Unless you’re a male between the ages of 18 and 35 years of age that watches Adult Swim, you probably haven’t heard of the new series, Rick and Morty… yet.
Rick and Morty is a fairly new series that first aired on December 2nd, 2013 on Adult Swim. The show details the life of Morty Smith and his alcoholic/genius grandfather, Rick Sanchez, as they go on multi-dimensional misadventures (for the name of science, of course). Creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon made sure to fill this series with large amounts of dark humor that almost makes you feel guilty to laugh at. The show easily fits in with other hit shows that thrive off of dark humor such as South Park, Jackass, and Family Guy.
The raunchy vulgarity of the show can be off-putting to many audiences, but it is one of the rising hits among young men. Rick and Morty uses dark comedy to appease to one of the largest demographics in television, men between 18 and 35. According to Time Warner Cable, the parent company to Adult Swim, the demographic is made up vastly larger numbers of men compared to women. For example, with an index score of 100 being the national average for a consumer’s probability of watching a certain network (and the index always comparing the target percentage to the base), the score for men was 133, while women only scored 69.
Of those men in the targeted audience, the racial make up is predominately white, with 62% of the target audience being Caucasian, 27% being African American, and just the remainder 11% being made up of multiple ethnicities.
After Rick and Morty‘s debut season, the show has earned rather high ratings, especially for an adult animated television series. Metacritic gives the series an 85, saying the show is of “Universal Acclaim.” It was able to earn such wonderful and successful reviews due to the fact it fits in so perfectly with current comedy series, while still bringing some fresh and funny ideas to the table. Dark humor has been brought to the mainstream in recent years, which allows for shows such these to prosper. The gritty animations and jaw dropping vulgarity of Rick and Morty allows for to target and appease to such a niche audience, especially since it is airing on Adult Swim, a channel made specifically to humor the young men demographic.
Numerous diversity theories taught in class could be applied to this unique show, however, we are just going to look at one of the theories that is most prominent in Rick and Morty. Developed by Donald Mosher in 1984, the idea of hypermasculinity is the idea that male characteristics are portrayed in exaggerated stereotypes of men. Factors of this theory such as the belief that violence in manly or that danger is exciting can be seen in every episode. Rick is constantly putting Morty in harms way, leaving violence as the only way out of the situation.
After seeing this clip, it’s easy to see how this is targeted towards the younger males. They show only one solution to any of these issues, and that’s violence. Is this necessarily a bad thing to do? It’s a matter of personal opinion, seeing that this show is intended to be comedy. The viewer has the option to choose to watch this program, which makes it easy to avoid if need be. For a dark comedy, it is actually on the lighter side of the spectrum. The show doesn’t stray from controversial subjects, but it does take caution in handling the delivery of the jokes seeing that it’s on national television.
The creators are made sure to create a diverse cast of characters, main or simply reoccurring. There is no shortage of diverse animations, whether it comes to the skin color of humans, or the infinite number of alien characters they bring in. The show itself is diverse, using next to zero stereotypes to portray different ethnicities. Rick, Morty, and their family is white, however there are multiple African American characters that reoccur throughout the whole series. The show can appeal to many ethnicities with these characteristics. The lack of exaggerated stereotypes really helps with making the show appeal to anyone, no matter the ethnicity.
Even though they are targeting an ethnically diverse audience, that doesn’t mean it appeals to all sexes. The show though is heavily geared towards male audience members. Rick and Morty never misses out on a genital joke, especially if it makes fun of women.
This episode is seemingly a social critique on radical feminism, making fun of both radical feminists and the stereotypes of men. With the racy story line of this episode, it’s no wonder the demographic makeup of the audience is mostly men.
Even though the show is not afraid of throwing comedic punches towards the sexes, does that make it a bad show? It’s a matter of personal opinion when it comes to comedy. In this day an age, dark humor is increasing in popularity at a high rate. Men of all races between the ages of 18 and 35 is also one of the largest and most marketable demographics. No one is safe from a comedians joke, so it’s up to the specific viewers interest as to whether or not they watch their shows.
So now we’re back to our original question. Does Rick and Morty target a diverse audience? Yes, and no. Numerous ethnicities are within the target demographic, and are welcomed viewers. However, this show is targeted towards men, and can come off as offensive to some women. That doesn’t mean there are not any women who enjoy the show or men who despise it. The majority of their target audience is enjoying the program, and they have the ratings to back them up.
Bibliography
“Adult Swim.” National TV Spots. n.p. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nationaltvspots.com/images/DemographicGrids/NetworkDemographicsDetail/AdultSwim-Demo-Details.jpg>.
“Adult Swim.” Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC, 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.twcmedia.com/TWC/CT/Network.aspx?id=490>.
“Rick and Morty.” IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc., 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/>.
“Rick and Morty: Season 1.” Metacritic. CBS Interactive, Inc., 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.metacritic.com/tv/rick-morty/details>.
“Weekly Ratings Notes for Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT & NBA TV: ‘The Boondocks’, NBA Playoffs, ‘ Rick & Morty’ & More.” Zap2it. Tribune Digital Venture, 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/04/29/weekly-ratings-notes-for-adult-swim-cartoon-network-tbs-tnt-nba-tv-the-boondocks-nba-playoffs-rick-morty-more/258826/>.
Diversity in the World of Media 
