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Character Analysis: Bob’s Burgers; Bob and Linda Belcher

While watching the show, Bob’s Burgers for the up-teenth time, I realized in a whirl of excitement, that the majority of the characters enveloped or personified certain mental illnesses.  Now, you might say that I am grasping at straws; the show is full of laughs and relatable characters.  How could mental illness come into play?  Let me explain. Bob’s Burgers is, on the surface, a “slice of life” comedy that follows a family and their restaurant in quirky adventures and relatable hardships of lower-middle-class families.  We watch as the three Belcher children find themselves in everyday activities, at school, in social constructs and we can not help but find ourselves relating to them when we were younger.  Bob and Linda Belcher, the parents and owners of Bob’s Burgers, run their restaurant from below their small apartment and most often showcase “relationship goals” in the way that they seem to completely go together and flow effortlessly with each other. 

They support their children in all avenues of their personality and encourage them to be the best of themselves.  This is brought to light with the eldest daughter, Tina, openly writes about her erotic friend fiction. She has no problem with writing in her diary, only to have her family go behind her back (and in some cases, sit in for a reading) and look through her thoughts and feelings.  Their son, Gene, is a young lad that has a great affinity with music, food, and his own bodily functions.  This seems to get somewhat annoying to the family, but being the Belchers, they still accept their son for who he is.  Louise, the youngest of the three, is a mastermind.  She looks as if she takes enjoyment from causing havoc, relishing in the adrenalin rush that comes with it.  Often times, we can hear her talking in the background as she encourages others to act on their impulses.

From this brief synopsis of the show and it’s main characters, it seems obvious that each of the children exhibits some kind of mental illness.  But, what of the parents?  The power couple made up of Bob and Linda, are the personification of bipolar disorder. This is showcased by their interactions together and when alone.

Please note that all this information is based on my own personal experiences and small research into bipolar disorder.

Bob: The particarch of the family, has it all; a loving family, a caring wife, and his own business that he built from the ground up.  He experiences the hardships of being his own boss, as well as taking in great joy in his work; making burgers. In many episodes, we see him interact with his landlord, Mr. Fischoeder (I’m going to be doing an anylsis of Calvin and Felix at another time), telling him that the rent will either late, or short.  From a business perspective, Mr. Fischoeder could easily evict the Belcher family, but chooses not to. (Again, this will be explained in his anylasis).  Across the street, Bob works against his mortal enemy, JImmy Pesto; he running a far more successful italian resturant.

Bob has a great passion for cooking, that dispite his poor resturant sales, never fails to get him noterity from celeberty chefs and even his landlord.  During the holidays, he takes his time to prepare the best meal, breaking down cooking a turkey in a cheap oven a complex science.  While cooking burgers, or a holday feast, we can see him talking to the food and giving it a personality as he carries on a conversation with himself.  On the surface, we can see this as a thing that he does, and just like the rest of his families quirks, is accepted, and take enjoyment in it.  However, watching the 8 seasons over and over, it starts to become a sad reality, and begs me to question why he does so.

It is pointed out multiple times in the series, that Bob does not have anyone that he really considers a friend (with the exception of a single friend who is a weathly entrepreneur).  Even taking muliple seasons to accept that Teddy, a regular customer and repairman, is in fact one of his best friends.  But, why is this?  We can chalk it up to the fact that making and keeping friends, quality friends, is a hard thing to do.  Made harder by working and owning a business and being a family man. 

Or, it could be his personality.  He has a rough sense of humor that often fails to make it’s mark.  Even at times, his own family does not understand it.  Or, it could be a completely different reason altogether; he is clinically, chronically depressed.  In the show, he remarks to his children about how great it was growing up in his father’s resturant, and working there.  But, upon closer inspection and an “oh shit” moment, it becomes clear that he did not infact have the wonderful childhood he thought he had.

His depression is made apparent in how he speaks in a monotone, though part of that could be because of his voice actor, H. Jon Benjamin.  But, I do not believe that that is not the case, since Benjamin also voices many other characters, including the voice of international superspy Archer, in the show, Archer, who is has an animated personality. Everything seems to be a chore, even if cooking is his life’s passion.  He moves slowly, is not often impressed (or sees things as lack luster) or too often exciteable, and seems to constantly portray the world and a horrible place.

Linda: A wife and mother to three children, Linda is the shoulders that holds the family together.  She supports her husnband in his buisness, being the waitress, wating on the far and few between customers, outside the regulars.  She is smart, beautiful, and talented; all compontents that Bob finds vaulable.

She sings and dances, often times chorographing her own songs during business hours.  Linda is a dreamer, in the simplist sense.  She constantly projects an unearthly positivity, keeping the family Belcher up more often than down.  She encourages her children to do activities that make them happy, supporting them when they question their hobbies.

For all intents and purposes, Linda Belcher seems to be the glue that holds the family together.  We watch her as she fights along side her children and her husband when they get in trouble, being the mothely lion that we would love to see in everday society, and personally, someone who I strive to be. 

From her interactions on the phone, and when they come into Bob’s Burgers, we can see that Linda is not short on friends.  And, at times, tells theatrical stories of the racoons that live behind her apartment.  She acts on impulse, becoming uncontraollably exciteable at inappropriate times.  Not only this, but she acts financially impulsive.  This is made evident through out the show, when she sells an esppresso machine in order to put her son, Gene, into baseball camp, though he does not enjoy the sport and shows no interest in it.

With this basis, I have concluded that Linda, is the manic part of bipolar.  And, looking into her family, it is not a far off thought. Her sister, Gayle who appears to have some kind of mental illness all her own as she struggles to live in her tiny studio apartment, hold a job, or a romantic partner.  Growing up, it becomes apparent that there was some kind of contest between the two sisters, and though they love each other, part of them resents the other.

Taking both of these characters together, it seems overwhelmingly possible that they could, together, be the personification of bipolar; Bob being the depressive episodes and Linda being manic. Alone, we can see that they fully encompass these two extremes.  It would look that if the two had never met, their world and their power together would be non-existent.  In an episode when Bob begins to lose his famous mustache, which we learn, Linda loves profusely, Tina makes up a scenario where the two had not met, with some role reversal with other characters, and they are not the Bob and Linda that we have come to know and love.

But, how does this make them a power couple?  When hearing the term bipolar, most people tend to shy away, thinking that there is something incredibly wrong.  While this can be true in most instances, it is not the case in the Belchers.  I believe that these two extremes that they exhibit actually make them strong as individuals and as a couple.  In a sense, they balance each other out. Similar to the concept of Ying and Yang.

Bob is level-headed, mostly, in his business.  He takes into account all the odds and ins of running a business and in doing so, is able to lean on his wife when he needs to.  When he becomes discouraged by events that could make or break his families way of life, Linda is there beside him, bringing him from the ashes. 

Linda is a romantic free spirit, that often forgets to land.  She fails to see the forest for the trees, and this tends to crush her momentum.  When this happens, Bob is there to calm her down, which in turn, ignites her passionate flame.  When she rises once more, instead of flying alone, she takes the hand of her husband, that had just reminded her with his own positivity (which he takes from Linda).

Together, they are able to overcome many obstacles in their life.  In doing so, they laugh and learn, once more cherishing every moment they have built up to that point.  It is my theory and taking part of my own experiences, that though they are two extremes of a complete whole, they even each other out.  Much like the instances of when I become manic, I know I am going to crash.  However, in preparation for that, my depression begins to take the manic energy, to keep a slower, more methodical approach to achieving the goal.

This personal correlation, the highs, and lows working together to create an even working space are why I believe that Bob and Linda work so well together.  It can be argued that this is just a healthy relationship at work. And you would be right.  Though they have their own personalities, wants and dreams, they still continue to support each other in a loving environment.  And, they could just be that.  A realistic and optimist that have found a rhythm in which they create a beautiful world.

Next, we will be looking into the children.  What do they seem to possess?