The feelings of the modern American man have been viewed through a number of different lenses in recent years. For many, Fight Club or The Matrix held the most “honest" “no bullshit" portrayals of the betrayal of “real” middle class men. Many of those who clung to this idea would go on to be the “Red Pills", “Incels”, or believers in White Supremacy and other damaging systems. Of course, to go down that road you'd be required to completely ignore the fact that Fight Club was written by an openly gay man, and that The Matrix is metaphor for two transgender women's breaking through the illusion of the toxicly masculine world view.

So, what exists to tell a frank and honest story of those men who find themselves in the empty post modernist world? One not of sympathy, but a wake up call to “Snap out of your shit!”, “Take responsibility for your own actions!”, and know that, “You're not fucking special!”

Enter Bojack Horseman. A truly miraculous addition that I can’t believe anyone really saw coming in the adolescent phase of the streaming wars. Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg manages to bring shockingly emotional depth to cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt’s deceptively charming design. A world where anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans, and everyone slowly ceases to deceive themselves about the lies they live. The cartoony nature and interstitial comedy leaves you your guard lowered when the existential angst and dread set in.

Who could have guessed that the yearly arrival of a cartoon horse would leave me with such a sense of excitement and trepidation. And not just me. A good friend has made n bones about his tradition of grabbing a bottle of whiskey, locking himself in his apartment, and powering through each new season upon it’s release. A tradition that I can see the merits of.

I’m not here to give a play by play, or outline the basics of the show. I want to address the feeling that Will Arnett’s guttural voice sends through you when he hits another level of what you assume is rock bottom. A vision of what men, who consider themselves well meaning, could allow themselves to become by blindly pushing through the world, ignorant of the feelings and needs of those around us.

That’s the truly impressive thing about Bojack Horseman. Even as you watch the extremes Bojack falls to, either absent mindedly, or as the unintended consequences of his actions, it’s the universality of the presentation. I don’t assume any of the writers have ever had a sober friend trust them, only to selfishly go on a month long bender resulting in that friend’s death. It’s not exactly a sensation I’m familiar with myself. But, the gravity, pain, and regret are palpable in a way that rare to find in a show. Let alone one fronted by a talking horse.