Idealization, Rick and Morty, and Holden Caulfield
Throughout the book, Salinger gives us multiple hints that Caulfield is not a character to look up to. The way he interacts with authority figures he feels do not deserve his respect is ignorant at best. Likewise, Holden displays varying self-destructive tendencies both before and after he leaves the prep school: purposefully goading his hot-tempered roommate into laying him out, attempting to solicitate alcohol from multiple sources, getting himself beat up again, etcetera. From reading between the lines and properly acknowledging that these actions are supposed to reflect badly on both Holden and his mental state, we (this English class, at least) can properly understand that Catcher in the Rye is a study of a deeply flawed man who has serious issues that need to be worked out by a professional.
This character is not particularly unique nowadays, but when some of them bleed into popular culture they can have quite an effect on people. Before I say what I'm about to say, I want to preface by acknowledging that this comparison is not to compare the overall quality of either of these works; whether one is better than the other is up for debate and it isn't a conversation I'm going to have right now. It's simply to compare the two characters.
Holden Caulfield's destructive mannerisms and general distaste for adults is extremely similar to the character of Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty. Yes, this sounds like a joke, but bear with me. Both characters are, arguably, the focal point of their narrative (arguably in this case because some people consider Morty to be the main character, however for the sake of the argument I'm not going to subscribe to that) and the media pieces they are in are constructed around studying their flaws and the toxic effects those can have on their relationships. Catcher in the Rye is more clearly focused on Holden's mentality, while Rick and Morty masks itself as a typical sci-fi adventure show with clear elements of a character examination.
Another thing both these works have in common, and one that directly ties into the character study aspect, is the kind of audience they draw. Of course, Catcher in the Rye is very well known, as every English class ever has it as a reading requirement. But there is another demographic, one that ties into both these narratives: men who idolize the stories and their main characters.
This is not to say that either of these works are bad or harmful; both are objectively good things. However, there is a worrying trend of men misunderstanding these works and choosing to idolize the main characters as paragons of masculinity. This is especially clear when you examine the characters further: Both Holden and Rick show many signs of being narcissistic, violent, and emotionally detached from others-- all traits that tend to be idolized by society as masculine.
Historically, the concern with _Catcher_ having a "bad influence" has been not on "men" but *boys* who might "idolize" the character--when the novel was first published, there was great worry about how Holden would lead impressionable young men to start slacking off in school and rejecting adult authority. Seventy years later, as we've discussed, his rebellion doesn't seem as novel or as appealing to many readers, and it's been interesting to watch young readers (Uni High juniors and seniors since 2009) react differently to Holden with each passing year. He's not quite as influential as he once was, and the novel instead often assumes the mantle of "book grown-ups think will 'change your life' but is really meh." I would never want to be such an adult, and I have made no promises that this book will change anyone's life--the most interesting things about Holden, for me, are his contradictions, the ways he *doesn't* work as a clear role model or rebel figure. It's been interesting to observe students become less and less enamored with him as the years go by.
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