Just started watching the show after seeing some really cool clips of bojack being a horrible person and not going to lie it’s been … rough. I’m really liking the show and the humour is great and all but it feels so grim and not in a fun way.
I knew the show was dark (one of those horrible clips i saw was about sarah lynn’s passing and bojacks part in it) but I didn’t expect the show to be so anticlimactic with it’s negativity. In a lot of other media, I *enjoy* bad things happening to the characters because of how they build it up as this dramatic experience that hints at future triumphs. Like normally as the music picks up and the rain starts pouring, I’ll be thinking, “oh no so many bad things are happening, our hero is being tested, how will they pick themselves back up”. With Bojack it’s more like “… I guess that’s just how it is for Bojack”.
I’m at the episode “Yes, and” right now, and he just broke up with Wanda [Hoo I LOVE, She’s the best thing that happened to him so far, i mean he looked so happy for a while : ( ]. No drama, no build up, no gasps of shock. Just bojack ruining his life like usual.
And that kind of tone is getting tough to watch, but I’m still near the beginning of the show and I worry I haven’t even hit the motherload of depression (pun semi-intended). So I wanted to know if there’s a rainbow at the end of this journey. Is there some positive message or any kind of hope in this show? It’s not like every piece of media I consume has to be optimistic and I can appreciate a tragedy, but this feels too close to home. I just really want Bojack to be okay and I have a feeling the show isn’t going to give me that.
TLDR; Just started watching and I knew the show was painful but I was expecting game of thrones type suffering. This feels very different.
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(SPOILER) This show taught me that real change is really hard, but it is possible. It’s not exactly a typical happy ending. But i think it’s way more hopeful than people give it credit for. In the end Bojack has changed. And the process of change is realistic as opposed to a Hollywood shortcut.
The show has a great way of luring you in with comedy (barring the neal mcbeal the navy seal, episode, because it’s the meh-est of all season one has to offer) then sucker punches you with emotional damage. Which is great, contrary to GoT which isn’t so much emotional damage as frustration with the cruelty of the world/writer.
While GoT focuses on realism in a fantastical world. Bojack focuses on emotional stakes in a comical world.
The idea that a show with an anti-hero like bojack needs a happy ending is something the writers wanted to give. Not to spoil anything, but if you’re looking for the happily ever after as the credits roll by, this is not that type of show. If you want a show where the characters feel real, then this is an amazing show.
I guess I can’t have my cake and eat it too. I can’t ask for realistic characters and also want them to have a fairy tale ending. Although the more real the characters feel, the more I relate to them and the more my own journey feels reflective of theirs. So for my own sake I hope he turns out alright, but I’ll definitely keep watching for now lol
If it helps, the characters who recognize their flaws and work on improving themselves do get their happy endings not because they are deserving of them, but because they put in the leg work to reach those happy endings.
None of them were gifted with good endings because the author wanted them to have it, same way as the author doesn’t curse anyone with a bad ending they didn’t bring to themselves, and besides, life’s a bitch and then you die, but sometimes life’s a bitch and then you keep living, so there is always the hope of one day getting that happy ending, finding that thing that would help you get your peace. Every day it gets a little easier, but you gotta do it everyday, that’s the hard part.
I think if you made it that far, you should watch til the end. It wraps up nicely.
One of my favourite things about this show is that they don’t give you the light, easy out. Or wrap things up in a sweet bow. More often than not, the show leaves you raw. Imo, it’s one of the realest shows out there. This is about what people are really like. Be prepared.
The show is real. It’s not triumphant but it’s not hopeless either. There’s depression and hope. But wouldn’t say there’s a rainbow.
Don’t watch it if it’s painful. Just because people say it’s good, that doesn’t mean you need to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. It doesn’t get better. In fact, it gets more depressing from here so if it’s hard to sit through right now, it’s time to find another show
I find Bojack as a show to be pretty optimistic given it’s subject matter. A running theme is that people aren’t defined by their pasts and as long as they’re willing to change and be better, it’s possible. That being said, the show does have a lot of very heavy moments in the remaining seasons, much bleaker than what is in the first two season. And you do sit in those moments a lot. But once those moments pass, I personally don’t feel hopeless about them. The message I get from the show is that despite how absolutely bleak and depressing life can be, you shouldn’t give up.
If the show makes you feel too uncomfortable you shouldn’t force yourself to watch it. My friends tell me they have to be in the right mindset before watching the show. You could also look up content warnings for the episodes to know what you’re getting into. However if you are willing, I definitely think the show has a lot of really good positive messages in it.
you appear to already have had a lot of spoilers, so if it’s the “ending” that you’re worried about, why not just spoil it for yourself and see if you are ok with investing knowing that’s the outcome.
the darkness and the refusal to look away, gloss over it, or “make it better” in this show is part of what makes it so fucking amazing and smart. but it isn’t nihilistic in that refusal to look away. i don’t know that i’d necessarily call it optimistic either. it’s really focused on choices people make, and what they’re willing to do to make meaningful relationships within a world we know is fucked up. and it is interested in change, even if that change won’t get you what you want from the people currently in your life (forgiveness, redemption, etc.).
if you need a show that tells you the world isn’t fucked up; that people who have done shitty things can be redeemed, and that this redemption can come through one grand gesture and everyone loves them again; then i don’t think bojack is for you.
Its a heavy show when it comes to its themes, but its really good precisely because of it. Its very well thought and written, ill recommend just go through with it now that you know what its all about.
You are correct in your analysis. It’s a train wreck and there’s no happy endings and barely any closure.