Rick the Narcissistic Nihilist

(Pardon the hiatus. Combination of technical difficulties and living-situation limbo.)

Isaac piqued my interest in Rick & Morty. I’ve mostly seen clips, compilations, and other people’s comments. Believe it or not, the show is pretty easy to follow by that method. It might be easier to watch that way, considering how very adult it gets.
Like so many fans, I’m fascinated by the character of Rick. His travels through the multiverse have convinced him of two facts. One: nothing really matters. Isaac talked about that before. Two: Rick is a really remarkable person.
This second fact is evident to the audience as well, considering how he keeps succeeding and surviving. From what I’ve seen, it’s never dumb luck or some surprise plot twist. Rick is just more clever and capable than you’d expect of a thin, aging alcoholic. Or of a pickle.
Rick recognizes how remarkable he is, which makes him pretty hard to interact with sometimes. In this way, he’s like Lex Zuckerberg Luthor. He’s a narcissist. But in his knowledge of that first fact, he’s a nihilist, like the Joker.
Narcissism and nihilism seem to be contradictory. If everything is pointless, that should include the person who realizes that fact. But hey, Rick has mastered quantum physics; a paradox is a minor annoyance to him. If anything, Rick’s narcissism would suggest he is the only one that matters.
But that’s not it, either. Rick hates himself, too. He has very little in the way of self-preservation tendencies, at least consciously. On the other hand, he always survives. Maybe he’s lying about his own death wish. So he really is a narcissist. And why would he lie about that? Because he’s a nihilist. He’s trying his darnedest to believe his life doesn’t matter. It seems funny…until you hit the end of Season 2/beginning of Season 3 and find out the real reason he’s so jaded.
The answer to the paradox, of course, is everything isn’t pointless and Rick is not quite as good as he thinks he is but also more important than he realizes. God loves him, even when he’s being a Rick.

One more thing: Recently, Hank Green made a YouTube video saying that so much TV these days sacrifices meaning for plot. Rick and Morty has plot and, believe it or not, also meaning. Unfortunately, like Welcome to Night Vale or Black Mirror, that meaning is inevitably the darkest punch line the writers could think of.

Fixing Hearthstone: My Adventure with Tech Support

So, I’m going to forgo my usual review routine to share a story.

One of the video games I play a lot in my spare time—my roommate can attest to this—is Hearthstone. It’s a collectible card game produced by the people (Blizzard Entertainment) behind and set in the universe of World of Warcraft. It’s free-to-play, pay-to-win, and available for PC, Mac, and most mobile devices.

I’m bringing this up because a few weeks ago, it stopped working on my computer a couple weeks back.

Naturally, I contacted Blizzard’s customer services. A few computer reports later, and the guy on the other end said that it was because I have a program called Covenant Eyes on my computer.

I swear, this post isn’t sponsored by anyone.

Covenant Eyes is an accountability software I’ve had on my computer for quite some time. I recommend it, even though it is buggy, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

I then turned around and contacted Covenant Eyes’ tech support, and they walked me through uninstalling the version I had and re-installing a version more suited for online gaming. Hearthstone works now, and I’ve been playing it for the past couple days.

I’m sharing this for two reasons. First, my situation was quite specific. I wanted to put this out online in case anyone else had this problem. Second, I’m not sharing this to slam Covenant Eyes or Blizzard Entertainment. Both companies have made excellent products, and the two people I spoke to were very timely and very helpful, and I wanted to address that.

For those with Covenant Eyes, I recommend switching over to Version 7.2.47, as it doesn’t automatically block online games like Hearthstone or League of Legends. It works just as fine as the others.

For those with Hearthstone…you have good taste in games; keep it up.

 

Let’s Connect:

@Isaac_Trenti

@CorrelationBlog

“El Laberinto Del Fauno” (Pan’s Labyrinth) and the merit of dark fairy tales.

I reviewed Undertale last week. I guess I’ll continue the “monster” theme.

And, I got to confess something here: I am a sucker for anything in Spanish. It’s probably a side effect of spending three weeks to a month in a Spanish-speaking country and that time being some of the best memories of your life.

Sorry, I’m getting distracted.

I only recently picked up a copy of the movie El Laberinto Del Fauno—or Pan’s Labyrinth, as it was released in America—to watch it. In its original Spanish with English subtitles. It’s a pretty good movie.

Except that it’s dark. Not just stylistically, but also in terms of content. Probably what I should’ve expected from an R-rated Guillermo Del Toro movie.

This made me think if there really is any merit to the “dark fairy tale.”

Well, to be fair, fairy tales have been dark for quite some time, but you probably knew that if you’ve either read the original Brothers Grimm tales or knew that one guy who was bent on ruining your childhood.

But the point of them was to carry a lesson with them. They were geared for kids. I doubt that Pan’s Labyrinth is geared for kids, though. Nevertheless, without giving too many spoilers, it does carry the same kind of moral that a fairy tale would.

I guess the darkness is to add a sense of gravity to the situation. Not to mention, the world we live in is quite dark. And despite fairies, fauns, and other mythic creatures, the movie still spends a lot of time set in Spain a few years after their Civil War.

So, is it a good movie? Again, I enjoyed it. The special effects are pretty good. I wouldn’t show it to anyone under the age of fifteen, partially because it’s subtitled and partially because of the content. Between the swearing, the torture and war scenes, and the dollop of horror that is the Pale Man, the movie does earn its R-rating.

 

Let’s Connect:

@Isaac_Trenti

@CorrelationBlog

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

One definition of evil is acting in your own self-interest at the expense of the interests and well-being of others. The most popular villains in fandom history challenge this definition or take it to new and interesting places. I’ve discussed the Master and Lex Luthor. Today I want to talk about the Joker.

I’ll focus on Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. This version of the character is up there with Darth Vader as one of the most popular movie villains of all time. He has some great lines that explain his outlook on the world. He’s an “agent of chaos” and his whole thing is shaking up the system in Gotham City, trying to prove that the system doesn’t work.
There’s a theory on the Internet that the Joker is actually a hero in The Dark Knight because he’s “saving” the people from the corruption of Gotham. Respectfully…no. No-no-no-no-no-no-no! To be a hero he would need to care about people. He’s definitely evil because he acts for entirely selfish reasons.
In every incarnation, the Joker is a nihilist. He believes that the world is pointless, all life is meaningless, and the so-called system of order doesn’t work. He chooses to interpret it all as a joke. Most fans understand this. But here’s the other thing: the Joker just wants someone else to get the joke.
Ideally, he gets all of Gotham City to think the way he does. At the end of The Dark Knight, only Batman and Commissioner Jim Gordon understand his way of thinking. But that still counts as a victory for Joker.
The Killing Joke, that R-rated cartoon, is also about the Joker trying to make Batman and Jim Gordon see things his way. The Arkham video game series and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker are pretty much the same thing.
Suicide Squad is – well, barely about the Joker, but it’s about Harley Quinn. The great tragedy of Harley is she’s probably the closest canon-Joker has gotten to making someone see things his way. But she’s also in love with him, which doesn’t gel with nihilism. Neither of them are going to get what they want.
Hopefully the Joker isn’t as relatable to you as Lex Luthor is to me, but they both represent interesting ideas. If evil is just selfishness, it should be clear – Christian worldview or not – that we all have the potential to be like these famous villains.

Let’s Connect!
Twitter: @noahspud and @CorrelationBlog

So…I’m alive. And I played Undertale.

Good afternoon, Noah. It is Wednesday.

So, yeah, I was going to post last week, except my professor sprung the 48-hour technology fast, which inhibited my blogging ability over last Wednesday.

But, in an ironic twist, I am going to review one of the most technology-based things I’ve come across this month: Undertale.

Photo credit: Steam

Yes, I know, it’s an older game. But you know what? I didn’t start playing it until this last month. And I have no clue how far I am into the story. I just know that I’m on a “pacifist run.”

Well, not a true pacifist run. I killed the dummy in the tutorial section because I hadn’t figured out the combat mechanics. I think it only came back to bite me…once? It’s still my first play-through, and I haven’t even finished it yet. I’m stuck on the spider-lady with the bake sale.

Even though I am struggling with little miss Muffet, I—oh my gosh. I just got that. Toby Fox, you genius.

Picture credit: actually, this is a screencap from my play-through. Yes, I named my character Dale. Don’t judge me.

Hang on. Backspacing. Even though I am struggling with Muffet, I am still really enjoying the game. The not-killing-anyone mechanic is quite fun, and it allows for better characterization.

I mean, that’s my big problem with video game RPG’s. They don’t always have the best or most memorable non-player characters. I barely remember any names from, say, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. The only other game with memorable NPC’s was Borderlands. And that was more because they keep hammering the names into your head. The only NPC with a rounded personality was Claptrap.

Maybe I’m unfamiliar with RPG’s. But even so, I do enjoy Undertale. It’s fun, it’s wonderful, you don’t have to kill anyone, and it’s worth the ten bucks on Steam.

My only complaint is, as I put it to one of my friends:

“Me: this is a really hard game to explain to friends, family, and roommates.

Also me: Hello, Tsunderplane.”

 

Let’s Connect:

@Isaac_Trenti

@CorrelationBlog

October 10 in Geek-dom: John Green’s Novels

Good morning Isaac. It’s Friday.
I think Turtles All the Way Down is going to be my favorite John Green novel. I expect the main character’s obsessive-compulsive thought spirals will be relatable to my autism spectrum neurology.

But here’s the thing: John Green is not only a young adult author but also an Internet personality. Being a fan of his books is an interesting experience for me because I’m also a fan of the Vlogbrothers, made up of John and his brother Hank.
If you watch John’s YouTube videos, you’ll be exposed to his perspective on all sorts of things, including literature. This can alter your experience and memories of his books.
For example, John has proclaimed that authorial intent doesn’t matter and books belong to their readers. This means he may put symbols and morals in his books but he doesn’t care strongly about how we interpret them. This is okay when the potential symbols include scrambled eggs and champagne and the moral is about handling the knowledge of inevitable oblivion. But before The Fault in Our Stars, there was Paper Towns.
Paper Towns is full of symbolism and metaphors. I won’t comment on the interpretations we can or should make of those symbols, but I think I know why there are so many. The moral of Paper Towns is about empathy. As I interpret it, we’re supposed to see people’s outward appearances as metaphors for whom they really are.
But if authorial intent doesn’t matter, does that include how each person “authors” themselves? In the end of Paper Towns, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl tries to deconstruct herself for the narrator (and the readers). But aren’t we supposed to deconstruct the symbolism ourselves? Does her self-awareness really count for anything? These are the questions that plague John Green fans. And I don’t have any answers. (See also The Fault in Our Books about Dying People.)
As I’ve said before, sometimes being a fan of a real person is harder than being a fan of fiction. John Green says he’s a Christian, but I’m not sure he would agree with me on some important truths like the origin of the universe or the fate of his eternal soul.
All this tells me that I need to keep real-life John Green separate from the first-person voices narrating his books.
Aren’t fandoms fun?
Isaac, I’ll “see” you on Wednesday. Hopefully.