I’ve now watched Rick & Morty twice through, and I find Beth’s arc deeply healing. I’ve been craving stories where women kill their terrible fathers, instead of forgiving and connecting with them…
And it didn’t do that, but it gave me something… better.
Realistically, I’ll never get a meaningful resolution to the arc of my relationship with my dad. He’s terrible. I’ve cut him off. That’s it. No redemption. No reconciliation. Just a ragged edge that I’ll live with until one of us dies.
Now, if I were a male CGI animator, maybe my dad would come to respect me… at least, that seems to be the message of MOST kids cgi animated movies. (How to Train Your Dragon, Ratatouille, Cloudy w/a Chance of Meatballs, etc.)
But I’m a girl. So… uh… no. Not in the cards.
I need to accept the fact that my sexist dad doesn’t see me as a full person compared to him, and move on. But all the stories out there where people forgive and reconcile with their terrible fathers DO NOT HELP.
Rick & Morty on the other hand…
I don’t know where Rick & Morty will go next, but where season 4 leaves off, Beth has grown close to her family while also getting to abandon them and go on space adventures. She’s become the Most Wanted criminal in the universe, outshining Rick who’s been mostly forgotten.
Beth gets to become her father; become better than her father; outgrow her father; and walk away from him, because he has nothing she needs. And her family follows her, because she is awesome, and they love her.
Damn. I needed to see that.
I want more of that.