"Nobody gets me."
Rick Sanchez doesn’t feel like an old man.
"I-I-I'm driven by finding that McNugget sauce."
Despite all his experiences, and his looks,
Rick comes off like an immature college student,
making jokes about Adderall and porn,
"God do I need to take more Adderall or am I taking too much Adderall?"
spending hours watching interdimensional cable,
and abandoning his son-in-law, Jerry, at a daycare center
so he can play arcade games.
"An entire afternoon at Blips and Chitz!"
Far from reflecting the age group he appears to belong to,
Rick’s attitude is actually a mirror of the late adolescent
mindset of Rick and Morty’s core demographic.
The "Rick stage" around your late teens and early 20s
is when your brain is at the peak of its powers,
life feels full of adventure,
and you might sometimes think you’re the smartest person
in the multiverse.
"I’ve got a lot of enemies in the universe
that consider my genius a threat."
You’re fixated on uncovering the deep existential truths
of the universe, and it can be empowering to reject societal norms
and expand your world views —
but your lack of long-term planning can lead to very bad decisions,
and the cynicism that makes you feel wise
may sometimes come off as immature.
"Now I haven’t been exactly subtle about how little I trust marriage,
I couldn’t make it work and I can turn a black hole into a sun."
Most people eventually trade in this late-adolescent "Rick stage"
of arrogant independence for grown-up responsibility and commitment,
but that does require sacrifice.
Rick and the viewers who relate to him may not know, or want to know,
who they are behind their grandiose sense of self.
"Maybe I don’t connect because I’m the Rickest Rick there is."
Here’s our take on how Rick Sanchez, the oldest adolescent in the galaxy,
personifies this particular moment of life
right before we cave to adulthood.
"Nothing you do matters! Your existence is a lie!"
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One of Rick’s defining personality traits
is his commitment to non-commitment,
or his refusal to plan for the long term.
"I’ll just cure it and then-- ok, well,
I can’t cure death. This is bad Morty,
you’re trapped in a dead man."
We see this when he clones his daughter, Beth,
so she can have the option to leave her family
and responsibilities behind,
and then he immediately erases his own memory
of which Beth is the original.
"You literally don’t even know which of your daughters is real?
Of course you don’t. Why am I surprised?"
This avoidance of the long term effects of his actions
is a hallmark of the "Rick stage" of life mindset.
Inverse’s Eleanor Cummins explains that it’s not until the age of 25
that long term planning abilities kick into gear,
as this is the age when the brain’s prefrontal cortex is
fully developed; quote:
"By quarter-life, most of us have figured out
how to control our impulses, plan and prioritize well,
and organize our lives in a way that gets us to our end goals.
We have, in short, grown up."
"I learned today, something important,
the teenage mind is it’s own worst enemy"
In Rick’s mind, this commitment to non-commitment
is indicative of his freedom and independence.
Whereas all the other Ricks in the multiverse band together
to create the Trans-Dimensional Council of Ricks -
and relatedly treat Beth with far more maturity and respect.
"Delicious!" "Beth, you’re a treasure."
Rick C-137 shuns this collective enterprise.
"You wanted to be safe from the Government
so you became a stupid Government,
that makes every Rick here less Rick than me."
That desire for unbridled freedom is attractive when you’re young
and the idea of giving it up can be scary.
The show often paints Rick as bold and powerful
while middle-aged Jerry is weak and insecure,
so it is easy for viewers to associate Rick’s attitude with freedom
and Jerry’s commitments with mediocrity.
"Okay, Jerry... Big pitch meeting. Make-or-break time.
You can do this."
But ultimately, Rick isn’t a happy person.
He’s addicted to alcohol,
"If drinks are on you,you’re gonna need a second mortgage on that tower-
I’m an alcoholic."
clinically depressed, and has no strong relationships in his life.
"Big man, big genius, big lonely drunk."
By rejecting all forms of responsibility,
he has also rejected any chance at feeling fulfilled.
"Morty, do you know what Wubbulubbudubdub means?"
"In my people’s tongue it means ‘I am in great pain,
please help me.’"
The show proves this through Beth and Jerry,
who realize that their commitment to each other was worth their hardships
after they are confronted with an alternate reality
in which they didn’t get together.
"Beth Sanchez I have been in love with you since high school.
I’ve never stopped thinking about what might have been."
People in their late teens and early 20s are
envied by older generations for their youth and independence.
However, the "Rick stage" also comes with "purpose anxiety,"
a term defined by Researcher Larissa Rainey as,
"the negative ramifications of the struggle for purpose in life."
"What is my purpose?"
"You pass butter."
"Oh my God."
"Yeah, welcome to the club pal."
This age is commonly full of career switches,
uncertainty about the future, and a struggle to define one’s identity.
The only way to ease that uncertainty is
by committing to something.
Otherwise you may have trouble forming genuine relationships
or finding meaning.
"When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours."
The other major thing that doesn’t fully develop
until the brain’s prefrontal cortex has fully matured
is our risk management abilities.
A report from the NCBI notes that while impulse control
steadily improves from childhood to adulthood,
risk-taking increases during late adolescence.
The same is true for Rick,
who believes risk is a necessary part of life.
"To live is to risk it all, otherwise you’re just
an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules
drifting wherever the universe blows you."
Psychology professor Nina Mounts defines risk adolescent behavior as,
"dangerous driving."
"Rick maybe if we go a little."
"Faster? Good idea Morty it’ll get us through these asteroids sooner."
drug use,
"Do you indulge in volcanic fumes?" "Is it gonna f[BLEEP] up my brain?"
"No."
"I’ll do it anyway." binge drinking,
"Can you make me a Dumb Grandson Peptalk,
it’s one part lame advice about stuff you know nothing about,
and a lot of vodka."
"I have a lot of vodka." "Then I’ll take one of those."
and risky sexual behavior.
"Isn’t it obvious Morty? I f[BLEEP]ed a planet."
Often, Rick’s risky behavior is another avoidance strategy for any
kind of adult responsibility he may need to undertake.
When Rick turns himself into a pickle -
and nearly kills himself in doing so -
"This can’t really be the way I go out,
this is the mega genius equivalent to dying on the toilet."
it’s all a way to get out of family counseling.
"Why is the string attached to it running through
a pair of scissors attached to a timer,
and why is the timer set to 10 minutes from now,
exactly when we would have left for therapy?"
This also speaks to Rick’s tendency,
and the tendency of people in the "Rick stage" of life,
to be so confident in their intelligence that they
take dumb risks.
"You're not going to believe this because it usually never happens,
but I made a mistake."
In fact, for all his genius,
Rick often doesn’t exhibit very smart behaviors
because he’s so often reacting in the short-term
and not bothering to plan far ahead.
"Boy Morty I really Cronenberged the world up didn’t I,
we got a whole planet of Cronenbergs walking around down there Morty."
As a scientist he could foresee many of the problems
that eventually end up blindsiding him,
but he instinctively ignores this more mundane, painstaking work,
and prefers to wait until he’s in a difficult spot;
he’s hooked on the adrenaline of proving his genius
under serious life-or-death pressure,
as if this is the only way it really counts.
"This was insane! That was pure luck.
I was not in control of that situation at all."
According to Nina Mounts,
One of the biggest stimuli for teen risk taking is peer influence.
She explains that adolescents are more sensitive to being included
or excluded by peers and more likely to engage
in risky driving when peers are present.
Rick would fiercely deny that he has any peers,
but he does have an infinite number of other Ricks
around the multiverse.
"Most timelines have a Rick and most Ricks have a Morty,
this place is a real who’s who of who’s you and me."
And as much as he pretends he could care less what they think,
a lot of his behavior can be explained by his eagerness
to distinguish himself in their eyes as the most superior —
to prove to the other Ricks that he’s the best.
"Of all the Ricks in the central finite curve,
you're the malcontent. The rogue."
"I'm the Rick."
For a man who’s wanted across the galaxy,
joining The Council of Ricks would be a shrewd move,
providing him with protection,
but Rick cares more about his image as the rebel.
"Save your Anti-Rick speech for the Council of Ricks, Terrorick."
"Hey, save your Rick rules for the [burp] Sheep Ricks, Rick Pig."
He therefore misses out on what we can gain by outgrowing our risky
rebellious years: a reliable support group of people who will
be there for us when we need it.
Rick presents his strong beliefs about existence as fact,
with no respect for what anyone else has to say.
"I’m not the nicest guy in the universe, because I’m the smartest,
and being nice is something stupid people do to hedge their bets."
But it’s striking that Rick’s philosophical musings are often
full of contradictions and inconsistencies.
He’s cynical about love,
"To the extent that love is an expression of familiarity over time,
my access to infinite timelines precludes the necessity of attachment."
yet he clearly loves his grandkids, and will endanger himself to save them.
"If we come back to earth, can my family have a normal life?"
"We only want Sanchez sir, your family will be fine."
"Nice."
For all his talk about the meaninglessness of existence
and his ambivalence toward death,
"I’m ok with this. Be good Morty, be better than me."
when confronted with death, he fights furiously to live.
"I am not ok with this! I am NOT ok with this!
Oh, sweet Jesus please let me live!"
Critics have observed that Rick holds views that reflect absurdism,
"The reason anyone would do this, if they could, which they can’t,
would be because they could, which they can’t"
Neuroexistentialism,
"Take it from me Ice, [burp] you can’t just [burp]
float around space not caring about stuff forever."
and nihilism,
"I turned myself into a pickle and 9/11 was an inside job?"
"Was it?"
"Who cares Morty, global acts of terrorism happen every day."
at various points of the show--
all of which contain ideas that undercut each other in some way.
This behavior reflects how young adulthood is the time
when we try out many complex philosophies and versions of ourselves
before deciding what fits best.
Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan write:
"the central phenomenon of adolescence is the discovery
of the self as something unique, uncertain,
and questioning in its position of life."
Rick may seem certain about his conflicting philosophies,
but by taking a step back and looking at what he says as a whole,
we see that he’s actually motivated by curiosity
and searching for meaning.
In the Rick stage, abstract existential inquiries often feel
more vitally important than the banal-feeling day-to-day details
that occupy middle-aged minds like Jerry’s,
such as getting a job.
"Report to the ministry of employment and you will be assigned a function."
"Honey I got a job!"
This can also be a way of avoiding a more concrete future
that we worry will limit our identity to one specific,
not-so-amazing thing.
In a time when we are struggling with our identity,
sometimes it is easier to detach and get lost in the big questions.
"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere,
everybody’s gonna die."
The fact that Rick is able to trojan horse this
late adolescent worldview through the body of an old man
speaks to why the show is so popular with its core demographic.
"I think you have think ahead and live in the moment."
It may not be a literal representation
of late adolescent characters,
but it’s perhaps one of the best modern portrayals of
what this stage of development feels like.
It captures that extreme arrogance and self-assurance
of being old enough to feel like you understand everything,
"Certain death, certain death, certain death…"
combined with that insecurity and rootlessness of lacking
a home base, not yet knowing who you are,
and thirsting for deeper meaning in the universe.
"To friendship, to love, and to my greatest adventure yet -
opening myself up to others!"
At the same time, Rick and Morty presents its audience
with a problem: can you grow up and mature into a responsible,
functioning member of society, without losing what makes you you?
"I watched you assimilate a whole police station just to get your
hands on the evidence locker."
"Rick, when we met I was a young hive mind."
"People change."
Rick’s tragedy is that he seems to want to be a responsible father
and grandfather,
"Holy shit I’m a terrible father."
but he’s afraid he can’t do that without sacrificing
his inherent Rickness.
Throughout the series we do see him make slight progress
and occasional steps forward,
"I um- sorry I lied to get out of the thing… I shouldn’t lie to you."
yet he also resists committing in a sustained way to changing.
"Getting high and playing video games is the best."
The question at the show’s heart is this:
is that sacrifice of growing up and maturing worth it?
It’s a struggle every late adolescent beginning to "adult"
goes through and, like the oldest Peter Pan in the multiverse,
Rick has made an art of delaying growing up.
"I always slay it, Queen."
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