Binge-Watching: Bojack Horseman

For my weekend of binge watching, I chose to watch the animated series Bojack Horseman. This cartoon is one that fits perfectly with the era it was created in, and as such it fits in so perfectly with the physical act of binge watching. There are even specific instances of jokes or episodes, which acknowledge everyone’s tendencies to watch every episode at once. After delving as deeply as I could into the show, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable, while also extremely bittersweet. While I found the often self depreciating humor extremely funny and relatable, I can understand how it is others wouldn’t feel the same. In my experience, the responses to the new forms of negative humor, both online and in real life, have been highly mixed. Those who have been known to suffer actual strong negative feelings find themselves relating to the humor, while also not taking it seriously in any way. It is common for those with depressed or anxious thoughts nowadays to joke about their own feelings and misfortunes to those who feel the same in a very casual and humorous way, in order to get some amusement out of their unfortunate situations. It is more likely for people who don’t relate to these feelings to take the jokes seriously, trying to tell people not to talk that way or talking very seriously about the implications of the joke.  This is more commonly a large generational problem, as they are the most likely to take the self-depreciative humor seriously. As a personal example, I once made a joke to my mother about using the road in front of my apartment to commit insurance fraud to pay my bills. Obviously I don’t actually have any intentions of jumping in front of a car in order to get money, but instead of playing along my mom gave me a quick lecture on spinal injuries and paralysis. The reason I find this particular brand of humor so fitting for Bojack Horseman is the sitcom aspects thrown into the show. Often times within the cartoon, Bojack’s reality is paired with the sitcom reality he acted out on TV. While Horsin’ Around serves as Bojack’s backstory, it also serves as a harsh contrast to his life and the lives of all his friends. Because of this I feel that Bojack Horseman serves as the antithesis to the cushy sitcom life portrayed in the 90s. The show has no clear morals, and instead of having a character who does wrong but is truly good inside, it features the harsh reality that you have to take responsibility for your own wrongdoings. The show offers no clear lessons or comforts like the sitcoms it tries so hard to defy, instead it offers up nothing but nihilism, showing us Bojack’s struggle with a meaningless existence. It sounds bleak, but maybe it’s just my millennial outlook that makes it all pleasant.