jamesaedwards-22729

Rick and Morty is equally one of the most influential pieces of entertainment in the 2010's decade while also creating one of the most insufferable fan bases out of any media in that time, as well.

The premise for the show is one of the most distilled versions of Postmodern ideology that you really can find - there's no real point to anything, objectivity goes right out the window, so might as well do whatever you want while you can.

At its best, this show goes off the rails with (not so subtle) references to other pieces of culture that mixes a push to make fun of the very things that they're referencing. At its worst, it's patronizing and self-referential in a way that's been the catalyst to create some of the egotistical fanbases that it now has.

However, for all that's been said about this show (the good and the bad), that's precisely what has driven its ethos for 7 seasons (and more) - "we can make fun of whatever we want to and do whatever we want to because what you love doesn't actually matter. You and I are both going to die one day."

I love this show for many reasons. Top of the list being - what they make fun of, I also understand and love as well. From Ice T, to Birdperson, to the council of the Rick's, and the commercial for Two Brothers, this show has no problem letting its imagination drive the engine in fresh, new ways while being wholly unoriginal most of the time (and better for it).

Western white men, in particular, have a supreme fascination for WW2 in a way that I'll likely never be able to comprehend. I say that as a western, white man with a fascination in WW2.

However, I think this show does that best out of any WW2 content at distilling WHY there's a surpreme interest in the subject; why the generation of fighters in Europe that we see are known as the greatest generation; and, ultimately, why war is actually hell.

From seeing the lives of the American men in the company, to the lives of those effected by Nazi Germany, to those that are simply living in their respective towns, there's a reason that "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" is in the biblical canon, as it were, for the war.

#1.) Beautiful - The acting, cinematography, audio, writing is gorgeous. Dude, I literally was crying in this episode. It tells an incredibly compelling story that goes through various characters and eventually falls into a simplistic idea: rivalry, tribalism, me vs. you. But, what falls in the middle, is Bobby. Bobby, RZA, is an incredibly written and acted character that, even in the first episode, has the entire audience rooting for him. His impact in the story allows this fleshed out idea of us vs them to be told in a different way: through understanding. the story doesn't depict one side as the protagonists whereas the audience feels a need to be hateful towards the antagonists, and the story ALSO doesn't depict an equal share of time between both sides, allotting emotional currency to build up equally for both sides. Instead, Bobby's character builds up the story to have us rooting for the downfall of the entire system already built up in the first episode. We desire, because of him, to rid this world in the screen of gang violence, and align ourselves with Bobby's solution: music. This grows and allows this story to be told in a different way than it has been before.

#2.) Confusing - it's so deeply hard to keep track of who aligns with who and whose relationship is with who. The downside of having such a well-liked and acquainted protagonist is discovering everyone else's relationship to each other and why. This was and is the difficulty for me now, even after viewing both episodes that were out at the time. I enjoy it, and I'm making an active effort to discern the relationships between the characters, however with so much going on, so many people interacting, and having a protagonist in the midst/yet still on the outside (watch the show and you'll get it) of every situation and conflict, confusion can't help but happen.