Rick and Morty PDF

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A sociological analysis of one of the best Rick and Morty Episodes....

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The show I chose was Rick and Morty, a show that is very loosely based on Back to the Future. In the show, Rick Sanchez represents Doc Brown, while Morty Smith, Rick’s grandson, represents Marty McFly; however, this is about as much as could be said about the similarities between the show and the movie. Rick is an ingenious scientist, as well as an avid alcoholic, whose many inconceivably advanced inventions bring him and his grandson Morty through a number of ridiculous interdimensional adventures. For Morty, a regular day cannot go by without his drunk grandpa showing up and dragging him along somewhere beyond his imagination. This show is difficult to describe, as it constantly challenges nearly every aspect of reality through a concept of infinite timelines and therefore infinite possibilities of reality. Nevertheless, each episode comes with its own fruitful critique on humanity, providing creative answers to sociological and philosophical questions we are faced with everyday, and ultimately depicting the absurdity of our society. The episode I am focusing on brought up interesting ideas of social stratification in general, with a fairly ambiguous and sometimes subtle emphasis on class, race, and mental disabilities. In it, Rick and Morty get captured by a group of Ricks who work for the Council of Ricks, a government formed by Ricks from other dimensions who were tired of governments coming after them. The main Rick calls the other Ricks out when by saying: “You wanted to be safe from the government, so you formed a stupid government.” I found that what he said lined up with our seeming necessity for government. Most governments eventually face a revolution, but every time, we simply replace old forms of government with new forms of government, as if it would actually solve something. We inevitably tend to lean toward hierarchical social institutions, and even those who want no involvement, like Rick, are forced to participate in them. As Rick and Morty are taken to the council, some Ricks even come up to them to advertise

products such as Morty figurines or Morty insurance, resembling today’s media whose main purpose is to turn people into consumers. Those products, according to the main Rick, are for the “sheep-Rick,” those who, like most real people, are easily controlled and convinced by governing powers. Upon reaching the Council, the main Rick is accused of killing other Ricks, but he escapes to go find the real Rick criminal. As a result, the main Rick’s house is taken over by a group of Ricks, all of whom look identical except for one: Doofus Rick, who is from the dimension where people eat poop. Doofus Rick talks, looks and acts different from other Ricks, and he even has an ugly morty associated with him. All of the other Ricks make fun of him constantly for things he cannot help, resembling the way our society portrays any difference from norms as weird and unwelcome. One of the Ricks says to Doofus Rick, “you make us ashamed to be ourselves,” which is the message humans tend to send to people with disabilities, whether explicit or implicit. Doofus Rick is deeply impacted by his maltreatment, and goes on to call himself the worst Rick of them all. Choosing to shame himself represents a popular sentiment among those who are told they do not belong, displaying some of the less discussed consequences of the oppressive systems of our society. Another form of oppression in this episode is between Ricks and Mortys, which can symbolize race relations between white people and minorities in America. The main Morty notices that every Rick has a Morty, and the main Rick explains that Mortys have brain waves that help camouflage Ricks’ genius waves, thus making Mortys tools for Ricks. This essentially has been and still is the relationship between white people and minorities in America, whether talking about racial slavery of the past, the exploitation of illegal immigrants in a number of jobs, or even the GOP rhetorically blaming minorities for America’s contemporary problems. The

point is, just like Rick and Morty, whites and minorities have a system of domination and subordination. Yet race relations are not limited to these cases, and the episode also makes a point about this. When they find the evil Rick’s base, it is covered in hundreds of Morty slaves so that he may hide from the council of Ricks. The main Rick and Morty get captured; Morty is placed in a room full of Mortys, while Rick is shown his past life on a screen as the evil Rick downloads the contents of his brain. The main Rick goes on to cry when he sees scenes of his adventures with Morty, and the evil Rick exclaims, “you’re crying? over a morty?” Thus, the main Rick treats his morty as a dear friend, while the evil Rick views them as mere instruments, which demonstrates the fluidity of racial interactions today. While some whites are purely racist, others simply are not and can have great relationships with people regardless of their race. The relationship between the main Rick and Morty show that no matter what history has to say about race, we really could all get along. As Rick and Morty is science fiction, every episode completely distorts reality, but in doing so, it often reflects reality more effectively than most TV shows I have seen. It clearly demonstrates the varieties of human interaction in all of their fluidity, while showing that our differing and changing views are absurd. We thrive on inequality, exclude people who are different, and establish laws so we can break them. This show has consistently influenced my views on the world, but most of all, it has confirmed one thing I already knew: that no matter how smart humans are, we are all idiots. Pessimistic, I know, but what else is there to say?...