3 ms·

I saw one episode and had the same reaction. I thought Rick was going to be like the professor from back to the future. Instead he's the bright but shallow ki

by yters 9y ago

I saw one episode and had the same reaction. I thought Rick was going to be like the professor from back to the future. Instead he's the bright but shallow kid making all the annoying smart alec comments, with a facile outlook on life he gets away with due to not having to live in the real world.

dave_sullivan 9y ago
> I thought Rick was going to be like the professor from back to the future. Well, it started off that way: https://vimeo.com/97680161 https://vimeo.com/97680161 (NSFW) Who knew that little short would turn into one of the most popular shows on TV?
- thisacctforreal 9y ago
  Super nsfw 45 seconds in The aesthetic gets across in the first 30, though.
dragontamer 9y ago
Rick and Morty has a lot of "bad" episodes IMO, where there's nothing in them except Rick being an annoying jerk. I was forced to keep watching since a group of my friends continued to watch Rick and Morty regularly, and I can definitely say that some episodes are way better than others. "A Rinkle in Time" (Season 2 episode 1) was mostly great episode for instance, and I can recommend it as one of the best that Rick and Morty can offer. I haven't seen all of Rick and Morty: there may be some other really good episodes in there. But I've only seen maybe... 6 or 7 episodes across S1 and S2 (and I haven't seen any of S3). I recognize that Rick does occasionally care about Morty, but seriously, his treatment of Morty is downright abusive in the vast majority of episodes. The fact that Rick saves Morty on some episodes doesn't change the fact that Rick's treatment of Morty is incredibly unfair.
- dwringer 9y ago
  I kind of agree and disagree with the criticisms in this thread. For a while in season 2 I didn't watch much of the show for pretty much the reasons given here. Nevertheless, I watched a good bit of the first and third seasons, including the [IMHO excellent] finale of Season 3 that prompted Elon Musk to get into a twitter discussion with the show about singularities and partying like Kurt Cobain. [1] Rick and Morty are, I think, intended to be more archetypes rather than actual people most of the time, although sometimes their humanity (particularly Morty's, which is leveraged for comedic effect) shows through. Rick is definitely shown to have something of a softer side that he keeps deeply hidden. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15424659 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15424659
  - saalweachter 9y ago
    Eh, I would say that Rick incompletely rejects his softer side rather than keeping it hidden. He doesn't want to care about anyone or anything; it is how he copes with living in a crap-sack multiverse where he regularly sees himself or his family die, or even kills them himself. Hell, we don't even know that his S1 family was his original family; he abandoned them easily enough in the Cronenberg episode. For all we know, his Beth did die as a child like in his (false) memory in S3E1. He might have returned years later to a different universe, one abandoned by another Rick. We don't know that Morty is his original Morty; the memories in the flashback episode could have been collected from dozens or hundreds of Mortys who didn't make it. Heck, even Rick isn't the original Rick; he has body-hopped through several incarnations on-screen. So he rejects all meaning, but he's still a human with irrational attachments, so sometimes he will stop and do something for someone else. But to him, it's the same as his crippling substance abuse, just one more weakness being indulged for his momentary gratification.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - yters 9y ago
      Exactly, Rick is a faithful depiction of someone who believes individual lives are ultimately meaningless, which is implied by the whole multiverse scenario. Why does it matter if Morty1 is mistreated and is only kept alive for selfish pleasure? There are an infinite number of Mortys, so Morty1 is nothing special.
- Retra 9y ago
  Rick is more or less presented as someone who is so ashamed of his sentimentality that he is willing to go to great lengths to hide it, deny it, or discredit it, even if it means being abusive to other people. The only time he seems to buckle is when his family's lives are at stake. The show is not "old-school" episodic. You're not going to get a little bit of everything in every episode. It has wider arcs, like most modern shows do. So it doesn't make much sense to me that anyone would criticize the show for Rick's abusiveness... That's almost the whole point of him. If he weren't abusive, he'd be a "sitcom superman," but as it is, he gets to play the hero and the villain, which is a pretty compelling dynamic. (See Breaking Bad, for example.)
  - dragontamer 9y ago
    The "Breaking Bad" anti-hero protagonist is way more charming than Rick, and makes "Breaking Bad" much easier to watch. I'm definitely familiar with anti-heroes and have enjoyed a lot of them ("Death Note's" Light Yagami is one of my personal favorites). > The only time he seems to buckle is when his family's lives are at stake. And frankly? Words hurt. Actions hurt. Abusive words levied at naiive children can scar people for life. Rick doesn't care about those instances and really mistreats Morty. True, he helps Morty when Morty's life is in danger, but there's a lot more to people's well being than just "alive vs dead". I get that this is a comedy show and I'm supposed to not care about that sort of thing. But I honestly relate myself more to Morty than to Rick most of the time. So whenever Morty is being verbally abused by Rick, I just get pissed off. I think "most" people relate themselves to Rick, and can enjoy the show from Rick's perspective. Which I can agree, it looks fun from that side. But unfortunately, my brain is hardwired for whatever reason to relate more to Morty, and Morty's placement in the world is... not very fair to him.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - Retra 9y ago
      As viewers, we've seen a Morty who is able to outsmart/outmaneuver every other Rick. We've seen Morty make selfish and disastrous decisions by taking advantage of Rick's affections for him. So his status as a victim is also at least partially ambiguous.

by yters 9y ago

dave_sullivan 9y ago

> I thought Rick was going to be like the professor from back to the future. Well, it started off that way: https://vimeo.com/97680161 https://vimeo.com/97680161 (NSFW) Who knew that little short would turn into one of the most popular shows on TV?

thisacctforreal 9y ago
Super nsfw 45 seconds in The aesthetic gets across in the first 30, though.

dragontamer 9y ago

Rick and Morty has a lot of "bad" episodes IMO, where there's nothing in them except Rick being an annoying jerk. I was forced to keep watching since a group of my friends continued to watch Rick and Morty regularly, and I can definitely say that some episodes are way better than others. "A Rinkle in Time" (Season 2 episode 1) was mostly great episode for instance, and I can recommend it as one of the best that Rick and Morty can offer. I haven't seen all of Rick and Morty: there may be some other really good episodes in there. But I've only seen maybe... 6 or 7 episodes across S1 and S2 (and I haven't seen any of S3). I recognize that Rick does occasionally care about Morty, but seriously, his treatment of Morty is downright abusive in the vast majority of episodes. The fact that Rick saves Morty on some episodes doesn't change the fact that Rick's treatment of Morty is incredibly unfair.

dwringer 9y ago
I kind of agree and disagree with the criticisms in this thread. For a while in season 2 I didn't watch much of the show for pretty much the reasons given here. Nevertheless, I watched a good bit of the first and third seasons, including the [IMHO excellent] finale of Season 3 that prompted Elon Musk to get into a twitter discussion with the show about singularities and partying like Kurt Cobain. [1] Rick and Morty are, I think, intended to be more archetypes rather than actual people most of the time, although sometimes their humanity (particularly Morty's, which is leveraged for comedic effect) shows through. Rick is definitely shown to have something of a softer side that he keeps deeply hidden. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15424659 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15424659
- saalweachter 9y ago
  Eh, I would say that Rick incompletely rejects his softer side rather than keeping it hidden. He doesn't want to care about anyone or anything; it is how he copes with living in a crap-sack multiverse where he regularly sees himself or his family die, or even kills them himself. Hell, we don't even know that his S1 family was his original family; he abandoned them easily enough in the Cronenberg episode. For all we know, his Beth did die as a child like in his (false) memory in S3E1. He might have returned years later to a different universe, one abandoned by another Rick. We don't know that Morty is his original Morty; the memories in the flashback episode could have been collected from dozens or hundreds of Mortys who didn't make it. Heck, even Rick isn't the original Rick; he has body-hopped through several incarnations on-screen. So he rejects all meaning, but he's still a human with irrational attachments, so sometimes he will stop and do something for someone else. But to him, it's the same as his crippling substance abuse, just one more weakness being indulged for his momentary gratification.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - yters 9y ago
    Exactly, Rick is a faithful depiction of someone who believes individual lives are ultimately meaningless, which is implied by the whole multiverse scenario. Why does it matter if Morty1 is mistreated and is only kept alive for selfish pleasure? There are an infinite number of Mortys, so Morty1 is nothing special.
Retra 9y ago
Rick is more or less presented as someone who is so ashamed of his sentimentality that he is willing to go to great lengths to hide it, deny it, or discredit it, even if it means being abusive to other people. The only time he seems to buckle is when his family's lives are at stake. The show is not "old-school" episodic. You're not going to get a little bit of everything in every episode. It has wider arcs, like most modern shows do. So it doesn't make much sense to me that anyone would criticize the show for Rick's abusiveness... That's almost the whole point of him. If he weren't abusive, he'd be a "sitcom superman," but as it is, he gets to play the hero and the villain, which is a pretty compelling dynamic. (See Breaking Bad, for example.)
- dragontamer 9y ago
  The "Breaking Bad" anti-hero protagonist is way more charming than Rick, and makes "Breaking Bad" much easier to watch. I'm definitely familiar with anti-heroes and have enjoyed a lot of them ("Death Note's" Light Yagami is one of my personal favorites). > The only time he seems to buckle is when his family's lives are at stake. And frankly? Words hurt. Actions hurt. Abusive words levied at naiive children can scar people for life. Rick doesn't care about those instances and really mistreats Morty. True, he helps Morty when Morty's life is in danger, but there's a lot more to people's well being than just "alive vs dead". I get that this is a comedy show and I'm supposed to not care about that sort of thing. But I honestly relate myself more to Morty than to Rick most of the time. So whenever Morty is being verbally abused by Rick, I just get pissed off. I think "most" people relate themselves to Rick, and can enjoy the show from Rick's perspective. Which I can agree, it looks fun from that side. But unfortunately, my brain is hardwired for whatever reason to relate more to Morty, and Morty's placement in the world is... not very fair to him.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - Retra 9y ago
    As viewers, we've seen a Morty who is able to outsmart/outmaneuver every other Rick. We've seen Morty make selfish and disastrous decisions by taking advantage of Rick's affections for him. So his status as a victim is also at least partially ambiguous.