Chris Beebout Assignment 5

     I really don’t watch much TV. Call me boring or uncultured, but most of it is just the same— people messing around in fake lives while making horrible decisions that they never face consequences for. I suppose at least nature documentaries might escape my condemnation, but otherwise, that is my (perhaps shortsighted) view of television programs.

     Rick and Morty is most certainly not an exception to this. The plot centers around a gruff, alcoholic old man with the scientific genius of a god and his timid, less-intelligent grandson. They adventure throughout the galaxy, cracking crude jokes, engaging in various illicit activities, and getting whole universes killed. Turn everyone on Earth into hideous, unthinking monsters? Just find a new dimension with an Earth where you died and pick up where they left off.

     So why do I watch it? I guess I respect the effort that was put into it, even when I don’t respect the messages and morals. The creators of Rick and Morty create engaging plotlines (except in Season 3) of a caliber which is not often found even in books, a much more highly-respected form of entertainment. This serves to keep me engaged and to continue my consumption. I also respect the show’s self-awareness of (most of) its “televisionesque” moral shortcomings, as described in my intro. For example, when Morty shoots a spaceport guard in the first episode, the guard is seen telling his comrades to take care of his family after he dies. Likewise, Rick’s hatred towards the universe embitters his family and causes immense strife among them that is openly displayed as a lasting negative consequence by the creators.

     In Rick and Morty, I found a show that I can both agree and disagree with. I like some of the humor and love some of the characters, but I disapprove of many of the moral values it presents. The show helps me realize that TV programs are like people: we will inevitably conflict with others, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to appreciate them nonetheless.