By Makenna Hall, Asst. News Editor
Back in August 2014, Netflix debuted the ambivalent and now acclaimed original cartoon “BoJack Horseman.”
For five seasons, the show has tailed a humanoid horse, BoJack, who is constantly trying to become a “better person” and to finally feel some happiness in his life.
BoJack aims to become better for, and with the help of, his friends and very colorful side characters, including his roommate Todd Chavez and former television rival Mr. Peanutbutter.
After becoming famous from a 90s sitcom titled “Horsin’ Around,” BoJack quickly let the fame get to his head and started acting harshly towards the show producer and best friend, Herb Kazzaz as well as everyone else around him that he was not trying to sleep with.
“BoJack Horseman” picks up about 18 years after “Horsin’ Around” ends, when BoJack is a full-blown alcoholic living day to day with no significance in sight.
Try as he might, BoJack can’t go back to who he used to be and must come to terms with being a “has been” who’s widely disliked in the entertainment industry. That is, until he meets ghostwriter Diane Nguyen, who was hired to write his memoir.
When the book is published and BoJack sees himself from Diane’s eyes, he begins to question his own morality and whether or not he is a good person “deep down.”
Diane questions this idea of a “deep down,” wondering if we, as people, are actually more than our surface actions and we merely use this safety net of a “deep down” to feel better about the lives we lead.
This is why I find this show so captivating: you want to root for this person who wants so desperately to be better, but he just can’t figure out how to.
But at the same time, does this will to be “good” outweigh all of BoJack’s tendencies to self-sabotage and push away the people who care about him? Just because BoJack wants to be a good person, can he really change?
As a viewer you keep expecting a happy ending for BoJack because that’s typical for television, but those happy moments come and go before you even fully get to relish in them.
In the newest season, which came out on Sept. 14, BoJack says, “You never get a happy ending, ‘cause there’s always more show. I guess until there isn’t.” This is why it becomes frustrating watching this character: What if there is not a “deep down” and everything BoJack is doing is pointless and he will always return to his toxic tendencies?
When a new character, Hollyhock, was introduced in season four, BoJack has the perfect motivation to be on the final road to recovery.
It truly seems like that is where the story is headed, but it does not take long for season five to seemingly put BoJack back at square one.
Throughout the first four seasons, “BoJack Horseman” does a remarkable job of making all these animal people seem real and human, more so than a lot of actual human characters.
But the fifth season acts a little differently: it’s almost like the creators are begging the viewers to stop feeling sorry for BoJack and realize that he has done some terrible things and should not be forgiven just because he is self-aware.
This new season works around the premise of BoJack and his manager Princess Carolyn’s new show called “Philbert.” BoJack plays the main character, Philbert, whose characteristics too closely resemble his own.
Diane acts as a writer for the show and has no problem bringing Philbert’s toxicity to the immediate surface.
However, she becomes discomforted when realizes that everyone loves Philbert because of, not in spite of, these characteristics.
Philbert has made people, like BoJack, feel good about themselves instead wanting to better themselves.
For me, Diane has always been the most relatable character: a writer struggling with self-acceptance and the purpose of life but never fails to properly care about the people she loves.
She’s the dry lines and honest truth that not only serves as BoJack’s moral compass, but just about every other character in the show.
One of my favorite things she says is to BoJack in season five is: “You say you wanna get better but you don’t know how; as your friend I’m
telling you how.”
This line drives home BoJack’s internal struggle and also reinstates how helping those she cares about is Diane’s second nature.
Diane’s realization about Philbert really made me reconsider my own love for BoJack and what exactly I expect for him as a character moving forward.
So badly I want for BoJack to be able to love himself and feed that love into the people close to him.
However, deep down I know that he has internalized so much self-hatred and poor relationship habits that I am not completely convinced he has the mind space to.
But my thought itself is a catch-22, because why am I allowed to have a “deep down” feeling about BoJack’s ability to be good “deep down?”
Overall, this show is goofy and uses overly cheesy forms of comedy, but it is deep and dark and it makes you love and hate the characters.
Most importantly, it makes you think about yourself and your own goodness. It makes you want to try and be better because maybe there is a still a chance that you can be.