COMM 380:  Media Criticism

Over the years, Adult Swim (the late night programming block on Cartoon Network) has been known to broadcast some strange and surreal original series. Some have been quite successful, such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which just finished its final season last year; others not so much. Still, the concentration on such bizarre ideas for original animated series leaves a lot of potential for inventive stories.

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Enter Rick and Morty, a sci-fi animated comedy that revolves around Morty Smith, an awkward teenager who is dragged along on epic adventures through space and time with his scientist grandfather, Rick Sanchez. Every episode highlights a new situation that the two find themselves stuck in, each adventure even more disturbing than the last. Within the realm of the animated world, the possibilities of where this show can go are endless, and that is exactly what creators Justin Roiland (who also voices the titular characters) and Dan Harmon do. Rick and Morty’s use of improvisation not only brings humorous situations from the unknown but also creates vast worlds and scenarios that can bring drastic changes to the characters due to the grounding of human psychology.

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One of the key styles you will notice when watching an episode of Rick and Morty is that the characters find themselves stuttering quite often, especially our “heroes.” Most of the time, these moments occur when the two make observations about their situation and surroundings. This is Roiland utilizing improvisation to his advantage. He still needs to hit important parts in the plot, but has found “moments in each episode that weren’t in the script,” usually when “Rick acts strange or [messes] around” (Roiland, 2014).

 

This is what makes Rick and Morty an interesting show to watch: its use of improv plays with the audience’s expectations. Roiland’s improvisation can also create some relatively funny moments. The episode “Rixty Minutes” is mostly improvised as it follows Rick and Morty watching television broadcasted over multiple dimensions, creating humor from the bizarre and unknown. Throughout the show, you get fake commercials, movie trailers and television series including a cereal commercial of a happy go lucky leprechaun that quickly turns satanic as kids attempt to eat cereal from his insides; a movie about two brothers who fight off an invasion from Mexicans firing tomato guns, old women, cats, and the moon (with the narrator laughing at the ridiculous nature of the premise); and an alternate reality version of Saturday Night Live with such recurring cast members as a piece of toast, a hole in the wall where men can see it all, and Bobby Moynihan (an actual SNL cast member) (Harmon Rick and Morty). All of these scenarios are thought up at the top of Roiland’s hand and are made funny by having the character roll with what’s given. It’s one thing to stare in awe at what’s being improvised, but it’s even funnier to see how the characters enter themselves into this newly established detail, such as Rick casually informing Morty that Bobby Moynihan and the piece of toast actually hate each other.

 

Improvisation also allows for

wild scenarios or characters to be created,

leading to interesting twists and turns in

the story to see how the environment

changes to each given circumstance.

According to the article

“When Cable Met Improv,” this type of

style is allowed because “cable takes

chances, and cable improv shows enjoy

greater artistic freedom than their

broadcast counterparts” (Downey par. 5).

Rick and Morty runs with the worlds and

characters the actors create at the top of

their heads when recording dialogue, animating the improvised sections as they go in beautiful artistic design. They imagine how certain characters look and could affect the main and recurring characters, then build upon established characters to define the world they encounter. One deep example is the fifth episode of the first season, “Meeseeks and Destroy.” In the episode, Rick and Morty have a bet to see if Morty can lead an adventure after a traumatizing experience caused by Rick’s hand. They venture to a fairy tale-esque world where Morty suggests to steal money from a giant in the sky to give back to the poor villagers.

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While it’s clear the plot is on a set track, Roiland clearly makes the environment up as he goes, having Morty refer to some bizarre creatures as “crazy characters” and even creating a type of currency called “schmeckles.” When he establishes the currency used, he gives examples of what 25 schmeckles can cost to hint at the worth of the cash and envelop the audience in the newly established world. For most animated series, this could be a character’s dream come true as they get to explore various worlds, but Rick and Morty does something a little bit different that allows for the audience to realize that science fiction isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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One of the most interesting aspects of Rick and Morty however is how grounded it can be, introducing real life consequences into bizarre sci-fi situations. Characters can actually become traumatized or face threats to their marriage due to Rick’s science shenanigans. Trauma is a key motif that can be found throughout the series. In an analysis of trauma in television, Aris Mousoutzanis states that “trauma is essentially a pathology of memory” (par. 5) which means that Rick and Morty never truly returns to the status quo like most animated series. Actions in one episode can carry over and define the effects of certain characters in the future.

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One example of how basic human psychology is Morty’s exposure to violence. In almost every episode, he is either near or plays a hand in the death of some type of character. During the pilot episode, he fatally shoots an alien bureaucrat in the leg, much to his shock. Later in the series in the episode “Meeseeks and Destroy,” the episode begins with Morty watching shapeshifting demons in the form of his family being forced into a containment field, causing him to vomit during the return home. In “Rick Potion #9,” Morty witnesses sees a corpse of himself as Rick and him enter the new dimension to replace the deceased clones after wrecking their original Earth, resulting in Morty staring blankly with very little emotion. This loss of emotion comes back into play in “Rixty Minutes” when Morty informs the alternate dimension version of his sister, Summer, that he wakes up every morning next to his own grave but has come to move on with life normally anyway. Come “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind,” Morty’s exposure to this violence and loss of empathy has allowed him to stand up and gather a crowd of Mortys from alternate dimensions to gang up against a killer Rick. In the season 2 episode “Mortynight Run,” he reluctantly kills a gaseous being that was intent on destroying the universe after realizing that not everyone can be saved—some people need to die for the safety of others. Finally, this long series of trauma and violence culminates in the penultimate season 2 episode “Look Who’s Purging Now,” in which Morty breaks out into a violent rage against his own conscience both mentally and physically as he slaughters hundreds of cat-like aliens in a celebration resembling that of The Purge (a film about an alternative United States in which all crime, including murder, is legal one night per year), almost going as far to kill Rick before being knocked out.

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What does this long strand of examples from the series show us? It shows that Rick and Morty takes real life consequences with their fantastical sci-fi worlds. In a universe where anything can happen, basic human psychology still plays a prominent role, showing that actions have considerable consequences. This decision to stick to real world psychology applies to the media theory of Social Learning. Through the social learning theory in which “individuals learn by observing the behaviors of others and the consequences of those behaviors” (Hanson 40), audiences can learn just how much exposure to violence can affect someone in the long run just based on Morty’s evolution throughout the series from an innocent child to a ticking time bomb of destruction. The same can be said with many characters from the series. Rick’s depressive and sociopathic state can teach audiences that you need to express how you feel if you’re depressed. Jerry’s, Morty’s father, feeling of worthlessness coming from his realization that he is the same no matter which dimension he is from teaches audiences to attempt to break out of their comfort zone to make a name for themselves instead of staying where they are safe. By showing audience just how damaging the world of science fiction can affect the human brain, audiences everywhere can know just how they can alter their own lives, so they do not end up like the characters they enjoy watching on the screen.

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Rick and Morty is unlike any animated series I’ve ever seen. In fact, I don’t think this show could exist outside the realm of animation. The use of improvisation is something that can lead to vast new worlds, which is something the world of animation can reach. The improv used to create these worlds can also lead to some good, albeit crass, humor as it feeds off the unknown to have the audience laugh at the bizarre creations that are placed on screen. If you love sci-fi and humor, Rick and Morty might be worth a glance. It’s interesting how a show with such a basic premise can also be one of the deepest and funniest shows running on television today as it explores the darkest parts of the human psyche through a crazy amount of scientific adventures.

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Works Cited

 

Downey, K. (2004). When Cable Met Improv. Broadcasting & Cable, 134(14), 14. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e0cfc70b-4532- 42df-9858-bac5684b03a1%40sessionmgr4002&vid=4&hid=4109

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Hanson R.E. (2015). Mass communication: Living in a media world. 5th edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications Inc.

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Harmon, D. (Producer). (2013, December). Rick and morty [Television broadcast]. Atlanta, GA: Williams Street

 

Misra, R., Roiland, J.. (2014, March 14). Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland is here to answer your questions. Retrieved from http://io9.gizmodo.com/rick-and-mortys-justin-roiland-is-here-to- answer-your-1543851149

 

Mousoutzanis, A. (2013). Trauma, memory and information in American sf film and television, 1980-2010. Science Fiction Film & Television, 6(3), 327-348. http://muse.jhu.edu.mutex.gmu.edu/journals/science_fiction_film_and_television/v006/6.3.mous outzanis.html 

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