When the final episode of BoJack Horseman aired on Netflix in 2020, it was to massive critical and popular acclaim. Across six seasons, viewers followed the exploits of a washed-up sitcom actor and his wacky collection of friends, set against the fading glitz of Hollywood and played out through a distinct cast of both human and anthropomorphic characters.
Before the series even concluded, it was clear that it would be the topic of research and discussion long beyond its relatively short run. This collection brings together essays about the ways this series handles complex and highly nuanced topics within three main themes: mental health, masculinity, and the perils of celebrity. With contributions from researchers across a broad range of fields, these essays offer a variety of perspectives on these themes, how they are represented within the show, and the ways that both characters and viewers engage with them.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Once Upon a Time in Hollywoo
Harriet E.H. Earle
Thats too much, man: Masculinities and Identity
Its Different Because Hes a Horse: Race, Gender, and Identity in
Anthropomorphic Animation
John Alberti
More Horse Than a Man, or More Man Than a Horse: Rethinking Masculinity
Through Zany Anthropomorphism
Juliana Varela
Anthropomorphic Deviations
Ole Christoffer Haga
Scribbles and Compression: Tracing Feminist Animation Aesthetics
Jacqueline Ristola
Silence drowns the sound: Mental Health and Trauma
Someday this will all be a pleasant memory: Exploring Cycles of Trauma in
Beatrice, Sarah Lynn, and Hollyhock
Laura Mulcahy
Im really carrying this double act: BoJack, Beatrice, Memory, and
Forgetting
Sam Chesters
Why the long face? Metamodernism, Incongruity and Mental Illness
Lucy Rivers
Ill take flight. Maybe tomorrow. Not tonight: A Psychoanalytic Perspective
on The Old Sugarman Place
Mike Clarke and Aanchal Vij
Everyone loves you, but no one likes you: Celebrity, Fame, and Entitlement
Property, Entitlement, Impropriety: Hollywoo(d) Plays Itself at 1475 Luck
Hoof Avenue
Lawrence Alexander
Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: Who Are They? How Are They Created? Lets
Find Out!
Arya Rani
Todds Rock Opera and the Efficacy of
Dikshya Karki
Were all terrible, so therefore were all OK: The Deconstruction of the
Masculine Icon and the Concept of Forgiveness
Sarah Wagstaffe
About the Contributors
Index
Harriet E.H. Earle is a lecturer in English at Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Her work has appeared in The Journal of Popular Culture and The European Journal of American Culture.
