Passing Butter
“What is my purpose?”
“You pass butter.”
“Oh my god…”
“Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.”
-Rick and his butter-passing robot
Rick and Morty, s1e9 Something Ricked This Way Comes
https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Something_Ricked_This_Way_Comes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3333840/
As I mentioned in one of the previous posts, Rick and Morty has a pretty good thread of Absurdism running through it. I know its fanbase gets a lot of slack for being over-zealous and landing themselves in /r/iamverysmart but it at least unintentionally or intentionally hits a lots of notes in the Absurdism tune. I’m certainly not the first or only one to point this out. Here’s a couple more industrious posts on the matter from others:
https://nofilmschool.com/2017/05/why-rick-and-morty-perfect-example-absurdism
One aspiring CalPoly student even published a paper on its allure for Millenials: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/forum/vol10/iss1/12/
In fact Google Scholar has of writing 318 entries (including citations and patents). Including at least one full length book on the overall philosophy of Rick and Morty another “official” book with Rickisms and some patents? Might need to look deeper into this…
Website translations uses it as a ref:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9690777B1/en
And some other client side playback from Turner media:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180343482A1/en
Damn, no portal gun. Get on it R&M fans!
Anyway, there’s an interesting debate on the subject here: https://www.reddit.com/r/rickandmorty/comments/2jk3di/rick_sanchez_nihilist_existentialist_or_absurdist/
I mean, it’s reddit, but there’s some thoughtful posts in there. I think the one that makes the top is indeed a good summary, that Rick generally has alittle bit of everything (Nihilism, Absurdism, Existentialism). I think when people ask me (no one asks me) what my personal philosophy is, I say “Stoic-Absurdist” mostly because I like the recognition of meaninglessness and the pointlessness of trying to create or search for meaning of Absurdism, but like the Stoic approach to things in much of my daily life. I get the incompatibilities of the two, suicide attitudes for example, but since I’m making it up as I go along, it works for me. I’m not going to promote the stuff from Daily Stoic (for my own personal reasons, not that he needs any help). Even if my title bears some similarity, I think we’re doing very different things. I think he and some of his biggest promoters, Tim Ferriss, have covered the stoic approach and suicide more than a few times, including in a, wait for it… Ted Talk. I hate TED talks. Or more appropriately, I LOVE to HATE TED talks. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea, and there are some good topics, but it’s just so… fucking smug and annoying. I’ll quit while I’m ahead, or I’m gonna start ranting.
Back to Rick and Morty. I can truly say that there are some episodes that really resonate with me (Unity episode) and Rick when he’s down. But for the most part, they’re life affirming I think, and both Rick and Morty are Absurdist Hero’s in their own way. Rick because he’s Rick, and Morty because he’s truly learned the hard way about meaningless of it all. I think at different points in my life I’ve been both a Morty and a Rick, and I think that’s just fine.
Here’s a few good links (in no order):
The Philosophy of Rick and Morty — Wisecrack Edition
Rick and Morty: The Philosophy of Szechuan Sauce — Wisecrack Edition
Rick and Morty — Is There No Purpose in Life? Absurdism
Oh, and a TED talk for you: Enjoying the Absurd | Walid Abboud | TEDxCambridgeSchoolofBucharest
I hate myself for including that.
-DA
