The Big Picture: You Are Wrong About Pickle Rick

Team Hollywood

New member
Feb 9, 2009
5,205
0
0
You Are Wrong About Pickle Rick

Rick and Morty's wackiest and most-quoted episode is also its most wildly misunderstood.

Watch Video
 
Apr 5, 2008
3,736
0
0
So...should I be watching that show then? o.o
I kinda want him to give Futurama (my favourite show) the Bob treatment, but I'm scared of what might happen if he does. 😲
 

Jacked Assassin

Nothing On TV
Jun 4, 2010
732
0
0
I have never watched this show & the more I here about it's toxic fan base I hope I never do. Also hearing MovieBob describe it reminds me that I was a straight D student who enjoyed Mind Of Mencia.
 

nickpy

New member
Oct 9, 2010
124
0
0
KingsGambit said:
So...should I be watching that show then? o.o
Personally I think the show goes off the rails in S3, but its still worth watching, at least for S1-2.
 

webkilla

New member
Feb 2, 2011
594
0
0
I think I'll have to disagree with some of the claims and assertions made in the video:

1) Claiming that there's a "tragically oversized" population of nerd culture fans who think they're free to be colossal pains in butts about their fandom

I just watched a youtube that actually addressed the topic of toxic fandoms, and the logic it has is quite sound - even if I don't agree with the examples it used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCKF2_-Zsw0 - the "pains in butts" Bob is talking about, are but loud minorities.

2) The rick & morty fandom's sauce incidents... as with the above - that was AFAIK a tiny minority of R&M fans who were insane enough to do that.

I get that it has given the entire fandom a bad rep - but someone as "fandom-savvy" as Bob has to know that you do actually have the option of simply dismissing such episodes, instead of apologizing for it. "Ya that was some fringe crazies, so what?"

Various sports fans riot accross the globe on a weekly basis - and yet its some cartoon fandom who's the weird one, prone to violent outbursts? This just seems like making a mountain out of a mole-hill.



All that said - then the point that Rick is a deconstruction from the getgo, someone you really shouldn't cheer for - let alone take life lessons from - is a good point, and the explanation of how the Pickle Rick episode is a demonstration of Rick essentially failing is also quite on point.

So a rough start, but the vid was good where it needed to be
 

ewhac

Digital Spellweaver
Legacy
Escapist +
Sep 2, 2009
575
0
21
San Francisco Peninsula
Country
USA
I don't know anything about its reportedly toxic fanbase. But after watching the first season, I found myself describing Rick and Morty as the show that asks the question: "What if The Doctor was a nihilistic, alcoholic misanthrope?"

While it's clear that Rick gets a rush out of conquering things -- from the limitations of being a pickle to the laws of physics (although... hey, Rick, maybe your portal gun could be a little less fragile?) -- it also seems clear that he's not really happy. He's been to countless parallel universes and waltzes through them, sarcastically noting, "Yeah, the positrons in universe A-229 have a better hue. But the coffee here is better." Most of the time he seems bored, kluging up some super-science and conjuring up some chaos just to hold his interest for a few hours, and provide that conquering rush he seeks.

The off-handed reference to Sherlock Holmes reminds me of a Facebook meme that went by a few weeks ago, wherein the ghost of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visits Steven Moffat and profusely thanks him for accomplishing what Doyle could not -- make people hate Sherlock.

The comparison to House also didn't go unnoticed. I used to watch that show quite regularly, and found myself puzzled by House's increasing tendency toward petty vengeance and self-destructive behavior. House was clearly a profoundly brilliant man, and a profoundly unhappy man, and his inability to will himself into happiness with his brilliance likely just compounded the problem. In this sense, I think House bears the strongest resemblence to Rick.
 

Neurotic Void Melody

Bound to escape
Legacy
Jul 15, 2013
4,953
6
13
Have you considered that maybe not all of these fans that don't get the deconstruction are of lower intelligence, but instead some are merely mid-intelligence sociopaths/assholes who share aspirations for high-intelligence manipulative bullshittery towards others? Like, this could be an intellectual power fantasy for them as long as they don't actually experience empathy for others.
It's like those few middle-class families that aspire so hard to be upper class and do all kinds of callous shit for the slightest pretense of being richer and more privileged than they currently are.
 

Gizen

New member
Nov 17, 2009
279
0
0
webkilla said:
I think I'll have to disagree with some of the claims and assertions made in the video:

1) Claiming that there's a "tragically oversized" population of nerd culture fans who think they're free to be colossal pains in butts about their fandom

I just watched a youtube that actually addressed the topic of toxic fandoms, and the logic it has is quite sound - even if I don't agree with the examples it used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCKF2_-Zsw0 - the "pains in butts" Bob is talking about, are but loud minorities.

2) The rick & morty fandom's sauce incidents... as with the above - that was AFAIK a tiny minority of R&M fans who were insane enough to do that.
Everyone knows they're loud minorities, but just because they're the minority doesn't mean there isn't still too many of them. Even one person starting a riot at a Mcdonalds over fucking chicken nugget sauce is entirely too many. In this case, a population of one would still be tragically oversized.

I get that it has given the entire fandom a bad rep - but someone as "fandom-savvy" as Bob has to know that you do actually have the option of simply dismissing such episodes, instead of apologizing for it. "Ya that was some fringe crazies, so what?"

Various sports fans riot accross the globe on a weekly basis - and yet its some cartoon fandom who's the weird one, prone to violent outbursts? This just seems like making a mountain out of a mole-hill.
The issue is that nerd culture is still too new to being mainstream, and hasn't fully been accepted yet, to the point that a couple of people being douchebags over a cartoon will have a larger impact on how the broader culture looks at a fandom than it would for something more established. Hell, all you need to do is look two posts up from yours, and you'll see someone who's so disgusted by that minority of Rick & Morty fandom that it actively makes them hate the show despite never even having seen it. You can see similar things regarding Undertale and its fandom. By contrast, how many people do you see exhibiting disgust towards Soccer as a whole because of some dumbass starting a Soccer riot?
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

New member
Nov 19, 2009
3,672
0
0
Rick can best be described "If you're capable of doing things that are this revolutionary and amazing, why don't you use them for the betterment of others?" Really goes to show that Rick is also a waste of his own talents.

Also, awkward fact, Adam Driver actually misunderstood Fight Club and founded a fight club. Then he got better
 

Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
Legacy
Apr 1, 2009
14,415
3,393
118
Gender
Whatever, just wash your hands.
KingsGambit said:
So...should I be watching that show then? o.o
I kinda want him to give Futurama (my favourite show) the Bob treatment, but I'm scared of what might happen if he does. 😲
Its a quite solid show. But it is pretty bloody at times and don't go into it if you want to have a 'good' character, pretty much all of them suck in their own ways, really I think the best is the daughter, Summer. Shes got a really interesting dynamic with Rick after season 1 and its interesting to see how she reacts to things.
 

marioandsonic

New member
Nov 28, 2009
657
0
0
I watched a few episodes of Rick and Morty, and...I just don't get it. I don't find it funny or insightful.
 

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,228
7,007
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
ewhac said:
I don't know anything about its reportedly toxic fanbase. But after watching the first season, I found myself describing Rick and Morty as the show that asks the question: "What if The Doctor was a nihilistic, alcoholic misanthrope?"

While it's clear that Rick gets a rush out of conquering things -- from the limitations of being a pickle to the laws of physics (although... hey, Rick, maybe your portal gun could be a little less fragile?) -- it also seems clear that he's not really happy. He's been to countless parallel universes and waltzes through them, sarcastically noting, "Yeah, the positrons in universe A-229 have a better hue. But the coffee here is better." Most of the time he seems bored, kluging up some super-science and conjuring up some chaos just to hold his interest for a few hours, and provide that conquering rush he seeks.
The show has made that kinda obvious a couple of times. Rick has attempted on-screen suicide at least once and usually fails only because he passes out from excessive drinking before he succeeds. A season 3 episode had him admitting to either Beth or Jerry(I can't remember which) that he's pretty much decided life is meaningless from all the dimension hopping and is only doing anything for the thrill at this point, no matter who else gets hurt along the way. Paraphasing "When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours. You take reality for a ride and hang on for as long as you can until you inevitably get bucked off".
 

Darmani

New member
Apr 26, 2010
231
0
0
...
You know I had hoped him being let go would be...
I mean likely he goes on to an actual point of the episode and its meaning

But did we NEED the "you suck" pre-amble? I mean really? And talk about late to the party.

*ugh*

Finished
Come on you could have made that point WITHOUT the audience accusation.
Heck a simple *basic* thing to point out? Rick did the super science equivalent of getting passed out drunk (or off his gourd blazed) to sabotage a family commitment, ya know as another way to say that is

Getting pickled

The problem is the show wants to have its cake and eat it too. but of course its not the show that's the problem. Its the thousands of people who watch Bob might have read most of the social media posts of

*sigh*

Okay.

Damn and he used toxic Masculinity

I thought he was avoiding this in his solo career. Just... *sigh*
 

Darmani

New member
Apr 26, 2010
231
0
0
Davroth said:
Huh. Turns out I wasn?t wrong about Pickle Rick.
The episode that ends with a psychologist deconstructing wreck and revealing pretty clearly to the audience there's nothing special about his nihilism and or self-destructive Tendencies and in fact they have a very very mundane and Petty parallel and activity actually being something of a messed up stealth criticism of super Rick doesn't exactly take a lot of insight. It's in fact my problem with a show it keeps on playing that went to have its cake and eat it too and then turn around and have everyone who thinks they're really Advanced go oh you just don't get it. No we get it it's just a really stupid moral to present in light of the overall context. As an example why did the outro after the credits and with showing how saving Jaguar was a great investment for Rick?

Or vindicator's 3 as a whole which pretty much predicates everybody being strahman for Rick to tear down who bumble into moral and tactical failure

Or how drunk rick is a million times more effectivealone and so unknowable

Emasculated? More lost the fight he was not having

I honestly would have much preferred if Baba just stuck with the whole Rick is ultimately just an addictive personality in the family and how the broken dynamic perpetuates. Instead much like Rick he basically gives a glimpse of how clever he is and then pulls it away so that he can insults the person he's addressing rather than educate and sort of help out having this understanding in this perspective helps you decode what's going on in the show
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
16
23
Too many people want to be Rick, when we're supposed to relate and empathize with Morty. Sure, we can learn a lot from Rick, but he is a horrible selfish person who despite being able to fix seemingly any problem ever, wastes his time being selfish instead.
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
16
23
Xsjadoblayde said:
Have you considered that maybe not all of these fans that don't get the deconstruction are of lower intelligence, but instead some are merely mid-intelligence sociopaths/assholes who share aspirations for high-intelligence manipulative bullshittery towards others? Like, this could be an intellectual power fantasy for them as long as they don't actually experience empathy for others.
It's like those few middle-class families that aspire so hard to be upper class and do all kinds of callous shit for the slightest pretense of being richer and more privileged than they currently are.
I think being an asshole qualifies someone as stupid, personally.
 

CrazyGirl17

I am a banana!
Sep 11, 2009
5,141
0
0
I honestly think rabid fans should be muzzled, or at least given those anti-barking collars, because seriously, do you know how many series I like have been tainted by nutjobs?

Steven Universe, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Sonic the Hedgehog, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, all good series tainted by idiots who have to ruin it for the rest of us.

Saelune said:
Xsjadoblayde said:
Have you considered that maybe not all of these fans that don't get the deconstruction are of lower intelligence, but instead some are merely mid-intelligence sociopaths/assholes who share aspirations for high-intelligence manipulative bullshittery towards others? Like, this could be an intellectual power fantasy for them as long as they don't actually experience empathy for others.
It's like those few middle-class families that aspire so hard to be upper class and do all kinds of callous shit for the slightest pretense of being richer and more privileged than they currently are.
I think being an asshole qualifies someone as stupid, personally.
See, someone gets it!

...I can kinda see the appeal of Rick's philosophy, but in the long run it probably won't end well...
 

Davroth

The shadow remains cast!
Apr 27, 2011
679
0
0
I wouldn?t consider anyone in Rick & Morty to be a good person. Everyone?s different degrees of assholes.