Rick and Morty - S1E8 - Something Ricked This Way Comes (part 2 of a 2 part analysis)
Business continues. Rick tries to respond to a customer. He tries to deal with the Employee Health Plan documents that an employee hands him. He’s a bit flustered. He suddenly realizes this isn’t nearly as much fun without his competition in the picture. So he douses the place in gasoline and announces: “I just got bored. Everybody out.” He lights a match and drops it behind him as he walks out, setting the place ablaze with unserved customers still inside. These customers are left holding their cursed items–but the good news is that the curses don’t come into effect unless you use the items (at least that seems to be the case with the items we’ve seen). However, do the customers know this? If not, they may figure: well, since I’m cursed anyway, might as well use the item.
So it appears that neither the Devil nor Rick were in business for the money. Instead, Rick was just having fun fucking with Mr. Needful. For the most part, this capitalistic competition between Rick and the Devil played out like any other capitalistic competition–the bigger dog eats the smaller dog, and the smaller dog goes out of business–but it’s an unorthodox way of doing business, to say the least, for the competition not to be over money, and to be honest, I’m still at a loss to understand what the writers of Rick and Morty were trying to get at by tossing money out the window as the prime motivator driving each party.
Not that Rick made no money–he probably made a ton–but this is an interesting aspect of Rick’s character, and I personally have wondered about it even before seeing this episode: Rick could easily–easily–make a killing with any one of his inventions, or any clever ploy whatsoever. There is no question that he has the genius to make tons of money like it was child’s play. The AI robot he invented in the beginning, for example, is a goldmine for a fortune if Rick only decided to mass produce them and sell them on the open market. But he doesn’t seem to care one iota. Instead, he lives rent free in the Smith’s house and eats their food, as Summer so poignantly pointed out, essentially taking advantage of his daughter’s daddy issues. Why? Is it because he literally doesn’t care… about anything… even money… even his own material status? I’m not sure. For sure, this is a very clear theme that keeps repeating throughout the series, and not in any surreptitious way, but I’m not sure that a nihilistic outlook on life, even if it leads one to not care about anything, would result in no desire for material possessions and wealth.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwCrvBwG2Gg[/youtube]
Besides the narcissistic vanity that Jerry displays in this scene–concerned mainly with adjusting his bow tie, plucking his nose hairs, etc.–there are a few things to note from his commentary: first, he begins with “All right, just one more rally, then I promise, we’ll get back to your science project.” ← His fame comes ahead of his son’s school. Second, in response to Morty letting the cat out of the bag about the plutonium conspiracy, Jerry says “Are you telling me that 4 billion Plutonians are wrong?” ← Just earlier in the episode, he thought he was doing “real science” by disagreeing with 7 billion Earthlings. Finally, when Morty tries to warning his dad that “their whole planet is dying,” all that matters to Jerry is that Morty called it a planet, calling “check mate” as if this were a word game (which he just finished saying they shouldn’t debase themselves with). He is so obsessed with showing up even his own son that it totally eclipses the fact that his son is trying to tell him something, something that’s obviously important to him.
This last part is also another example of Jerry’s mentality working at the level of mere associations rather than at the level of actual logic. Just because Morty inadvertently calls it a planet, Jerry mistakenly takes this as a “check mate”–as in, Morty lost the debate, that his argument doesn’t stand. But of course, there is no logical connection between the two–between Morty’s calling it a planet and it’s actual status as a planet–nothing is proven by this yet Jerry thinks this settles the matter.
Jerry steps out of the limo to a cheering crowd of fans–it’s like a red carpet scene at the Oscars, like he’s a regular Tom Cruise. Cut to inside: Jerry is mingling and schmoozing with (presumably) Pluto’s rich and famous–an elegant and high class crowd in any case. Taking the risk of ruining Jerry’s fun, Morty approaches his dad and out loud so that everyone can hear, asks him: “Dad, what did you think about the recent report published by the Pluto Science Reader linking… [pulls out card]… Plutoquakes, sinkholes, and surface shrinkage to deep c-core plutonium drilling?!” Jerry takes a moment to think: “Well son, what did you think when you were five and you pooped your pants and you threw your poopy undies out the window because you thought it was like throwing something in the garbage.” The crowd laughs, joining Jerry in his mockery of his son. Again, his own fame takes precedence over listening to his son–to the point where he’s willing to embarrass him in front of a whole crowd of people. Looking dejected, Morty simply replies “Good one, dad.” and walks off.
Back at the Smith’s house, Rick comes home. It’s an empty household. He peers into Morty’s room: “Hey Morty, you wanna go on a…” Morty’s not there. He enters the kitchen: “Hey Beth, hello?” No answer. He even seeks out Jerry: “Hey Jerry, you in here being stupid?” But Jerry’s not in the living room. Next scene, he’s at the dining room table eating a microwaved meal. His AI robot drops a whole bar of butter into the peas. “Hey, you know,” Rick says, “I was thinking, uh, you know, I might want to watch a movie.” The robot replies: “I am not programmed for friendship.” “Suit yourself,” Rick says. Then Morty comes home. The lights from outside indicate he was dropped off in a space ship. “Hey!” Rick says with an excited tone, happy to see his grandson, then clears his throat, “Hey,” ← less enthusiastically, “w-w-w-what’s going on?” “Um, listen,” Morty says, “can you help me do the stupid science fair project?” “Whatever,” Rick says.
This is exactly what Rick said the first time Morty asked if he would help with his science fair project. Now we know he’s masking the fact that he actually cares. All this searching around the house for someone to hang out with, even his AI robot, indicates that on some level, to some degree, he does in fact value his relationships with his family members. This includes Summer and it suggests that all the emphasis he put on how much he doesn’t care was just another mask. (It’s funny how this parallels Jerry almost perfectly in the sense that they both mask inner passions that would make them more likable if they’d only let them show.) In fact, this whole scene–coming home to an empty house, looking for companionship–is symbolic of the substitute theme going on in this episode: Rick has been substituted–first by Jerry mentoring Morty in science, and second by Mr. Needful playing the roll of the caring grandfather figure–what’s left in Rick’s life is emptiness and loneliness.
Back on Pluto, Jerry is hanging out in private quarters with king Flippy Nips. He’s being groomed in front of a mirror, wearing something like a medallion. King Flippy Nips informs us that this is the Pluto-bell prize, the highest honor a scientist can receive. Then the police come in carrying Scroopy Noopers in handcuffs. King Nips orders them to take Noopers to “Plutonamo Bay”. Being dragged off, Noopers’ final words are: “You can’t kill the truth, father.” Jerry’s kind of taken aback by this. He didn’t expect Scroopy Noopers to be king Nips’s son. He questions this. Nips says in response: “The young eat the old if you let them, Jerry. Pluto is a cold, cold celestial dwarf.” “It’s a what?” questions Jerry. “Huh? Oh, planet! Ha! Ho! Pluto is a cold, cold planet! That’s what I meant.”
^ Two things are happening here: 1) this sudden realization that king Nips and Scroopy Noopers share a father/son relation reminds Jerry of his own relations to his son: both involve a father insisting that Pluto’s a planet while the son vehemently opposes this position. 2) This sudden realization that Pluto’s status as a planet might actually be a conspiracy after all (hinted at by king Nips’ slip up) indicates the lengths king Nips would go to to keep up the secrecy of this conspiracy (i.e. that he would send his own son to Plutonamo Bay). These two realizations hit Jerry pretty hard. He suddenly sees himself as just like king Nips: a tyrannical father neglecting his own son for his own personal fame a glory–which he now knows is all based on a lie.
One might also note that king Nip’s slip up–calling Pluto a “cold, cold dwarf” instead of a “planet”–is exactly the same kind of word game he found himself playing earlier with Morty–Morty might have well said: “Oh, their whole dwarf is dying. That’s what I meant.” It seems then that Jerry is sort of honoring his principles here: if he stood by the principle, in his word game with Morty, that what the person says is what they meant–then he has to do the same here: king Nips called it a dwarf so it must be a dwarf. Now, he also goes on to say he meant to call it a planet, and maybe Jerry applied his own principles to that, but it’s clear that these sudden realizations on Jerry’s part–comparing his reaction to Morty calling it a planet, and his reaction to king Nips calling it a dwarf–get him think.
We cut to Jerry giving a speech behind a podium in front of a whole crowd of Plutonians. It’s a lead up to his acceptance speech for the Pluto-bell prize. The banner above the podium reads: “MASTER OF ALL SCIENCE”. Jerry begins his speech: “Pluto… is…” He looks down at his cue card. It reads: “PLUTO = PLANET”. He looks into the audience. His eye catches a father Plutonian carrying his son on his shoulders (who even has hair like Morty’s). Jerry’s eyes well up with tears. He sighs. He says finally: “…not a planet.” The crowd hisses and boos. Jerry gets pummeled with shoes, tomatoes, and other objects. “It’s not a planet!” Jerry says, “I’m an idiot and I love my son!”
This is what I meant in the intro to this post when I said Jerry would man up near the end of this episode, but more as a father than as a husband or lover. Not only is Jerry mustering up the strength to rise above his own ego for the sake of his son, but he’s doing so despite the immanence of his deepest desires being fulfilled. If he couldn’t admit to being wrong when Morty googled that Pluto wasn’t a planet, imagine how hard it must be for Jerry to admit that now that the stakes are so much higher. If winning an award for Hungry for Apples made him feel “finally complete,” imagine how intense the sense of completion he’s now giving up for the sake of his son. However shitty a father we take Jerry to be, rejecting this award for Morty’s sake is probably one of the hardest things he’s ever done, which is certainly a form of “manning up” if there ever was one.
Six hours after Rick burns Curse Purge Plus down, Summer and Mr. Needful have completely restructured Needful Things. It has gone digital, becoming an internet presence at n33dful.com. Mr. Needful announces this in front of a small handful of people (presumably employees or some such) in a room that looks something like an Apple store:
Looking at his phone, Mr. Needful suddenly announces that they just got bought by Google. The crowd cheers.
Summer hugs him. “I’m so proud of you, Lucius,” she says, “Sooo, how much did we make?” Mr. Needful chuckles: “We… This is my business.” He pushes her away and calls security. A big thug comes in and hikes Summer over his shoulder: “You’re Zuckerberging me?” “I was Zuckerberging people before Zuckerberg’s balls dropped. I’m the Devil biatch!” He does the rock 'n roll sign with his fingers.
He then jumps up on the shelf behind him, grabbing the fiddle that’s lying there, and starts playing it while doing a jig of some sort. ← Not sure what that signifies, but for some reason, when I watched it as part of my analysis for this post, it seemed obvious that this was another allusion to leprechauns. Now it doesn’t. Not sure why I made the connection. Maybe fiddle music reminds me of Irish culture which reminds me of Leprechauns. In any case, I thought of it as another link between Leprechauns and demons. If I’m not just going schizo, then there seems to be something to this connection in the minds of the writers–maybe an underhanded way of making fun of the 1993 B-movie horror Leprechaun.
This is the ultimate betrayal. Summer goes out of her way to help the Devil–the Devil–standing by his side when no one else would–and he Zuckerbergs her. He seemed like such a sweet old man on the surface, as if he’d give her the world, but he turned out to be, well, the predictable spawn of evil that the Devil is. (I think we are to presume that this is how Summer helps him–that he needed her to bring him to the level of a big time corporation worthy of being bought by Google–otherwise why would he only now Zuckerberg her. Not sure how she helped him–maybe by bringing him into the modern era with technologies like the internet, iPhones, etc.–you know, all the things the kids now-a-days are into.) This is a nice contrast with Rick’s behavior. He acts all rude and uncaring, like he wouldn’t lift a finger for Summer, but this is masking a fondness for his granddaughter that isn’t immediately obvious, a fondness we will get to see more overtly as the episode draws near to the end.
On another note, when Summer says “How much did we make?” what did she mean? How much what? Money? Curses? If they just got bought by Google, did Google just get royally cursed? If Google paid with money, then what did they buy? Presumably, n33dful.com is like Amazon or some shit like that where you can order anything you want online… for free?.. and later get cursed? Is Google now going to be responsible for this? Does Google even know they’d be selling cursed items? Making money and screwing people over at the same time? And what value would Google have seen in antiques and old weird trinkets that one can buy on the internet anyway (regardless of whether they’re aware of the curses or not)?
Oh, and when Mr. Needful hopped onto the shelf and started playing the fiddle, wasn’t he using one of his own cursed items? Is this gonna be like Summer using the monkey’s paw–she gets off scott free?
Meanwhile, Jerry is dropped off by the Plutonians (literally) right at his doorstep. His tuxedo is torn, he’s got a black eye, and he’s walking with a limp. He bursts in on Morty in his room. Morty, closing his laptop in a panic, which is covering his crotch (no pants on), says to his dad in a startled tone:
“Oh, uh, oh, uh, hey dad! Um, what are you doing back from Pluto so-so quick?”
Jerry: “Ahhh, some people just can’t handle the truth. Especially dummies like me. Morty, I’m not as smart as your grandpa Rick, but I promise never to make that your problem again.”
Morty [as Jerry closes the door]: “Hey dad, nobody’s smarter than Rick. But nobody else is my dad. You’re a genius at that.”
Jerry: “Wow, that’s humbling and flattering, son. Thank you… Let’s say we finish ourselves an 8 planet solar system.”
Morty: “Um, I think I’m just gonna take this thing in [holds up a zip lock bag with Rick’s AI robot inside] and get an A.”
Jerry: “But-”
Morty: “You’re a genius at being my dad, dad. Quit while you’re ahead…”
Morty continues by adding that he should knock next time (for obvious reasons).
It’s amazing how easily Jerry is swayed by a bit of patronizing (calling him a genius at being his dad is like calling a chair a genius as being a chair). It’s also amazing what becomes obvious once one let’s down his ego. When Jerry admitted to Morty that he’s not the smartest man in the world, and that he can’t take the truth, and that it was a shitty thing to do to his son, this seems so clear to him now? Why? Because once you let go of the ego, once you give up your agenda for fame and fortune and whathaveyou, there’s no longer any need to remain in denial about anything.
On the other, I don’t think Morty is quite aware of what his dad did for him on Pluto. I mean, Jerry does hint at it by saying “some people just can’t handle the truth, especially dummies like me,” but I don’t think that makes it immediately obvious what happened. Therefore, even if Morty is patronizing his father by telling him he’s a genius at being his dad, he has no idea how much Jerry actually excelled at being a good dad back on Pluto. The only reason he failed at all other times was because he was trying to be a science genius like Rick instead.
Summer walks in on Rick in the living room. The lights are off and he’s watching Ball Fondlers. She switches on the lights. Her mascara is running down her face. She’s obviously been crying.
Rick: “How’s your pretend grandpa doing–a.k.a. the Devil?” [turns off the TV as if to pay attention]
Summer: “He dumped me.”
Rick: “Oof, sorry.” [puts down his drink as though to take this seriously]
Summer [sitting next to him on the couch]: “Did we learn a lesson here I’m not seeing?”
Rick: “Hmm, not sure.”
Summer: “Maybe in a much bigger way, Mr. Needful gave us both what we really wanted? Because I was always jealous of you hanging out with Morty and you didn’t realize how much you valued my approval?”
Rick: “No, that’s dumb.” Summer at the same time: “No, not satisfying.”
Rick: “I’ll tell you what though: If-i-if-i-if-it’s satisfaction you’re after, I think I might have an idea. [leans in to whisper something in her ear]”
As much as they both disagree on Summer’s stab at the take home lesson, she’s more or less bang on: Mr. Needful did give them something that they wanted, at least for a short while: a substitute grandpa for Summer (Rick even calls him her “pretend grandpa”), and a wake up call to Rick–that he really does value her approval. After all, Rick really had no reason to be such an asshole to Mr. Needful from the beginning. The fact that he suspected Mr. Needful of being the Devil shouldn’t have bothered a man who doesn’t care about anything. But dropping Summer off at his shop right after hearing, in a passive-aggressive tone, that he’s a “really smart, eccentric old man that treats her nice and values her,” must have triggered a bit of jealousy. Being such an asshole to Mr. Needful, then, is an expression of being an over-protective grandpa. He’s looking for dirt on Mr. Needful in order to show that he’s not such a great substitute grandpa after all, and he’s being over-protective of Summer in order to show that he can look after her better than Mr. Needful can.
Yet his attempts to hide this–with his nonchalant attitude and his I-don’t-care act–backfires–it only drives Summer further away. Just like his “whatever” to Morty’s request for help on his science fair project leads Morty to lean more on his dad for help. Even Rick’s response to Jerry–that “scientifically, traditions are an idiot thing”–could be construed as a subtle attempt to win Morty back over to him. Again, the contrast is obvious: while Rick is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, the Devil is warm on the outside but cold on the inside. And while this has Summer going for a while, it turns out in the end that Rick is really her true friend, as the following scene makes clear:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBILI3biheQ[/youtube]
Again, this echoes the conservative theme of the greedy selfish capitalist seeming like a monster at first but really benefiting everyone in the long run vs. the seemingly compassionate and humanitarian socialist really harming everyone in the long run. And if the analogy here is even more penetrating, it might mean that, like Rick, the capitalist actually cares (he actually wants to benefit everyone in the end, and the initial focus on money and the Machiavellian methods is just a temporary measure taken to achieve a greater philanthropic good), and like the Devil, the socialist doesn’t give a shit about anyone (he talks about taking care of the poor and treating everyone equally, but this is just a ploy to manipulate the people into raising him into a position of power).
If this is a fair analogy, maybe the Devil doesn’t represent the greedy ruthless capitalist after all–that is, in the sense of being the conservative’s hero–but maybe represents the archetypal liberal from the conservative point of view. Sure, he’s the smaller fish that gets eaten by the bigger fish, and I’m sure his roll as a capitalist must be symbolic of the typical players on the free market that conservatives want to support, but maybe symbolizing at the same time the evil liberal is why his business didn’t run on money but on people’s souls. That is to say, the greedy capitalist may be selfish and uncaring, but at least he’s only interested in money–meaning that there’s always the opportunity in principle for the consumer or the employee to cut a deal with him that benefits them both–but the power hungry liberal is interested in power over people–that is, human souls. For him, money is only a means. The ends are human beings. Cutting a deal that benefits them both doesn’t work: cutting a deal implies a certain level of autonomy on both sides, a certain degree of freedom for each party to reason with the other–but if what one is interested in is control over another’s soul, he wants to strip the other entirely of his freedom and autonomy, and therefore any opportunity to cut a deal is lost since the former calls all the shots over the latter.
If this is the correct interpretation, then I was wrong to say that Morty’s comment earlier–about the word “retarded” being just a symbolic issue for powerful groups who think they’re doing the right thing–is an insertion on the part of the writers to signal that this episode is not only pro-conservative but anti-liberal–at least in the sense that it’s the only spot they thought convenient to insert such a message. The Devil selling creepy items in exchange for curses is a huge symbol for the evil liberal. But still, if this is correct, it’s not obvious. Therefore, the insertion of Morty’s comment may still be warranted for the same reasons I suggested.
In any case, I like how this episode ends. For the first time in the series, Rick and Summer get to bond (just as Rick and Morty bonded over interdimensional cable in the last episode). This didn’t quite happen in Raising Gazorpazorp–Rick and Summer just got themselves out of a sticky situation, came home, and Summer tried to sum up their adventure in some kind of all-encompassing lesson which Rick brushed off, but no obvious bonding occurred. (It’s funny–in both episodes, Summer tries to sum up the lesson they are supposed to have learned and Rick brushes it off–in this episode, Summer brushing it off too.)
Makes you wonder whether Rick really is evil or not. He’s a selfish, insensitive Prick for sure, but we’ve seen several times in the series that underneath that, there is still a bit of a warm heart–unlike the Devil who shows a warm heart superficially, but on the inside his heart is ice cold. Yet Rick outsmarts him in the capitalist game, insinuating that he’s the more evil demon. ← Well, maybe this is the wrong interpretation. Rick was just being overprotective of his granddaughter, and he simply proved to be the more intelligent player at this game. ← Maybe that’s all we should read into this. There is always a tendency in any competition for us to feel sorry for the loser, for the underdog–especially in Summer’s eyes–and maybe this is the only reason we see Rick as more evil than the Devil in this episode. I mean, we know he’s not a nice guy to begin with, so thinking of him as in the right is not really in the initial picture anyway. This makes it easy for us to think of Rick as the greater Devil, but maybe he’s the same old Rick from every other episode and it’s just his intelligence that’s being shown to be greater in this episode (perhaps making him seem more threatening–but that’s not the same as evil).
On the other hand, you never know with Rick. There are plenty of occasions in the series when what seemed like good intentions or an act of kindness on Rick’s part turned out to have ulterior motives behind it. In fact, we’ll get an excellent example of this in the next episode: Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I only have one final thought: Summer’s final line after they beat the shit out of the Devil: “Sometimes what you really need is for someone else to pay a horrible price,” kind of reminds me of the Christian concept of the ransom–that is, the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of man–that he paid the horrible price for someone else’s sins. But what does this imply in Summer’s case? It would seem to imply that there was a horrible price for Summer to pay. Getting Zuckerberged? It also implies that she paid a price for something. What exactly? Is it that being Zuckerberged was a curse after all? And a curse for what? The monkey’s paw or helping the Devil get back on his feet? ← Summer did, after all, compare the act of helping him with everyone else getting Mr. Needful’s merchandise–“Everyone in this town got something they wanted from you, even Rick!”–so presumably Mr. Needful letting her help him was like giving away one of his cursed items–something he was not about to give away for free; but like I said, if being Zuckerberged was a “curse” it certainly wasn’t supernatural, and it didn’t come to pass on its own accord like all the other curses–Mr. Needful deliberately made it happen. And if this was a curse, it shoots down my theory that acts of kindness don’t come with curses, leaving the mystery of the monkey’s paw unexplained.
On another note, this betrayal on the part of the Devil and the final act of revenge might actually symbolize the take home message of the entire episode: the fact that being Zuckerberged wasn’t supernatural might just highlight what Rick understood all along: that there really is no such thing as the supernatural, and that if you look at the details of the situation (like looking under a microscope) you find that there are natural mechanism at work after all. And then when Rick and Summer take revenge on Mr. Needful, they do it with science. In fact, there’s the scene in which Summer and Rick inject themselves with Rick’s pink serum, like doing steroids:
It’s the same serum he used on Mr. Goldenfold to give him back his erections, suggesting that this is indeed an antidote to a curse. It’s funny how all Rick’s technology, like the crystalized zanthinite that he plugged into the cable box in the last episode, is based on some pink substance.
In any case, you could even say that the building up of muscles in order to kick the shit out of the Devil is symbolic: it’s symbolic of the brute physical forces of scientific reality–unlike the mysterious forces of magic–and the take home message is: the former triumphs over the latter.
PHILOSOPHICAL SPRINGBOARDS:
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Science vs. magic: There is absolutely no explicit mention or indication in this episode that the Devil’s curses are anything but magic–not phenomena that only seem like magic on the surface–like floods and earthquakes must have been to the ancients–but underneath are really explained by natural forces; no, for all intents and purposes, we are to understand that Mr. Needful, the Devil, deals in black magic through-and-through. Yet, at the same time, Rick somehow figures it out–he figures out, using the methods of science, how the Devil’s “Twilight Zone Ray Bradbury Friday the 13th the series voodoo crap magic” actually works–that is, naturally, scientifically. In fact, he not only builds a few technological innovations on it, but a thriving business. This must mean there are natural forces beneath the surface. How could science discover the secrets of some mysterious phenomenon–and build a technology out of it–unless it came from that which science studies: nature? Indeed, the device we see Rick using to study the golden microscope–the one that allegedly “reveals things beyond comprehension”–almost looks like another–bigger, more advanced, more bad ass–microscope (with green lasers instead of a lens, but still…); Rick’s very question: “Does evil exist, and if so, can one detect and measure it?” is answered by himself: “Yes, you just have to be a genius.” Rick knows, in other words, that the golden microscope doesn’t really run on magic–it runs on a set of rules, like the laws of physics–otherwise, there would be no way to detect or measure it–instead, any attempt to detect or measure the effects of the microscope would only yield unpredictable and chaotic results. But this is not what Rick’s studies yield–they yield a certain law of cause-and-effect: use microscope → become retarded. If this law holds consistently, then not only does Rick detect and measure evil (he detects Mr. Needful’s evil intentions, not the microscope’s), but it reveals that it isn’t really magic after all–it just happens to be a (very rare) law that, on occasion, can occur in the natural world. For if magic didn’t run on a set of rule–Harry Potter waves his magic wand and utters “leviosa”, tables and chair levitate off the ground–there would be no way to control it. Just the fact that the art of practicing magic is possible (at least in fairy tales) indicates that there is an order to it and therefore must be a part of nature.
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Conservatism vs. liberalism: I think in no other episode is the dialectic between conservatism and liberalism more pronounced than in this one, and it is exemplified in the capitalist competition between Rick and the Devil. Both are pictured, at least on the surface, as the archetypal greedy, selfish, ruthless capitalist who, when pitted against another greedy, selfish, ruthless capitalist, improves life for all. But this improvement of life for all only becomes possible when Needful Things is not the only business in town. Before Rick enters the picture, Needful Things is like a monopoly–or like the power hungry liberal who wants total control over society (however much he claims it’s for the purpose of improving life for everyone)–for the liberal agenda of handing power over to government in order to enable it to control the lives of the people (allegedly for the purpose of “improving life” for everyone) is the ultimate monopoly–virtually no one left to compete with them thereby holding them accountable. This is nicely symbolized by the Devil selling his merchandise for curses–that is, souls. For if the Devil would only exchange his items for money, Rick and him could work together–he could say: Look Rick, I’ve got a relatively profitable business, but it has one downfall: though I sell my items for money, they curse people. If you would just go into business removing the curses, we could make a fortune. We’d be complimentary businesses–not competitive ones. But instead, curses being the Devil’s primary currency, the removal of them by Curse Purge Plus puts him out of business. It’s surprising that word of mouth itself doesn’t do this–I mean, as soon as a few customers go through the experience of being cursed, I’m sure the word would spread not to shop at Needful Things (never mind Rick setting up shop right across the street). This might not be the case if Mr. Needful’s curses were at least compatible with the benefits of the items he sold–for example, a microscope that gave you terrible diarrhea–for in that case, would could conceivably decide: meh, it’s worth seeing things beyond comprehension–but if it makes you retarded, how are you going to comprehend anything–even high school physics? ← It makes the benefits not worth having at all. This is just like selling your soul for your deepest desires. What good is the fulfillment of your deepest desires if your soul is owned–that is, when the new owner of your soul can decide, whenever he wants to, to take away your ability to enjoy that which you desire. This is like the Marxist government promising to deliver the utopia of equality and justice for all, only to take away your freedom such that you can’t really enjoy it. It’s reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin’s quote “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” ← Giving up one’s autonomy to another, even if it’s for the sake of security (as if they will protect you), most often results in losing both one’s freedom and one’s security–a raw deal in which nothing is enjoyed and everything is lost.
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The Fable of the Bees: the idea that a community of people acting selfishly and in their own interest is the best way to incur happiness and well-being for all is most commonly attributed to Bernard Mandeville’s poem The Grumbling Hive–it’s a poem about a swarm of bees who live luxuriously off the vices of its members–lying, cheating, stealing–and when the king bee puts an end to all this corruption, ridding the swarm of all malicious members, it is left only with bees who are too nice to compete with each other, and so the swarm stagnates. The poem pivots on the idea that trying to be nice on the surface is really a mask for dangerous malicious intentions, and what seems to be malicious intent on the surface is really just the following of one’s own passions which happen to benefit others. This is precisely what we see in the characters of Rick and the Devil–the Devil goes out of his way to appear charming, kind, gentle, etc.–but underneath is really focused on causing harm to others. Meanwhile Rick goes out of his way to be rude, arrogant, and mean spirited–but underneath actually cares for the people around him. He doesn’t go out of his way to show that he cares–rather, he just follows his passions–and in the end this proves to be beneficial not only to the potential victims of Needful Things but to Summer as well in her time of need (the fact that he cares does get a chance to come through as one of the passions he follows–what with getting all beefed up with Summer to beat the shit out of the Devil, sharing a bonding moment with her). How is it really with the typical capitalist? Is he really a greedy, power hungry sociopath, or does he actually want to make the world a better place and he’s just smart enough to realize that the only way to do so is to build up capital and make a small fortune, which does require some initial cut-throat methods and a few casualties. After all, a capitalist who can benefit others and improve the state of society must be happier than a capitalist whose career harms people, for the former knows the people will want more of his business and latter knows the people will want less. And even if this isn’t true, should we as a society simply let the capitalist follow his passions? After all, if he’s just interested in his own financial gain, then at least that leaves others to preserve their autonomy, unlike those who want power over people, forcing everyone to “be nice” like the bees who were without vice.
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Manning Up: What is it to be a man? So far, Jerry has “manned up” three times in the series. First, in Meeseeks and Destroy when Beth whispered those 3 sweet words into his ear: I love you. Second, in Rick Potion #9, when, out of pure rage, he became a bad ass mantis/Cronenberg killing machine. And now in Something Ricked This Way Comes he mans up by putting his ego aside so as to become a better father. ← This one’s unique in a way. This is the only one in which Jerry mans up by putting his ego aside. In Meeseeks and Destroy, he manned up (got a hole-in-one instead of cowering in the meat locker) for his own personal glory in the eyes of his wife. In Rick Potion #9, he mans up as a matter of personal survival. He also does it for the sake of saving the woman he loves–Beth–but he’d have to man up for the sake of his own survival anyway–that is, even if he didn’t want to save Beth–so I say this manning up wasn’t quite selfless like his manning up in Something Ricked. In this episode, there is no question that he sacrificed everything for his son–there was nothing selfish about it. What do all three of these have in common? They all involve a man suddenly recognizing what he has to do–what the right thing to do is–and stepping up to the plate to do it. In Meeseeks and Destroy and Rick Potion #9, this involved overcoming cowardice and finding courage. In the current episode, it was purely a moral challenge–choosing the right thing to do over the desirable thing. ← This is what it is to be a man. It is having the courage to both recognize what is right and to do it. And really, when put this way, it has nothing to do with being male. It’s more about what it is to be grown up.
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Internal vs. External Validation: this was a prominent philosophical theme in M. Night Shaym-Aliens! and it shows up–almost under exactly the same circumstances (i.e. Jerry experiences extreme celebrity status)–in this episode as well. For sure, Jerry sacrificed external validation near the end of this one, but is that replaced by internal validation… or does Jerry just feel a loss? It seemed to require Morty to suggest the perspective that he’s a genius at being his dad, to which Jerry says “that’s humbling and flattering, son. Thank you,” suggesting he didn’t think of this himself. But he could. Rather than endure the loss of fame and glory, he could tell himself–amidst all the boos, hisses, and being pummeled by shoes and getting a black eye–that he’s a better man for it, that he stepped up to the plate and did what a good father does. ← That might make him feel better about himself–serving as the internal validation that he so desperately lacks–perhaps a small stepping stone towards feeling “finally complete” by way of internal recognition and approval. But it’s not clear that Jerry has any capacity for internal validation–not yet anyway.
(In fact, I’m not even sure Rick has the capacity for internal validation; he certainly doesn’t care for external validation, but I don’t think that means he thinks very highly of himself internally; he expresses a lot of egoism on the surface, but as we’ve seen in this episode, that tends to be a mask–I think he’s just empty on the inside. And I’m beginning to think that Rick and Jerry are almost exactly the same character, and really the only difference turns out to be their intelligence. ← But I think that makes all the difference in the world.)