The Philosophy Of Rick And Morty
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The Philosophy Of Rick And Morty

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1961
The Philosophy Of Rick And Morty
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"Rick and Morty" is an ongoing animated series that follows the adventures of Rick Sanchez, a super genius/alcoholic mad scientist, and his less than average grandson Morty. They frequently travel to alternate realities, other planets, and once, into the body of a homeless man (episode: Anatomy Park).

Along from being extraordinarily funny and interesting to watch, the show also explores very deep philosophical ideas, making it all the more awesome.

The overall tone of the show suggests that when it comes to existentialism, life is generally pointless. Rick is obviously aware of this and apparently accepts it, as depicted through his reckless behavior, binge drinking and a basic disregard for the consequences of his actions.

The most prominent example of this was the episode where Rick creates a love potion for Morty to use on his crush at the school dance, but it goes terribly wrong and ends up turning everyone on the planet into mutated monsters. Unable to reverse the effects, Rick and Morty just up and leave that reality behind because it was too screwed up and step into a new one where versions of themselves had conveniently just blown up.

If you really think about it, that is terrifying. To literally leave behind one reality and trade it for another shows just how insignificant Rick believes our existence really is. Apparently, it makes no difference to destroy one version of humanity on Earth because there are infinite versions of ourselves and the rest of the world anyway.

Now, Rick not only understands that life is pointless and meaningless, but also the horrifying truth that the universe simply does not care whether we exist or not. This is exemplified by the episode where the giant heads come to Earth and tell the humans to “show them what they’ve got”, meaning put on an exciting musical performance or be disintegrated. The episode follows the US government panicking and doing everything it can to prove their worth and save the planet, yet the heads continue to disintegrate other unsatisfying planets one by one anyway, proving the helplessness of it all.

Many online threads have associated the philosophy of Rick and Morty with Albert Camus’s Absurdism, the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic world. Naturally, this makes sense, given the examples above. Rick knows that it is completely absurd to try to scramble about and find meaning in a world or universe or multiverse that clearly does not give a damn whether you exist or not. And yet that is what humans do anyway. "Rick and Morty" depicts how humans desperately try to find a purpose in their lives, even though it seems pretty clear that it doesn’t matter on the grand scale whether we do or not.

In the words of Morty, “Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody dies. Now come watch TV.”

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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