Bojack Horseman’s Existentialism and the Nuances of Representation of Mental Health

Abstract

Contemporary pop culture and media, especially the ones targeted at young individuals, are beginning to get the rightful recognition, deservedly so. Psychologists, researchers are shifting the focus on the validity of media (Broadcast media in particular like Television, Podcasts, in shaping one’s perception of mental health and illness. OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hotstar, among many others, and the content produced on those have exponentially influenced the lives of so many. As they exercise more freedom than traditional media, they explore uncharted territories in terms of their content, as is obvious because of the lack of censorship. OTT platforms have observed an upward curve in their popularity and usage, especially on account of the depiction of varied themes and subjects like mental illness, therapy, and millennial psychology. Consumption patterns have shifted tremendously, especially in unprecedented confinement. Millennials prefer to consume a lot of online content streamed on these platforms. Qualitative descriptive data in the form of the visual text comes from the Netflix original, Bojack Horseman, while simultaneously applying autoethnographic research technique to understand the depiction of mental health in the show; analyzing the show’s existentialist tools to relieve millennial angst brought on by the unbearableness of human existence.