Ten of my favorite Rick and Morty Characters: that sounds fun! Let's kick it off with Rick's best friends.
Oh, yeah: spoilers without mercy!
10Bird Person-
First of all, at least the version we apparently know now rests in peace! Thanks a lot, “Tammy.” He had some valuable insights into what makes Rick tick, conveyed while showing kindness to Morty. He's got a legendary cool past, implied more than shown; Bird Person added depth to the story in just three appearances. His effort to find a late life mate opens the downfall of a coalition of rebels living outside Federation law. It's such a silly show, but it has an emotional dimension and true personalities, too, which sets the stage, given the constant recurrent danger, for an actual story tragedy. I can't help enjoying it as an adventure show as much as a family sitcom. Bird Person's the first and best of that adventure's heroes to fall. But we never actually saw him in battle. Alas, Bird Person, we hardly knew ye. He instantly reminded me of Hawk from Buck Rogers, which he is, essentially, as much as Rick Sanchez began as a parody of Doc Martin in Back From the Future. Maybe a greenish, middle-aged, somewhat out of condition version of Hawk. A Harmonized Hawk.
Funny moment: In "Get Schwifty," Morty recuperates at Bird Person's house and thanks him for the food. “What is it?” he asks. “It is random debris I found in my carpet. I do not know what humans eat.” (I guess he and Rick didn't get together for dinner often?) His fiancee Tammy, dishelved from intercourse, walks in and says, “You know ONE human likes to eat!”
Oh, no, hell no, btw, this was not a cartoon made primarily for children.
"Is your intention to abandon Rick, using his own portal gun? In bird culture, this is considered a dick move." Bird Person's primary motive for inclusion in each scene is to build Morty's faith in his grandfather Rick. He serves to personalize, humanize, the years of interdimensional encounters that have driven Rick crazy.
Inebriated at his wedding, Bird Person tells Beth: “The road your father and I walked together was soaked in blood,” and levels with her there were “numerous atrocities in the name of freedom.” Her disappointment is that she can't steer the conversation to Rick as her father, which is comedic when juxtaposed with what should be shocking and fantastic...and as we'll find out minutes later, it's relevant, too.
I'm sorry if Bird Person brought some of you readers here looking for the championship Boston Celtics teammates.
9Squanchie- With the most ambiguous word for a name and an all-purpose verb, this passing homage to Snarf of the Thundercats makes up the third in a trio of close intergalactic friends: Rick, Bird Person, and Squanchie. Along the way, they were in a band called the Flesh Curtains. If it was cool, you can fill in the blanks and say they did it. Too bad he threw away his BFF bracelet during Rick's moody toast to Bird Person and Tammy. He put aside his feelings pretty quickly when the shit went down, though. Squanchie may not look like much in a fight, but he flips the lid on the secret to THAT at the aforementioned wedding. We can only hope he got away to Squanch another day! Beth tries picking up the word; they tell her it's all in the way you say the word, which applies to many words you also wouldn't use. So why not try to appropriate the seemingly-all-purpose word “squanch”? “I squanch my family,” she says proudly...to the visceral disgust of everyone around. A comedy of manners, Beth touches upon its unseemly implications, as you'll see in episode ten where he and Bird Person first appear.
Beth, and her relationship to her long-absent father Rick, is the real heart of the show, according to its creators, Dan (Bird Person) Harmon and voice maestro Justin Roiland. Here's where we see much of why he was gone. What infinitessimal hope is there Beth can ever find a place in his way of life? The conflict wears both masks, comedy and tragedy, so you get the laugh on the fly, and come away with plenty for cogitation.
And this week, if anyone's into it, (and as soon as I posted, I averaged over a hit a minute) I'll be happy to tell you about:
8Unity
7Mr. Meeseeks- I paired these two entries because, as Angela pointed out, he's a kind of collective entity, like Unity.
6Zeep Zanflorp (These three, I'll do together.)
5. Jerry
(I originally went with President of the United States. On second thought, my writing's leaning this whole exercise heavily towards Beth. Yes, she's ultra bitchy, but I have discovered I probably have felt the most like her of anyone in my actual life experience. Beth! Least fun of all to watch, the one I relate to best. The horse surgeon of writing, while making Jerry wages. Fortunately for me, I AM married to a goddess!!!)
4 Summer (What DID happen to her pink space ship? Angela wants to know!)
3 Beth (I've decided, to really get Rick's perspective, I had to get on board the BEth train and see her outside of her dysfunctional role of wife and mother.)
2Mr. Poopy Butthole
1The Eyehole Man
...but how much are you going to read at a time, anyway?
Later!
10Bird Person-
First of all, at least the version we apparently know now rests in peace! Thanks a lot, “Tammy.” He had some valuable insights into what makes Rick tick, conveyed while showing kindness to Morty. He's got a legendary cool past, implied more than shown; Bird Person added depth to the story in just three appearances. His effort to find a late life mate opens the downfall of a coalition of rebels living outside Federation law. It's such a silly show, but it has an emotional dimension and true personalities, too, which sets the stage, given the constant recurrent danger, for an actual story tragedy. I can't help enjoying it as an adventure show as much as a family sitcom. Bird Person's the first and best of that adventure's heroes to fall. But we never actually saw him in battle. Alas, Bird Person, we hardly knew ye. He instantly reminded me of Hawk from Buck Rogers, which he is, essentially, as much as Rick Sanchez began as a parody of Doc Martin in Back From the Future. Maybe a greenish, middle-aged, somewhat out of condition version of Hawk. A Harmonized Hawk.
Funny moment: In "Get Schwifty," Morty recuperates at Bird Person's house and thanks him for the food. “What is it?” he asks. “It is random debris I found in my carpet. I do not know what humans eat.” (I guess he and Rick didn't get together for dinner often?) His fiancee Tammy, dishelved from intercourse, walks in and says, “You know ONE human likes to eat!”
Oh, no, hell no, btw, this was not a cartoon made primarily for children.
"Is your intention to abandon Rick, using his own portal gun? In bird culture, this is considered a dick move." Bird Person's primary motive for inclusion in each scene is to build Morty's faith in his grandfather Rick. He serves to personalize, humanize, the years of interdimensional encounters that have driven Rick crazy.
Inebriated at his wedding, Bird Person tells Beth: “The road your father and I walked together was soaked in blood,” and levels with her there were “numerous atrocities in the name of freedom.” Her disappointment is that she can't steer the conversation to Rick as her father, which is comedic when juxtaposed with what should be shocking and fantastic...and as we'll find out minutes later, it's relevant, too.
I'm sorry if Bird Person brought some of you readers here looking for the championship Boston Celtics teammates. 
9Squanchie- With the most ambiguous word for a name and an all-purpose verb, this passing homage to Snarf of the Thundercats makes up the third in a trio of close intergalactic friends: Rick, Bird Person, and Squanchie. Along the way, they were in a band called the Flesh Curtains. If it was cool, you can fill in the blanks and say they did it. Too bad he threw away his BFF bracelet during Rick's moody toast to Bird Person and Tammy. He put aside his feelings pretty quickly when the shit went down, though. Squanchie may not look like much in a fight, but he flips the lid on the secret to THAT at the aforementioned wedding. We can only hope he got away to Squanch another day! Beth tries picking up the word; they tell her it's all in the way you say the word, which applies to many words you also wouldn't use. So why not try to appropriate the seemingly-all-purpose word “squanch”? “I squanch my family,” she says proudly...to the visceral disgust of everyone around. A comedy of manners, Beth touches upon its unseemly implications, as you'll see in episode ten where he and Bird Person first appear.
Beth, and her relationship to her long-absent father Rick, is the real heart of the show, according to its creators, Dan (Bird Person) Harmon and voice maestro Justin Roiland. Here's where we see much of why he was gone. What infinitessimal hope is there Beth can ever find a place in his way of life? The conflict wears both masks, comedy and tragedy, so you get the laugh on the fly, and come away with plenty for cogitation.
Golden as always dear friend...
ReplyDeleteMuch obliged! Always good to see you out there!
DeleteI wonder if I could buckle down and pitch a pop culture table book, as some of my friends have done, like Eric San Juan?
Golden as always dear friend...
ReplyDelete