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I want to start this by saying that I have never It is an excellent show. This Netflix comedy about an American Indian girl surfing in high school could be Mindy Kaling’s best work yet Office the students created the show with Lang Fisher and wrote a couple of episodes), but I have a complaint with I have never: their Rick and Morty joke.
It is increasingly common to see the use of other programs and movies Rick and Morty As an abbreviation for the toxic culture of white men, and while that is definitely accurate for at least some of the fans, it has also become a lazy way for writers to tell you everything you need to know about your less personable character. .
Warning: light spoilers for a specific scene in I have neversixth episode.
In I have never, the joke appears in Episode 6, titled “… he’s been the loneliest kid in the world,” which shifts the focus from our protagonist Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) to her nerdy rival from high school Ben. We quickly learn that Ben’s life is not that good either, even if he is wealthy and his father is a Hollywood attorney for celebrities like Kanye West. Then comes the Rick and Morty joke.
It is not enough to reveal that Ben is a sad loner whose parents are too busy for him. To really understand what a lame white guy is, we learn that he also spends his free time talking about Rick and Morty on Reddit To be fair, that’s not exactly cool high school behavior, especially when we see him complain that the show’s dedicated subreddit has focused too much on memes and not fan theories (yeah, I feel a bit seen here, but let’s move on).
Ben starts chatting with another Rick and Morty fan with the username TheRealPickleRick69 and decide to meet up at a local pizza parlor to watch basketball. But when Ben appears, it turns out that his new friend is a middle-aged man who was born in 1969. It’s a twist we definitely saw coming, but the joke is not over yet.
Rick (that’s his real name) says he just wants a brother to do Rick and Morty jokes with “I joked about getting a Mister Meseeks for the office and my coworkers looked at me like I was a total Jerry,” he says. Ben replies that Rick and Morty are quite apart in age and sits down with his new friend. Seconds later, the final twist hits: Rick is actually an old pervert who wants to see Ben blow his pizza, and Ben leaves from there.
There is nothing inherently offensive about I have never making a silly joke at the expense of Rick and Morty amateurs. It’s a fandom that has been shown to be surprisingly toxic both online and offline, harassing female writers on the show and practically sparking riots at McDonald’s when a special Szechuan promotional sauce ran out. It is also a very popular program that can handle some hits (Mindy Kaling is hitting here, not below).
The problem, however, is that making fun of whites for pleasure Rick and Morty it just feels rancid. It wasn’t so funny when American Vandal I did it in 2018, and now it’s a lot less fun. Having two pesky bros actually making a meaningful connection might have been interesting, but portraying fans of the show as two-dimensional trolls is played out and not original.
Then again maybe I have never is trying to make a point with his Rick and Morty burn. In a show focused on a trio of non-white high school girls, it makes sense for the white boy to get the most basic backstory. Sure she’s sad and her parents ignore it, but it’s not very three-dimensional, especially compared to Desi and her friends. Reducing her most prominent white male character to a silly cartoon she likes could be a clever dig in the way other shows and movies have stereotyped minorities and women for decades.
Maybe i’m giving I have never Too much credit Or maybe not enough? Or maybe Rick and Morty Fans just have to accept that until some other hugely popular geek show comes along, we’ll have to get used to being the butt of lazy pranks on TV shows we all know can improve.
I have never is now streaming on Netflix.
