The new sexy

Okay so I have recently become mildly obsessed with the TV show Rick and Morty. It’s a mean, cynical show, but it also exhibits surprising humanity and depth. I like how creative it gets; you can almost feel it building up the new generation of sci-fi references and foundations. It’s a smarter, faster, more modern and more vulgar Futurama. It is also looser, messier, and rougher than a lot of TV I’m used to. Rick and Morty addresses a desire to fulfill some special existential purpose with what I'd call an uplifting cynicism. In it, Summer(Morty's sister) finds out that she was, an unwanted pregnancy. She breaks down and wonders if there's any real meaning to her life. Morty then tells her his equally unsettling experience of burying his own body from a different reality. He concludes by saying Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die Come watch T.V? While this may be an especially dark moment, it contains a comforting message: For people like Summer, its devastating to think we weren't created for some special purpose to Rick and Morty, life's been that way forever. Why get depressed about existential meaning, when life is full of stuff to enjoy? As Morty said, like watching T.V. together. This struggle with meaninglessness is central to the show, and attractive to me in particular. Its doing part to the sheer scale of Rick and Morty's exploits. Not only is there an enormous universe, but that universe has infinite dimensions and those dimensions have infinite realities. Indeed it shows us how common, short-lived, and fragile our existence is but that scale is intended to cause a redirection of meaning. Once you confront the randomness of the universe, the only option is to find importance in the stuff, right in front of you. Rick and Morty in particular tells us that friends, family, and doing what we enjoy are far more important then any unsolvable questions about existence. It's a message best explained through the work of philosopher Albert Camus and what he called "The Absurd". He saw a contradiction between humans desire to find meaning in life and the meaninglessness of the universe. To Camus, we are Sisyphus, the king of greek mythology condemned to repeat the same task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only too see it roll down again and again, for the rest of his life. But Camus says one must imagine Sisyphus happy he argues we have to recognize the absurd meaningless background of our existence and accept it. Once we do, it frees us too find our own subjective meanings and purposes. Rick and Morty show us where we can find meaning, primarily through Rick-C137, who we follow for most of the show. He's aware of the meaningless of existence and it no doubt bothers him. He's the most genius scientist in the multi-verse, yet, he's an alcoholic. If he can't find a Truth, about his own existence, what hope does anyone else have? it's clear however that science is one of Ricks best avenues for finding a sense of meaning in his daily life. His projects allow him to go on adventures, make himself laugh, and bond with his grandkids. Indeed, science doesn't help find and existential purpose because it doesn't provide agreeable absolute meanings to life and Rick knows that. He's better off using it to experience the wonders of space around him with the people he cares about. Now Rick, at times, tries to convince us he doesn't care about his family his relationships with them aren't perfect, they're far from it. His family relationships are terrible and Rick's not happy; in fact, he's only happy when he fosters a good relationship with them. It's revealed to Morty for example, that Ricks "Off use" catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!" means "I am in great pain, please help me." Later in the episode Rick freezes time, making sure that Morty and Summer can clean up a party before there parents get home. But they spend most of their time having fun and watching movies together. When Morty mentions Rick hasn't said "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!" in a while he responds with "Don't need too, I have a new catchphrase" Oh yeah, what's that Rick? I love my grandkids. This is only reiterated by the fact that he freezes time for six months just him and his grandkids and that's just one, of many examples. Here, Rick can't wait to go to the intergalactic arcade with Morty for the day. In the episode "Rixty Minutes" he bonds with Morty in front of the T.V. the entire episode. Then, there's this moment where Rick sacrifices his own life for Morty. Although he end's up surviving the situation, it's clear he found more meaning in his relationship with Morty than any special existential purpose for himself. These moments allow us to see through Rick's hardened shell. He's a man who find's meaning in almost nothing but is happiest when he is with his family. Most of our lives we filter our actions through the idea that we have a "special purpose". It's hard to accept that our efforts would be largely pointless and quickly forgotten in our indifferent universe. That search for our big, existential purpose often blinds us from the stuff we actually enjoy and keeps us from being with people that truly matter, in this way, Rick provides some serious catharsis for the audience we see someone who is so disaffected and cynical actually gain enjoyment from being around his friends and family. Its through Rick, that the show tells us too embrace life, revel in it, and ultimately... not take it too seriously. The answer is, don't think about it. In our post modern age, religion, ideology, science and even common values don't always provide a meaning for our existence and it can be extremely isolating. Rick and Morty doesn't suggest that our search for existential meaning won't continue. It only asks, if it's a question worth answering when a meaningful life can be found through friends, family, and new experiences. Indeed, the only thing more terrifying than not existing, or not knowing why you exist is existing and having no one too share it with.

Phew! That took a long damn time to write! I hope you've taken something from this boring text !!

PS: Don't take everything so serious and only do what you love. PSS: Always hate bureaucratics.