Picture a show about the downsides of Hollywood and mass production media. Make the main character a washed up sitcom has-been actor who is as cynical as alcoholic. Add a lot of dark and dry humour. To finish throw a bit of animal kingdom anthropomorphism in the dough and you got that messy cake which is Netflix originals animated series BoJack Horseman.
Launched in 2014 and created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg this show is good... But so weird !
So to sum up; former actor Bojack Horseman (a horse) decide to revive its career. He is surrounded by his agent Princess Carolyn, his roomate Todd, and his ghost writer Diane. The show while remaining satyrical and over the top as a adult cartoon would be, is very critical of today modern mass media society and very realistic on that matter.
The show while being smart (not too much but not too little) feels a bit reused though. How many movies and series have we had about former celebrities who try to reconstruct there life despite of nowadays cruel and demanding media industry: Music and Lyrics, South Park episode "Britney's New Look" (2nd ep season 12), "Californication, and many more, tackle the absurdity of the showbusiness klenex fame. To my opinion the story in itself does not stand out. It is entertaining but not very innovative.
The character is not that new either; especially nowadays- most of heroes now are blasé and alcoholic assholes, especially in cartoon (Archer from Archer, Rick from Rick and Morty, Roger from American Dad). So, again well written and entertaining but not so new.
What stands out is the tone of the show. While a movie like Music and Lyrics ends on a positive note and a serie like South Park is very over the top in its charicature, here the whole atmosphere of the show is disturbingly realistic and pessimistic.
I swear, this series feels very real and I sometimes was surprised to see myself ending an episode and feeling down. It is dark and often sad. But not sad in a dramatic way. It is the depressive every day life sadness. Those kind of day where you wake up and you feel blasé but you force yourself to go on but deep down you know it is going to be harder and harder. That is the show.
It is also a very acid satyre of shows like Full House or Another World who go on for years but do not really take care of their staff, especially the children. It takes a harsh look at this environment who can turn against you extremely abruptly. Again not a scoop but it is done with so much sharpness that it literally sting.
Don't get me wrong it is smart and funny! But some episodes hit your feels real bad. It is even more impressive since it is a cartoon. And especially an anthropomorphic cartoon. The realism should be even harder to sink in given that we are following a horse in a sweater, but no it does feel real. It reminds me of Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido's Blacksad in the way that half way in you forget that the character are animals. Unless when sex scene come up and then it becomes strange to look and make you have a constant, weird and taboo vision of sex. Imagine Britney Spears doing it with a horse? Exactly...
To conclude, it is a mix between Blacksad and "Californication". If you like those kinds of desillusioned characters with ambiguous moral, if you like cartoons, if you like dark humour and if you like horses, you will love the show. I'd advice not to watch too much episodes in a row though because it can get depressive pretty fast. Or maybe I am just too sensitive.
Also can anyone explain the whole deal with the anthropomorphism ? I don't dislike it but to this day I still don't understand it. If anyone has an answer I am listening.
