Rick and Morty is overall a good show, both as a comedy and as relatively accessible high-concept sci fi (if a bit silly on that front). The politics of it are irrelevant because consumption isn't politics, also it's a dumb cartoon show. People wouldn't shit on it as much if the fans didn't jerk each other off about how smart they are for watching it. It's an enjoyable show made for mainstream audiences, nothing more and nothing less.
i think the philosophical implications, of which all media has, are especially problematic and nihilistic in Rick and Morty. the politics don't matter that much though
idk, at least in the early seasons the show tried to make the point multiple times that Rick's nihilism is wrong and causing nothing but pain to him and everyone around him
but the bazinga brain fanbase didn't get it so they eventually just gave up on that
Having a "not a role model" character with all the coolest lines, who never gets laid low by their flaws, is at best a failure of writing, and at worst a Rowlian ex-post-facto justification for an unpopular story element.
If you take the show as endorsing those philosophical implications, then agreed. I'm not sure that's the case, though. My read is that the nihilism isn't meant to be aspirational. Rick is a profoundly broken human being, and Morty is a child who is constantly traumatized by his antics. Everything they do and say to make sense of their circumstances is cope. The problem is that the fans thinks Rick is super awesome for being an alcoholic misanthrope, not realizing that in the real world he would just be a basket case, falling further into depression and substance use until he inevitably killed himself. The writers to try to signal that from time to time, but it doesn't seem to land, and I think that's largely on the audience.
I could be being too generous. Maybe the writers are pitching straight up the middle and I'm being a fart-sniffing sophist. Wouldn't be the first time.
Rick and Morty is overall a good show, both as a comedy and as relatively accessible high-concept sci fi (if a bit silly on that front). The politics of it are irrelevant because consumption isn't politics, also it's a dumb cartoon show. People wouldn't shit on it as much if the fans didn't jerk each other off about how smart they are for watching it. It's an enjoyable show made for mainstream audiences, nothing more and nothing less.
i think the philosophical implications, of which all media has, are especially problematic and nihilistic in Rick and Morty. the politics don't matter that much though
idk, at least in the early seasons the show tried to make the point multiple times that Rick's nihilism is wrong and causing nothing but pain to him and everyone around him
but the bazinga brain fanbase didn't get it so they eventually just gave up on that
Having a "not a role model" character with all the coolest lines, who never gets laid low by their flaws, is at best a failure of writing, and at worst a Rowlian ex-post-facto justification for an unpopular story element.
The Sad Horse Show does the asshole protagonist better for this reason.
If you take the show as endorsing those philosophical implications, then agreed. I'm not sure that's the case, though. My read is that the nihilism isn't meant to be aspirational. Rick is a profoundly broken human being, and Morty is a child who is constantly traumatized by his antics. Everything they do and say to make sense of their circumstances is cope. The problem is that the fans thinks Rick is super awesome for being an alcoholic misanthrope, not realizing that in the real world he would just be a basket case, falling further into depression and substance use until he inevitably killed himself. The writers to try to signal that from time to time, but it doesn't seem to land, and I think that's largely on the audience.
I could be being too generous. Maybe the writers are pitching straight up the middle and I'm being a fart-sniffing sophist. Wouldn't be the first time.
they regularly shit all over their fanbase though, also they had to make an anti-nazi episode
Like I said, I think the audience is the problem. It's certainly a problem.