Taking Responsibility: A Lesson from BoJack Horseman
Exploring Personal Responsibility and Existential Freedom through Sartre and BoJack’s Failures.
This week, I’ve been agonizing over one question: Am I responsible for my suffering? The immediate answer, for most, would be no. Systems, events, ideas, and people stop them from finding peace. By displacing responsibility, they have freed themselves from self-assessment. But no matter the excuses, we alone are responsible for our choices. In the end, our choices reflect who we are. Behind our rationalizations, we always have the power to choose a better (or worse) life.
This realization hit me hard while watching an episode of Bojack Horseman. The show has a unique blend of humour and dark, existential themes. It has gotten much critical praise and many Emmy nominations. It’s a story about a depressed horse(man) navigating a world of self-doubt and existential angst. But beyond its surface, Bojack Horseman delves into personal responsibility and existential freedom. It made me question: how much of our suffering is self-inflicted, and how much control do we have over our lives?
I’ll be giving out minor spoilers for the show to through to Season 3. Give it a watch, it’s one of the greatest shows ever.
What is BoJack Horseman?
BoJack Horseman is a drama-comedy Western animation set in a fictional Hollywoo(d). In this world, humans and animals with human-like traits coexist. They live in the superficial LA lifestyle. The show introduces us to BoJack.
Bojack is a nihilistic and narcissistic actor. He’s been depressed and out of the cultural limelight for 20 years. This was since he acted in the show “Horsin Around”. Since then, he has lived in a spiral of self-pity, meaningless sex, and co-dependent relationships. The show has a big cast. It includes his slacker roommate Todd, his headstrong ex-girlfriend/agent Princess Caroline, the conscientious writer Diane, and the Golden Retriever Mr. Peanutbutter. They help us see how and why Bojack became the way he is.
The show has changed how I consume media. Now, when I see a “damaged” anti-hero, I no longer buy their tragic backstory. I see these characters for what they do, not what they are. But first, let’s see where Bojack came from.
Bojack’s Childhood and Early Life
If I had to describe Bojack’s early life in one word, the first word that would come up is neglect. As a child, Beatrice and Butterscotch Horseman saw Bojack’s needs as an afterthought. I could list six things from the top of my head that qualify these two as Grade A* horrible parents:
- Telling BoJack that their lives would be better without him. His mum even said getting pregnant with him “ruined” her.
- Encouraging Bojack’s self-destructive habits. His father offered Bojack whiskey being caught cheating with his secretary. His mother coerced him into smoking his first cigarette.
- Arguing constantly around him, usually about him or each other.
- Secluding themselves from BoJack and each other at home.
- Instilling narcissistic virtues into a young BoJack.
To name a few. Due to this, Bojack sought positive role models from TV shows and sitcoms. From this, he learned that no matter how badly you hurt the people close to you, a display of guilt makes all forgiven. In shows where conflicts can be solved in twenty minutes, that’s a convenience. Just express your deep shame, and we will forgive everything. Too good to be true, right? We’ll get into this later.
However, thanks to his love for acting and sitcoms, he was able to turn that escape into a pursuit. He landed himself in the sitcom “Horsin’ Around” in his early 20s. Fame for anyone that young has the potential to change them. But for someone as impressionable as Bojack, it’s a recipe for disaster. He now has everything he lacked. He has easy access to attention, love, recognition, and respect. He had all the power but lacked the responsibility to address his issues.
He is set for life due to royalties and sitcom star prestige. But, his childhood experiences stop him from appreciating how far he has come. But, he’s miserable due to his fixation on his “emptiness” and brokenness. Now that he’s made it, what now? What’s the point when now, your best years are behind you? In Hollywoo(d), people consider morals in the social game. Consider. This only reinforced Bojack’s nihilism.
Bojack never had the support he needed to become better. So, he’s chosen alcohol and meaningless sex to distract himself from his pain. And because of his addictions, he’s pushing the people away from him. He’s trying, but his depression runs too deep. He’s a slave to his vices, and he needs the right people to understand him, warts and all. And even when he does push people away, he doesn’t mean to hurt them. He’s too damaged to be around others. He never knew how to love, so you have to give him some leeway for his behaviour. He is misunderstood.
A Freudian would argue that BoJack never could develop an ego, which has caused his Superego and Id to be inflated. Because of this, he is unable to control his impulses and has to suffer from a guilt complex because of it. So there is no hope of BoJack getting better because his mind is his own worst enemy.
See what I’ve done there? I’ve justified Bojack’s actions and blamed them on his circumstances. But, the one thing in all the tragedy in Bojack’s life is him, and only him. One major theme of the show is personal responsibility. Avoiding it stops us from living a truly happy life.
So who better to understand the essence of free will than Jean-Paul Sartre?
Sartre
Sartre was an existentialist philosopher who lived in the 1905–80. His focus was on how humans have the freedom to choose the life they want to live. Nietzsche says those who choose their path are superhuman. In contrast, Sartre argues that each choice we make determines the life we lead. Thus, we all take the lead in the life we choose to live, no one else.
To quote Existentialism and Humanism:
“Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realises himself, he is, therefore, nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.” [pg. 47, Mairet Translation, 2023]
To truly embrace one’s freedom, one must accept that their actions are theirs to make. These actions are what define our lives.
This is the opposite of psychological determinism, which BoJack identifies with. Psychological determinists believe that influences and experiences shape us in our formative years. They inform the actions and behaviours we’ve had today. We are a byproduct of our environments, and our actions replicate earlier experiences.
And to an extent, we’re all a makeup of past experiences that form our behaviours and beliefs over time. Our past is a well into our souls, and the past gives depth to our actions.
But how far can the past be an excuse?
To ignore this would be willingly discarding your freedom of choice. Sartre called this phenomenon “bad faith”. To live in bad faith is to resign yourself to the role of an object and to reject your free will for your actions. This is a form of self-deception. To Sartre, believing in any deterministic idea is an error. It’s saying that you are unwilling to accept responsibility for your actions. It says you live as an object that “does” things.
Sartre does acknowledge that we’ve had limits for our decisions. This term is known as facticity. Sartre defines facticity as the conditions we must admit. They limit our ability to act freely. These include cultural background, social status, historical context of birth, disabilities etc.
Yet, even with facticities, we’ve still got the power to choose and take action. We have the responsibility to overcome them. Brushing off your actions as caused by trauma, passion, or rage is a bad excuse. It lets people escape from accountability.
Even Sartre acknowledges that “man is condemned to be free” [Being and Nothingness, 1943; Part 4, Chapter 1.. He intends this responsibility to be intimidating. This freedom is stifling, terrifying, and suffocating.
But we can’t ignore it altogether. No matter what rationale we have, we always have a choice. I have to ask, what do you use to escape accountability?
For example, if you have a spat with your partner, do you have a choice to continue or walk away and forgive? You can blame them for their actions, but you choose whatever reaction you prefer. That’s on you. You choose to stay at that crappy job. Sure, there’s the fact that money is a limiter, but you always have a choice to leave and ask for help. It is your fault for staying in that environment. We cannot justify facticities when we always have a choice. To do so is to deny ourselves our ability to think, choose, and act.
Sartre doesn’t apply moral values to bad faith. But, BoJack Horseman, the show, not the horse, argues that living in bad faith is a moral failure. This point is beaten over your head at the end of the episode “It’s You.”
YOU NEED TO BE BETTER!
“It’s You.”, Episode 10 of Season 3 is where the show is unsubtle about its themes. As the audience, we’ve made excuses for Bojack’s actions. By understanding his story, we have enabled Bojack to do terrible things. Even the main cast understood his strife. Yet, their relationships were shattered at points throughout the series.
This is nobody’s but BoJack’s fault. But BoJack falls into the habit of blaming the facticity of his existence. However, no one in the main cast confronts him about it. Only minor characters call out BoJack for his backward way of thinking. But they have distanced themselves from BoJack. So, he has no reason to improve. This constant cycle of self-sabotage cannot be broken until BoJack takes accountability.
It’s only when Todd, one of the closest characters to Bojack, calls him out for his hypocrisy:
“You can’t keep doing this! You can’t keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You need to be better! BoJack, just stop. You are all the things that are wrong with you. Not the alcohol, or the drugs, or any of the shitty things that happened to you in your career, or when you were a kid. It’s you. Okay? It’s you.”
And when you listen to this, you realise that Bojack always had a choice to be better. He wasn’t limited like most, as he had the wealth and connections to lead a better life. He could have gotten therapy, or come to the awareness of his more maladaptive behaviours.
He clings to the fixed notion that his misery is predetermined. So, when he does break down relationships, he can blame his childhood and his fractured mind. But he fails to realize that his mind is his own. He has the choice to be better, but again, he is too scared to take responsibility for his actions.
Not only that, but Bojack had people who were willing and able to help him be a better person. But because he believes he’s broken, he chooses to be toxic. And because he keeps living in bad faith, he will make the same mistakes over and over again. He will only be free when he realises that he is in control of all the bad things in his life.
Then it clicked for me. I was being a BoJack.
At the time I was watching the show two years ago, I had a minor drinking issue. I spent a lot of money and time making reckless decisions due to it. Sure, I had my reasons. “I had a hole in my heart,” “I was incredibly anxious,” or “I was running away from something.” This was me living in bad faith.
Then I concluded: A part of me wanted my life to be this way. Destructiveness was easier for me, and that was a choice I made. I harboured crushing remorse, unable to make necessary improvements. I thought that being guilty was enough, but it’s doing the bloody work to be better.
No matter what I can say, I’ve made my bed. I have to embrace the bed and lie in it.
But BoJack rejects his freedom. He decides to live in bad faith. And because he influenced others, he caused the death of a major character in the show. And he can’t blame anyone but himself for that.
Conclusions
BoJack Horseman serves as a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of rejecting personal responsibility and living in bad faith. It shows us that, despite our past and circumstances, we have the power to choose our actions and shape our lives. Even the most troubled individuals, like BoJack, can strive to be better. By embracing our freedom and taking responsibility for our choices, we can lead more fulfilling and authentic lives.
This point is further proven when we see the shortcomings of the other characters in the main cast. Like him, they’ve also suffered trauma in their early lives. The trauma varied in severity. Yet, they all choose to take responsibility for their lives. They commit to improvement. That’s the beauty of it all. They all foil BoJack well. This supports the show’s theme of personal responsibility and gives no room to excuse Bojack’s self-deception.
Behind the animal puns and angst, BoJack Horseman is a cautionary tale. It shows what happens when you reject your freedom and give in to bad faith. You become a terrible person. Not evil. But, troubled, leaving nothing but burnt bridges.
So now we know how much freedom we have without actions and what happens if we try to shy away from it. And if you are in a position that you relate to Bojack, I understand. I’ve been there. But for your own sake and your loved ones… You need to be better.
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