Watch This: Bojack Horseman

“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”

-Mark Twain

We often come across people who don’t fit into societal norms of what others would call right, appropriate and politically correct. Their attitude might be obnoxious and abhorring, actions not worth any regard and presence, a burden to society.  That leads me to ask you a question, can every person be loved? Can there exist at least one quality in every individual that would compel you to overlook all their shortcomings? Bojack Horsemen is a Netflix special which takes you in into the life of such a character; a walking-talking horse in Los Angeles and his chronicles with day to day life.

What is Happiness?

With ‘Horsin’ Around’ long gone and dusted, BoJack struggles to keep up with the world and remain in limelight; an attempt in which he miraculously fails. Women, the nightlife, addiction, and parties are all a charade to hide his insecurities of being alone. We all have at least at one point of time in our lives made decisions or undertook actions of which we may ourselves not fully approve; but in pursuit of feigning happiness and content, ended up being versions of ourselves far from reality. BoJack himself doesn’t believe if anything in this world can make him happy.

He has enjoyed the glitz and glamour of the film industry as a result of being thrown into early success; courtesy his friend Herb with whom he now has an estranged relationship. Bojack realises that all his friends put up with his narcissist attitude only due to his fame. With the stardom now fading BoJack finds it hard to keep up with reality and lands himself in complete loneliness and clinical depression. His scarred childhood comes back to haunt him which he had eluded for the past years. Being surrounded by people yet feeling alone is not alien to most of us.

Does Success Mean Growth?

 

Bojack has played the talking horse for 9 years in a show loved and appreciated by children, but he now hits stagnancy with regards to his growth. The intro beautifully captures how he goes through his entire day without being mentally present in any of the situations. The fact that we possess money, fame and fulfill all materialistic desires doesn’t necessarily mean life is going uphill. One of the biggest lessons this show puts across is that intention alone is not enough. Bojack tries to be a good person, he tries to rekindle his friendships but ends up further straining and destroying relations; due to his selfish nature and attitude. The motivational audio series isn’t enough to spark goodness within him instead, he resorts to self-pitying and loathing because undergoing change is much more difficult than to live in mediocrity and low self-esteem.

This show doesn’t leave you on a high note; Bojack almost drives off a cliff knowing his life will always be miserable and he won’t ever find true happiness. However, he ensures to take you through the depths of all one could do wrong. Sabotaging the only meaningful relationship he has with his ghostwriter, betraying Todd who incidentally happened to be his sole well-wisher. The series brings to you natural reactions and the circumstantial dilemma faced by us all when we hit rock bottom. It gives you insight from a perspective of a being who has never been truly loved and yearns for this simple emotion filled with warmth, but isn’t that life? To desire for something you can never have, to dream of something you can never achieve, to want someone who’ll never be yours but in hope; that the everlasting future will recede past you one day and this time, you’d be content.

Abhishek Mishra for MTTN

Photo Courtesy: Google Images

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