Day 15: A TV Show I'm Currently In Love With

Can I do another Steven Universe one? No? Damn. Okay, okay.

Here's one, Bojack Horseman.

If I had to describe Bojack Horseman in one word, it'd be human. There are like six human characters in the show but there's so much heart, honesty and charm to the show. From the painted colour work of the characters, to the fantastic voice cast, to an honest depiction of an asexual character (take notes, Riverdale).

What's Bojack Horseman about though? So back in the 90s, Bojack was in a very famous TV show. He was essentially Seinfeld, and now he's out of his prime and the greatest thing he did as an actor was a mediocre but popular television sitcom. He decides to write his memoir, and his publisher insists he gets Diane Nguyen to ghost-write when he fails to deliver a manuscript.

The show starts off kind of like the run off the mill adult cartoon, a couple political and topical jabs mixed mostly with some lowbrow humour. But, oh, in a few episodes, the show's true colours show.

Existential hell.

I'm being facetious, there's actually a lot of optimism in Bojack's existentialism. It's like that quote from Angel, if nothing we do matters, then the only thing that matters is what we do. There's a character running up a hill later on that's practically wearing a sign that says "I'm a stand in for Sisyphus".

"Every day, it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day, that's the hard part."

Themes in Bojack vary from taking responsibility for your own happiness, how depression never really goes away but you find ways of coping, inheriting your parent's trauma, the cycle of abuse, how your warped perception of self can blind you to your own mistakes, dealing with alcoholism, the fickleness of fame, how much of a tar pit hollywoo is, the struggles of sustaining a marriage even if both parties love each other dearly, love blinding you to your significant other's faults, being accountable for your mistakes, watching your parents go old struggle with dementia, and those rare moments of lucidity they have.

And if it were any other show, I don't know if Bojack would get away with some really, unbelievably depressing themes.

But Bojack can also be hilarious.

The episode Bojack has to go on a game show against Daniel Radcliffe is a personal favourite, it's kind of a microcosm of the show's smart humour and honesty. It's not just another Family Guy wanting to poke fun at topical news and pop culture, it's a show about deconstructing characters and while it does tackle some aspects of modern politics, you'd be surprised at how nuanced it is.

If there's one show you should watch, it's Bojack Horseman. It's clever, it's fun, it asks you tough questions but it never talks down. The show always gives some slight optimistic twist.