CW: Discussion of toxic masculinity, misogyny, and predatory male behavior. Spoilers for Bojack Horseman.

Header image is from the official Bojack Horseman Fandom wiki.

Short answer: no. Longer answer: sometimes, but mostly not. Let’s be honest here: who hasn’t wanted to be the charming badass who takes down a load of evil guys? Who hasn’t wanted to be a cat burglar or an art thief? Villains who aren’t reallyvillains–i.e. harmless troublemakers who sometimes make life more annoying for The Hero–are fun to latch onto. They make the narrative more colorful and it’s exciting to imagine ourselves being intelligent–but mostly benign–thorns in The Hero’s side. Everyone–or almost everyone–wants to empathize with the main character, be they villain or hero. And why not? It’s way easier to get invested in a narrative if we feel a connection to the MC. Unfortunately, there is a thin line between liking a character and truly one hundred percent empathizing with them to an unhealthy and detrimental extent. How many men relate to Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty or Tyler Durden from Fight Club, despite both of these characters being awful and not the type of men you’d want to look up to? The answer is: way too many men relate to these characters. And that makes sense. When you put a character at the center of your story, you’re inviting the audience to see things solely from this character’s POV (point of view). It’s easy to justify shitty behavior if we’re seeing it through the eyes of the person being shitty. Let’s take Bojack Horseman as an example.

From the first season, it was pretty obvious that Bojack was a complicated guy. Not the worst person in the world, but very unaware and prone to dangerous and unhealthy behavior. But he was trying, right? Trying his hardest to be a good person in this crazy messed up world, his fucked up past constantly weighing on his shoulders. Bojack had every reason to be screwed up, given his depressing and abusive childhood, plus his equally sad booze-fueled adulthood. And as long as Bojack was trying to be a good person, what was wrong with a few screw-ups? He was only human–well, half-human– and we all make bad mistakes, right? Well, that seemed to be the overwhelming attitude about Bojack’s character for a very long time. And then the Mexico episode happened. For those who haven’t seen the show, the infamous Mexico episode revolves around Bojack moving to Mexico and reconnecting with his former girlfriend Charlotte. While in Mexico, he ends up bonding with Charlotte’s family and becoming something of an uncle figure. Having never experienced a truly healthy family relationship in his entire life, Bojack leans into this new role and gains some scraps of humanity. Things are looking up! But then something happens. As is typical with this show, Bojack just can’t keep it together long enough to grant himself a decent life. Bojack is tasked with taking Penny–Charlotte’s seventeen-year-old daughter–and her friends to prom. The night quickly turns wild, with the kids getting drunk and Bojack encouraging their behavior. After an unfortunate hospital visit involving alcohol poisoning, Bojack and Penny head back home. And that’s where everything falls apart. Because Penny tries to have sex with Bojack. He of course declines, because he is way older than her and it would be horribly inappropriate. Later that night, Bojack ends up kissing Charlotte and is rejected by her because she already has a family. Dejected, Bojack returns to his houseboat–where he’s been living this whole time–and finds Penny waiting for him. He tells her to go to bed and walks inside, but he leaves the light on. Charlotte happens to notice a glow stick on a balloon–because Bojack and Penny were attaching glow sticks to balloons earlier–and follows it to Bojack’s houseboat. Hearing talking, Charlotte investigates and finds Penny–her seventeen-year-old daughter–in the process of removing Bojack’s shirt. Charlotte threatens Bojack’s life and kicks him out.

There were a surprising number of people within the fandom defending Bojack in this scenario, pointing out how it was Penny–the literal teenager–who had “initiated” the situation and even accusing Penny of “seducing” Bojack. And this wasn’t the first time–nor would it be the last–that a decent chunk of the fandom defended Bojack’s actions. After all, how could anything ever be Bojack’s fault? He’s the main character, after all! It’s all because of his childhood or his failed relationships (sarcasm). The show writers became aware of so many fans were rallying behind Bojack as some kind of “hero”, as if Bojack was simply a victim of the cruel world. And perhaps worse, there were fans who were using Bojack as justification for their own bad behavior. It’s not “bad behavior” if you claim–over and over again–that you’re trying to do better, right? (sarcasm). Unfortunately, Bojack never really makes any positive progress. Up until the very end of the series, he’s still shirking responsibility and reveling in his martyr complex as people continue to forgive him for his actions. To be clear, this whole situation is not entirely Bojack’s fault. He’s lived his life in the spotlight, being forgiven for everything he does. This show is equal parts a critique of human behavior and criticism of Hollywood. With Saran Lynn, the show goes into the disgusting and damaging effects of stardom on young girls. Sarah Lynn’s story ends with a drug overdose and a guilt-ridden Bojack. Bojack deserves some level of sympathy, regardless of the bad stuff he’s done. However, Bojack has more control over his life and his actions than he wants to admit. He didn’t have to almost sleep with a seventeen-year-old. That was a conscious choice he made. He was given ample opportunity to veer off the path, but he clearly wanted to do it. Bojack even admits that he doesn’t know whether or not he would have gone through with it if Charlotte hadn’t intervened. The fact that both choices existed with equal prominence in his head says a lot about him as a person. And of course in the final season, Bojack gets dragged over the coals for how he constantly exploits the power he has over women–particularly young women–and claims it’s not his fault when bad things happen to them. Penny is traumatized, Sarah Lynn dies of an overdose, etc. Bojack tries to deny his agency in those situations, outright trying to claim he is the victim in all of this, even though he’s sustained a lot less emotional or physical damage than anyone else in his life. And no, recognizing that he’s toxic doesn’t fix anything. The second people start to ease up on the judgment, Bojack falls back into old patterns without remorse. A lot of Season 5 in particular was the show writers speaking directly to the audience, which is why there is an entire episode revolving around Diane feeling disconnected from her Vietnamese roots. While Diane herself is Vietnamese-American, the show staff has been criticized for not hiring a Vietnamese voice actress for Diane. The aforementioned episode deals with how Diane is completely cut off from her Vietnamese roots, to the point that she feels like an American tourist during her trip to Vietnam. In the same vein, there are several episodes in Season 5 that deal with Bojack being a horrible person, culminating in his (spoiler) almost-murder of his female co-star while high on drugs.

There are all kinds of characters in fiction to admire or look up to. Bojack Horseman isn’t one of them and it’s, quite frankly, worrying to see so many male fans jump on the Bojack did nothing wrong bandwagon. Is Bojack a victim? In some ways, definitely. He was physically and emotionally abused as a child and he grew up into a deeply bitter adult unable to cope with the real world. But that’s not an excuse for his behavior, it’s an explanation. A dark or sad past doesn’t absolve someone of consequences in fiction or in real life. The writers never intended Bojack to be “a good guy”. There are no “good guys” in the Bojack Horseman universe, no role models or Heroes. The characters are brutally human. They are flawed and multifaceted and they often do extremely messed up things. Princess Carolyn constantly manipulates, bribes, and outright lies as part of her profession. Mr. Peanutbutter is completely oblivious to the feelings of those around him. Diane is self-righteous and a hypocrite in many ways, although she definitely grows and changes for the better. And Bojack? Bojack is a narcissistic guy who emotionally abuses people and uses his messed up past to avoid true criticism and growth. The series ends with (spoiler) Bojack almost committing suicide and later getting thrown in jail. Unfortunately and fortunately, the series ends on a bittersweet note. Diane and Bojack have changed both physically and mentally, but there’s no telling where they might go in the future. Will Bojack backslide for the final time? Will Diane achieve true long-lasting happiness in her new life? It’s unclear. But they’re both definitely in a better place. The show ends on a somewhat-overlooked lesson: Bojack can get better, but he needs to accept the consequences of his actions. He needs to feel helpless and alone and like he’s hit rock bottom, similar to the people he unintentionally and intentionally victimized. What Bojack does with this time of healing is entirely on him. Only Bojack can fix Bojack.

References/Further Reading

‘BoJack Horseman’ Creator on Taking Aim at ‘Any Show With an Unexamined Male Antihero’ in Season 5 (Liz Shannon Miller, Indie Wire)

Alison Brie Apologizes For Voicing Vietnamese Character On ‘BoJack Horseman’ (Jenna Amatulli, HuffPost)

‘Fight Club’ Author Reflects On Violence And Masculinity, 20 Years Later (Maddie Crum, Huffpost)

What Is Toxic Masculinity? (Tracy E. Gilchrist, The Advocate)

Don’t Be Fooled By The Talking Horse — ‘BoJack’ Is A Sadness ‘Sneak Attack’ (Terry Gross, NPR)