Warning! Spoilers ahead forRick and Mortyseason 8, episode 5.
Rick and Mortyseason 8, episode 5’s sci-fi satire of capitalist greed is exactly how I imagine Bong Joon-ho’s exciting new animated movie is going to turn out. Earlier this year, Bong made his first foray into big-budget Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking withMickey 17, a symbolic exploration of the id and the ego. He cashed the blank check he earned from directingParasite, a worldwide hit that became the first ever international feature to win Best Picture at the Oscars, to secure a Marvel-sized budget for a pitch-black comedy set in a bleak dystopian future.
As his follow-up toMickey 17,Bong is hard at work on an adult-oriented animated movie calledThe Valley, set for a 2027 release. This will markBong’s animated feature debut, and it’s reportedly another sci-fi story involving deep-sea creatures interacting with human beings. Bong’s script was inspired by Claire Nouvian’s novelThe Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, and Werner Herzog has signed on to bring his unmistakable voice to the cast. It’s hard to imagine what a Bong-directed animated feature will look like, but I thinkRick and Morty’s latest episodegives us a pretty good idea.
Rick & Morty’s Sci-Fi Metaphors For Capitalist Greed Are Ripped Straight From A Bong Joon-Ho Movie
The Episode’s Intergalactic Class System Is Reminiscent Of Bong’s Futuristic Satires
At the beginning ofRick and Mortyseason 8, episode 5, “Cryo Mort a Rickver,” Rick comes across a spaceship full of cryosleep pods, taking the survivors of a destroyed planet to a new home. Rick hopes to just rob all the riches in their vault and get out of there, butMorty unwittingly awakens the passengers and they have to blend in. It quickly becomes clear that there’s a massive class divide in this alien society. The affluent rich people can only afford to live in luxury because they exploit and undervalue the labors of the underclass.
There’s a massive class divide in this alien society. The affluent rich people can only afford to live in luxury because they exploit and undervalue the labors of the underclass.
As the episode rounds out this capitalistic alien society,Rick and Mortycomes up with a bunch of incisive metaphors for the systemic class issues on Earth. The lower-class workers are dubbed the “makies,” because they make everything, and when Morty joins their ranks, he gives the ruling class the mocking nickname “takies,” because they take everything from the makies and give nothing back. The makies and the takies are a perfect symbol of the haves and have-nots in our own society on Earth, andthe simplicity of that symbolism lays the problem bare.
This allegorical commentary on real-world capitalism and corporate greed is reminiscent of Bong’s own anti-capitalist sci-fi satires,SnowpiercerandMickey 17. Both of these movies use a dystopian future setting to amplify and highlight the classist problems in present-day society. They both show that the ruling class live comfortably off the backs of hard workers, and that the workers are left to fend for scraps.Rick and Morty’s Bong-style sci-fi satire of capitalism is exactly what I’m expecting fromThe Valleywhen Bong delivers his first feature-length animated movie: a biting social commentary with dazzling visuals and uncompromising brutality.
The Two-Tier Class System On The Cryo Ship Is Just Like The Train In Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer’s Futuristic Train Uses Its Literal Class System To Comment On Class
In 2013, Bong directed his first English-language film,Snowpiercer, based on the French climate fiction graphic novelLe Transperceneige.Snowpiercertakes place after the world has been ravaged by a new ice age that wiped out most of humanity.The last survivors of the human race traverse the snowy post-apocalyptic ruins of Earth in a high-tech trainthat remains in constant motion. We’re introduced to Chris Evans’ Curtis Everett, who lives in a cramped carriage where he wears dirty rags, eats mashed-up bugs for every meal, and has a gun pointed in his face if he questions authority.
When Curtis learns that the guns are empty and the higher-class carriages are enjoying old-world luxuries, he leads a revolution to the front of the train.Snowpierceruses the literal class system of the train, based on the tickets that people of different economic classes could afford, to comment on the class system in society.Rick and Mortydoes the same thing on the cryo ship, where the capitalist aliens have a clear two-tier class system. The rich people’s pods are stored in a nice, pristine facility, while the blue-collar workers are stuffed into a grimy boiler room.
Rick & Morty’s “Compliance Chips” Wouldn’t Be Out Of Place In Mickey 17
Mickey 17 Satirizes Corporate Exploitation Of The Working Class
Earlier this year, Bong released his most expensive and ambitious movie to date:Mickey 17, based on the novelMickey7by Edward Ashton.Mickey 17revolves around an unscrupulous corporation’s mission to colonize a distant planet.Robert Pattinson stars as a man who’s in such dire financial straits that he takes a job as an “expendable”on the mission. He does all the most dangerous tasks, gets killed over and over, and gets reprinted by a cloning machine. When they find a mysterious virus in the planet’s atmosphere, Mickey is infected over and over again to help develop a vaccine.
The workers on board the cryo ship have all been fitted with “compliance chips” in the backs of their heads to keep them in line.
It’s an extreme satire of corporate exploitation of their workers, andRick and Mortyhas its own version of this satire. The workers on board the cryo ship have all been fitted with “compliance chips” in the backs of their heads to keep them in line. If they complain about being underpaid or mention the formation of a union, the chips electrocute them. Thankfully, these compliance chips aren’t used by real-life corporations, butthey’re not too far off from actual corporate practices.
The Makies' Revolution Against The Takies Is A Spot-On Commentary On Class Inequality
Fresh Planet, Fresh Start
As Morty poses as one of the makies and learns about the two-tier class system on the cryo ship,he leads aSnowpiercer-style revolution against the takies. This storyline is a spot-on commentary on class inequality. If the ruling class keeps exploiting the underclass’ labor and leaves them to suffer, eventually they’ll be pushed to the breaking point and won’t take it anymore. There have been plenty of these kinds of revolutions throughout history — most notably the French Revolution.
Rick and Mortyairs new episodes on Adult Swim every Sunday.
The episode cleverly points out that as long as a society has a monetary system with cash value assigned to arbitrary objects, the people are bound to get greedy and hoard their share of it. Morty gives a powerful speech about the need to let go of their stolen riches and build a new society based on equality. But his speech falls on deaf ears as the aliens all jump in their spaceships and chase after the riches before he even finishes speaking.Rick and Morty’s anti-capitalist satire is exactly what I think Bong’s animation debut will look like.
Rick and Morty
Cast
Rick and Morty is an animated science fiction series that follows the eccentric scientist Rick Sanchez and his impressionable grandson Morty Smith as they embark on perilous adventures across space and alternate dimensions. The show explores the impact of these exploits on Morty’s tumultuous family life and personal challenges.
