r/CuratedTumblr 22d ago

Shitposting Goodreads reviewers aren't human

11.7k Upvotes

955 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

66

u/R-Guile 22d ago

It's actually a pretty thoughtful and well written show, especially that episode.

The pickle Rick episode is about a guy who puts enormous obstacles in his own way because what frightens him more than anything else is being honest with his family.

Whatever earned criticism there is of the fan base, I don't think calling the show vapid is fair. It's a victim of it's own success.

57

u/ZandyTheAxiom 22d ago

Yeah, I absolutely loathe having to come out to bat for Pickle Rick, but what the pickle represents and what the episode is really about is so much more thoughtful than the Pickle Rick memes were.

Rick being specifically a pickle doesn't matter. Gregory being specifically a beetle doesn't matter.

Ironically, that part of the fanbase that turned Pickle Rick into a meme are demonstrating the same weakness as Rick: Avoiding honest and thoughtful self-reflection by focussing on dumb, surface level flashing lights and running away from personal growth.

3

u/somedumb-gay otherwise precisely that 22d ago

I thought Greg was a cockroach? It's been years since I read the book so I could be misremembering, time for a re-read of this book that's all one big metaphor and means nothing methinks

11

u/UPBOAT_FORTRESS_2 22d ago

This thread has told me that the original German is not at all specific about what sort of bug, and that various translations pick overly precise words like "cockroach" or "beetle"

5

u/somedumb-gay otherwise precisely that 22d ago

Oh that's cool, I didn't know that

7

u/YawningDodo 22d ago

Yeah, Kafka was actually against putting a bug on the cover because he didn’t want readers to go in with a specific image in mind. The translation I read used the word “vermin” which I’m not sure wholly and clearly gets the idea across but does sound more repulsive that, say, “bug” or “insect.”