by Chris Alarie
The second season of cartoon sitcom
BoJack Horseman debuts on
Netflix on July 17 and it brings another helping of a deeply flawed
TV show that, nonetheless, does perform one important service:
demonstrating the awfulness of horses.
The
show satirizes show business and takes place in a semi-recognizable,
contemporary Hollywood populated by humans and humanoid animals. It
centers around the titular has-been horse actor, who once starred in
the popular 90s sitcom Horsin' Around
but has since seen his lifestyle slowly degrade. The show features
the voiceover work of a number of well-known actors and comedians,
both in the regular cast and in the rather extensive guest cast.
Will
Arnett and Amy Sedaris are predictably awful as BoJack and Princess
Caroline—BoJack's cat agent and occasional girlfriend—respectively.
Alison Brie is pleasantly forgettable as Diane, BoJack's human
biographer and somewhat unrequited love interest. The bright spot in
the cast is Aaron Paul—who famously played emotional drug addict
Jessie Pinkman in Breaking Bad—as
BoJack's freeloading, human housemate Todd.1
The tone of the show veers inconsistently from melodrama to comedy
but does have enough good jokes to make it worth watching while
hungover or sick or depressed or something. Also, Grouplove's end
credits song
is brilliant and catchy. But the show's true value lies in its
willingness to confront a taboo subject and depict horses as the
wretched creatures that they truly are.
Despite
being the main character, BoJack is an utterly irredeemable,
unlikable figure. He is self-centered, conniving, destructive, and
self-pitying. He is a bad friend, lover, housemate, client, and
actor. He just drinks and causes drama without offering anything of
value to the other characters around him. He is, essentially, just
like a real horse.2
It is admirable that BoJack Horseman's
creators are willing to stand up to the Vast Equine Conspiracy in
order to depict the truth about horses. One can only imagine the
difficulties they have faced in bringing this truth to the screen.
While
I would not venture to either convince or dissuade the reader from
watching the show,3
I commend its willingness to counter the popular, false depiction of
horses as noble, beautiful creatures in the face of what I am certain
is significant opposition. As Princess Caroline says, after BoJack
has predictably disappointed her again, “Of course, of course,
that's what you get when you fall for a horse”.
Chris Alarie is Senior Editor-in-Chief of Uncanny Valley Magazine.
Chris Alarie is Senior Editor-in-Chief of Uncanny Valley Magazine.
1 According to the cast list, Paul F. Tompkins plays Mr. Peanutbutter. However, I've never heard of that actor and I don't remember that character despite having watched the first season of the show twice, so I think that's either a misprint or some dumb in-joke amongst the show's fans. Whatever.↩
2 Aside from all the anthropomorphic stuff, that is.↩
3 Honestly, I don't fucking care and I doubt the reader would be stupid enough to listen to my recommendation anyway.↩
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