Bojack Horseman: Some Crappy Horse Pun

When starting my free trial of Netflix the other month, a show called Bojack Horseman was recommended to me which was released over last summer. The first impressions that Bojack Horseman gives is a very surreal, cartoonish world that features anthropomorphized animals inhabiting society as normal as any other human being. The eponymous character himself is a horse (Unsurprisingly) and a struggling ‘has-been’ actor that gasps for his last breaths of relevance by chronicling his life story into a much anticipated biography. It’s obvious at a glance that Bojack Horseman would display outlandish and wacky concepts throughout its first season and while it does do that it also carries a lot of real and human issues that remind us too much of reality. Its colourful depiction of Hollywood isn’t so much as a paradise for escaping our lives but instead a warped rearrangement of a society we know all too well. 

The main character himself, despite being a horse, is a story that we have seen many times in the media: A famous actor who rides off of his success for so many years finds himself alone after he is spat out by the machine. Some of Bojack’s misfortunes can be attributed to the cold actions of Hollywood but a lot of the blame falls on himself. Flashbacks show how Bojack has neglected or double crossed those who care for him and sadly this trend carries on to the present day. One thing that’s surprising about this animated sitcom is that the story is serialized and needs to be played in order. If you jump between episodes you don’t get the intended story which will ultimately mar your experience. The main plot focuses on Bojack having to detail his own memoirs which will hopefully put his career back on track. This serves the show a great purpose because it suitably reveals what kind of a person Bojack is in order to keep the plot moving. It also gives the character a chance to reflect on the decisions he’s made and whether he is able to change for the better.

Bojack is not alone in his adventures and is surrounded by a phenomenally well-crafted cast of characters. After watching the first episode I realized how the cast was basically picked for my own liking. The main character, Bojack is voiced by Will Arnett, also known Gob from Arrested Development. Bojack’s ghost writer is an awkward misfit, Diane voiced by Alison Brie from Community. Todd, a lovable waster who perpetually sleeps on Bojack’s couch is voiced by Aaron Paul of all people. I love how Aaron Paul basically has a golden ticket to do whatever he wants because of Breaking Bad yet his character still remains a low life waster who can’t get a job. All this needs is Kurt Russell, H. Jon Benjamin and Rowdy Roddy Piper and it’s the best damn show of all time. Seriously though, these characters (and a few more) are all very important to the plot of Bojack Horseman and the writers go to great effort to detail their own struggles, backstories and relations to Bojack himself.

Despite providing many laughs and chuckles, the show doesn’t hesitate to deal with some heavy issues - particularly the aspect of being alone. Throughout the series we see many problems faced by everyday people such as depending on others and dealing with dysfunctional family members despite the fact that the cast of characters contains a horse, a cat, a penguin and a Labrador called Mr. Peanut Butter. The show is also cutthroat as it dishes out scathing criticisms of the media and celebrity lifestyle. One episode in particular deals with Bojack’s former co-worker, Sarah Lynn, a former child star who eventually becomes corrupted by the music industry and garishly flaunts her sexuality in order to appear mature. This eventually leads to a downward spiral of drugs and debauchery which has clearly taken a toll on her health and personality. Any kind of help or advice goes over her head as she vapidly thumbs through her smartphone. Most characters in this show bear some kind of cross or insecurity which can often spark drama and conflict; the only characters that don’t seem to have this problem are usually blissfully oblivious or just downright dumb. The show even goes so far by criticizing larger issues outside of Hollywood such as the token glorification of troops. It’s a show that can be easy to ruffle many feathers due to its unflinching stance but if you find yourself agreeing with these issues it can be easy to slowly become enamoured with it.

The show doesn’t always hit a homerun, it soapbox moments might not be subtly woven into the narrative and can often be blatantly forced into the dialogue towards the end of an episode. This reminds me of the “You know, I learned something today…” moments from South Park which can get old quick but perhaps things will improve a bit more in the second season. The thing that Bojack Horseman does best is…well….Bojack Horseman. While it’s easy to laugh at Bojack’s antics and behaviour it’s quite obvious that he isn’t a good person, yet it’s hard to dislike him for all of this because deep down there’s a small morsel of self-awareness. The topic of whether a character can change for the better is often brought up in TV shows and sometimes you get an episode where a character addresses this situation and promises to be better in the future. Sometimes you get a scenario where the character is forgiven for his misdeeds for no apparent reason we get a happy ending. It’s hard to permanently change a character despite it being vital for their own wellbeing because a large part of comedy is contrast and conflict. If Homer Simpson promised to stop being an idiot it would probably rob him of a lot of his future material and humour so it’s back to the status quo by the next episode. Yet you wonder why Marge hasn’t left the dumb fucker after all these years. I’m not criticizing this formula because I understand how risky it can be to permanently change a character but I'm curious to see if Bojack can take the writing one step further.

The large question mark hanging over the entire season is whether Bojack really can change but his grand revelation never really comes. This makes it all the more depressing while showing a keen sense of consistency by the writers; Bojack does terrible things and while many characters don’t abandon him they never really forgive him either. This adds a nice layer of depth to the characters that surround him because it clearly shows that Bojack’s actions have consequences, making the upcoming second season look even more interesting. I’m also slightly concerned about the quality of new episodes to see if the show will manage to keep up with the topics raised in the past. In the end, I would have been happy if Bojack had remained as just the one season but I’m also curious to see what Netflix have up their sleeve. It’s also surprising to see that Bojack didn’t receive as much critical acclaim as I thought it would. To those people, I advise you to “suck a dick, dumbshits”.*

*By which I mean, I respectfully disagree with your opinion and am eager to hear your counterarguments and criticisms.