chris mclean

refusal to participate due to self consciousness is actually more embarrassing than participating. it took me a very long time to figure that out. abject fear of embarrassment is actually causing you to do things that are more embarrassing than what you fear. you are gonna be embarrassed anyway. let go and be free

One of my favourite things about Princess Carolyn is that her story doesn't end with her doing less work, or taking a backseat in anything, because the show acknowledges that 1) it's not an option for her and 2) it's not something she wants. It's something that becomes abundantly clear in her relationship with Ralph: although they were a healthy and loving relationship, they ultimately didn't work because Ralph didn't acknowledge that she got fulfillment out of what she did, along with taking said drive and organisation for granted. As a result of this, the show ends not with her having an easier lifestyle, but with her having a better one: she's doing work that she genuinely loves doing, she has a family who not only respect this but are just as passionate as she is, and she's happy. She has everything she ever wanted, and she loves it.

In Bojack Horseman the idea of achieving your parents dreams is integrated throughout the show. Beatrice was told never to love anyone as much as her mother loved her brother but still strives for the perfect family, and in turn she put it on Bojack to be “worth it”. Princess Carolyn’s mother dreamed of a better life for her daughter to the point she was going to force her to go through with a teen pregnancy to entrap a rich family. Sarah Lynn even talks repeatedly about how SHE wanted to be an architect but her mother wanted her to be famous and was willing to put everything at risk for that. The only ones who we see that don’t follow their parents plans for them, and thus ruining their relationship with their families, are Diane and Todd. Diane’s family wanted her to stay home and be more like them. Because she was a girl she was treated as less than snd expected to cater to her brothers’ egos. Todd had an addiction to a game that clearly affected his life but instead of trying to assist him with actually working through it his parents kicked him out and cut him off. Leaving him alone at 18 to find his own support system. Or maybe it is 4 AM, and this is a cartoon and I am thinking about this way too hard.

fool me once, fool me twice, fool me chicken soup with rice

i rewatch bojack horseman like bojack rewatches horsin around

the thing about bojack horseman that still gets me to this day is how it manages to give weight to all horrible things that have been done to bojack AND the horrible things he does to others AND how the entertainment industry runs on various cultures of exploitation and abuse that makes addressing these issues impossible AND the show did all of that simultaneously while ALSO being one of the funniest show's ever made. it's just so superb, a true artistic vision at every level from its writing to its animation style. Despite starting a decade ago and finishing 4 years ago, there's hardly any commentary, political or otherwise, in it that isn't still either intelligently relevant or cleverly prescient. you might think I'm exaggerating when I say this show has never been out of my watch rotation since I started watching it, but I'm not! I love bojack horseman so much and I love that everytime I watch it I find something that moves me. I'll watch it forever. watching it is like therapy, like a friend, like a reminder. Truly the last great streaming show, when I think about it <3