How BoJack Horseman Critiques the 1990s | Tom Nicholas
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- With BoJack Horseman Season Five being released on Netflix a week and a bit ago, I thought I’d add to the avalanche of BoJack Horseman analysis videos already on RUclips by tackling how the series critiques our relationship with the recent past.
In particular, the role of Horsin’ Around (the "very famous TV show" in which BoJack once starred) in informing the protagonist of the show’s identity has always fascinated me. And so I thought I’d explore how BoJack Horseman subverts and critiques our memory of what culture really was like "back in the 90's".
I'm particularly interested in the narrative of Bojack, Mr. Peanutbutter and Sarah Lynn's own trajectory between the 90's and today as well as the career struggles of Todd and Diane in the present. Mostly, however, I'm interested in what all of these, taken together, might tell us about 90's culture and that of today.
As is perhaps clear in the video, I was particularly inspired by Lindsay Ellis' video on Stranger Things, It and the Upside Down of Nostalgia from December of last year. However, here, I primarily draw on the work of Frederic Jameson on parody and pastiche.
So, I hope this video essay adds something new to the videos already existing which interogate the philosophy of BoJack Horseman and other angles of analysis while also adding to my own Politix series.
Further Reading
BoJack Horseman: The Art Before the Horse by Chris McDonnell and Lisa Hanawalt
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UK: amzn.to/2T9Zofu
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
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UK: amzn.to/2EFiGk9
[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]
References
Chater, A. (2015) ‘From Real Housewives to The Brady Bunch: Bojack Horseman Finds Its Place’. /Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies/. 6(1). Available at: ir.lib.uwo.ca/...
Ellis, L. (2017) ‘Stranger Things, IT and the Upside Down of Nostalgia’. /RUclips/. [Online] • Stranger Things, IT an... [Accessed: 19 September 2018].
Jameson, F. (1991) /Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism/. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 17.
Pappenheim, J. (2018) ‘Why “13 Reasons Why” fails at portraying mental health where “BoJack Horseman” succeeds’. /Shortlist/. [Online] www.shortlist.... [Accessed: 19 September 2018].
Weinstock, J. A. (2008) ‘Simpsons Did It!’. in /Taking South Park Seriously/. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 88.
If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.
Thanks for watching!
Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com
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Hello! Thanks for watching, I really hope you got something out of this one! If you'd like to watch another video essay from me then you might like to check out my analysis of Striking Vipers from the latest season of Black Mirror which you can find here: ruclips.net/video/gZIRowA-f94/видео.html
I think the flashbacks are a criticism of not just nostalgia for the 90s, but a critique of nostalgia as a whole. Nostalgia for the 40s and onwards is subverted with the way the show presents the awful things that have happened during that point in time.
Absolutely. I was keen to keep it focussed on the '90s here but I definitely think the manner in which the show takes a pretty uncompromising view at BoJack's childhood and the life of his mother is equally fascinating.
Also a good warning for us today: someday, generations will look back at this time and nostalgize it as a "simpler time".
Random Coyote ah simpler times, when people were afraid to leave their houses due to a pandemic
@@jayjaythejetplane5390 "back then we knew what mattered"
And that way of thinking creeps into politics and ruins its futute
As always forgetting the bad parts, like people refusing to wear masks and spreading the virus on purpose (seriously, the WoW pandemic was a better foil for real people as we used to think before this pandemic)
Thats terrifying
Bojack Horseman is a show that is very honest and blunt in it's critique of nostalgia as an idea. Bojack Horseman is a person who has never truly been consistently happy in life. As with most events in his life, he desperately hoped that Horsin' Around would make him happy, but of course, as soon as it ends, so does his happiness. I mean, he was never really happy on the show either, as shown by the flashbacks where he displays this constant, biting jadedness and cynicism, particularly in his monologues to Sarah Lynn under the table and at the hairdressers. But after the show ended, he coasted along on his fame, and as soon as his celebrity faded from the immediate public, he began to idolize the period in his life where he thought he was "happiest", the 90s during Horsin' Around. Wherever there is a flashback to the 90s, we immediately see this contrasted with the reality that Bojack wasn't even really happy during Horsin' Around. The show also points out very bluntly the problems with the eras it flashes back to other than the 90s, with "The Old Sugarman Place" episode showcasing the problems with the 40s (Beatrice loses her older brother during WW2. This devastating loss leaves Beatrice's mother emotionally unstable, and her husband is left to point out that "as a man during the 1940s, I am brutally unequipped to handle any sort of display of womanly emotions".).
Bojack seems to have mixed up how happy he seemed in the horsing around episodes he kept watching and how he actually felt
It's worse that that. The show made him unhappy. He was a nice person before it.
Bojack and videos like this are so important. Everyone gets all gushy and nostalgic about the 90's but, like any era, they were extremely, alarmingly, detrimentally flawed.
Thanks Abby. And, yes, I think it's a really important show, perhaps more so than we give it credit for.
*The 90s was AWESOME!!! - I don't know what you are talking about*
@@SurahOnline i mean... there was the yugoslav wars
Surah Online 90s kids are like vegans - they never shut up about the 90s.
To that end, the nostalgia is really limited only to the connections to pop culture elements we remember. The most I remember of the mid-to-late 1990s were watching Nickelodeon cartoons, playing Super Mario 64, and Primal Rage on the Genesis, and playing all these CD-ROM games like the Zoombinis, City Simulator and Railroad Tycoon. I couldn’t tell you anything I remember about the Oklahoma City bombing, Tonya Harding, the OJ Simpson case, the Lewinsky scandal or anything like that. Because who has the ability to remember that kind of nuance during your childhood? So it makes sense to me why nostalgia like that can be so powerful.
you made a good point about how the show gets away with making jokes and running gags that border on unseemly because it has already conveyed to the audience that it has a real stance regarding the subject matter it raises.
Thanks!
Right! Nobody talks about that ending song. It almost seems to be the theme song
Definitely! It's also ridiculously catchy. And I love the way they play with it occasionally; like when they swap it out for Mr Peanutbutter's theme.
It’s kinda wild hearing you say “pastiche” over and over knowing that this video came out BEFORE season 6... Ya know...the one where he spends half the season at Pastiches Malibu?? Kinda highlights that theme even more.
13:06 I feel this is also done to show that happiness is more than what it appears on the surface. Bojack Horseman has literally become one in a million. He's been a successful stand-up comic and actor, starred in an 11 season long hit sitcom, made it rich, bought a huge house in Beverly Hills, and yet, he's pretty much the farthest from true happiness he's ever been.
Oh absolutely. This is actually something we see in a lot of things. My comment was more on Wisecrack's commentary on that theme within the show as I felt it suggested that depression was something felt more by people who had got money, fame etc than others.
All I can hear is that kid who played Harry Potter... Elijah Wood.
Haha, I swear 50% of all RUclips comments are: "You look/sound like [insert famous person]".
E-elijah wood?
"ELIJAH WOOD!?!?!?!?!"
I'm not sure if you are serious or trolling
@@sierrasouthwell9237 hes trolling like bojack trolled him by calling him Elijah Wood
It's always hard to find videos that engage with media on more than a surface level "that's good, this is bad" way. Great analysis, Great vid!
Thanks Courtney, really glad you enjoyed it!
Damn, son. Did not expect such quality, in-depth analysis from this video. I was just gonna make some falafel with you on the background, but you grabbed my attention. Congrats! Liked and subscribed!
Haha, thank you! Hope you still managed to make that falafel!
Oh, I've always thought it is spelled "felafel"... Yet again, I've only seen this word in a name of a movie
Take a shot every time this guy says “pastiche”
Out of respect for my heritage, I'd ask that, instead of shots, you drink half a pint of farmhouse cider.
@@Tom_Nicholas lol
Every dissection of the show makes me even angrier that Netflix actually CANCELLED the show, and that it didn't come to its natural end.
Cynical and greedy executives are the worst. Ruining the fun for everyone!
Bojack is less a comedy and more a hilarious tragic drama.
Wow this looks cool and professional!! I love Bojack as well.
Cheers!
yeah. this channel is delightful
Seems Tom Nicolas has made a video about Bojack Horseman. What does he have to say about Bojack Horseman and 90's politics? Does he know anything? I'll find out.
Found some insights. Cheers.
Haha, I totally should have done some kind of parody of that in the video. Glad you found it of some interest!
I used to love South Park when I was young but my tastes have matured and I discovered that many of the points the creators were trying to make were proven wrong and that they were overtly obvious with their metaphors. This is a vast difference than the genius that is BoJack Horseman which uses complex character development, subtext, and interweaving plot lines tied into a greater narrative. This reminds me of the South Park episode the ridiculed Family Guy because they designed a character who has the same personality type as Peter Griffin but only argued that their show is better written. Well, BoJack is far superior and didn't have to rip off Family Guy to do it.
Even tho I've loved South Park since I was a little kid, I've always been bothered by their satirical critique being so in your face. Bojack handles it much better.
southpark was made before family guy
also a lot of bojack horsemans lessons and metaphors are VERY obvious and in your face
Pace yourself buddy.
@T. rexExpert01 You have to remember that it was something planned. It didn't cause the effect that the creator of the show expected, but his aim was to make the first episodes seem as stupid as other adult comedies as family guy (even though it wasn't, as the jokes were better xd), but they made this until the seventh episode, where they started with some of the more serious aspects and acid critics that characterize the series (this is actually something that Raphael Bob-Waksberg said himself). Their mistake was that they sent the first 6 episodes for the reviewers, so they didn't get to see this for the reviews, and yes that was a huge mistake. The point is, that it was intentional, although it didn't do as good as they thought
Our memories are not perfect so we forget many details of it. It also is easy to see life in emotional monotone binary of good and bad instead of a mixture of both. We remember what emotionally affect us the most. Things have to be really messed up for you in the past for you to remember only the bad. But if the society was messed up in ways that did not affect you personally but other people around you that you did not notice as being messed up then you remember only the good of a bad situation. It is the same thing for future centric people in reverse the past was bad so anything different from it must be good without flaw completely ignoring the bad in the present if it does not affect you personally with the hope off a perfect future while not seeing the merit in the past of how it created the present.
I think this is really well put. In the case of the '90s, one's view of it likely very much dependant on how good that period was to you. Even if you. Even if you were aware that the "boom years" weren't experienced equally, you find peace with that because you, personally, were doing alright.
i can’t believe this has so few views, great job man.
Thank you, appreciate you saying so!
You drew me in with Bojack, and, soooo- I binged a bunch of your videos. New sub.
Haha, it's working! Hope you enjoyed them!
"Stable", get it?
Because I'm a horse? And horses live in stables?.........This is Bojack, by the way.
Horseman.
I think fritz the cat is the first "meant for adults" cartoon I have ever seen then the medium seemed to die until the late 80s.
Thanks for the pin my friend, much appreciated. Animation is a big part of my life and I'm glad we live in the times of Bojack, Archer, Rick n Morty, etc. And even Bobs Burgers for a bit of pure feel good.
Fritz the cat is definitely the first of its kind
@@AnnaPlaysViolin as a furry, yes. Yes it is.
Hey I know I'm very late to this comment section, but the rehab Bojack ends up going to in Season 5 is named "Pastiches Malibu Rehabilitation Centre" and I'm left wondering what it means.
Ahh, I replied to you on Twitter, hadn't seen that you'd also commented here! I reckon there's probably something of a knowing nod there; I don't think the writers are in any way stupid, they know what they're doing! One of the things I really like about the show is the way they're able to repeat some tropes which are so overdone but do them in such a unique way that they still hit home. And the rehab trip was definitely one of those!
Just rewatched this episode and the lightbulb of realization slowly kicked in!
This is my first video of Tom’s, and I gotta be honest. You know how Kelsey’s in love with Todd’s face almost immediately? That was me with Tom.
Like Todd, I, too, have a face.
Don't mind me....I'm just here binge watching your entire playlist.
I don't know what show these people are watching but Stranger Things definitely points out the racism and sexism that was prevalent in the 1980s. It's not the focus of the show, since it's primarily a horror story, but you can see it in how Nancy is treated at her job or in Billy's reaction to his sister being friends with Lucas or even the reaction of the boys to a girl like Max playing video games and D&D. If anything, sometimes the bigotry of the past gets exaggerated because I've heard stories of people from that time period relating how women reporters were not exactly that unheard of at the time and while they still faced discrimination, they at least were able to get jobs as reporters for newspapers.
Sorry for replying to a year old comment but I had to. Having actually grown up in the 1980 I can say for a fact that the show's views of things is sanitized quite a bit. If you are looking for media that is as close to reality in the same vein as Stranger Things, I'd say look at "Stand by Me" which is much closer to how kids actually interacted back then at least where I lived back then. Racism and especially homophobia were rampant in my school that was around 85-90% white.
This was an absolutely wonderful video! Very insightful. Great job, Tom!
Thanks! Really appreciate you saying so!
Any time, dear!
Great video Tom :)
I would also add to the wholesome innocence of the 90s as a facade, the exploitation of Sarah Lynn as a child actor. She was exploited specifically for her innocence, to depict the 90s as a happy family friendly time, without caring about her welfare at all. To me that incredibly encapsulates the duality and the hypocrisy of nostalgia towards the past, and how we view it as 'a better time'.
Sarah Lynn's story is the most tragic to me personally, because she never really had a chance. Her life was consumed by being a public figure before she was able to properly consent, for other people's profit. And their are hints sprinkled throughout the series that she was sexually abused by her stepfather. You could say the same about BoJack, that he was neglected as a child and therefore likely to struggle mentally throughout his life. But what's extra tragic about Sarah Lynn to me is that BoJack could have noticed the signs that she was suffering as a child, especially as someone who suffered himself. But the cycle of abuse continues, and BoJack even contributes to Sarah Lynn's death by tempting her away from sobriety.
Strangers Things is definitely Pastiche. Bojack however is 100% satire on the level of a Norman Lear series. The 90's in this show are represented through a nostalgic satyrical view. As apposed to Stranger Things which goes out of its way to emulate that of 80's movies copying character-types to a T, having ideas on who they represent but being completely original. Bojack is completely original, but it satires what has been going on in Hollywoo(d) throughout the last year in the real world.
Can I just say, I love how well thought-out, written, and narrated this is? 10/10
"Intertextuality" and "signifiers"? I'm all nostalgic for the years I spent getting my Bachelor of Communications!
Haha, I do try to avoid too much jargon but maybe I've swallowed more of the academic phrasebook than I'd want to admit!
Great video, thanks Tom, very thought provoking (have not seen Bojack, will make an attempt to see it now!)
Ah, you have to check it out, it's a really great series! The first few episodes of Season One aren't the best but, once you get into it, it's really endearing; the characters are just so well written that you can't help but truly feel for them.
It's amazing. Literally best storytellin since Breaking Bad.
And I really love the fact that it achieves all this great storytelling through the medium both of animation and comedy. There's something really special about that ability to be both incredibly silly and highly poiniant at one time.
I just stumbled upon your channel looking for an accessable introduction to Foucault (which I definitely found, so thank you for that), and I have been watching your content for hours now. This video stands out for its comedic tone. Because I already found your videos of high quality with the serious tone (they come across as being very nuanced yet understandable), I didn't expect this touch of humor to increase the quality even more. Thank your for your teachings and keep up the good work!
you deserve more views and subs dude. for real. I havent found anyone on RUclips who structures their videos so succinctly.
Bravo dude.
I just stumbled across this channel by chance. I´m amazed. I love the fact that you provide links for further reading & sources. Congrats from Argentina.
Ah, thanks for saying so Bruno, really hope you continue to enjoy the stuff put out!
I love the establishing shots in Bojack. They always have some stupid animal pun going on and its great.
Watching this it reminded me that there is one year I am particularly Nostalgic about, 2005. To a lesser degree 2002-2003. Even 2004
2003 was when I left my hometown, Karachi. I still visited it but I still get the 2003 flashbacks because I officially moved away from this place.
This was a time I was 9-12 years old. 2005 stands out because I remember the cricket matches as well as the Wrestling of that time. Talking about these made me friends. This was the last time there was any stability.
I wasn't the most popular but I played Football(Soccer) in school, was an outcast but slowly coming out of my shell. But then after that year I suddenly moved to another city and things went downhill from there. Constantly moved so much since then.
2009 Was the only year I fondly remember but I was made very miserable in reality. The only highlight from then was revisiting the Rock and starring in a Play that made me famous temporarily. That lasted 3 days. Other days it was just miserable and thats when I first saw the signs that something is not right with my family.
There were some nostalgic years that followed in 2011, 2012, end of high school and start of University. However 2005 stands above all of them. Inspite of an Earthquake that happened that changed everything. I remember the songs and the media I consumed.
I find it really interesting that for me, this show made a concrete difference in how I look at some of the events of my own life.
I had a very similar relationship with my mother growing up as Bojack had with his; I was an accident that led to an unhappy marriage and my mother was at best neglectful and at worst abusive bc she resented me for it. Watching the show obviously didn’t absolve my mother of hurting me but it did lead me to look into and understand the traumas she’d gone thru herself so that I could understand why she was who she was, that her mistreatment of me wasn’t my fault, and what our generational traumas were so as not to pass them on to my own children.
I also had an extremely strong connection with princess Caroline bc my harsh (and poor) upbringing pushed me to a workaholic mindframe, to the point of neglecting my emotions and connections with others and a refusal to ever accept help. In the early seasons I really felt for her struggles not only with the demands of her work life but also how everyone around her, from her clients to her coworkers to her love interest, seemed to fail her. She was often given nearly impossible tasks with difficult people and even when she succeeded she was rarely even thanked for it. And with the later seasons her struggle to have a family, to not feel like she was too much work for her lovers to handle or like she stuck out from more stable families or specifically her struggles to have a baby. I struggled a lot with a similar medical problem, and had recently lost my 4th pregnancy when this aspect of PC’s life was revealed in the show.
Seeing how she handled these issues and seeing a representation of my own issues from a distance really helped me out into perspective how I was sacrificing myself for others and how I was trying to force a conventional relationship and family to happen rather than accept alternatives that would make me happier. I stopped trying to change myself for my partners and hiding my traumas and emotions from them, and started looking for a caring friend who would support and accept me as I was. Now I’m about to marry my best friend and we’ve already talked about adoption and surrogacy as ways to start our family without having to put me thru the stress or danger of another pregnancy.
So much of the struggle in our lives stem from our inability to talk about difficult topics and see ourselves from the outside. That’s why representation like this is sooo important.
Yoooo, Weinstock was one of my professors in college! Never thought I'd hear a British guy talking about his work! Great video!
As someone who was a teen in the 90s I always see the representation in shows like Bojak of that era and think “that’s not 90s that’s 80s or LATE 90s almost early 2000s” since to me 90s was that grungy, cynical, more drab and depressed era between two bright pop ones.
I was born in the mid-90s, and I think Bojack's representation is squarely in the 80s/early 90s, where we were still struggling to let go of the laugh track being an all-consuming thing in media and it was the thrive of "d'awwww" coms like Full House.
The late 90s had Everybody Loves Raymond, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, etc. that still used the laugh track - but with comedies like Malcolm in the Middle we eventually phased out of using it.
really? are you american? grunge to me is early 90s. 90s was not a depressed era though, it was full of bold colours and the first racially mixed era. 80s was depressed.
Now get your head round the old and new twin peaks and how David Lynch destroys the idea of nostalgia completely
I'm only halfway through watching series two of Twin Peaks at the moment... So don't tell me what happens. But it's pretty weird and crazy yet I'm somehow really enjoying it! Looking forward to watching the new series' when I've caught up on the old stuff.
What makes Bojack's critique of the early 1990s particularly funny and relatable to me is that I was born smack dab in the middle of it all, inching close to the early 2000s - and while I can list off some good things about it (the fashion choices were awesome & animation-wise, we had shows like Johnny Bravo, the Powerpuff Girls/Dexter's Lab, off the top of my head) we also had a really hard time with sitcoms still overusing the laugh track - the reason why I never got into Sabrina the Teenage Witch was because the laugh track shot off at *every* joke, no matter how funny it was - and the "stupid dad/hot smart wife" cliché reared its ugly mug hardest until Malcolm in the Middle shot that out the window.
Not to mention, I found it super hard to fit in at school, because the teachers had no idea what to do with an autistic black kid who *desperately* wanted to be homeschooled.
Dang, RUclips recommended me this video and I did not expect it to be so good. Very well done. You have such a friendly face, btw.
thank you for forever ingraining my mind with my new favourite word: pastiche.
Great subscription pitch- I shall be sticking around. Thank you for the content
I know this is so random, but just by looking at your face I feel like having you as a good friend hahah.
the possibly most constant thing in bojack is that every time he tries to treat real life like a sitcom things go terribly wrong for him. ironically the show is CONSTANTLY reminding him that he shouldn’t be treating real life like a tv show
Just subscibed, cant believe ive only just seen this!
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the rest of my videos, there'll be more Politix coming in the near future!
This is absolutely fantastic - vital work!!
This is really good! I will watch the rest of the series as well.
Thanks Arunima. Let me know what you think!
This seems like a good video but the audio is a little low I'm also catching some echo in the recording. Thank you for your points otherwise
Sorry about that! I'm still a little inconsistent with getting everything set up so that it all looks and sounds nice... I like to think I'm slowly getting there though and learning each time!
Bojack is such a great series. Took me a while but I fell in love with it.
Excellent video with a very thorough break down. Great job!
Thanks Stephen, glad you liked it!
5:24 the idea that money grants happiness is a common enough idea in common discussions to provoke a counter argument, also: if [M(oney)] then [not Happiness] does not necessarily mean if [not M] then [Happiness]
I always imagined the finale would end with Mr Peanutbutter finally getting his wish of being in a new episode of horsing around where the characters are reminiscing on a old culture, making references to products no longer used and parodying what the ideal family was back then. This would had led to a spin off show called Horsing with Peanuts in which two dads would raise their family but under the same roof. The idea would lead to insane popularity but would later get cancelled due to a child actor's murder caused by drug abuse. Bojack would then leave america, retiring to a vineyard mansion with a house built on a cliffside - one night when bojack gets particularly drunk he'd lean on the balcony too much and fall to his death, a book is written and then Mr Peanutbutter stars as bojack in memory of who he was... this deeply effect him and he starts to drink and become as cynical as Bojack, the series ends on Hollyhock desperately trying to confide in Mr Peanutbutter as he was the closest person that understood the trauma of losing the closest thing to a dad she ever knew. She would eventually try to follow in his dad's footsteps only to see just how self destructive his choices were and how no-one wanted to associate anything with the bojack horseman brand despite the success of his movie. She lands a small role on a Broadway musical of Secretariat, where she meets this guy who acts similar to how bojack was before, in a short scene she gets a heartfelt speech about letting go of the past and that the only way to move on is forward, this obviously moves her to genuine tears and the show ends on short clips of everyone moving on from everything that happened.
That in my head would be the best way to end a show like this without going the cheap route of Bojack talks to Diane, he trauma dumps on her and then acts like he has gotten better from all this asking her for validation. It's likely the creator thought of my way but chose not to do it because it was just too depressing. Edit: When I learned online that Season 6 was open ended and that he wanted to be told when the last season was so he could properly end it but netflix cancelled it before it could be made, this makes me wish we could have seen how he wanted it to properly end.
Hi Tom, thank you for the video, it was extremely interesting and I am looking forward to seeing more!
I want to add a criticism here: a little too slow and a bit boring at times. If you could make it more dynamic (without stupid youtube cutoffs that we are used to seeing everywhere) and a bit shorter would be nice.
Heya, thank for watching and for your feedback, I do genuinely really appreciate hearing what people think. Will certainly work on keeping it engaging!
Thoughtful and concise look at this loaded topic! Thanks for the great video!
This is such an amazing video
Cheers! Glad you enjoyed it! It seems to have randomly got loads of views over the last two days which is cool but also weird, haha!
Great video! Thanks for this :)
For many people who lived through the 90s, it’s impossible to watch the Princess Caroline character and not think of Amy Sedaris’ Comedy Central show, Strangers With Candy. Strangers was a satire of 70s and 80s after school specials. BJH throws in sly references to Strangers every now and again.
Also, PC is the first great role Sedaris has gotten since that series ended.
this is distinctly american, though. No idea of amy sedaris.
It's so pleasant to listen to you!
:lo
I like the insights you gave in this video
Incredibly interesting points
Glad I stumbled upon your vid today
The algorithm must be shining in my favour today!
This is really well done! Good job and keep up the cool videos!
Thanks Luke, appreciate you saying so!
Well done video man
Thanks! Appreciate you saying so!
This is a really good video
Thanks, really appreciate you saying so!
I hope you have an essay for the series finale. Just subbed - good job!
Why are Brits so obsessed with BoJack? I've seen numerous videos of Brits taking deep dives into some aspect or another with regards to BoJack Horseman.
We're intelligent but depressed.
I just subscribed! Your videos on structuralism and linguistics are pretty great too. Thank you :)
I don’t want to ignore the content of video, it’s great and I love the analysis, it looks like you’ve done your research but...
You look like Niall Horan, just wanted to say that lol
I can't believe anyone who was in the '90s remembers them as wholesome, unless they drank so much that they've wiped out The Word, Suede and lad culture. That's not to say there was no fun to be had, I personally enjoyed a lot of Britpop, but wholesome is the last idea I'd have of that time. If people think it was actually like Friends, that shocks me.
It's heavily influenced by how people experience an era personally, and when someone is born plays into that a lot. I was born in 1984, meaning that pretty much exactly my whole childhood took place in the 1990s. (I started school in at age six 1991 finished my last year of not working yet - 2000 - at age 16. And while I grew up in a bad home in many important ways and didn't attend the best of schools, things still looked mostly good for me if you only took a cursory glance at my life. Crucially, I grew up in a home with (in my case at times just barely sufficiently) stable finances and saw everybody my age live pretty much the same. Things like war also never played into my everyday life, apart from having classmates from the Balkan region who'd fled to "my" country from wars.
@@camelopardalis84 Yeah, there was a lot more money around for sure, but that could make for sleazy times. The 90s were my 20s, so yes, age makes a difference - I don't really remember the 80s as selfish or greedy as that's when I was a kid. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time (and I don't really remember now what this film was saying), but I don't think of it as a wholesome time re: drink, drugs or attitudes to women.
A really nice video, thanks!
No worries, hope you found it interesting!
You deserve more subscribers! Great stuff!
Thank you! I'm pretty over the moon with how many I've got already but there's always room for more! Feel free to spread the word!
This is brilliant. What did you study to know so much about all this?
Humans, one would assume.
My discipline is actually theatre but my research sits heavily in cultural studies so I tend to use a lot of concepts from all over the shop: literary studies, film studies, politics, sociology. If you want a bit more of an insight, my What the Theory? series might be of interest. Thanks for watching!
Also, yes, humans.
i love this! you are adorable, great video man
Cheers!
Very interesting observations, good job!
Cheers Val!
Thanks for the video. I know I’m late to the party. Love what you say about the past and it’s connection to the present and the difference between pastiche and parody.
Btw, Bojack has definitely exceeded my expectations and since this video, culminated in a stunning and harrowing penultimate episode
The 1990s: "While America Lollapaloozed" (and wasn't paying attention).
I love ur take! I also think it's v on the nose that Bojack's "rehab" is called Pastiches haha
Secretariat! :D You don't sound right when you say that. :p Great video thus far.
Haha, I know exactly the bit you mean. When I was editing I thought "that's a strange inflection there but I'm sure no one will notice"... Clearly I was wrong!
I was up for it. I was enjoying your voice. But 5mins and you haven't even started
Thank you for making this. I liked and subscribed, this isn’t a casual thing for me and I don’t know the rest of your stuff. But I’m more willing to put up with things when they have a British accent, so I’m lucky there. Honestly, I hope you’re getting by on these videos and that’s the reason I did the above, you’ve found a way to not be a part of the rat race... and for that I admire and want to reward you.
Bojack f horseman, when did we learn the middle name?
I just googled this because I couldn't quite remember where I'd picked the F up from. Apparently it's on his subscription info to the LA Gazette in the episode where BoJack tries to cancel his subscription.
Truly fantastic video.
Thanks Joseph!
1980s My Dad i miss the 50s my MomI miss the 60s Now me I miss the 80s and the 90s things were SO MUCH simpler lol.
Thanks for watching all! Let me know down below if there's any other shows you'd like me to cover in the future (Netflix or otherwise)!
Breaking Bad. Adventure Time. I could name a billion others. :D Those are just two great ones that came to mind. ^^
Ooh, great ideas. I will admit that I've never seen Adventure Time which is perhaps to my detriment, however there's loads to be said about Breaking Bad, particularly in relation to all the current discussion surrounding the American/Mexican border.
Yes, love David Lynch, always so much at play within his work. Although I've yet to watch any of the reboot. But that reminds me to add it to my watchlist!!
Thanks Ian, will check it out!
Russian Doll!
Good job, Tom Nicholas!
Thanks Aneta, appreciate you saying so!
Just got here, subbed.
Watching all seasons of Bojack Horseman in one massive sitting I came away from the experience thinking it was a western adaptation of Neon Genesis, except more literal, and a dramedy about anthropomorphic animals instead of a drama-action about mecha cyborgs.
I have these really obscene opinions. A comedian pointed out to me once that you can just have opinions and beliefs, like, there's no laws about that shit.
Don't get me started about how the band Mindless Self Indulgence is just one big reference to jangle pop artisans, The Smiths. From the song, 'Ass-Backwards' by Mindless Self Indulgence "I go about things the wrong way, baby."
Also: South Park was just the first mainstream adult cartoon, it came with a whole bunch of them. Dr.Katz, Duckman, just to name a couple of the better ones.
Great video!
Thanks for saying so Melisa!
one error, the past _was_ more stable due to its lack of complexity, it wasn't a mirage
You really like the word “pastiche”.
i think wet hot american summer is about the teen movies of the 80s like national lampoon.
This guy has the face of a friendly giant
Edit: Smart friendly giant
Great video. You should totally do a video on the series Manic by Jonah Hill.
I didn't was tempted when it first came out but I worried it was maybe a bit niche...?
I agree, it is niche haha. Hopefully it'll interlink with another one of your review videos at some point!
Nice sweater and video!
Haha, thanks on both counts!
Nice analysis of the nostalgia in seasons 1 to 4. What did you think of how Bojack Horseman concluded at the end of season 6?
I personally don’t really like jokes like 17:55. It kind of weird to do reactions to your own script. But I really liked the video :)