Author: wu.3907

What’s Behind Rick and Morty

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What’s Behind Rick and Morty

There’s a famous Netflix TV series called Rick and Morty. Many believe that it is the best sci-fi cartoon for the recent years. The visual effects are astonishing and the story is mind-blowing containing sarcasm on different social phenomenons. I would like to discuss about season one analyzing some interesting perspectives that Rick and Morty take to reflect certain injustices and identity problems.

 

The background setting of Rick and Morty is also very important. Rick, the smartest man of all universes while Morty is his grandson. They go on different adventures in different world and universe. These stories look crazy and ridiculous but they always give you something to think about.

In Season 1 Episode 5, Rick and Morty go on a relaxing adventure. In the bathroom, Morty meets a molester, forced to beat the molester up. This scene is designed to make the audience feel “frightening, uncomfortable, disgusting”. Later on, Rick and Morty help a poor village solve their problems and the villagers are very thankful. Then, Rick and Morty find out that the molester is actually the king of the village. Both of them are in shock so Rick shoot the molester dead before they leave. After the death of the king, his servant finds the photos of king molesting other children. He asks the minister what he should do with the photos. The minster asks him to burn the photos instead of presenting to the public. The minister believes that it is better for the king to be a symbol, the idea that the king represents, not who he actually is.

This episode gives me a lot of thinking. Justice and injustice seem are two opposite concept. However, one man’s justice can be another man’s injustice. It seems to be unfair for people not knowing the truth. This can be considered as injustice. However, the minister knows that people need faith in their king to carry on. It’s better to leave the glory character of king in people’s heart. When people talk about injustice, it’s a matter of different perspectives. Murder is injustice. However, soldiers fighting for their countries killing enemies is justice. That’s where I start to realize that the determination of justice is not a problem of right or wrong, black or white. Your justice might be someone’s injustice while your injustice might be someone’s justice. There’s a saying in China, “your bottom decides your head”. It means that the your position, your identity, your knowledge decide how you think of a matter. That’s the reason why I like Rick and Morty so much, it provides an alternative perspective that allows me to see things in different ways.

Citation:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/

Systemic Injustice Under the Influence of Covid-19 in China

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Covid-19 changed people way’s living in many ways, especially when it first appeared. The Chinese government reacted quickly and put the entire country into quarantine which was very effective. However, there are quite some systemic injustices exposed during the government regulation. This one is very famous and commonly known by a lot of people. Doctor Wenliang Li was a doctor who noticed the new kind of virus, which was Covid-19, started telling people around him to be careful and protect themselves. However, he didn’t expect that he was detained for “spreading rumors”. What he said was considered as “false information” which might cause social instability.

 

This is clearly a systemic injustice that the authorities should improve immediately. Instead of telling people to stop talking, I think they should at least verify the information. Later on, the central government investigated the local authorities in Wuhan after Li’s death. They found multiple protocol injustices of the local authorities detaining doctor Li. Eventually, the central government apologized to Li’s family and gave Li the title of martyr. This shows that there might also be a lot of systemic injustice in different local authorities but this is the most significant one that raises the attention of the Chinese central government. I believe the central government should enforce the supervision of local authorities to avoid such circumstances. Here’s a news story about doctor Li.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51409801

Dr. Zhong also commented on him as a hero saying that this time the Chinese government encourages people to tell more thanks to doctor Li.

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This is actually very similar to Persepolis. A person who wants to do the right thing even the authority forbids it. Doctor Li also chooses to do the thing that he believes to be correct. He knows what he is facing but he didn’t give in that Chinese people give a lot of respect to him. There’s one thing that is different. Marji chooses to leave to a place to pursue her life. Doctor Li chooses to offer as much as he has to warn people. He is a whistle-blower and a hero. He is strong enough to face the system and change the systemic injustice with his hands. It turned out that he did it, with his life. It’s understandable that most people might choose to be like Marji to live their own lives, but I think we should give more respect to people like Doctor Li.

Learn more about Doctor Li:

Work cited:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/08/opinions/coronavirus-bociurkiw/index.html

http://www.mnw.cn/news/shehui/2247594.html

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1661642945986992301&wfr=spider&for=pc

Lasting effect on child abandonment – “The Leavers” by Liso Ko; Peidong Wu

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The Leavers, Deming is an abandoned child and then adopted. During his life, he has to figure out his true identity while facing his true self under a different culture. He is a rebel, with addiction problems. All of these are not only related to identity, being abandoned can also cause mental lasting mental issues to children just like Deming.

 

The first one that is very obvious is an abandoned child having poor coping strategies.(Audrey, 2017) People need to cope with pains or emotional changes in different ways. For the abandoned child living in a different environment, it’s hard for him to figure out what is a healthy way to cope with the pains and stress. As a result, gambling becomes his best option. There are multiple strategies but he chooses a way that’s not so wise. It shows that he does have poor coping strategies.

 

Also related to his gambling problem, abandoned children usually have compulsive behavior. (Audrey, 2017). His gambling problem is both addiction and compulsive behavior at the same time. By definition, compulsive behavior is the kind of insatiable urge to do something. Addiction is a need to do something to experience pleasure or remove discomfort.(integrativelifecenter.com, 2021) I think his gambling problem is actually both which mentions a lot of times in the book. This is also a lasting effect that we can observe as readers in the book.

 

The last one is Borderline personality disorder which is caused by a long-term pattern of unstable relationships.(Audrey, 2017) This is very easy to understand since his mother abandoned him. His rebel personality might also be caused by Borderline personality disorder. Usually, BPD comes with a strong fear of abandonment.

 

There is also another effect on child abandonment but I believe these are the most obvious ones relating to the book. We can tell that abandonment has a long-term effect on children, just like Deming in the book.

 

Citation: Sherman, A. (2021). 19 Lasting Effects of Abandoning or Emotionally Unavailable Parents. Psych Central. Retrieved 14 March 2021, from https://psychcentral.com/blog/dysfunction/2017/07/19-lasting-effects-of-abandoning-or-emotionally-unavailable-parents#3.

 

Health, B., & Different…, C. (2021). Compulsive Behaviors and Addiction | Mental Health Treatment. Integrative Life Center. Retrieved 14 March 2021, from https://integrativelifecenter.com/wellness-blog/compulsive-behaviors-and-addiction/.