Bojack Horseman Character Analysis

It is very rare to find a television show that is so radically funny and devastatingly sad at the same time – especially a cartoon. Bojack Horseman, a television series on Netflix that premiered in 2014, takes many viewers by surprise with its subtle balance of silly yet clever jokes and eye-popping animation with something as serious as depression. The main character, Bojack Horseman, is a former sitcom star from a TV series in the late 80’s and early 90’s titled Horsin’ Around. Since the show’s cancellation in 1995, Bojack has not done anything productive or positive with his life in Hollywood despite having had opportunities to do so. Happiness is hard to come by for him, but it is because he is his own worst enemy. Bojack’s behaviors are self-destructive yet narcissistic at

Coming from a broken home, he went into Hollywood as a vulnerable person. Turning into a celebrity completely changed Bojack and when he realized he wasn’t relevant anymore, he sulked into a deep depression. Despite the efforts of those around him to make him happy or to help him be a better person, Bojack was never inspired enough from within to do so. In the first episode of season 2, Bojack is listening to self-help tapes while attempting to run up the hill outside his house. The voice on the tape says, “The hill is a metaphor.” Throughout the season, there is a monkey who is seen running up the hill whenever there is a shot of Bojack’s house. In the last episode, Bojack tries running again, but struggles with getting up the hill. He falls onto the ground, breathing heavily, and the monkey appears in front of him and says, “It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day. That’s the hard part. But it does get easier.” The hill is a metaphor for his depression. He is aware of it and has difficulty overcoming it, but if he is intrinsically motivated to improve it every day, it will get