Lots of times, in media and diverse kinds of entertainment, like movies, TV shows, games, etc, villains (even when they are the protagonists) are portrayed in a rather cartoonish way even when that’s not the intention. They are shown time and time again to be sadistic, creepy, narcissistic, malicious and overall very over the top evil. Don’t get me wrong, these characters can be very fun and entertaining to watch, and sadly there is a minority of vile people that act like that.

However in BH, through it’s main character on a particular level, and in the show in general, we are shown a different, more nuanced and in my opinion, more realistic take on “bad people”.

Bojack is a neutral leaning towards dickish person most of the time by the time the show starts. He’s cynical, kind of misanthropic, impulsive and self centred. Throughout the show, we see him reach some rather endearing highs as a person in the form of care towards his friends, sister, and altruistic actions towards strangers like rescuing the seahorse baby, and towards people who don’t deserve that altruism, like his own mother. On the other hand, we also see him reach some disturbing lows as well, in the form of almost sleeping with a teenager, leaving Sarah Lynn to die, and choking Dina while under the influence of drugs.

Most “bad people” aren’t sadistic depraved creeps stuck in “i’ll be as evil as i possibly can because evil” mode. Sure, they do exist, people addicted to the feeling of power over others, or traumatised individuals repeating that pattern with innocents with no remorse. Horribly abusive parents, serial killers, serial rapists, pedos, human traffickers, dictators, terrorists, mass murderers… You name it. Even this show itself introduces us to a few unfathomably detestable people like that in the form of Hank, Vance, Whitewhale, SL’s stepfather, and to a lesser extent Beatrice, Butterscotch, SL’s mother and Joseph.

However most “bad people” we’ll meet in our lives, or maybe people we ourselves might be at one point or another, are different. They do shitty things not out of malice or cruelty, but out of cowardice, weakness of character, impulsiveness, self destructiveness, unresolved insecurities, poor self control, good but misguided intentions… Like Bojack does.

The show itself masterfully states it in Bojack’s interview in season 6 via Bojack himself. Most bad things don’t happen because of evil plots, but because most people are idiots desperate for a dopamine kick (“looking to press that button in your brain that tells you ‘you are happy now’”).

There’s a saying that comes to mind: Don’t attribute to malice, what you can attribute to stupidity.

Bojack is a very realistic “regular bad person”. Someone who is not out there devilishly plotting to ruin lives, but someone who is trying to live his own life the best he knows how, someone damaged and unstable both because of his traumas and his past mistakes, someone filled with unresolved insecurities and self loathing, and most importantly, someone who is not stuck into being “an evil person”, but someone who has the capacity for both good and evil, and whom hopefully by the end of the series, has learned to do more good than evil to others and himself.

Most people aren’t saints, nor they are disgusting evil monsters. Most of us exist in different shades of grey, sometimes leaning towards a lighter grey, sometimes leaning towards a darker grey. We are born not good nor evil, but selfish and craving to be safe and happy, and throughout our lives we learn to balance that selfishness with empathy and morals since we live on a society. Some people fail and remain excessively selfish, hurting other people intentionally or unintentionally in the search for self gratification. Some people fail on a different way, becoming too “unselfish” and empathetic and letting others trample over them. We all need to find that balance, between loving ourselves and loving the people around us. Because that might be the difference between us being someone good to have in other people’s lives, or someone bad.