During the past few months, I have become an avid fan of the adult cartoon series Rick and Morty. It’s sort of a sit com, a cartoon for adults like I said, like Family Guy, only it’s a lot more intelligent and gets quite deep and philosophical at certain points. I think a philosophical dissection of Rick and Morty can easily be done, going episode by episode, which is something I’d like to do. Hence, this thread.
To start, watch this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWFDHynfl1E[/youtube]
For the most part, the above video touches on some fascinating philosophical questions indeed–what I call insight philosophy–but for me, the really interesting parts of Rick and Morty are the one’s that strike at things personal within me, and which I assume are within everyone to one degree or another. ← I call this depth philosophy; the philosophy of what lies deep within the human soul.
Rick and Morty is good at drawing this out, especially if you watch while stoned. I want to put that out front right at the beginning: I watched each episode twice, first while stoned, then sober. Watching it stoned on pot, like experiencing almost anything stoned on pot, stirs up emotions and personal angst even more than being sober during therapy with a viciously penetrating psychoanalyst.
So while I intend to go through each episode (there are two seasons: 11 episodes and 10 episodes, respectively), touching on some of the personal angst they made me feel and the philosophical questions that brings forward, I want to lay out, in this introduction, some of the basic themes I got out of the series overall.
First, a bit of political philosophy: the series seems almost definitely written by conservatives. The theme of the ruthless, selfish capitalist is definitely embodied in Rick’s character. He’s a jerk, he’s an asshole, and he walks all over even his own family, but he’s smart enough and has the wherewithal to save the day at the end of every crisis, just like the capitalist, who is a ruthless soul, ends up improving life for everyone (producing goods and services that benefit us all, and also jobs and wealth to those who need to put food on the table). He’s the guy you love to hate and hate to love. As much of a jerk as you think he is, you can’t help but to see him as the good guy in the end. Even Morty can’t rid himself of this impression: he hates Rick’s manipulative and exploitative antics, and let’s him know this, but then thanks his lucky stars when Rick is around to save the day. Morty even goes so far as to sometimes idealize him and relish the thought of being Rick’s side kick, going on adventures and exploring strange new worlds with him.
Second, a bit of personal philosophy: the dichotomy of Rick and Jerry, a contrast of polar opposites, strikes me as two sides of myself. Rick is the person I wish I was, while Jerry is the person I’m afraid I am. And I think this is most likely true, to one degree or another, of everyone, particularly men. Just as Rick’s exploits to other planets and different dimensions have turned him, over the years, into the thick-skinned, cynical, unfeeling jerk we know him to be from the series, my drug exploits, at least the harsh ones, have taken a somewhat similar toll on me (in effect, this is definitely what Rick’s interdimensional/otherworldly exploits symbolize for me). But I’m nothing like Rick in person–the inner Rick sometimes comes out here at ILP, but if you were to meet me in person, you would definitely not see the same gib you think you know. In real life, I’m definitely more beta-male than alpha, and sometimes very insecure, much like Jerry. I don’t want to be like that, I hate being like that, and so I hope the inner Rick is somewhat a part of who I really am and not a complete sham. Realistically, though, I think I’m an even mix of the two.
^^ That’s personal, but I think it applies to everyone to a certain degree. And as something universal to human beings, I definitely think we can turn it into a bit of depth philosophy.
These two points aren’t really the central focus of this thread, but I mention them just because they are the two most relevant points that come to mind having to do with the Rick and Morty series as a whole (as opposed to themes which we will look at on a per-episode basis). So I mention them if for no other reason than to get them out of the way.
This undoubtedly is going to be another lengthy project much like my Reforming Democracy thread and I think I’ll be able to post on, at most, a weekly basis (realistically, it will probably be more like every two weeks). But that’s fine. There’s no rush.
We’ll start with episode 1 of season 1 next time.