#bjhm analysis

[dongslinger--420]

Escape From LA: How BoJack Horseman deconstructs the sitcom

A LOT of BoJack's characterisation is based on the fact that he sees life as a sitcom. You can't separate BoJack the show nor BoJack the character from sitcoms. So much of the show is based on deconstructing sitcom tropes, and that BoJack thinks that the sitcom solution will work in his life. Take that episode in season 1 where Diane and PB are getting married: BoJack keeps trying to create increasingly complicated situations to sabotage their marriage because he has a crush on Diane, because that's what would happen in a sitcom. But none of them actually work. Diane and PB get married anyway because, why wouldn't they? And the episode ends with Todd telling BoJack that he should just give up.

The sitcom thing is played for laughs to varying degrees throughout the show, with Escape From LA being one example that is exclusively played for drama. The entire episode is set up like an episode of a 90s sitcom: BoJack is extremely close with Penny and involved in her life, there are characters with quirks and catchphrases, BoJack does his stupid BoJack dance at the dance, BoJack acts as the "cool grown up friend" to all of Penny's friends, the New Mexico leitmotif plays throughout the episode as a scene transition, the bjhm theme song is replaced by an 80s sitcom parody of a theme called "Kyle And The Kids".

But the thing about all of this is that the show isn't a sitcom, and everything I just listed has a real life consequence.

Much like bjhm itself does, at the start of the episode the show plays this sitcom subversion for laughs. Pete Repeat has an extremely stupid character quirk both in and out of the context of the story, and he never fucking says anything twice! Because that's stupid! BoJack's stupid dance gets him boo'd off the dance floor because realistically why would a group of teenagers do a 51yo man dance. Kyle And The Kids is immediately followed by a joke about Penny's younger brother Trip having an unprompted erection, which would crucially never happen in an 80s sitcom because, although normal, is not family friendly by any stretch of the imagination.

The rest of my points, however, are subverted in a darker way. BoJack's closeness with Penny means that he knows a lot about her life, and the scene where they go through their plan on what to do also has Charlotte in the room, who has no idea what they're talking about, showing us that this is not a normal level of what an adult knows (there's more to say about this one but I'll get to it later). BoJack acting as the "cool grown up friend" involves giving teenagers bourbon (bearing in mind these kids have only ever drunk beer), and eventually one of them gets alcohol poisoning and ends up going to the hospital. And every time the New Mexico leitmotif is used in the following seasons (i.e. every time New Mexico is mentioned), it is used as something to haunt BoJack. It's the equivalent of having an extremely dirty and terrible association with the Hannah Montana music.

It's difficult to decipher exactly what stereotypical role BoJack is supposed to be taking in this hypothetical episode of Kyle And The Kids, or whatever you want to call it. I think he's supposed to be taking the role of "father". "Father" is the role that he played on Horsin Around. "Father" is what he (at least originally) wanted to be in relation to Penny. "Father" is something that he has one frame of reference for: The Horse.

There is a line in Sabrina's Christmas Wish where Olivia is complaining about the boy she's talking to, and The Horse offers to take her to the dance. The funny thing about this line is that it's not at all out of place in Horsin Around, because it's normal for sitcom parents to have that level of involvement with their children. In fact, they have to, in a narrative context, because it's a dom com, and you have to have the characters interact with each other because that's just how stories work. However, it is out of place in Escape From LA, purely because we have Charlotte as a frame of reference. Charlotte and Penny are very close, and are shown to be very close throughout all of their appearances. But Charlotte is reacting to the conversation with comments like "who are these people?" because she's still Penny's mother at the end of the day. I would say I'm close with my mum and I've never given her that much information about my crushes (it took me half of my one relationship to even tell her that I was in a relationship). And because of this distinction, Penny doesn't see BoJack as a parental figure. She sees him as a friend, which is why she falls in love with him later on.

The interesting thing about this episode is that because it's so sitcommy by design, it's extremely easy to root for BoJack on your first watch. Because the "father" or the "cool adult/uncle/whatever" role in a sitcom is one that's known, and the father in the sitcom would never do anything wrong. Especially considering the background information we have that Charlotte is the one who got away. We, at least to a degree, expect BoJack to actually end up with Charlotte at the end of the episode. When BoJack says things like "you look just like your mother", on our first watch of the episode we connect that to his want to be Penny's father, because that's also BoJack's intention. But then everything gets shattered, both in and out of universe, when Charlotte rejects BoJack. Because suddenly, both we and BoJack are supposed to deal with the fact that, actually, why would she have an affair with Kyle? What information do we have that she and Kyle are not happily married?* This is not a sitcom. So then, BoJack starts to panic. He starts to think irrationally, as this illusion he has been creating for himself for 3 months and/or 29 years starts to crumble. He starts to see Penny, not as a daughter, but as the next best option to being with Charlotte, the next best option to keep living this lie he keeps telling himself.

Sure, it seems like shock value the first time you watch it. Because it's a subversion. It's not what you expect by definition. But then after you rewatch the episode, you can't unsee it. Everything is recontextualised. It's no longer a sitcom.

Escape From LA is my second favourite penultimate episode in the entire show. Other than being one of the biggest parts of the show that wasn't spoilt for me, it's so beautifully constructed and subtle and genius that it remains gripping every time, and I love noticing a new thing about it every time.

*For this very reason, Kyle's lack of appearances and an active role in this episode is genius.

[bojackandherb]

Tbh like. I don’t think Joseph was in the wrong for burning Beatrice’s possessions. Obviously it was traumatic for her and it sucked but like. That’s what they thought they were supposed to do back then. What he’s in the wrong for is the callous way he attempted to comfort her when she saw what was happening. He shouldn’t have shamed her for crying or said “you don’t want to end up like your mother.” He should’ve taken her away from that situation as soon as he saw she was there, and not let her watch her things burn. Especially her baby. He should’ve explained why they had to burn her things in a better way. He should’ve replaced all her stuff as soon as possible (which. We don’t know whether he did or not). He should’ve tried harder to understand a child’s emotions and way of understanding the world.

But he was not taught and refused to learn anything about understanding and woman/child’s emotions

If she had been comforted properly and taken away from that situation, it would’ve been significantly less scarring for her

[gl1tched-g0th]

Actually no I WILL talk about how much I adore the last conversation Bojack and Diane had.

He tried to make a depressing joke, ("Wouldn't it be funny if this night was the last time we ever talked to each other?"), assuming she'd play along or agree, but she didn't. Bojack gets visibly confused and maybe even uncomfortable by this. Silence. Bojack tries to save the conversation, only for Diane to cut him off. Bojack tries to avoid what he knows is coming - abandonment - but then Diane catches him off guard with a "thank you", and just for a split second he takes as reassurance that she's not leaving. Then Diane continues, tells him it's going to be okay and that she's sorry. Bojack gets that pit in his stomach again.

Diane says thank you once more, almost as damage control, as she tries to leave. Bojack desperately tries to keep her around to prolong the inevitable, just for a bit more. Just one last good memory. For the window of time that he tells the story, you can see Bojack loosen up. He gets hopeful again. He smiles. He almost forgets Diane is gonna leave after he runs out of words.

And then he does. His words stop, their voices die out with their laughter and the familiarity of the conversation. The familiarity of them. They have nothing left to do. No other way to end their chapter together.

Bojack decides to end it with another depressing joke, as has been customary for his and Diane's dynamic. But instead of laughing or agreeing, Diane goes against his words. Discomfort and confusion outline Bojack's features again. That's not right. That's not the Diane he knows. Then Diane talks about how nice of a night it is, and Bojack goes back to smiling and a more comfortable demeanor. "This is nice" he says, and looks to Diane for approval. He frowns when all she does is stare at the sky. The realization finally sets in, finally. Bojack looks at her with concern, praying she'll just say a simple "Yeah". But nothing. Defeat. And then acceptance. They stay in silence. You can see Bojack wants to say something, to try and save this relationship. But a part of him pulls him back. The part of him that knows the truth.

Diane changed for the better, when he just changed.

[edwardsissyhandsthtdanceslikeabb]

the category is happy go lucky, spontaneous himbo masking internal turmoil with endless optimism that results in overstepping boundaries but that's lowkey what ends up endearing ppl to them and their obscure referential, oftentimes entendre-based humor.

well i'd have two nickels- wait, wrong joke.

one thing i don't play about is my love for mr pebis bobbert, which technically means that ted is my type (no), tho pb is him in a different font, like ted may be given nuance/dimension by his mental health but pb has this throughline of a latent grounded, mellow, aware disposition that shows glimpses under pressure - less manic pixie dream girl and more flawed — ted's less personality struggles and more circumstantial, visa versa.

also interesting is me shipping the manic pixie clown thot with an intellectual, emotionally repressed person that challenges them. probably that opposites attract dynamic. and as someone who identifies with the angst riddled, over analytical, self-sabotaging types im able to appreciate the draw.

yes i still ship diane x pb, yes i kin diane, no this is not a conflict of interest.

anyways, forget keeley, forget bex, forget whoever idgaf, i wanna see doc sharon and ted date, they've seen each other's inner lives, they've been there at each other's lowest, they've catalyzed notable change within the other, when they need comfort they turn to each other, like i always look forward to them interacting. its an odd pair but they get each other, yk? — the one thing holding ted lasso back is there's no bojack for ted to want to dirty dog do, hence my decreased affinity.

[attemptsonherlifepdf]

bojack horseman and bo burnham: the art of acting like you’re acting and the comedy of misery

at the core of bojack horseman, raphael bob-waksberg’s 2014 comedy, is a story about the relationship between performance and depression. the protagonist of this renowned tragicomedy is best described as a sympathetic villain; he is shown to clearly be in the wrong across various events of the show, and is explicitly referred to as a bad person, but the audience is granted deep access to his personal struggles, resulting in some portions of the audience finding themselves on bojack’s side. the duality of his character is complex, but can be broken down into some core components, that all stem from the impacts of stardom and performance. the standup comedy of bo burnham arguably echoes this sentiment in real time. having been a performer from a young age, burnham creates work that serves as a satirical commentary on the life of entertainers. he uses original songs to explore the reliance upon and resentment for his performative nature both onstage and within his personal life. both the comedian and the netflix show are widely understood to be thinly veiling their critiques of the entertainment industry behind a particular brand of witty and absurd humour.

both bojack and burnham’s content openly criticises their audiences and explicitly states the manufactured nature of the narrative the audience is fed. in the fifth season of bojack horseman, the show satirises itself by having bojack star in a police procedural drama, parts of which are actively written by other characters to reflect events of bojack’s life. the titular character he plays, philbert, is the epitome of selfish male angst, and an example of what bob-waksberg’s show could have been; another story about a sad and angry man whose guilt supposedly makes up for the people he has hurt. according to bojack, philbert teaches us ‘we’re all terrible, so we’re all okay’, an interpretation that is harshly disputed by diane: ‘that’s not the point of philbert, for guys to watch it and feel okay. i dont want you, or anyone else, justifying their shitty behaviour because of the show.’ this moment is a direct reaction to some of the online reception bojack horseman has received. various circles of the show’s fanbase have found themselves relating to the protagonist to the point of defending his untoward behaviour, a response not intentioned by the show’s creators. this is not the only example of bob-waksberg’s ability to make his work self-evaluative. in season six’s exposure of bojack and sarah lynn’s problematic relationship, characters question their sexual encounter from the first season. the writers use this as a way of examining their own choices, and the harmful tropes they played into when using this exploitative sexual encounter as a gag. this self-evaluative quality is what sets bojack apart as a show that assesses the performance it participates in, much like the comedy of bo burnham.

bo burnham is known for directly addressing his audience, particularly in terms of discouraging idolisation and parasocial relationships. some examples of this manifest as responses to hecklers rather than a planned bit in the show, for instance:

heckler: i love you!

bo: no you don’t

heckler: i love the IDEA of you!

bo: stop participating!

he actively addresses the issues posed by being an entertainer, and encourages the audience to understand and recognise that his onstage persona is just that: an exaggerated persona. not once does burnham claim to be fully authentic onstage, and even moments of authenticity we see in his latest special, inside, are staged. we make the assumption that having the physical setting of a stage stripped away grants us a more personal look at the entertainer’s life, but he makes it clear that even in his own home we still see the aspects he has carefully constructed rather than the full truth. arguably though, parts of the show really are authentic; in his monologue during make happy, bo deconstructs his own show in a way that is similar to bojack horseman’s later seasons, admitting that all he knows is performing and thus making a show about the more mundane and relatable aspects of life would feel ‘incredibly disingenuous.’ in his attempts to separate himself from this onstage persona he actually manages to blur the lines between what is acting and what is now part of his nature as a result of his job. this notion is echoed in bojack horseman as bojack’s attention seeking nature is attributed to his years acting in front of a camera every day.

bo suggests that the era of social media has created a space in which children’s identities mimic that of an entertainer like himself, describing the phenomenon as ‘performer and audience melded together.’ in this observation he criticises the phenomenon. bo attempts to force the audience to recognise the ways in which their lives are becoming shaped by the presence of an audience and to some extent uses his own life as a warning tale against this. he points out the way in which the ‘tortured artist trope’ means that your cries for help or roundabout attempts of addressing mature themes such as substance abuse, mental illness and trauma become part of that on stage persona and therefore become part of the joke. both bo and bojack address these topics in more discrete manners earlier in their careers, but this eventually becomes expected, and thus they are forced to explicitly detail their struggles with these topics in order to be taken seriously. even then, portions of the audience are inclined to see it as part of the persona or as something that fuels the creators creativity and thus does not need to be addressed as a legitimate issue. the emphasis on creating a character or persona promotes the commodification of mental illness: any struggle must be made into a song or a joke or a bit, must be turned into part of the act in order to have value. this actually serves to delegitimise these emotions and create a disconnect between the feeling and the person, as it becomes near impossible to exist without feeling as though you are acting. even when an artist’s cries for help become blatant, they continue to go ignored because now they serve the purpose of creating content that criticises the industry they stem from. online audiences can be seen as treating bo burnham and his insightful work as existing to demonstrate the negative effects entertaining can have, and because this insight is useful or thought-provoking to audiences, he is almost demanded to keep entertaining and creating. in response to this demand, his work becomes more meta and his messages become clearer, and the more obvious his messages, the more people he reaches. this increases audience demands and traps entertainers in a cycle fraught with internal conflict.

during bojack’s second season, bojack’s date asks him, ‘come on, do that bojack thing where you make a big deal and everyone laughs, but at the same time we relate, because you're saying the things polite society won't.’ this moment exemplifies how aspects of his genuine personality have now become a part of his persona and this is demanded of him in genuine and serious situations, undermining the validity of his emotional reactions. he immediately makes a rude comment to the waitress at the restaurant they’re in and satisfies his date by performing that character he has set himself out to be. some circles of the fan base have argued that bojack is written as a depiction of somebody with borderline personality disorder, offering a psychoanalytical lens through which to view this notion of performance. a defining symptom of borderline personality disorder is a fluctuating sense of self; having grown up on camera, being demanded to perform to others as young as six years old, bojack’s sense of self will have been primarily dictated by the need to act.  whether this acting is for the sake of comedy, or as a representation of masking his mental illness, when they need to act is taken away bojack entirely loses his sense of self and relapses into his addictions: ‘i felt like a xerox of a xerox of a person.’ burnham’s depictions of depression run along a similar vein; in his new special he poses the idea that his comedy no longer serves the same personal purpose it once did for him. he questions ‘shit should I be joking at a time like this?’ and satirises the idea that arts have enough value to change or impact the current global issues that we are facing. burnham’s ‘possible ending song’ to his latest special, he asks ‘does anybody want to joke when no-one’s laughing in the background? so this is how it is.’ implicit in this question is the idea that when the audience is taken away and there is nobody to perform his pain to, he is left with his pain. instead of being able to turn his musings and thoughts into a product to sell to the public, he is forced to just think about them in isolation and actually face them, an abrupt and distressing experience.

the value of performance and art is questioned by both bojack and burnham, particularly during the later years of their respective content. burnham’s infamous song, art is dead, appears to be a direct response to the question ‘what is the worth of art?’ he posits that performing is the result of a need for attention (‘my drug’s attention, i am an addict, but i get paid to indulge in my habit’) and repeatedly jokes throughout his career that the entertainment industry receives more respect that it deserves (‘i’m the same as you, im still doing a job or a service, i’m just massively overpaid’). his revelations regarding the inherent desire for attention that runs through all entertainers is frequently satirised in bojack horseman. bojack is comically, hyperbolically attention hungry and self-obsessed, and the show has a running gag in which he uses phrases along the lines of ‘hello, why is nobody paying attention to me, the famous movie star, instead of these other boring people.’ his constant attempts to direct the focus of others towards himself result in bojack feeling like ‘everybody loves you, but nobody likes you.’ his peers buy into his act and adore the comical, exaggerated, laughable aspects of his character, but find very little room to respond to him on a genuinely personal level because of this. interestingly, bojack appears to enjoy catering to his audience and the instant gratification it produces, whereas bo burnham becomes increasingly candid about his mixed feeling towards his audience. ‘i wanna please you, but i wanna stay true to myself, i wanna give you the night out that you deserve, but i wanna say what i think and not care what you think about it.’ he admits to catering to what audiences want from him, but resents both the audience and himself in the process as it reveals to himself which parts of his character are solely for the sake of people watching him.

within bojack horseman, this concept is applicable not only to the protagonist, but to the various forms of performer demonstrated in the plot. towards the show’s end, sarah lynn asks ‘what does being authentic have to do with anything?’ to which herb kazzaz responds, ‘when i finally stopped hiding behind a facade i could be at peace.’ this highlights the fact that because entertainers are demanded to continue the facade, they do not receive the opportunity to find ‘peace.’ this sentiment is scattered throughout the show, through a musical motif, the song ‘don’t stop dancing.’ the song stems from a life lesson bojack imparted to sarah lynn at a young age, and becomes more frequently used as the show progresses and bojack’s situation worsens.

sarah lynn is also used to explore the value of entertainers; in the show’s penultimate episode, she directly compares her work as a pop icon to the charity work of herb, arguing that if she suffered in order to produce her work. it has to mean something. she lists the struggles she faced when on tour: ‘i gave my whole life...my manager leaked my nudes to get more tour dates added, my mom pointed out every carb i ate, it was hell. but it gave millions of fans a show they will never forget and that has to mean something.’ implicit in this notion is the idea that entertainment is the epitome of self-sacrifice. there is a surplus of mentally ill individuals within the industry, largely due to the nature of the industry itself, but some may argue that the cultural grip the industry has, and the vast amounts of respect and money it generates annually, gives the suffering of these prolific individuals meaning.

the juxtaposing responses entertainers feel towards their audiences manifest as two forms of desperation: the desperation to be an individual who is held accountable, and the desperation to be loved and validated. we see both bojack and bo depict how they oscillate between  ‘this is all a lie’ and ‘my affection for my audience is genuine’, or between ‘do not become infatuated with me im a character’ and ‘please fucking love my character i do not know how to be loved on a personal level.’ bojack explicitly asks diane to write a slam piece on him and ‘hold him accountable’, similar to bo’s song ‘problematic’ in which the hook includes the phrase ‘isn’t anybody gonna hold me accountable?’ for his insensitive jokes as a late teenager. their self-awareness is what enables their self-evaluative qualities, but self-awareness is its own issue. bojack grapples with a narcissistic view of his own recognition of his behaviour before settling on a more nuanced, albeit depressing take. originally he makes the assumption that in recognising the negative aspects of himself, he is superior to those who behave similarly: ‘but i know im a piece of shit. that makes me better than all the pieces of shit that don’t know theyre pieces of shit.’ eventually, during his time at rehab he is forced to reconcile with the fact that self awareness does not, to put it bluntly, make you the superior asshole, it just makes you the more miserable one. the show does, however, make a point to recognise how the entertainment industry protects ‘pieces of shit’, prioritising their productive value over how much they deserve to be held accountable, demonstrated using characters like hank hippopoalus. the show itself obviously stems from the entertainment industry, as it is a form of media produced by netflix, one of the most popular streaming platforms available. bojack horseman and bo burnham represent the small corner of the industry that is reflective enough to showcase the damage it inflicts. this is powerful in terms of education and awareness, and urges audiences to question their own motives and versions of performance, but the reflection alone is not powerful enough to help the artists in question. burnham’s candid conversations surrounding his mental health continue to reveal a plethora of issues somewhat caused or sustained by the nature of his career. within bojack horseman, bojack is only able to stop hurting other characters when those characters construct a situation that forces him to face consequence, his introspection alone is not enough. while bojack ends on a message of hope, suggesting to the audience that reverting back to the status quo is not the only acceptable way for events to end, it leaves stinging lessons and social commentary with the audience regarding the unnatural and damaging narrative that performers live through. on a similar but markedly different note, bo burnham’s work and personal progression is playing out in real time, and not in a way that is as raw and genuine as it appears. each bit is planned, even the most vulnerable moments that appear unplanned and painful. his latest special is not entirely devoid of hope, but does translate to audiences as a somewhat exaggerated look around the era of social media and the development of performance, using himself as an example.

the absurdist humour that often acts as a vehicle for poignant statements or emotionally provocative questions is very specific to each media creator. bob-waksberg’s use of puns, tongue twisters and entirely ridiculous circumstances served to simultaneously characterise his points as an expected part of the show’s style of humour, similar to bojack’s emotional instability, but also to make them appear gut-punching in comparison to the humour. burnham’s work is similar in that poignant but blunt statements are often sandwiched between absurd and exaggerated jokes, making them stand out via contrast but not giving the audience too much time to dwell upon them as they are said. performance art is second nature to entertainers, and is presented a an issue that is infiltrating the general population via social media rather than solely affecting the ‘elites’. bojack horseman and bo burnham present the duality of artists simultaneously attempting to level the playing field and increase their chances of survival in the industry, and encourage audiences to know that everyone is bluffing and you’ll never have the right cards anyway.

i.k.b

[lichenobserver]

Bojack: Prince of Time

Diane: Witch of Rage

Todd: Heir of Blood

Mr Peanutbutter: Knight of Light

Princess Carolyn: Page of Space

Character Actress Margo Martindale: Thief of Doom

[littlenymphie]

its kinda funny how yt is recommending me so many vids of depression and shit after ive binged on bjhm analysis vids like thank you…….i clearly need it

[dongslinger--420]

No I'm not done actually. Morally grey characters in BoJack Horseman are one of the main themes and as a result I don't believe anyone is 100% bad or good. But I think this especially applies to Joseph. I see a lot of videos with him where people comment that they used to kind of like him and see him as sympathetic until they watched Times Arrow or until they finished The Old Sugarman Place or something, but the fact of the matter is that if Joseph were evil, he wouldn't have been happily married. If Joseph were evil, he would've lobotomized his wife at the first chance he got, but the thing that people keep forgetting is that he very specifically lobotomized Honey because she was PROVING TO BE AN ACTIVE DANGER TO THE LIFE OF HIS DAUGHTER. Sure, he only had one solution to this problem, but he waited until the last possible moment to use said solution.

Also, just think about it. A man who tortures the women he's close to, just because he's horrible and never bothered to think how they would feel? We already have a character like that in the show, who is portrayed as a parodic caricature. But a man who is 100% a product of his upbringing, never thinking of trying to be anything else? A man who, despite this upbringing, still loves his wife and daughter? A man who has such a misguided view on how to support said wife and daughter that he believes that destroying his daughter's possessions and lobotomizing his wife is as thoughtful and helpful as teaching his daughter to stand up for herself against her bullies, and standing up for his daughter against his wife?

Spine-chilling.

[dongslinger--420]

Ok but. The scene in s2e09 "The Shot" fucking breaks me and here's why. BoJack sees Kelsey as a merge between his parents and Herb, what with her being older than him and jaded but also she's a boss figure. And for this reason, BoJack spends a lot of time (shown most in "Chickens" but also a lot of the season tbh) trying to win her approval because she's not giving it to him willingly. He keeps going about it in the wrong way, as we see in Chickens when he is trying to turn her actual literal daughter being in danger into a fun day out, but I think the biggest issue with this is actually that he doesn't really have anything to prove. Kelsey purposefully sought him out for the job because she genuinely believed him to be the best actor there, and although she shows frustration at him not being able to do his job properly, she does still keep this image of him in mind. Which is why the thing that actually does lead him to win her approval is him delivering a genuinely good performance, and said approval just comes in a simple recognition of his skill. BoJack has been in desperate of simple appreciation from his parents (reflected in stuff like the "I see you" theme from Free Churro) and he has been missing the attention and extremely intimate love of his performance that Herb gave him while he was directing him, and Kelsey's "no, I knew" quote manages, in three words, to deliver both to him perfectly. And THAT'S what breaks him. Between the sheer emotional connection he feels towards this woman, and the lack of this connection that he received from the people he wanted it from the most, it just becomes too much for him, and THAT'S what leads him to start crying. It is one of the most layered, emotionally intimate moments of the entire show, and it breaks me every time I watch it.

[dongslinger--420]

The theme of characters affecting everyone around them is a subtle, yet important one, and the best example of this is how BoJack is how we see the behaviours of the people around him, especially Todd, Princess Carolyn, and Gina, change as a result of his presence in their lives. The second best example of this is how Sarah Lynn says "suck a dick, d*mbshits" like Once before everyone around her immediately adopts it into their vernacular. Because sometimes you have such a banger statement that it impacts the world forever.

[dongslinger--420]

Princess Carolyn's character arc is about learning how to separate her personal life from her professional life, and the thing about her professional life is that she does actually enjoy it on some level. Sure, she might hate some aspects of it, but said aspects usually come into play when she lets herself get too involved in a situation (like with Rutabaga or basically anything involving BoJack) and when she is succeeding (which is most of the time) she actually does really enjoy it, and gains a large sense of personal satisfaction every time. This is perhaps most evident in Nice While It Lasted, when she sounds so genuinely happy while she manages her PR at the wedding: she's a naturally driven person, and she enjoys being driven. And I think this is why Ralph, despite being a really healthy and supportive partner, wasn't as good a fit for her as Judah was. Ralph kept encouraging her to relax more, but Princess Carolyn didn't really need to relax. Whereas Judah is just as driven as Princess Carolyn, they play off each other really well, and they both see and enjoy their work in the same way. And this gives them both the freedom to properly separate their personal lives from their professional lives, while living their lives the happiest they can.

[dongslinger--420]

🔥bojack again

I assume you want me to elaborate on this answer, so I shall.

With a character whose ultimate downfall comes mainly from lots of small things he has done throughout his lifetime coming back to light all at once, it is perhaps most important to focus on said little things when deciphering his actual personality, despite how easy it is to focus on the big things like Sarah Lynn's death and him almost killing Gina. BJHM, as a character driven show by design, is full of small details, and it's impossible to analyse its main character without first considering this.

People who think of BoJack as a soulless, narcissistic monster need to consider the scene near the end of Hank After Dark where he is defending his best friend from verbal harassment completely of his own volition, to consider the episode where he brings a baby seahorse back to her father, even though he could've left her alone to die, to consider that he cried when taking Sarah Lynn to the hospital, to consider every off the clock conversation he ever had with Princess Carolyn.

People who think of BoJack as a purely sympathetic woobie need to consider the way he cheated on Princess Carolyn without a second thought, to consider the way he shattered Todd's confidence as soon as he finally became happy, to consider that he kept trying to go back to Princess Carolyn after he fired her but only when he needed her superficially, to consider that he made Bradley's parents get a divorce by being the other man.

The little details are EVERYTHING when it comes to BoJack's character, because he has such a strange relationship with the concept of self awareness that honestly most of the time it's easier to analyse him when you observe his behaviour superficially. Int. Sub gives us a shockingly accurate portrayal of him purely because it's from the perspective of someone who barely knows him at all. In a similar vein, everything I just mentioned is just. Normal stuff that people do. It's not anything special, so you know he's not acting out.

BoJack is such a complex character that to ignore all the small details would be to grossly simplify everything that makes him interesting.

[dongslinger--420]

The tragedy of Princess Carolyn's character is that she's incredible. She's the most competent woman on the planet. She always lands on her feet. And she's STILL tied to the love of her life. She has a huge sense of responsibility to the man she's been in love with for 20+ years and she feels that she can't escape. She has to be amazing at ALL aspects of her job, and to her, a large part of that is her devotion to BoJack. She's an extremely strong, talented, brilliant woman, but she can't stop herself from being defined by the main man in her life. God.

[bojackandherb]

Something I don’t feel is talked about very often is Bojack first started drinking more in his Horsin around years as a way to cope with his anxiety

[dongslinger--420]

Hey, kids!

My name's Amelia, I'm 19, and I'm the only bjhm fan on this entire website with good takes! Isn't that shocking!

This blog's content swerves mainly from pretentious think pieces to shitpost comedy to senseless gushing about whatever character I'm thinking about this time, so all in all it's a pretty fun time! Feel free to interact and send asks, because if there's one thing I LOVE, it's rambling about stuff that really doesn't matter in the long run.

In my day to day life, I'm a musician! I might do something musical that's related to this fandom at some point! Follow this blog to increase the chances of that happening! Or not!

I write image descriptions. If you reblog a post in which I have written an image description and delete my addition with the ID, you are getting blocked. The fact that you care more about your blog looking nice than blind people isn't something I want to see, thanks.

Tags:

I'm usually very specific and formatted with my tag system. If I ever refer to an episode or a season in a post, you will find it tagged as "[name of episode]" and "bjhm s[X]". The same goes for any character. Full names are used except for Sarah Lynn, and if any character doesn't have a full name stated I write it down as "[name] bjhm". The other exception is BoJack himself, who I consistently refer to as "bojack the horse" to distinguish him from the name of the show.

Other tags I use include:

#amelia answers -- when I answer asks that aren't asking for my hot takes

#amelia's hot takes -- responses to any ask with the 🔥 emoji

#bjhm s6 critical -- because I have enough thoughts about this season to span an entire tag, and because my absolute favourite pastime is being angry I am always open to more prompts

#an extremely funny commentary -- I like to watch the show with my best friend! Here you can see our thoughts on an episode in real time

#bjhm analysis -- I have been analysing fiction for fun for the better part of 10 years now, and I have an A in GCE Film Studies to show for it. Needless to say, I have a lot of things to say.

[bojackandherb]

Something I noticed…

Sarah Lynn, who was born in 1984, is said to be ten in the flashback that takes place after Bojack meets Danny Banana’s. In addition, in 2014 when Bojack visits Herb in “The Telescope”, Herb says Bojack abandoned him 20 years prior (“if that knife ain’t sharp enough, I got another that you left in my back 20 years ago!” “20 years, you didn’t call me”).

Both of these factors would leave one to assume Herb was fired in 1994. However, in “Angela,” we see this calendar:

And if you compare them, it doesn’t actually match up with with the calendar for 1994, but rather 1995

Maybe Sharona was rounding when she said Sarah Lynn was 10? Or maybe Sarah Lynn just hadn’t turned 11 yet that year, idk her birthday. And Herb could’ve been rounding too. Unless the show accidentally put a page from the wrong calendar year? I doubt it, but still.

@whaleworld noted a few things that could point to it being 1994 in their post as well. Then again I guess those points don’t mean it’s necessary sometime in late 1994 but could also mean it’s during early 1995.

Anyway. Food for thought.