his insolence. Stating that he has far too many other important things to do with his time than deal with other people’s emotions. And his view on therapy is not uncommon. It’s a lot of work, and expensive, and usually takes a really long time. But Pickle Rick has the most profound view on therapy I have ever seen.
“I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy – the same way I’m bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass. Because the thing about repairing, maintaining, and cleaning is; it’s not an adventure. There is no way to do it so wrong you might die. It’s just work, and the bottom line is, some people are okay going to work, and some people… Well, some people would rather die. Each of us gets to choose.”
We are seeing more and more adult animation take on hard-hitting themes simply because animation allows the creator’s to explore new and otherwise impossible areas. Bojack Horseman never would have been as popular without a depressed horse and a pink cat. Big Mouth would never exist if the show was live-action. Adult animation can be criticised for its ugly appearance, but that is part of the package. No one wants you to be attracted to Peter Griffin, Professor Farnsworth, or Rick Sanchez. Not every episode of these animated shows have a hard-hitting message, and a lot can be just reckless and dumb, but I love reckless and dumb. We’re a year into a global pandemic, we have rapists in the Australian Parliament, and the planet is still dying.
I am tired and I want to watch some dumb cartoons.
