- By Bornika Das
- Tue, 22 Apr 2025 02:18 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
BoJack Horseman Life Lessons: BoJack Horseman is an American animated tragicomedy that talks about deep, dark and brutally honest truths about human conditions in the current world scenario. Throughout its six seasons, BoJack Horseman stood out against the typical TV shows of all time, offering its audience harsh, realistic life lessons. Considered as one of the best animated shows, BoJack plays skillfully with dry humour. This Netflix series dares to tackle addiction, depression, self-worth and the complexity of personal growth. The show has taught its audience darker life lessons through some of its sarcasm, actions and storylines.
In BoJack Horseman, BoJack plays the lead role, who is a humanoid horse pulling its punches while displaying how hard reality can be. The American series offers tough resolutions and easy answers. It leans into the chaos of life, portraying flawed characters who often sabotage themselves despite yearning for something better. This emotional realism is covered in sharp wit and exceptional storytelling that resonates with the audience deeply. Here are five brutal yet realistic life lessons that the audience has learnt from BoJack Horseman.
Hard-Hitting Life Lessons To Learn From BoJack Horseman
Fate Can Be Cruel To People Who Don't Deserve It
Princess Carolyn expected to become a mother one day. In the standalone episode, "Ruthie," Princess Carolyn's descendant Ruthi tells her about how her great-great-great-grandmother accomplished her goal of having a biological family of her own. However, one of the most heart-crushing twists happened when it turned out that Ruthie was nothing more than a fantasy Princess Carolyn had conjured up to comfort herself after finding out she had a miscarriage. The series showed that Princess Carolyn could have been a good mother, seeing how much she nurtured Bojack whenever he spiralled. The storyline portrayed how unpredictable life can be.
Art Imitates Life
Throughout the series, BoJack tried to do something that would typically work out, only for reality to hit him. One of the instances is when BoJack unintentionally got Kelsey Jannings fired for trying to improve their Secretariat film. Unlike a typical TV show having happy endings, BoJack and Kelsey went behind Lenny Turteltaub's back to make a better movie would lead to him seeing their side, meaning it all worked out, but that's not what happens. Instead, Lenny fires Kelsey for insubordination, devastating Bojack in the process. BoJack made several attempts to make amends with Kelsey, but he never succeeded.
BoJack Was Still Unhappy After Getting Everything He Wanted
BoJack always had a dream to be a celebrity who would receive innumerable accolades and praise, which would ultimately come true. Despite his celebrity status, BoJack was not happy. No matter what award he won or how much attention he received from the public, it all felt hollow because hardly anybody saw BoJack as a person as much as they saw him as "the horse from Horsin' Around." BoJack's unhappiness, despite getting everything he aspired to in his life, shows that fame doesn't lead to happiness.
#BoJackHorseman 1.08 "The Telescope" visualises how we look back and forward.
— Shot Zero (@_shotzero) December 31, 2024
A medium shot shows Herb and Bojack within arm's reach of each other. As Herb picks up a telescope and asks "how'd we get so far apart?" the shot switches to Herb’s POV thu the backwards lenses. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/UcTvWwJ2TM
BoJack Arc Shows That Being Good Is A Tough Habit To Develop
Throughout the show, BoJack wanted to do better, but his selfishness and self-destructive tendencies always prevented him from becoming a better version. Because he was a celebrity, BoJack could do what he wanted without fear of consequences in the past. However, soon he realised that being genuinely happier meant consistently being a better person, which was not easy for him to do. One of the best quotes in the series is when BoJack’s monkey neighbours tells him, “Every day it gets a little easier. But you have to do it every day. That's the hard part.” Although BoJack tried to do better things slowly, he grew internally.
Just Because Things Were At Their Worst Didn't Mean It Was Over For BoJack
As the series neared its end, BoJack had lost pretty much everything. He is shown to be in prison for breaking and entering, his career suffered because of his bad deeds that came to light, and he was seen still fighting for his sobriety from his alcoholism. However, BoJack did not seem to redeem himself. In the final season, it is shown that he was succeeding in finding his inner peace. While being sent to prison was harsh, it seemed to be the final step in him getting past his internal struggles once and for all.
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