The Problem with Rick and Morty | Renegade Cut

CW: abuse, violence

#rickandmorty #bojack horseman #alwayssunny

Rick and Morty is an animated television series on Adult Swim that is about to enter season four. Learn about the problem of mistakenly conflating intelligence with cruelty in this video essay.

[renegadecut]

My favorite comments so far are "But Rick is sad!" as if I didn't address this in the video. The concept of the "burden of being right" is attractive to cruel people who mistakenly believe themselves tortured geniuses. Rick being sad in a few episodes doesn't make him less attractive to the kind of person I'm talking about -- but more attractive. The whole "I call it like I see it" feels really noble to some people, and they blame their loneliness on this martyrdom, this burden of being right. But they're not right. They're assholes. People don't like them because they're assholes, not because of their alleged intelligence. This doesn't contradict the points in the video -- it strengthens them.

[movie]

In the words of Todd from _Bojack Horseman_ :
*"You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing shitty things, and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You NEED...TO BE...BETTER!"*

[matthewkillion]

People who pride themselves on being "Brutally Honest" are always more interested in being brutal than honest.

[anwa]

"Close your eyes and imagine a french person"

And, despite living right next to France since I was born and spending most of my holidays there for years, I immediately imagined a moustache'd guy with a beret and a baguette. Internet has corrupted me.

[BossHoggBroDog]

This is why Bojack paid off. The main character WAS wrong. Despite being right occasionally on an episodic basis, in the end, he was wrong.

[RafaelRodrigues-rxry]

For me, another problem is to associate cynicism with science and inteligence.

[karina-iycf]

i think this is a problem with how we portray genius characters in general. there's either the depressed tragic genius (like van gogh) or the cruel insensitive one (like rick, sherlock, house, sheldon cooper and so many others)

[elliegray]

I'm so glad someone was able to eloquently explain why media can influence us negatively but not in a "videogames cause violence" way.

[suezuccati]

It's not a problem to enjoy something admiting it's flaws. It's a problem to not admit the flaws of something in order to enjoy it.

[miab-p]

I had a "friend" back in high school who loved this show and took it as gospel. She was very toxic and constantly invalidated me and said how much better she was compared to me. She had lots of cynicism and was just a jerk to me. Everything I had, I did, or said, or accomplished was mediocre to her. She believed herself to be much smarter than everyone and I think she might have used it as an excuse to beat me down. She believed that drugs make people smart and are the reason humans evolved. Clearly, she isn't as smart as she thinks. Also, whenever I displayed empathy or a "typically feminine" behaviour she implicitly said that we were programed to do this and that dumb people succumb to such instincts. She thought she was always right and that I was always wrong. She constantly told me her sister was the worst, but years after I ended our friendship, I met her sister, and it turns out that she too was being bullied at home by my "friend".

I didn't like her cynicism, nihilism and her tendency to bring others down. I'm glad I got out of that toxic friendship.

[PyroX]

People would rather turn themselves into a pickle than think critically about the media they consume.

[oberon]

This is why I absolutely love Dr. Stone. Senku, the protagonist, is extremely smart, being capable of making even cell phones during the stone age, but he's not an asshole at all. He's frequently shown to care for those around him and he isn't afraid to ask for help when needed. He's a total subversion of the asshole genius trope and the story never frames his kindness as weakness rather it is shown to be one of his strengths. The show explicitly states that he would never have gotten far without the help of the people around him. He's a genius with the heart of a shounen protagonist.

[mollymcdade]

Thank you for pinning down why I’ve begun to get tired with Rick and Morty. I still enjoy it, but I’m getting tired of being constantly told ‘you’re dumb for wanting character development for Rick / wanting to be nice’

[nnoodl]

It's kind of disappointing that the media and people in general glamorize being hyper intelligent and always right especially if you're an asshole, most likely because of everyone's own insecurities of being wrong and seemingly being misunderstood. Truly intelligent people don't need to prove themselves right to others or make excuses, they try to figure out why they're wrong and try to educate when they are right. At least from my understanding.

[georgia]

I remember watching that episode of BoJack for the first time. I was with a friend, and I remember looking over at him after Diane had voiced her discomfort towards people identifying with Philbert and saying, “Did they just throw shade a Rick and Morty?”

[alexdiesage]

As a gamer, I see the "I'm just being honest / I'm just telling the truth" line during competitive/ranked gaming, when people just want to vent their frustration onto someone else with no regard for the other's feelings.

It is frustrating to see these people portray their insults and toxic behaviour as honesty or as legitimate criticism, when all they do is insult.

[deeplyconcerned]

I can see by the description that you're expecting some upheaval.

[SubvertTheState]

Im glad you referenced Emotional Intelligence, i sometimes hear people recite a single "fact" and and boast about said fact not caring about your feelings. The Dunning-Kruger effect on full display, I pick my battles and dont needlessly point out ill informed opinions. Its good to be critical of everything, even if its not a great criticism because everyone needs to check their ego from time to time.

[remowhat]

It still makes me upset that this will be the last season of Bojack Horseman. It was the best new animated show of this decade, no question.

[psionicsknight]

The mention of the “Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings” movement really struck a personal cord with me, since my parents and stepparents (as well as maybe the vast majority of my family) see that movement as something great and beautiful.

What’s worse is that they often support it less because they find the arguments persuasive and more because they just use them as another huge confirmation bias. Heck, they’ve been dismissive and cruel of me, even when I have shown them facts in a kind way from more trustworthy sources.

It’s... really hard and depressing, to say the least.