Is Bojack redeemable?

Yes.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

Nah, I've got a lot more to say.

Self improvement is another notable theme in Bojack Horseman, along with nihilism, which I've written about before. 

However, some have argued that Bojack has done too many bad things to be a good or relatable character. As if he's Walter White or something (a character that I don't think is redeemable, by the way -- he did all of that because of his ego). I think that these viewers may be on a moral high horse; characters who do bad things are compelling, and that relating to a character who does bad things doesn't mean you approve of everything they do.

So, this is a part of the show that has sparked some disagreement. I'm not arguing something that's a given to everyone.

That being said, let's Get Into Things. Let's Get Real. (© Mr. Peanutbutter)

Part 1: You are the things that you do...

Bojack does not think that he's redeemable, and for some good reasons. But his pre-conceived notion of himself impacts a lot of his decisions, and makes it more difficult for him to change.

Here's a list of several instances that demonstrate how Bojack views himself, and how other characters view him, as well as some general thoughts on forgiveness/redemption.


1) Season 1 episode 8 - "I don't forgive you."

Herb refuses to forgive Bojack, and says: "I'm not gonna give you closure. You don't get that. You have to live with the shitty thing you did for the rest of your life. You have to know that it's never, ever going to be okay. [...] I'm not going to be your prop so that you can feel better."

I really love this scene, and it's the first Great Scene in the series, in my opinion. It sets up some important messages that are reinforced throughout:

• Forgiveness is not owed to anyone. You're under no obligation to forgive people who hurt you.
• It can be selfish to seek forgiveness.

2) Season 1 episode 9 - "Sometimes I feel like I was born with a leak..." 

"...and any goodness I started with just slowly spilled out out of me, and now it's all gone, and I'll never get it back in me. It's too late. Life is a series of closing doors, isn't it?" - Bojack

I quote that last part far too often, cause it's a hilariously bleak thing to say. Not much you can analyze about this scene: Bojack thinks he's a bad person. Pretty straightforward.



3) Season 1 episode 11 - "Tell me I'm good."

Even though Bojack likes to fetishize his own sadness, he wants to believe in a "deep down" and he's desperate for someone to tell him that he's a good person, deep down, in spite of the things that he's done. He hates himself, but he still wants everyone to love him -- as Princess Carolyn told him in the very first episode, this isn't possible. Self-hatred is destructive and poisons relationships.


4) Season 1 episode 12 - "I don't think I believe in deep down. I kinda think that all you are is just the things that you do."

Diane responds to the question Bojack posed in the previous episode, and explains why she couldn't tell him that he's a good person. She has no reason to believe he's a good person, because she's seen him do more shitty things than good things; like get in a physical fight with a terminally ill man, and kiss a married woman.

It's hard to come to terms with the fact that other people's perception of you is who you are. If the people closest to you have some criticisms, you should really take that to heart. Bojack doesn't react well to this; he wants to be comforted and told he's a good person without having to do any of the work.


5) Season 2 episode 11 - "It hurts when I do this." "Don't do that." 

This joke is such a simple exchange between Charlotte and Bojack, but it's really something he should have taken to heart. Bojack loves his own pain.


6) Season 3 episode 7 - "Do you do bad things so that when people inevitably leave you, you can say 'It's not me, it's that bad thing I did'?"

More ruminations on Bojack's self-destructive streak. It's likely that The Closer has hit the nail on the head with this one; even Bojack says she's "hitting on something real." When he feels a relationship slipping away, he'll impulsively do something to destroy it. When Charlotte rejected him, he almost slept with Penny. When Todd began spending more time with Emily, he slept with Emily.


7) Season 3 episode 10 - "You are all the things that are wrong with you."

Oof. I love this line. Todd cuts right through all of Bojack's bullshit and refuses to be distracted by his excuses. At a certain point, there's no excuse; just be better.


8) Season 3 episode 11 - "People change because they have to change."

We're privy to this scene, but according to Sarah Lynn's recollection, Bojack then droned on about how he's never going to change, and they cancelled the AA meeting because everyone got bummed out. This little bit of wisdom from the bird becomes relevant in the aftermath of Sarah Lynn's death; Bojack does change in season 4. As I'll explain in part two, he doesn't repeat the mistakes he made with Sarah Lynn.


9) Season 3 episode 12 - "I come from poison." 

"I have poison inside me, and I destroy everything I touch. That's my legacy. I have nothing to show for the life that I've lived, and I have nobody in my life who's better off for having known me."

Damn, Bojack, tell us how you really feel. After this dark moment, Diane tells him (for the first time) that Horsin' Around helped her through her difficult childhood, and that thousands of people are better off because of him. This is a moment of generosity and vulnerability for Diane, and it does make Bojack feel better.


10) Season 4 episode 6 - "Stupid Piece of Sh*t"

It's difficult to pull a specific quote from this episode, because the entire episode demonstrates Bojack's view of himself. But the most valuable insight is that he pushes Hollyhock away because he thinks he will fuck it up. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and an easy trap to fall into. But it's not sympathetic when someone whines about how they're going to ruin a relationship so they cut it off before giving it a chance. Get your shit together, and put in the work.

And at the end of the episode, Bojack does put in the work. He cuts off his mental spiraling and goes to talk to Hollyhock, and tells her that him being distant doesn't mean he hates her. If he had allowed himself to continue to wallow, their relationship would have never had a chance.

Part 2: ... so you have to do better.

According to the logic of the show, Bojack can only redeem himself if he stops doing bad things -- so, has he?

I want to talk about three parallel relationships and situations that demonstrate how Bojack has learned from his mistakes.


1) Herb and Kelsey

This is the most obvious connection of these. Two gay directors that were fired under circumstances that were partially Bojack's fault, and whom he neglected to apologize to (or even reach out to) afterward. This is as parallel as a parallel can parallel.

In Herb's situation, it's bad enough that he doesn't stand up for his friend after promising he would. He's talked out of it fairly easily, when the network exec dangles the shiny carrot of Secretariat in front of his eyes (cause he's a horse -- get it? (and I'm a horse. And you're a horse. Do you get my joke?)). But what Herb really takes issue with is the fact that Bojack abandoned him afterward, out of his own shame. Maybe it was too big of a hurdle to maintain their friendship, but it might have been possible if Bojack has spoken to Herb immediately afterward instead of decades later.

When Kelsey is fired, Bojack doesn't do anything. He eventually leaves the movie, but only because he hates the new director. He doesn't try to reach out to Kelsey until he sees her in at the Pacific Ocean Film Festival. If he hadn't run into her, he may have never tried to apologize.

"Fish Out of Water" is a great episode on every level, and it represents some growth for Bojack. The dreamlike quality of a foreign, underwater setting is the perfect backdrop for an episode about failing to communicate. He keeps facing ridiculous set-backs, and when he's finally able to hand her the note, the words have been washed away. But what he wrote says all that we need to know about his growth:

"Kelsey, In this terrifying world, all that we have are the connections that we make. I'm sorry you got fired. I'm sorry I never called you after."

He's thinking about what happened with Herb, and even though he made the same mistake twice, he knows the right thing to say now, and he tries to say it.

Although the barriers to communication in this episode are external, I think the episode is really about Bojack's internal barriers. In both cases, with Herb and with Kelsey, he feels guilty about what happened, and he's not sure how to make it better, so he just avoids it altogether -- which makes it worse.


2) Sarah Lynn, Penny, and Hollyhock -- Bojack's daughters/not daughters.

This is a messy equivalency, considering he slept with/tried to sleep with the first two, but Bojack makes the comparison himself in the season 4 episode, "Stupid Piece of Sh*t."

Bojack's mistake with Sarah Lynn and Penny was primarily that he allowed them to do whatever they wanted and didn't establish any boundaries. Whenever Sarah Lynn wanted to party, he was her enabler. He tried once to be more of a father to her and put some limits on what was allowed, but instantly caved. He wanted her to like him more than he cared about her well-being -- which is, you know, the opposite of good parenting.

The situation with Penny is somewhat similar. He doesn't treat her like a kid, which she appreciates, but is pretty inappropriate; she's 17 and he's in his 50s, and he should not be buying her and her friends alcohol. This failure to establish an adult/child boundary leads to more... shenanigans.

At first, when she kisses him, he draws a clear boundary by saying that she doesn't know what she wants. This is very parental -- the classic "I know what's best for you." This instantly puts Penny back in the position of feeling like a child.

Just a short time later, he literally leaves the door open instead of setting a boundary. Because she's young, she makes the bad decision and goes into his room. He allows her to make the choice, knowing that she's going to make the wrong one. He should not have left the choice up to her at all.

This is, I think, the worst thing that Bojack has done, and without a doubt the one things that some viewers point to as making him an irredeemable character.

The rejection from Charlotte puts him back in the headspace he was in with Sarah Lynn, in season 1 -- he's an emotionally stunted pushover who wants everyone to like him. It's hard to understand why he makes this terrible mistake with Penny; there's an element of self-sabotage in there for sure, as I mentioned above.

But it's also about his maturity; earlier in the season, Kelsey says that Bojack is so emotionally stunted he's basically a teenager. He want to have an adult relationship with Charlotte, but she rejects him, so he sort of... regresses. This is similar to the explanation that the creators have given; mentally, he's basically a teenager so he doesn't see that it's wrong to take advantage of a 17-year-old.

With Hollyhock, he makes a more serious effort at being a father, since, for all they know, he actually is her father. He stays up waiting for her when she's out, and investigates her new boyfriend. When he thinks that she's been taking drugs, he flushes them all. This is a departure from the Bojack that enabled Sarah Lynn's drug abuse and bought alcohol for Penny and her teenage friends. He's coming fresh off of Sarah Lynn's overdose, which he blames himself for, so he's not about to repeat that mistake.

The most important aspect of the Hollyhock storyline, however, is how he puts her wellbeing above their relationship, and whether or not he's liked. He calls her dads to tell them that what happened is not Hollyhock's fault -- not to tell them that it's not his fault. Bojack blames himself and even though there's nothing in it for him, he still wants her dads to know the truth. Just imagine how season 1 Bojack would have handled this situation... He's grown a lot since his encounters with Sarah Lynn and even Penny, where his priority was being liked. With Hollyhock, he's willing to be the adult and put her wellbeing first.


3) Todd: rock opera, improv, and Cabracadabra.

Bojack's devious plan to sabotage Todd's rock opera is hilarious, but it's still a shitty thing to do. Instead of just telling Todd that he values him as a friend, he clips his wings in an elaborate scheme that makes Todd feel like an incompetent loser.

When Todd joins the improv cult (which is not a stand-in for Scientology!), Bojack is again faced with the possibility of Todd leaving him. At first, he lets Todd go and pretends that it doesn't bother him. But then he makes a grand friendship gesture and tells Todd that he values his relationship -- and actually proves it by remembering the story of how they met.

In season 3, Bojack does nothing to sabotage Cabracadabra, but he does sleep with Emily for no reason at all. By the end of season 3, Todd has outgrown Bojack and doesn't want or need to live with him anymore.

In season 4, Bojack offers up his couch to Todd, but he turns him down. Todd is no longer dependent on Bojack, which may have been the thing that made their relationship work. They didn't interact much in season 4, and I'm unsure if they will continue to have a friendship.

Bojack has grown a little bit; from sabotaging Todd so he will have to stay, to openly asking him to stay. But Todd has grown too, perhaps too much for their friendship to continue.


Bonus: Comforting Beatrice with lies.

There isn't really a parallel situation for this one, but it is a hugely sympathetic moment from Bojack, so I have to address it. And I really, really love this scene; it's one of the most poignant moments of the series.

Bojack feels pity for his mom, seeing how vulnerable she is, and he can't bring himself to be mean to her. Again, just try to imagine season 1 Bojack in this position. He's grown so much, and I love him, okay?

Take-aways

1) You are the things that you do. This is a major take-away from the show, and reflected in one form or another by several characters.


2) You are redeemable, but you have to put in the work. The fourth season makes this clear. Bojack is putting in some effort, and good things happen to him as a result. We're supposed to root for Bojack -- he's the protagonist no matter how flawed.


3) You aren't entitled to forgiveness, and seeking out forgiveness is often selfish. (See: Bojack demanding that Herb forgives him on his deathbed; Bojack re-traumatizing Penny in a misguided attempt to make amends.)

Sarah Lynn says that making amends is a never-ending cycle where you always end up feeling good about yourself, no matter how many bad things you do. This is clearly the wrong way to look at it. You're only redeemable if you change your behavior. To paraphrase Todd: You can't live in a cycle of doing bad things and apologizing.


4) Feeling bad about yourself helps no one. It doesn't make up for the bad things you did, and it can often make things worse. Bojack distances himself from Hollyhock out of his own self-loathing, and Hollyhock understandably takes this to mean that he doesn't like being around her. Luckily, they clear the air about this. Bojack is honest about his behaviors. The moment when he forces himself to stop his negative thought-spiral, and go talk to her is so important.

It's okay to need alone time, obviously, but you need to communicate this to the people that you care about so they don't think you hate them. When you're in a bad mood about an un-related thing, just tell that person.

So, are you a bad person if you relate to Bojack?

No, of course not. He has some relatable character traits that are rarely seen on TV. Personally, his habit of avoiding people he has tension with and making it worse, is... very me. But the show can be therapeutic. It's nice to see characters deal with these problems, and actually solve them.

The show doesn't glorify Bojack's bad behavior. "You are the things that you do" is a pretty harsh message, but one we should all take to heart.

So, I'm not a vegetarian anymore

In September 2015, I became a vegetarian. I never maintained veganism for very long at all, despite a few attempts. At the beginning of 2018, I officially stopped being vegetarian after a few months of light cheating (turkey at Thanksgiving, and the like).

So, why did I stop?

The main reason is that I love to cook (and eat) and I was getting pretty bored. I wanted to learn how to cook meat, since I had next to no experience. The passion that led me to become a vegetarian has mostly faded, as well.

Was it a worthwhile experience?

Yes, definitely. I didn't just waste two years that I could've been eating fried chicken. I learned a lot that I will carry with me. For instance, being a vegetarian greatly expanded my culinary interest and helped me become a competent cook (which, ironically, led me back to eating meat) and my tastes have grown a lot. I am now not a picky eater at all, while I was very picky in 2015. I didn't even like onions. Now, I can't imagine life without onions. Sad. I also fell in love with some vegetarian-friendly cuisines, including Ethiopian and Indian.

Because of this experience, meat will never be just another food, and I won't eat it without thinking about it. I'm still going to favor vegetarian dishes at restaurants. During these two years, I completely broke my fast food habit, and I don't miss it. (I used to get McDonald's chicken nuggets and Culver's butterburgers... frequently.)

When I buy meat, I get something whole, not processed, and high-quality, as I do with vegetables. For instance I always get a whole chicken and break it down. (And save the spine and wings for stock of course!) So far, I've mostly cooked with chicken and a little pork.

I don't really have a desire to eat beef, so I'm not going to. Beef is the most environmentally- and health-damaging, so I think I'll draw the line there.

Since I've experienced both, how does it compare? 

I learned healthier eating habits from being a vegetarian that I have carried with me; I still eat a lot of veggies and fiber, and I eat almost entirely home-cooked food. So, I don't feel much difference in my energy levels or anything. I feel more full and satisfied from meals that include meat -- One benefit from eating meat may be that I'll eat less dairy. I think dairy must be worse for you than meat, and being a vegetarian means eating a lot of dairy, especially when eating out.

I learned a lot about nutrition from my two year stint as a vegetarian. I know that protein can be found in almost all foods, for instance, and that fiber is one of the most important parts of your diet. However, there are some things that I think are kind of bullshit (for instance, the acidity/alkaline thing, and that eating, like, any amount of meat is detrimental to your health, and that natural fats are worse for you than processed sugar).

So, I guess we'll just wait and see if I have a heart attack in forty years.

Netflix Original Series: Ranked

No one asked for this.

Here's my ranking of the Netflix original series I've seen enough of to pass judgment on. Each tier is roughly in order from best to not as good, or (when we get to the bottom) worst.

Top Tier

Bojack Horseman

This show is one of my favorites of all time, so of course it's the top this list. I won't belabor my opinion on it here: go read this, or this, or this.


Cooked

This four-part series is my favorite food documentary, based on the book of the same name by Michael Pollan. I've watched it several times, and I even used it as a primary source for a Philosophy project in college. It's great.


Stranger Things

This smash-hit is objectively very good, with a universally-appealing mix of suspense, comedy, horror, mystery, and 80s nostalgia. The kids are all great actors, and they are my children. I love Jim Hopper. And I'm vehemently Team Steve. Nancy doesn't know what's good for her.


Arrested Development Season 4

Even though I can only technically count the 4th season, my opinion of the show over all is helping its rating here. But I did like the 4th season a lot, especially Gob and Michael/George Michael's story lines. It goes a little overboard with the Ron Howard jokes, but it's an example of good writing under constraints.


Glow

I really loved this show. The ensemble was great, without upstaging the two main characters and their conflict. And it makes you appreciate pro wrestling. Which is not something I thought would happen.


Grace and Frankie

This show has some clumsiness, but it's funny, and handles the drama well. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are a gift.


Making a Murderer

Remember how big this show got? Whether or not it was misleading, it was still captivating and polished, and shed light on some big issues in the criminal justice system. The case was not well handled at all, and the treatment of Brendan was particularly horrifying. Although I'm glad that we've all stopped arguing about this show by now. I feel at peace.


Orange is the New Black

I forced myself to overlook the more recent seasons and remember that seasons 1 and 2 of this show are quality. And they are.

Narcos

I've only watched the first two seasons, which focus on Pablo Escobar. A majority of the series is in Spanish, which lends to authenticity and ended up refreshing my three years of high school Spanish. It's a very polished series, and a good chance to learn about Escobar because you'll inevitably do some searching to find out what's real and what's dramatized.


Black Mirror (seasons 3-4)

The Netflix-produced seasons are longer and better, and include the two best episodes of the ones I've seen: "San Junipero" and "USS Callister."


Alias Grace

This mini-series is, in my opinion, the better of the two recent adaptations of Margaret Atwood novels (I'm referring to Hulu's The Handmaid' Tale). The unreliable-narrator trope is rarely done this well.


Ozark

This show has Twin-Peaks-esque potential for using its setting to the fullest potential, and there are memorable characters. This is definitely a show to watch as it continues from its first season.

Middle Tier

Flaked

My bias for Will Arnett is obvious, but this series is pretty good. It will be better if you have a weird crush on Will Arnett.

Dear White People

There was a movie called Dear White People, right? Am I imagining that? Anyway, I liked the movie better, if it did exist. However, this show is good, and the (white) people that call it racist in the reviews need to calm down. The show is more self-aware than they like to straw-man it to be, and deals with prejudice and privilege around as well as within the Ivy League black community it represents.


Easy

A good vignette series, with a wide range of topics explored, and some inter-connection between them. There will be some episodes you don't like, and there will be some that you do.


Master of None

Sort of a vignette series, but following Aziz Ansari's self-insert character. It's a fairly typical millennial relationship show. There are some great episodes: I particularly like the statements on representation of Asian characters in the media, and the Emmy-winning Thanksgiving episode.

Love

I hate that they decided to just call this series Love. That being said, it's... okay. It's totally one of those hot girl/mediocre nice guy shows. But this girl is hot, so you'll end up watching it.


Bill Nye Saves the World

I don't have strong feelings about this show. I also don't understand why so many millennials worship Bill Nye. (But I saw him in person once, and it was cool.) It's funny to see conservatives lose their minds over the sex and gender episode, but I didn't really like that episode either. I thought it continued the unfortunate trend of over-sexualizing LGBT people.


Sense8

I feel bad putting this much-loved series so low on the list, but it's... not good. It's over-produced, and features an average of 1.5 orgies per episode, and that's been tricking people into thinking it's good. I said it before, I'll say it again: Sense8 is Heroes with higher production quality and gays. Doesn't make up for the fact that it's Heroes. (That's the hottest take I've ever had, by the way.)


House of Cards

I only watched about a season and a half of this show a long time ago, and I couldn't power through the rest of it. Too overly serious and every shot is just various shades of gray. Now, I'll never return to it since Kevin Spacey was disgraced.


Jessica Jones

Nothing personal -- I know a lot of people loved it, but it's just not my genre. I watched it, and it was well done. I'm still haunted by the horrifying "death by a thousand cuts" scene. That's not a positive thing for me.

Bottom Tier

Friends from College

This is good mindless entertainment, but it's pretty stupid. The end of the first (so far, only) season is good, though! It's funny, and gets the tone right. I'm only putting it this low because I know that it's objectively bad, but I did enjoy it for what it was.


13 Reasons Why

I read the book as a teenager, so of course I had to watch this, and all the controversy around the show just made me want to watch it more. I think the hate for it is overblown. However, I have to say: watching this did not make me feel very sympathetic toward the main character, Hannah. I think it could have been done better; it came across that she was blaming a bunch of more or less innocent people (and one very bad person) for her problems, and that's not the portrayal of suicide victims we need. She didn't need to be likable, but she didn't need to be so unsympathetic either. Besides, there was absolutely no mention of mental health in the series. I don't remember if that's the case with the book, but it's irresponsible in the adaptation regardless.


A Series of Unfortunate Events

I wanted to like this, but there was something... off about it. I didn't finish the first season. There were some good tonal things that maybe should have been played up more. I'm not sure what it is I didn't like about it, but I just didn't like it.


The OA

I had to watch this show for a theater class, and I hate it and it has destroyed my Netflix recommendations. This show tries to be clever, but it's not good enough for me to care about how "deep" it is. I had faith in Brit Marling, but... come on. Some much-needed irony maybe would have saved this. I guess I have a problem with sincerity. I should work on that.

Nihilism in Bojack Horseman

If Bojack Horseman is about one thing, it's about how different characters cope with the meaninglessness of the world.

People have applied the above meme to Bojack and Mr. Peanutbutter respectively. I think that's... somewhat accurate. Let's take a detailed look at how Bojack, Diane, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Princess Carolyn approach meaning in their lives, and what the show in general has to say.

Bojack endlessly searches for meaning and fulfillment and thinks that his career will bring this, if only he can get that role, or win an Oscar... But his arc shows that what he really wants and needs is family:

• He had an abusive family growing up. 
• He deluded himself into thinking his TV family was real, and spent years re-living that experience. 
• He tried to be a father to Sarah Lynn and failed horribly.
• His drug-fueled fantasy in season 1 involves him sharing a picturesque family life with Charlotte. 
• In the second season, he abandons his dream job to try to become part of Charlotte's real family. When he takes it a bit far and is rejected, he can't cope, and presses the self-destruct button. (Also known as: He tried to be a father to Penny and failed horribly.)
• In "Fish Out of Water" Bojack adopts a seahorse baby for a day. 
• In the third season, several relationships with his chosen family fall apart. In particular, Sarah Lynn, his on-screen daughter, dies and he is at least partly responsible for her death. 
• At the end of the third season, he sees a herd of horses running and feels a connection to them. 
• The fourth season is all about Bojack's family.
• His relationship with his mom always left him seeking her approval, even though he hates her. But, he shows his ability for forgiveness when she recognizes him. Instead of telling her off, as he planned, he comforts her. 
• His relationship with Hollyhock gives him a real shot at fulfillment, and it terrifies him. At this point, he doesn't think he deserves a good family relationship (see above points). But Bojack doesn't self-sabotage his relationship with her; he puts her well-being first, even if it means he can never see her again.

What's the take-away from Bojack's arc? Family is something that people find a great deal of meaning in. Success in your career, especially superficial success such as winning awards, will not solve all your problems.

Ana says something insightful on this topic, when Bojack is worried that winning an Oscar won't bring him happiness. She says, no, winning an Oscar won't make him happy forever -- but it will be a really good night. Bojack struggles with the idea that happiness isn't a permanent state of being. No one can be happy all the time, and that's okay: Having good days is all there really is.

As the series goes on, Bojack begins to understand the importance of relationships. In "Fish Out of Water" he writes to Kelsey: "In this terrifying world, all we have are the connections that we make." I would like to thank this quote for supporting my thesis so exactly.

Diane, too, struggles with meaning, and she seeks out important work, thinking that it will fulfill her. This is shown to be very hard, and she is punished for her sincerity. In "Hank After Dark" she takes up a crusade against a well-loved public figure who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. She receives death threats and is harassed on the street, and she ultimately gives up. It's too hard.

This experience leads her to go to Cordovia. She's still committed to doing important work, and she thinks that if she can go somewhere else, the work will be easier, less complicated -- it won't conflict with her husband's career and her book tour. But, of course, it's not easier. Diane soon discovers that her hero, Sebastian St. Clair, is in it for the fame and ego-stroke, and he is able to easily brush off the horrible things that are happening around them. Diane can't, because she cares more than he does. As she later says to Bojack, the experience was exhausting and she couldn't do it anymore.

This is an honest depiction of how hard it is to do meaningful work. It is not romantic, and it won't make your life magically fulfilling. It will wear you down, and maybe it won't be worth it. People that work in these fields need to be prepared for that, and need to take care of themselves as well. The show's more cynical message might be: Some people that succeed in these fields are able to do so by shutting off their own empathy, so that they don't get worn down.

Early in the show, Diane says to Bojack that she doesn't believe in "deep down": "All you are is just the things that you do." This is something I think we should all sit with, because it's true and uncomfortable. (Bojack responds with, "God, that's depressing.") This belief explains her desperate search for meaningful work. She can't be a good person unless she does good things. She experiences a lot of cognitive dissonance when she later takes a job writing for a pop culture, commercialized-feminism type of blog. When she says to Bojack, about giving up on meaningful work, "I'm sorry if that makes me a bad person" she's not responding to anything he said; she's revealing her own view on the matter.

Mr. Peanutbutter is different. He isn't unfulfilled, or doesn't appear to be. In season one, he says to Diane, trying to comfort her: "The universe is a cruel, uncaring void. The key to being happy isn't a search for meaning. It's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you'll be dead." In season three, he says to Bojack, trying to comfort him: "None of this matters!"

There's a bit of growth there. "This" refers to show business, and Mr. Peanutbutter's realization only comes in contrast to the relationship with his brother, which is very important to him. He doesn't take a "nothing matters" approach; but he does accept that his career doesn't matter, and it doesn't bother him. In fact, it's really comforting to him -- evidenced by the fact that he tries to comfort others by telling them that nothing matters.

Mr. Peanutbutter's cheerful nihilism may sound bleak, but I think it's insightful, and it works for some people. I'm one of those people. Bojack and Diane are not; they are not comforted by the view that most of life is trivial. And that's okay. It doesn't work for everyone.

Princess Carolyn is similar to Mr. Peanutbutter in that she stays busy with her work. Her professional success is integral to her self esteem and identity. But, like Bojack, she places importance on having a family. The season 4 episode "Ruthie" shows that Princess Carolyn is comforted by the thought of having a great-great-great granddaughter. She says this means "everything is going to work out." Having children is her definition of everything turning out alright, and that's not something she can do.

Her work is important to her, but it's a substitute for children. Her end-of-season four project, "Philbert," makes this point painfully clear. She calls it her baby and it's named after her miscarried child. Yeah, it's on the nose.

Counterpoint: parody of existentialism

Part of what the show does is make fun of rich celebrities who feel empty inside. That's an overlooked aspect, but it's there. It's wrong to say that existentialism is solely an elite problem, but there's a correlation. The characters make this point to each other, but are never introspective:

• Mr. Peanutbutter says to Bojack, the angriest he's ever been toward him, "You're a millionaire moviestar, with a girlfriend who loves you, acting in your dream movie. What more do you want? What else could the universe possibly owe you?" 
• Bojack tells Diane that she can't think she's better than everyone while living in Beverly Hills with her rich boyfriend. 
• Diane laments that no one thinks about "the world outside themselves" while being comically self-centered.
• Cuddlywhiskers says: "Sure, I wrote a bunch of hit movies, and made a bunch of money, but it wasn't fulfilling. I remember when I won my Oscar, standing up on that stage, looking at the statue, and I thought: 'This is supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and I've never felt more miserable.'" 

Cry me a river.

There's an element of: Why can't these people just stop moping and be happy? The Cuddlywhiskers scene only makes sense in that context, and I don't understand why some fans think it's deep -- it's parody. Here's this guy, living off his royalty checks, complaining about how hard it is to be rich and successful, and how he's so much happier now that he gave it up.

Bojack tries to go this same route in season 4, when he moves to Michigan. And it doesn't make him happy. It's almost like... you're the tar pit. Whoa.

This is one of the more cynical aspects of the show; the idea that a search for meaning is something privileged people occupy themselves with. There's no real comparison to less privileged characters to confirm this (maybe Todd), but I think it's an important aspect.

Conclusion

In our modern, increasingly secular world, a lot of people struggle with the absurdity and meaninglessness of life. Bojack approaches this topic with plenty of dark humor (a favorite: "There's going to be plenty of people around when I kill myself!") -- and a lot of heart.

The show is at the end of the day, a half-hour animated comedy, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's about talking animals for god's sake. I prefer this approach to serious subjects; self-deprecating, not too preachy, subtle, humorous.

On the whole, the show is more sincere than parody. The nihilism is often played for jokes (especially Mr. Peanutbutter's bleak words of comfort), but the characters' existential depression is one of the most relatable parts of the show.

Bojack doesn't present any single coping mechanism as being the "right" one. But the pattern is that work is a distraction from characters' existential dread -- and relationships are, potentially, the answer.