If you like this video, you might also like this one I made exploring when exploitation is ok in film and television told through the lens of true crime and the Netflix Jeffery Dahmer show: ua-cam.com/video/RmiEtfeGc9o/v-deo.html Or this one looking at the messy behind-the-scenes of Steven Spielberg's forgotten Jurassic Park spin-off, We're Back: A Dinosaur Story: ua-cam.com/video/RKOhw8NZpXg/v-deo.html Or here is the In Defence of playlist if that's what you're into: ua-cam.com/play/PLqStSJhv1GeS_4n1Fw7I-mbgo1s_QDtFF.html
I never thought it was a dissonant or contradictory message "don't stop dancing" was easily seen & applicable in Sarah Lynn's personal & professional life, as you pointed out. "You are all the bad/worst things about you" I immediately recognized because the other part of that statement explicitly or implicitly said is "you are all the good things too" is very present with every aspect of Sarah Lynn. She is hyper-aware of what she is good at and terrible at and chooses based on how she feels. She always knew the only person standing in her way was herself, but she couldn't fathom doing anything outside of what she was good at doing/giving because of the "don't stop dancing message" because she would have to stop to learn something different and that's the tragic part to me- that she could see so clearly what was happening & where it would lead, but couldn't see how to stop & change paths/get off the train, and no one helped her see it either because of how good she was. She is the embodiment of the poem "Waving not Drowning"
@@Daniela-kd6ln no "actually" just means facts, and the fact is that lady gaga wore the same shirt therefore it's a reference to her shirt. It's fitting for her character bc of her sexual abuse but the actual shirt is just a reference to lady gaga
Notice how Sarah Lynn’s hair dresser smiled when she said she wanted to be an architect, then to shocked when Sarah Lynn’s mom said she didn’t sleep someone for Sarah Lynn to become an architect
@@kuromi2880 it made me mad how her mom was so sad after she died. she did literally nothing good for sarah lynn and she didnt deserve sympathy IMO (sorry if that sounded harsh, it just really makes me mad sdjjka)
@@beee1287 And how her stepdad who is very strongly suggested to have assaulted her as a kid does that too Seeing him take her award "for her" when she wasn't there to accept it was one of the things that sent her over the edge
@@beee1287 I mean even if the mom treated her badly that doesn't mean that she still can't miss her daughter and feel bad bc she realized she was a bad mother
Sarah Lynn truly is one of the most tragic fictional characters I’ve ever seen in an adult cartoon; she was forced into acting ever since she was 3, her mother exploits her at a very young age, and her stepfather molested her. Bojack, someone she looked up to as a father figure, could’ve saved her if he wasn’t so damn selfish and egotistical. “I want to be an architect” gives me goosebumps everytime. Sarah Lynn deserved better…
The fact that it’s in present tense, not “I *wanted* to be an architect,” is the part that scares and saddens me the most. There was still a part of her that had hope…
@Jonathan Pal as far i’m aware, Miley never really got to the “Sarah Lynn point”. sure, she acted hypersexually when she wanted to shed her Disney channel image as a young adult but like…did Miley really do/say anything that warrants callling her life tragic? did i miss something?
I like to think that, because when Bojack said she was the only person who got him, it didn’t seem to be in a sexual or romantic way in the moment. That’s different from most of his other instances. With Herb having been cut out from his life and eventually dead, what Bojack said rung especially true for him.
This video really made the fact that Bojack had sex with her way more despicable than I previously felt. Physically cringed thinking about how awful that was 😭
When I watched the show for the first time, and I saw the introduction episode to Sarah Lynn, it felt gross seeing Bojack sleeping with her. He was her father figure, and he knew that, but he still slept with her anyway.
@@BratzRockAngels and displayed the exact same behavior with Penny. He told himself it was because Charlotte turned him down, but he certainly does seem to have a pattern of exploiting young girls who look up to him
@@livingmorganism It's like what was said in the interview with Biscuits. "And you don't think you have power over women." The thing is Bojack doesn't even realize the way he's effects women, he obviously isn't meaning to do it on purpose (not including having sex with women, especially Sarah Lynn and Penny) but he still does it because it's rooted in him. It's important that he recognizes it and overcomes it.
Oh *wow,* Sarah Lynn's comment on her stepfather being a photographer completely flew over my head until now. She lived a life full of horrifying trauma, poor girl.
- I was floored when they revealed he left her for 17 minutes when she overdosed instead of getting help for her. I was not expecting that, i mean sure it fits his character but damn that was cold.
@@CureSmileful but he did do something. He took her phone and placed a call to establish his lie that she called him. He then waited 17 minutes (sufficient time to establish him driving to her) and THEN calles 911. He wasn't frozen. He was calculated.
@@linamen2544 yes, but bojack was someone she really looked up to and was actually allowed to talk to since he was a fellow cast member. The other cast members just didnt care about her, so bojack ended up being the biggest influence she had amongst her "peers" at a young age. He reinforced the abuse she suffered, and not for his own gain like the producers, her mom /stepdad, media, etc. He was the first one closest to being her friend, and he told her to put up with the abuse bc its the only thing that made everything worth it. Ofc he didnt realize how deep that abuse ran, and probably wouldnt have said it if he was actually considerate towards what she'll go through as a child star.
@@Mausmoth in addition, there's that scene where bojack visits her when she's still young; she's so happy because she believes he's the only one who's coming to see her solely for her, not to ask for favors. after she tells him that she's "this close" to falling off the deep end due to those favor-seeking people and the fame, bojack shatters her hope that he is the last person who genuinely cares for her by asking her to be in his new tv show. he's definitely the catalyst if not the cause of her spiraling.
@@mayah2397 and in addition, we know he knew about her step father's abuse because of the "my step father is being weird again". Bojack is a grown man, and I don't believe any adult could hear that and not know the step dad is at least creeping on her. She's had to run to his dressing room more than once, and we know this because of the "again" and also because of how casually they're interacting about it. We don't get an insight on all the people Sarah Lynn knew or knew her for most of her life, but we do know that Bojack is one who was there, who saw how she was treated, who didn't advocate for her, and then actively tried to use her when she was a young adult, and later had sex and did drugs with her until her death when she was a grown adult. We the audience get to blame him, because he's the only one we know for sure was there at every stage and at best did nothing
@@mayah2397 yeah, bojack is not really famous for being considerate about other peoples needs, we do see why it happens and the motivation behind it. not as excuses, as his terrible decisions ruin other peoples lives over and over, and we can see some growth later on when he takes responsibility and goes to therapy to deal with his issues. I love this series as everytime i watch i discover something new, i relate to a lot of the characters and it made me more understanding of so many things i did not see before
What I find really interesting is the sacrifice speech Sarah Lynn gave in the Halfway Down episode wasn't her own. It was Bojack. The episode took place in Bojack's head. He was projecting his own ideas about sacrifice onto the one person he felt would fit that idea. It goes to show that, in a way, Sarah Lynn still isn't her own person to Bojack. We don't know if this is what she actually felt about the matter. Just what Bojack feels, or what he THINKS Sarah Lynn felt, kind of like how Bojack hopes his father cared after talking with his dream version of him.
And you can see very subtle hints to that. When Sarah Lynn was about to start her performance, she made a very clear "AHEM" when the spotlight still shined on Bojack. I also think of it as Sarah Lynn's death being more about Bojack's heinous actions than the tragedy of her to the public eye. Following the interview's release, there is little to none discussion from anyone about Sarah Lynn. It was about how Bojack lost $5 million to her parents in court and was #1 on 10 Most Hated Men (or as the fast food workers called it 10 Most "Hatted" Men).
Bojack didn't have kids. But he damaged Sara Lynn in the worst ways possible, throwing all the worst things he could at her like his mother and father did to him, as she was his own child. He even let her die. He waited 17 minutes...
i just thought, in the underwater ep when he babysat the baby seahorse, he kept losing them and they were put in dangerous situations that he could barely get them out of. seems super reminiscent of sarah lynn now i think back on it
Bojack did a lot of unforgivable things. But he had every excuse imaginable from his upbringing, existed in a world that was upside-down and full of awful people, and he was a character in a show. I could keep rooting for him to finally turn it all around, and hope he would move towards a happier future. That 17 minutes made want him to burn in hell.
Personally, I deeply relate to the “don’t stop dancing” message. Even though I’m not famous I relate to it because I feel the need to be entertaining and interesting 100% of the time or people won’t care. Feeling that if I’m not benefiting others, I’m not wanted. and if I’m not okay I have to pretend to be okay and “don’t stop dancing” or I’ll just be a burden. I believe that more than just celebrities/influencers can relate to that.
Omg this is so relatable. I had friends who bullied me and kicked me out of the group because they said I was too vapid and shallow. Keep in mind I had the same nerdy interests as them such as reading, learning, and watching old movies. I just also happened to like fashion and beauty too which they didn’t like. And for a while I felt like the only way to keep people around was to constantly prove how deep and interesting I was as. I was trying to impress people with my different interests and talents because I was afraid of them leaving and mistreating me.
@@alyssapinon9670 I was kicked out of a group because they thought of me as a crybaby and overly emotional l, they also thought I was vapid. I had the same interests as them, and honestly allowed them to belittle me and pick apart my interests and bully me. When they were bored of me, they threw me away. They were also nerds. I had to be what they wanted me to be, or else I was nothing.
@@Nifilway omg I’m so sorry. I think that was my first lesson in learning that nerds could be just as shitty as (if not worse than) the douchey popular kids. I hope you found better friends. I’m glad I eventually found friends who not only accepted all sides of me but also loved geeky stuff as well as girly stuff. even after that incident with my old ex friends I was eager to please the nerdy crowd and show that I could be girly and geeky not just one or the other. Hell even the guys I’ve liked before tended to be my opposite because I’ve probably internalized that math and science is so much higher than arts and humanities. I currently have a crush on a guy who is pretty similar to me in certain ways which I think is a good step in loving myself. He likes fashion but is also really book smart. And he said that people used to think it was weird that he was an athlete and a theatre kid in high school so he gets it in his own way
I dont think Todd meant that you're responsible for how your trauma has shaped you, just that you cant use your trauma or addictions as an excuse to be selfish and lazy person. Youre not responsible for how you are but you are fully responsible for your actions. You need to at least try to fix yourself as an adult. If you guys are going to judge Bojack for his actions you need to accept that your choises are your own despite what you're gone through, its you. It would be super lame to think a heavy f-bomb moment's message is specifically targeted for a specific character and not as a general message for everyone to take from this show. "Bojack is responsible for his actions but not anyone else." yare yare daze...
Along with this i think the show was pointing out the difference in position that Bojack benefited from compared to those he hurt. Bojack constantly ran from responsibility, and he could continuously do that because there was always someone he could use to clean up his mess because the fact that he enjoyed fame, wealth and power. Sarah Lynn didn't have this despite her equivalent fame and wealth because it was derived from her absolute objectification. Where Bojack could escape being his one dimensional public image through new movies and roles (which he ultimately tried his best to self-sabotage). Sarah Lynn had been reduced to a youthful sex figure. As she aged she became less and less relavent. So in my mind the idea of personal responsibility gets turned around here. Sarah Lynn no longer owned her own person, and couldn't take responsibility. Bojack could, but often made the same mistakes in order to fulfill his own identity of victimhood.
I think you're right. Todd's words were really important. They might have pushed Bojack in a bad way, but at the same time it's something he needed to hear. It's something I tell myself all the time. Trauma can't be an excuse for the actions we take now. What happened to us was wrong, and although they may have shaped us in a way that influences our behavior and decisions, we can't rely on it as a crutch to explain away everything we do. When we hurt ourselves or the people around us consistently, we need to realize it's not a moment of weakness, its a pattern of abuse and we're the only ones in control with the ability to break the cycles. Without someone around to finally put the foot down and tell Bojack to start taking responsibility for his actions, he wouldn't have the first step, or building block of growth he needs to finally realize his mistakes and work on himself. The pain and trauma inflicted in the people around him wasn't his mother, or his father, or show business. It was his decision to lay back and let his compulsions be his navigator while he lived on autopilot. We can't change what happened in the past, and we can't heal without putting in the work. But if you try, and you put in the time and care to recognize what kind of person you want to be, and what actions you're taking that might prevent that, it can be the beginning to closing up some of those wounds. Sure they may live in as scars, but they're scars that can serve as a reminder of what you've overcome. Often our past traumas are some of the worst things that could have ever happened. But they can be cathartic in the sense that you lived through the worst of it and came out the other side. And when you make it to the otherside it helps to envision yourself becoming the person you wish had been there for you in that trauma. No one can save you but yourself, and no one can change who you are except for you. Apologies don't always make up for mistakes unless your actions change for the better. Just like Bojack I think a lot of us need to know that in order to start moving forward.
Both Bojack and Sarah Lynn did a good thing that they went to that rehab and tryed to get help, if Bojack didnt contact her cause he just felt bad she could have been alive to this day.
I totally agree. People can be persuaded or pushed into making certain decisions but ultimately it’s only you who makes the call. The blame can absolutely be put on the person who manipulated or coarsest them but if they know better (which they not always do) then they should still partially take responsibility or their actions
What hurts me the most about Sarah Lynn’s story, is that she was so close to being fixed. She just needed that one person who was a actual friend to her, and tell her that its not over. Instead the show killed her off, and she never got a chance to do what she wanted.
Sadly i dont think she had a chance to be an architect either way. Shes way too famous, she wouldnt be treated fairly at all her teachers would either kiss her ass and give her grades she doesnt deserve or ask her for favours for grades. But yeah at least she would have been alive and sober amd maybe eventually get some positive people in her life
What makes it sadder is how young she was as well when she died. In fact if she had not gone on that bender and kept the sobriety she could have used her money to study and become an architect. I think the episode that when she died she tried to open up to Bojack, but he was too oblivious to even listen to her. I can say that I didn’t like her in the first season, but as the show went on I ended up liking her a lot.
I OD'd two days ago. It was intentional and once I couldn't breathe I desperately wanted to live. I was an EMT Monday and Tuesday I died in an ambulance and Wednesday I was discharged from the hospital. I refuse to think that Sarah Lynn was comfortable in the end, she deserved better.
Makes sense, her last words were "I want to be an architect" she likely felt herself slipping away and had regrets, which she couldn't right due to dying. Its really sad, I'm also sorry about the troubles you faced.
@@mariam-ni7be Technically yes, if your heart and respiration are zero you are dead. You have 3 minutes to revive before permanent brain damage and 5 before you won't wake up and at 7 you're just a cadaver. They revived me in about 28 seconds, I saw the light and heard the bells and that shit is fucking terrifying.
As much as I love him, Sara Lyn is why I can never, ever forgive Bojack. He took advantage of someone who relied on him and looked up to him and when she needed him the most he left her for 17 minutes to save his own skin. He let her die. I could forgive the bender, I can't forgive the active choice to let her die.
Yeah the letting her die was the thing that made me think Bojack went way too far. I mean, he always did "way too far" things, but they never were "someone will die if I do this" (except for Gina I guess, but you can argue that he wasn't really on his mind when he did that, which doesn't excuse, but makes it slightly less worse). Sarah Lynn literally could've survived if he wasn't so selfish about being or not in jail for giving her the Heroin.
I think this is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this show; the main character, unlike the main characters of many stories, *does* end up crossing a boundary that can't really ever be recovered from. Bojack Horseman is seriously, actually flawed in a way that is extremely realistic; people in real life do terrible things and cross boundaries all the time, but shows/movies don't seem to often depict main characters this way out of fear of making them too unlikeable, while this show isn't concerned with Bojack's likeability because it's not about that, at all. Sorry for the tangent, hope this made at least a little bit of sense
@@singularity___ not a tangent. You're right. The show challenges the audience by making Bojack a relatable character but someone willing to go too far to save his own skin.
@@morbidsearchSarah Lynn’s mother may not have directly molested her; but she did enable and possibly even encourage her stepfather to molest her, as well as sexualising her from a very young age
It makes sense that Sarah Lynn is the “runt of the litter” when it comes to character development because in reality, her character never got the chance to develop. Due to being a child star, addict, and abuse victim I think that her character development is spot on. Sarah Lynn might not know who she is yet. She knew that she wanted to be in architect, but she lived her whole life for others.
Not gonna lie, I always felt bad for Sarah Lynn. I think she was the one most wronged by Bojack. She was exploited by everyone in her life and had no guidance like Britney and Lindsay. She deserved compassion and to have someone to try to help and guide her on a better path, but Bojack only led her to her death.
Holy crap you watched the series 6 times?! I agree with you, Bojack Horseman is a masterpiece but at the same time one of the most depressing things ever developed. You Ms. Ariana have dedication, my hats off to you!
I binged it over and over again just because i was struggling alot at the time and could relate alot to it. For a little it was my "comfort" show despite it also making me emotional 😂
I really hate to say this, but we can't take anything "Sarah Lynn" says in View From Halfway Down as what she actually thinks or felt. That "Sarah Lynn" is just a manifestation of the guilt Bojack felt for killing her and how his brain thought she would feel in relation to her life. He's trying to justify to himself that "Well at least her 'sacrifice' made others happy" and she spent her life making others happy. But when you remember the quote about the funeral, it wasn't real mourners. It was people saying that they knew this was coming. And then a network TV show proceeds to make a show detailing her life which probably wasn't flattering or covered half of the truth about what she endured as a kid that only made her legacy look worse. It's great to see Sarah Lynn actually break down and be emotional, but the whole episode is just a fever dream as Bojack's mind shuts down in the pool. It's what he wants to see or what he has seen before.
Right, that's not her, it's what Bojack is imagining what she might say. She can't speak for herself anymore, her voice was silenced forever at that point.
There's one vital thing you missed: "The View from Halfway Down" is what BoJack was going through when he nearly drowned in the pool. When we see her in this episode, it's not through her eyes, it's through BoJack's eyes. She was never concerned about her legacy, but BoJack has always been worried about his. He not only never really listened to this (as he even talks about it in the scene she's dying when the last thing she says is "I want to be an architect"), but the fact she talks about the sacrifice she made for her legacy in his mind, shows he's never once listened to her. All that being said: I think it goes into your theory in the sense that BoJack sees everyone else in his life as people (or animals) who have their own lives, but he only sees Sarah Lynn as someone he was on a show with and as someone who pops in and out of his life, instead of her own person with her own life.
This is exactly what I was thinking. What Sarah Lynn said in the episode wasn't coming from her. It was coming from Bojack projecting onto her. I do think some of what she said stemmed from some lingering guilt Bojack had for his part in sending her so far down, but it is mostly Bojack projecting some of HIS ideas about sacrifice onto the one person he felt sacrificed everything. It's the same reason Beatrice insults Sarah Lynn during the dream. It's not just an in-character thing for her to do, it's Bojack subconsciously telling himself that the sacrifices made, be it his own or that of others, don't matter.
Exactly. It even goes further then that. BoJack has always been worried about HIS legacy, but Sarah Lynn hasn’t. She’s been in a place of being upset this life was forced upon her when she was too young to make any choices for herself. She’s even used architect terms in the show which shows that’s where her interests lay. But BoJack never truly listened to what she was saying, and it continues on to even after she’s been dead for years he still thinks she’s also worried about her legacy. He says it in the scene where she dies about how they’ll be remembered, when her last words were “I want to be an architect.” So in “The View from Halfway Down” it’s more about how BoJack views himself that he continuously pushes onto her.
I think you're mostly right, but I think it would have been fairly consistent for her to hate herself, wish she'd have been an architect, and *still* believed she'd made a worthwhile sacrifice. Hell, Diane, with her comparatively tame level of damage, took forever and a day before she gave up the ghost on thinking that it was *for* something. That being said, yes - everything we see in this episode is BoJack's perspective. Speaking of Diane - the conversation BJ and her have at the end of the episode is the conversation Diane said she wanted to have with PB earlier in the series.
Sarah Lynn's story is a story of objectification. It's fitting that she never gets to be more than an object. That's her real tragedy, that's where it's meant to hurt. That no one sees her as a person and the show drives that in.
i feel like the line "you are everything that is wrong with you" refers to the question, "how much of your trauma is (after a certain age) your problem?" because of course at any age you can get traumatized but there's a certain age or level of maturity where you have to start handling your trauma by yourself. because you cant just blame your environment forever. i relate to most of the characters both as people and because i have similar trauma. im just 16 but i have to get my life together and i cant always use my trauma as a pass as bojack (mostly in the first couple seasons) so often does. he thinks that he doesn't have to continue because he's been hurt. and often when he tires, he slides back into horrible coping mechanisms/behaviors. but that's part of the process of healing and he cant just get away with blaming his mother forever. who is also just as damaged as he is. he is product of his enviorment. we all are. but he continues to be in environments where making no progress is fine. unpacking trauma and getting through it is rough all hell, but you gotta do it. he can do and that's what i think that line means. its not that "every bad part of you is entirely you fault and your problem" i think its "all the bad parts of yourself are still you and it is no ones problem but yourself to handle your trauma. because nobodies gonna come save you" and thats my ted talk :)
The first time i heard todd say that to bojack it really was the most shocking line i heard on any show that tackled mental illness and trauma such as bojack horseman especially from a sidekick to the main anti hero of the show trope like todd it really goes to show that as much as it is so uncomfortable to hear the truth at some point in ones life no matter what they went through has to reconcile with themselves to not only save themselves but others from a pattern you cant help but perpetuate because of your own personal circumstances you grew up in for better or worse.
EXTREMELY well said! I agree with all of that and you’re incredibly intelligent and reflective for being so young!! If you keep growing you will certainly be someone who does a ton of good in your life!
Personally, I relate the "You are everything that's wrong with you" to not getting help. Sarah lynn didnt get help with her drug addiction, bojack never went to a therapist, and diane didnt take her anti depressant meds, and so on and so forth. And thats why I think it fits in the story.
@@stanley2588 But she was willing to stay sober until she had an actual reason to break her improvement. As in, Bojack calling her up to party being a reason in her eyes. I feel like she truly wanted to improve herself and gain some control over life by staying sober and attending AA meetings, but was comfortable enough to slip back into old, self destructive habits because she sees Bojack as a safe place.
Sarah Lynn was an interesting foil to Diane's search to define "good damage." She found her way to cope with damage not out of a way of justifying that the results are worth it, but accepting the damage and feeling that being willing to accept it is inherently of value. Diane's world collapsed when she realized she wouldn't be able to extract the value out of her damage that she had hoped. Sarah Lynn's world collapsed when she realized that everyone saw her as already damaged and were not interested in damaging her further... except for BoJack. She could have stopped dancing, because nobody cared anymore... so she sought out someone who she could extract that care, and the damage that follows, from.
“The thing is you gotta give the people what they want. Even if it kills you, even if it empties you out until there’s nothing left to empty.” It did bojack. It did kill her. god.. I wonder how the reporter would react to seeing everything we know.
I think her assesment would have cut a lot deeper, and maybe pushed bojack closer to diane’s theres no good people philosophy. To me the reporter scene sort of doesnt hit like it should, it feels like the reporter doesn’t fundamentally understand why bojack has destructive interactions with women, so gives a weird vibe in her judgement and denouncement of him, but at the same time imitates many real situations around abuse quite closely and can easily be misunderstood
I’m an actor, though of course not a famous one, and that is originally how I related to Sarah Lynn. Even on a much smaller scale, acting is a lot like Hollywood - people use you and abuse you and then toss you away when you’re no longer useful. That part of Sarah Lynn’s story always resonated with me. But when the pandemic happened, and theatre got put on an indefinite hold, and my life completely changed as a result, I started to relate to her on a deeper level. Because the theaters were shuttered, I couldn’t bring in audiences anymore, and all I did was sit at home, alone. I quickly realized that, not only did I perform onstage, I was performing 24/7 offstage, too, to hide my depression and my resulting addiction problems. “Don’t stop dancing” became my mantra - don’t stop pretending that you’re okay and everything is fine, because you don’t want to lose the only people you have left, right?
I’ve done a few commercials and was fortunate enough to land a role in a indie film that’s going to film in a couple months. “Don’t stop dancing” is a mantra I lived before and after I ever acted. I don’t think anyone really admits to wearing a mask every day. Even after someone takes their work mask off, you put on another one to appease your family or your friends. And when you do reveal who you really are to those closest to you, they often shut you out. I’ve been awful about using for the last couple years, it’s easier to be alone when you’re high
Honestly as someone who’s taking their first steps towards the acting industry, these kind of scare me. Of course I know, this is what I want to do but is it worth it? I know how it feels to be used, I’ve faced it so many times it’s kind of an old topic. But thank you for telling your story, hopefully I can use your story, other stories, and Sarah Lynn’s story to find the best solution to all this.
There's always something new to be found in this show. This is the first time that I noticed the connection from Beatrice demanding a performance from the young Bojack hiding under the table, and Bojack doing the same to Sarah Lynn.
Sarah Lynn functions a lot as a reflection of the worst of Bojack (what he's done and just his characteristics). She doesn't really get to be her own character because, even to her, so much of what she is is dependent on Bojack, what he taught her, instilled into her. He shaped her, for better and for worse. He was her life and her death. She was maybe the only person he really loved and I think he was the same for her. Nobody else was really like that for Bojack. They all had their own lives.
@@Daniela-kd6ln might be a stupid question, but how do you accidentally groom someone? i thought it was something done with intent? thanks in advance if you can anwer
@@gingermaniac5484 I don’t think he groomed her. She was already groomed by her stepfather. You could argue he failed to put up healthy barriers between them though.
I feel like people take Sarah Lynn's line about "drugs feel better when you're sobber" too seriously. 9 months went by where she even had stuff loaded in her walls and she didn't touch it meaning she really took her sobriety seriously. She probably used that excuse as a reason for her to actually stop doing drugs and get sobber since she promised Herb she would try to
Arguably, she was so happy to start back using She said to call when he wanted to party She wasn't being sober to be sober. That's not good ground to stand on
Yeah, this title got me. She is absolutely a tragic character abused and let down by every single person in her life and I couldn't imagine needing to defend her. She is Bojack's saddest victim.
I always thought that Sarah-Lynn being a child when she and Bojack first show up at the death house was a way of saying that she was destined to wind up there - dying tragically young from the moment she became a child star.
“You’re everything that’s wrong with you” is a phrase I keep returning to in my life. There are a handful of things in my life that have made me the person I am. Inappropriate peers, unsympathetic adults, bad parenting etc. I’m a miserable and angry person because of my past and this past is a huge part of who I am now. However my actions are my own. I wasn’t forced to be a shitty distant lover and friend. I wasn’t forced to attend university. I wasn’t forced to give up a child. These were my decisions and they are so far removed from my youth. My upbringing can be used loosely to validate my current situation but I am an autonomous being who’s made terrible mistakes by my own standards and I only have myself to blame. When I heard that line in Bojack I remember this sudden realization that my current unhappiness was not a product of my upbringing and instead were choices I made. Granted some of my actions are a result of mental illness but I was fully cognizant of my actions. The past builds the framework for our actions but we dictate how our life will look moving forward. It’s a hard lesson but an important one.
I think this is the piece that's missing from this essay. "You are everything that's wrong with you" is a major theme of the show, but that doesn't mean it applies to every character. Todd is not talking about everyone, he's saying that line specifically to Bojack. And that works, because it is objectively true in Bojack's case. He uses his fucked up past to write himself off as fucked up, because then it's never his fault when he does shitty things. Todd was simply pointing out that as wrong ad what happened to him was, he still has agency. It's a bit of a misnomer to apply the quote to Sara Lynn because she had no agency.
Sarah Lynn an princess Carolyn are definitely my favourites because they both deserved so much especially Sarah Lynn because of what they’ve all been through
I would love to see an “in defence of Jerry” video. He always gets into terrible situations that he then must be rescued from by someone but his intentions are rarely bad
quickest way to trigger a bunch of people is to say that Jerry is all of us or at least 99% of the people that watch Rick and Morty. No one wants that kind of reality check watching a show about a crazy smart scientist and his side kick going on great adventures lol
Sarz93 a good youtuber would be able to make us all laugh at that fact and would discuss the nuances between the different perspectives (jerry and not jerrys). i hope someone makes it!
I don't take her death as 100% her, but with the last thing she said to Bojack being 'Call me when you wanna party' and re-watching the show and seeing her house was practically made out of drugs, and why she was going sober. She still made the choices and wouldn't let those wanting to help her get better be around her. But That doesn't clear everyone else that shaped her into that kind of person, especially Bojack, her Mom and Pedo stepdad.
You should watch the video. The video is in defense that Sara Lynn is not just a character that prompts Bojack to reflect and grow, but a character on her own
Her parents were so horrible and it's so sad that her step father was never had to face consequences cause it's really close to real life. Abusers get on with their lives normally like they didn't just ruin a person's life and the world will never know the horrible things they have done. It's also mentioned that her step father took photos of her (we can only imagine what type of photos but it's pretty clear). Probably that installed a thought in her mind saying that: "People will love me only if i show and give them my body". She is such a tragic character, never had a chance to live since the beginning because of her shitty parents. That's why i believe that children should never be allowed to act so young, look at how child actors have ended and what they have gone through :(
Every deep dive into Bojack Horseman leaves me with an even greater appreciation for this show. It might start off as crass and a little unrefined, but it turns into a masterpiece of a character drama.
The whole "don't stop dancing" montage actually comes from one of the first interactions between Bojack and Sarah Lynn, when he verbally beats into her that she never stops performing no matter what, which ties into Bojack's mom forcing him to perform and not offering any attention to him unless he performs. Everything is linked together so beautifully it makes me wonder if they wrote the show from finish to the beginning.
What I like about Todd's words about BoJack being all the things that are wrong with him is that it's not a condemnation of BoJack's or anyone else's trauma effecting them, it's a confrontation on letting your trauma hurt everyone else around you. It's a confrontation on BoJack thinking his self-flagellation and wallowing in his learned helplessness is enough to earn forgiveness for being shitty to the people that care about him, that's my takeaway with the broader context of that whole segment of dialog. The whole time, BoJack is deflecting responsibility for what he's done in pushing everyone away and trying to gain pity from Todd so he can find someone to comfort him in his hour of need. And Todd can see what he's doing because of how many times now that BoJack has done that to him. How many times has BoJack let his trauma responses traumatize Todd? Like, let's not forget something important, Todd started living with BoJack at 18 or 19, he lived with him for 6 or 7 years, the young man is like 25 when he's giving this speech to a 60 year old man who he's lived at the mercy of his fits and flights of fancy for years. Todd has suffered trauma because BoJack refuses to deal with his trauma. Todd, during that conversation, found out that one of his very close friends, someone he loves and feels protective of, has now suffered trauma because of BoJack refusing to confront his own trauma. What Todd was trying to say is that BoJack isn't trying to be better, he's letting it make everyone lives around him worse. And that's why their relationship is permanently damaged and would never be the same after the midpoint in the series. BoJack is all the things that are wrong with him because he's perpetuating the cycle and letting his trauma traumatize the people who love him instead of trying to actually be better. Secondary Note, maybe a Defense of Todd is in order? Because I feel like people don't appreciate him as a character
This show is one of the most well done representation of addiction ever. Sarah Lynn was a "dry drunk" and never really came into true sobriety. Both Sarah Lynn and Bojak are victims of fame and addiction. I didn't really come to love her until the second time I watched the series, but she really was more than met the eye. Great breakdown of why.
fr and if anyone who has watched the show is able to legitimately hate her i feel like thats weird and cringe because A) hating a character in a story is just a sign of media illiteracy and immaturity and B) she represents the toxic results of the way the industry treats children and turns them into money making machines... she is like an analog of amy winehouse... someone they kept feeding drugs to to make her keep performing until she tragically died... people who watch tv are dumb sometimes tho lol
I really appreciate your message that we don't get to choose how we get fucked up. I replayed the "are you really everything that's wrong with you, if what's fundamentally wrong with you is not your fault?" (16:24) part over and over again just to absorb the message. I'm livin with ptsd so this was really, super comforting to hear, as feelings of guilt about p much everything is an all too common thing for me. You immediately gained a new subscriber after I heard that. Made me entirely reconsider why I feel guilty for having symptoms of ptsd. Thank you :)
The thing that gets me about the comments like ''Sarah Lynn would've relapsed anyway!'' is that yeah maybe she would've but that doesn't exempt Bojack from the fact he enabled her to do so. Like if I walk through an area known for stabbings and I get stabbed, is the person who stabbed me exempt from facing consequences because ''I was probably gonna get stabbed anyway''
this show really did sarah lynn so dirty she honestly did not deserve all that horrible stuff that happend to her she was my favourite character she deserved so much better then what she got .
True, but if she'd had a redemption/breakout the theme would have been lost: she shows the consequences of Bojack's character and values when projected onto someone who _isn't_ as lucky as Bojack.
I really would love a Sara Lynn spin off, I loved her character. She went through so much, I thought she was very interesting.. But I agree, they didn't really flesh her out enough.
So I watched this show when I was at my lowest alcoholic depressed going through drug addiction I can honestly say how they portray those struggles in the show is frighteningly real I know it’s fucked up to say but bojack was familiar to me on a personal level almost as if he was a representation of myself the themes and messages in this show struck such a chord with me and I can honestly say it even helped me deal with said struggles as silly as that may sound. You did a wonderful job of analyzing Sarah Lynn and sum up my sentiments about her character exactly really well done anyways just wanted to say thanks for the video I enjoyed it very much so
If you like this video, you may appreciate one of my personal favourites about When Harry Met Sally that deserves more love. It talks about why Harry and Sally’s relationship is actually toxic. Check it out! ua-cam.com/video/fJbRTdbZRq8/v-deo.html
I don’t understand why everyone wants to be like Sarah Lynn. I’m a heroin and fentanyl addict Ive overdosed and been forced back with narcan so many times. I started using the day I turned 18 I have had people hold guns to my head, threaten to kill me, rape me for money, and I watched my friends die of overdoses, I went on a drug bender with my rapist and he told me he loved me more than anyone when I saw the scene with BoJack and Sarah Lynn I started crying hysterically cuz it was so similar I don’t understand why people want to relate to her or how they say that they do, it shouldn’t be romanticized I get everyone will sacrifice everything about themselves for love but that’s not a good thing and idk about you but I hate that about myself Sarah Lynn is nothing but flaws which is why I don’t understand why people want to be like her so bad unless people are romanticizing and fetishizing herion use
Don’t stop dancing also relates to Bojack, when his mother used to force him to dance for her friends, and basically told him he only had worth if he was entertaining people. This was engrained in Bojack so he engrained it into Sarah Lynn.
Hi, Your "in defence" videos are pretty good, I like how you narrate. I really am a fan of BoJack horseman too, but I noticed how it seems that most fans are cool with bojack ruining his life in the end. I didn't really like that. I mean don't you think people like Biscuits braxby, Paige sinclaire, and Angela were just as much in the wrong in the end and were also part of the problem. I personally didn't really like how the series ended mostly because of those characters. What do you think. Maybe you should make a "In Defence of BoJack" video later.
Please please please you can do a video of "In the defense of Peggy Hill of King of the Hill because Peggy is so hatred so she got a shitty mom who critized of all what she do
I think we need to remember the Sarah Lynn in View From Halfway Down isn't really Sarah Lynn, it's a dream Sarah Lynn from Bojack's hallucinations. She's a very accurate portrayal of Sarah Lynn because Bojack knew her very well, but she's still part of Bojack's fantasy; not everything she says and does is something the real Sarah Lynn would say or do.
That's true. And that shows us Bojack had the time to analyze very well why Sara Lynn was the way she was, what she was going through since she was a child. He was very aware of her situation. And even though, he did what he did to her.
I didn't realize people hate her or even why they hate Diane? As characters they are both important, well fleshed out and a great character doesn't make the "right" choices every time
i think the worst part about everything is that bojack desperately attempts to make amends with everyone he’s hurt, and even in his drug filled stupor it’s at least a nice thought. but he doesn’t apologize to sarah lynn. he tries to say sorry to everyone he’s hurt, but not sarah lynn.
I just finished the series and Sarah Lynn for me felt like one of the deeper characters. You don’t get to know much about her outside of her act and that’s intentional. The brief moment she seems genuinely happy (winning the Oscar) is snatched away as she dies on the shoulder of the man who helped set her down the path with those 3 words “don’t stop dancing”. Until her death I kind of wrote her off as just a side character and I think that was intentional. We don’t see much of the darker stuff in her backstory until she’s gone and that helps build towards the last few episodes where Bojack is racked with guilt over her death. She seems similar to Bojack in the sense she was taken for a ride and promised happiness if she dove head first into that lifestyle and the two characters play off each other really well on their bender. Bojack realises how alike they are but its too late. The girls life was a tragedy and initially, just like the people in the show, it’s played to us for laughs.
Yes, a video in defense of Jerry, please! I never understood the unbridled hatred for his character, sure he's kind of a loser but he's hardly a bad guy.
Sarah Lynn was one of my favorite characters, and I think that is partially because of how scarily relatable she is. Sometimes I can feel my life going in her direction
I 'accept' my 'demons' the same way she does, because honestly I can't tell anymore what I'm supposed to fight against. I don't know what parts of me are myself and what parts are supposedly wrong. I think the scariest thought is that all of the parts of me are true, which would mean that I'm fundamentally flawed.
Amazing video, so excited to see it finally released! And I’d LOVE an In Defence of Jerry video, that would SUPREME content. Keep doing the amazing work!!
I'm not even an actor but I relate to Sarah-Lynn. It reminds me of how clueless & reckless my choices were as a teen, before I decided to leave it all behind. Just so I could one day have the choice to a normal life. I cut ties with those who would not support me, stopped smoking & to drink till I blacked out. Started to really focus on school & allowed myself to have dreams and ambitions. I know I'm not perfect and not even exactly where I want to be but at least I don't burden myself and self destruct anymore.
Ok she literally said it her self. You're broken, and you can't control what happens to you of it's forced on you. But you can choose to move past your trauma, get out of the situation, and find people who'll HELP YOU.
Sarah Lyn's relative lack of agency within the overarching plot is allegorical to the feelings often experienced by current and former child stars. Fame does horrendous things to a still developing psyche.
This show really is an amazing depiction of depression and psychological issues born of childhood trauma and abuse there's really not such thing as a genuinely good person everyone has a evil and I feel like every character is a representation of issues and problems no one should be in pain
Hey, great video. One thing I thought of when you were talking about Sara's state of mind when Bojack called her out on the binge (that makes her claim of getting clean so she could get higher suspicious) is that one of the major struggles an addict has when getting clean is dealing with the temptation from social groups. Unless she was a total shut in until Bojack called, she probably would have had ample oppurtunity through out much of that time to relapse and never had until Bojack specifically called her. In the context of your analysis it's like she was waiting to become useful in that situation.
There just stops being a time in your life where you can justify your actions with your childhood trauma. This is a 60 year old man we are talking about. Bojack is being a horrible person to other people while actively being aware that what he's doing is harmful and horrible. If you go through life, knowing you have to change in order to keep the people you love from constantly being hurt by your awful actions, but not deciding to seek out help in order to actually become a better person... You ARE everything that is wrong with you.
I've always thought that the 'don't stop dancing' and the 'you are everything that's wrong with you' lines actually pair well together for the show. On the surface they do seem like they completely contradict each other, but they fit pretty well into Bojack Horsman's them of 'nothing is black and white'. You are shaped by your past and traumas that you didn't get to choose. Other people push their traumas onto you or instill things into you (such as the don't stop dancing mantra) which will follow you through the rest of your life. However, even though these things are pushed onto you, you- even if you don't feel this way- are in control of your own actions. In the case of Sarah Lynn I think these two lines do work well together. We can see the clear ramifications of how she was treated in her childhood with how she grew up and the things she internalized... but we also see how she does decide to keep up harmful behaviors. She made the decision to go on that bender, jump right back into that life, after being sober for so long. She consciously made the decision not to face her problems even when she knows she should. She is a product of don't stop dancing, but her vices like the addiction that runs her life, her refusal to get better, is her being everything that is wrong with her. She tried at first to remind herself that she has her own destiny, but later lets herself abandon that and she refuses to look back.
Absolutely loved this video! Thank you!! Also, I was admiring your top and trying to remember where I'd seen it before until halfway through the video 🤦♀️
I recently started watching the series with my bf (we are at the 4th season) . He watched it alone till season 3. I was so shocked at first, and was a little bit angry bc he knows I am really sensible when it comes to tv shows. I needed a break after I watched her last episode. It feels so real and I am so invested in the stories of every character
Worth of things is subjective... in general most people have a large group of motives that carry similar perceived worth. I wouldn't call them purely social constructs as many of the urges predate society and even us as a species, but whenever one thinks of "the right choice" or the "right set of values" one has to remember they are subjective and character can look all sorts of ways and still be solid, interesting and even beautiful in a non conventional way.
plus im the oldest child so i can relate deeply to the don’t stop dancing bit, i always had to be the happy friendly face or else nobody wanted to be around me, and i had to give up my whole childhood for watching my siblings because my mom always worked and my step dad didn’t care, i had to cook, i dropped out of school to babysit, i had to be a parent for them, i had to give up my hobbies to watch them, i lost friends over this all while having to wear a smile on my face, i feel like i will never be able to stop dancing
personally I think "dont stop dancing" is a very relatable message, even if you're not in hollywood or show business. My family isn't exactly the best, i'm treated more like a dress up doll than a daughter. I play the loving daughter in public in front of others, whenever i try to express my feelings im screamed at, so i just smile and pretend i dont hate every moment around them. dont stop dancing can be interpreted in a variety of ways, for me it means that people arent willing to accept who you really are. they want to accept who they THINK you really are. and no matter how much they claim they want your true self, you can't be honest if you want them to stay around. Not just applying to Hollywood, but to everyday people
I'm SO glad you did another one of these. Sarah Lynn rarely gets covered, but I see a bajillion videos analyzing Diane or Bojack- which at some point all that can be covered is covered. So I appreciate seeing some of the side-characters getting some anaylsis. Honestly Sarah Lynn should've have a bigger role in the story IMO. With a character like both Todd and Mr Peanutbutter it felt oversatured in the goofy-side-kick department. Like the two could've merged or something. Todd being an outsider but we also had that perspective with Diane. Mr.Peanutbutter seemed "immune" from the Hollywoo perspective, so someone like Sarah Lynn being around more would've been more approriate. I get Mr.PB is a foil for Bojack and all that.. but in the end it didn't seem he contributed all too much or had an interesting story. As much as I love Bojack as a series, I think some tweaking and tuning would've made the story more solid and concrete. Mostly being, the twist at the end having Bojack and all the bad things come crashing down around him - it should've been reinforced more. I.E. The Penny arc and everything around that wasn't communicated as well as it could've been. More focus on her friends suffering or having a brush with death, Bojack being more of an asshole. Or maybe he did entirely go thru with Penny's suggestions - leaving a bigger scar, since he slept with a minor. Sarah Lynn being more frequent in the story along with their complex relationship would've been nice too. That way when they finally get to season 6 of "Bojack is absolutely horrible, look at all the bad stuff he did" it would hit even harder.
Tbh I would’ve liked to see an interaction between Sarah Lynn and PB. He would’ve been the father figure to her that BoJack should’ve been. And I don’t think that’s a bold claim either considering we never see adult versions of either Zoe or Zelda in the series, which shows that he at least understood boundaries.
Huh? Sarah Lynn is a fantastic character but her being in the more wouldn’t have really added anything her only being in a few episodes doesn’t lessen the impact of her character at all. Although they’re not my favorites Todd and mr.pb definitely do have they’re own narratives that contribute to the overall story (Sarah Lynn did too she was just in less episodes) also bojack actually sleeping with penny misses the point of that storyline entirely which was while bojack didn’t technically do anything “illegal” it was still morally wrong
@Saltine Cracker yes but the show still wanted us to be somewhat sympathetic towards bojack for other reasons so him actually crossing that line and going through it wouldn’t work with the rest of the show. Plus the moral wrongness of the action would be to obvious and up front it wouldn’t really challenge anything
Todd and PB are actually really nuanced. Todd’s narrative didn’t get too much attention, but it was one of people pleasing, and how this can strain relationships. a friend to all is a friend to none. not to mention, his entire place in the show, at least the beginning, was such a big part of showing the damage bojack has done on a whole new level. PB’s is one of an over-positive narcissist, and i’d argue it’s one of the most important to the show. he is a self-absorbed asshole who could never see that he was the problem (up until Mr. Peanutbutter’s Boos). His entire narrative with Diane was vital to the show and him having even a slightly smaller role completely destroys the impact of Diane’s and thus Bojack’s character. sure, his story wasn’t as obvious, but it was extremely nuanced, interesting, and objectively important to the show. Sarah Lynn having a bigger role in the show would’ve negated a pretty big point of the character. There would be no reason for her to be there as often as the main characters. She was famous, far more so than Bojack, so she couldn’t be there anyways. Her being there, even if just to showcase bojack and sarah lynn’s relationship, ruins the character. not to mention, the relationship between them was explored deep enough. the inconsistency of them seeing each other and how they make each other spiral down whenever they do is also a big part of it. if she was always there, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be destructive towards each other, again, ruining both their characters. bojack sleeping with penny removes all sympathy, it would make him 1d instead of a nuanced 3d character. the point of s6 wasn’t bojack is completely terrible and irredeemable, it was he fucked up but there is a way to make reparations. even after xerox of a xerox. should he have slept with penny, that wouldn’t be possible. todd and pb have to be there as much as they were and play the roles in the show they did, sarah lynn couldn’t have been there more, everything bojack did had to happen the way it did for the show to end in a way that makes sense and keeps the show as amazing as it is. any tweaking and tuning you’re suggesting ruins the point of the show.
One tiny detail-when she goes through the door she turns around and falls backward. She doesn’t face it, she just lets it happen and doesn’t face the view “halfway down”
Also I don't know what it is but something about this video is different, but special I very much support and appreciate everything you do Hope you're well
If you like this video, you might also like this one I made exploring when exploitation is ok in film and television told through the lens of true crime and the Netflix Jeffery Dahmer show:
ua-cam.com/video/RmiEtfeGc9o/v-deo.html
Or this one looking at the messy behind-the-scenes of Steven Spielberg's forgotten Jurassic Park spin-off, We're Back: A Dinosaur Story:
ua-cam.com/video/RKOhw8NZpXg/v-deo.html
Or here is the In Defence of playlist if that's what you're into:
ua-cam.com/play/PLqStSJhv1GeS_4n1Fw7I-mbgo1s_QDtFF.html
I never thought it was a dissonant or contradictory message "don't stop dancing" was easily seen & applicable in Sarah Lynn's personal & professional life, as you pointed out. "You are all the bad/worst things about you" I immediately recognized because the other part of that statement explicitly or implicitly said is "you are all the good things too" is very present with every aspect of Sarah Lynn. She is hyper-aware of what she is good at and terrible at and chooses based on how she feels. She always knew the only person standing in her way was herself, but she couldn't fathom doing anything outside of what she was good at doing/giving because of the "don't stop dancing message" because she would have to stop to learn something different and that's the tragic part to me- that she could see so clearly what was happening & where it would lead, but couldn't see how to stop & change paths/get off the train, and no one helped her see it either because of how good she was.
She is the embodiment of the poem "Waving not Drowning"
I'm really not, TERF.
That outfit she wears with the hands grasping all over her body? Obvious but haunting
It's actually a reference to lady gaga who wore a similar shirt/bra
@@problematicprincess6270 it can have more than one meaning
@@Daniela-kd6ln I never said it can't 🙄
@@problematicprincess6270 “it’s actually” implies it
@@Daniela-kd6ln no "actually" just means facts, and the fact is that lady gaga wore the same shirt therefore it's a reference to her shirt. It's fitting for her character bc of her sexual abuse but the actual shirt is just a reference to lady gaga
Notice how Sarah Lynn’s hair dresser smiled when she said she wanted to be an architect, then to shocked when Sarah Lynn’s mom said she didn’t sleep someone for Sarah Lynn to become an architect
That hairdresser cared more about her than her parents did :(
@@kuromi2880 duh
@@kuromi2880 it made me mad how her mom was so sad after she died. she did literally nothing good for sarah lynn and she didnt deserve sympathy IMO (sorry if that sounded harsh, it just really makes me mad sdjjka)
@@beee1287 And how her stepdad who is very strongly suggested to have assaulted her as a kid does that too
Seeing him take her award "for her" when she wasn't there to accept it was one of the things that sent her over the edge
@@beee1287 I mean even if the mom treated her badly that doesn't mean that she still can't miss her daughter and feel bad bc she realized she was a bad mother
Sarah Lynn truly is one of the most tragic fictional characters I’ve ever seen in an adult cartoon; she was forced into acting ever since she was 3, her mother exploits her at a very young age, and her stepfather molested her. Bojack, someone she looked up to as a father figure, could’ve saved her if he wasn’t so damn selfish and egotistical.
“I want to be an architect” gives me goosebumps everytime. Sarah Lynn deserved better…
The fact that it’s in present tense, not “I *wanted* to be an architect,” is the part that scares and saddens me the most. There was still a part of her that had hope…
Okay who let in all these ninjas chopping up onions. Damn it guys!
@Jonathan Pal as far i’m aware, Miley never really got to the “Sarah Lynn point”. sure, she acted hypersexually when she wanted to shed her Disney channel image as a young adult but like…did Miley really do/say anything that warrants callling her life tragic? did i miss something?
what also sets me over the edge is just the fact that bojack settled for millions for her parents to just have and it’s fucked
@Jonathan Pal she literally hasn't done that in forever
She's quite possibly the most important character in the entire series. She's basically the catalyst for every interaction in Bojack's life.
Nah Bojack was the most important. Sarah Lynn was just a attention seeker w8ore
@@ayavibes5663 u dont know shit
I like to think that, because when Bojack said she was the only person who got him, it didn’t seem to be in a sexual or romantic way in the moment. That’s different from most of his other instances.
With Herb having been cut out from his life and eventually dead, what Bojack said rung especially true for him.
@@ayavibes5663 tell me u haven't watched all the seasons without telling me u haven't watched all the seasons
@@llama4762 bro what
This video really made the fact that Bojack had sex with her way more despicable than I previously felt. Physically cringed thinking about how awful that was 😭
I physically cringed when I first saw it and that was when I realized I can always be more disappointed in Bojack
When I watched the show for the first time, and I saw the introduction episode to Sarah Lynn, it felt gross seeing Bojack sleeping with her. He was her father figure, and he knew that, but he still slept with her anyway.
@@BratzRockAngels and displayed the exact same behavior with Penny. He told himself it was because Charlotte turned him down, but he certainly does seem to have a pattern of exploiting young girls who look up to him
@@livingmorganism It's like what was said in the interview with Biscuits. "And you don't think you have power over women." The thing is Bojack doesn't even realize the way he's effects women, he obviously isn't meaning to do it on purpose (not including having sex with women, especially Sarah Lynn and Penny) but he still does it because it's rooted in him. It's important that he recognizes it and overcomes it.
@josh raid it's not really false if he did end up having sex with her, even if he didn't necessarily intend on grooming her
Oh *wow,* Sarah Lynn's comment on her stepfather being a photographer completely flew over my head until now. She lived a life full of horrifying trauma, poor girl.
Her stepfather was also based on a known child abuser, Terry Richardson.
AW WTF
She also knew what bear fur *tasted* like.
- I was floored when they revealed he left her for 17 minutes when she overdosed instead of getting help for her. I was not expecting that, i mean sure it fits his character but damn that was cold.
I think bojack couldn’t handle it
he killed her.
@@darklight6921 He did. Legit murder.
@@ayomayonnaise8886 yeah, it's not the right thing to do but it's easier to freeze than to do something
@@CureSmileful but he did do something. He took her phone and placed a call to establish his lie that she called him. He then waited 17 minutes (sufficient time to establish him driving to her) and THEN calles 911.
He wasn't frozen. He was calculated.
I think we don't get a Sarah Lynn background "why" for their trauma like everyone else is because Bojack *is* her "why"
Her mother, her stepfather (or stepfathers?), The executives, the producers, the media...
@@linamen2544 yes, but bojack was someone she really looked up to and was actually allowed to talk to since he was a fellow cast member. The other cast members just didnt care about her, so bojack ended up being the biggest influence she had amongst her "peers" at a young age. He reinforced the abuse she suffered, and not for his own gain like the producers, her mom /stepdad, media, etc. He was the first one closest to being her friend, and he told her to put up with the abuse bc its the only thing that made everything worth it. Ofc he didnt realize how deep that abuse ran, and probably wouldnt have said it if he was actually considerate towards what she'll go through as a child star.
@@Mausmoth in addition, there's that scene where bojack visits her when she's still young; she's so happy because she believes he's the only one who's coming to see her solely for her, not to ask for favors. after she tells him that she's "this close" to falling off the deep end due to those favor-seeking people and the fame, bojack shatters her hope that he is the last person who genuinely cares for her by asking her to be in his new tv show. he's definitely the catalyst if not the cause of her spiraling.
@@mayah2397 and in addition, we know he knew about her step father's abuse because of the "my step father is being weird again".
Bojack is a grown man, and I don't believe any adult could hear that and not know the step dad is at least creeping on her. She's had to run to his dressing room more than once, and we know this because of the "again" and also because of how casually they're interacting about it.
We don't get an insight on all the people Sarah Lynn knew or knew her for most of her life, but we do know that Bojack is one who was there, who saw how she was treated, who didn't advocate for her, and then actively tried to use her when she was a young adult, and later had sex and did drugs with her until her death when she was a grown adult.
We the audience get to blame him, because he's the only one we know for sure was there at every stage and at best did nothing
@@mayah2397 yeah, bojack is not really famous for being considerate about other peoples needs, we do see why it happens and the motivation behind it. not as excuses, as his terrible decisions ruin other peoples lives over and over, and we can see some growth later on when he takes responsibility and goes to therapy to deal with his issues. I love this series as everytime i watch i discover something new, i relate to a lot of the characters and it made me more understanding of so many things i did not see before
What I find really interesting is the sacrifice speech Sarah Lynn gave in the Halfway Down episode wasn't her own. It was Bojack. The episode took place in Bojack's head. He was projecting his own ideas about sacrifice onto the one person he felt would fit that idea. It goes to show that, in a way, Sarah Lynn still isn't her own person to Bojack. We don't know if this is what she actually felt about the matter. Just what Bojack feels, or what he THINKS Sarah Lynn felt, kind of like how Bojack hopes his father cared after talking with his dream version of him.
I never thought about that.
Well that kinda sucks. It’s true but it sucks. It’s bojack horseman. And that sucks
And you can see very subtle hints to that. When Sarah Lynn was about to start her performance, she made a very clear "AHEM" when the spotlight still shined on Bojack. I also think of it as Sarah Lynn's death being more about Bojack's heinous actions than the tragedy of her to the public eye. Following the interview's release, there is little to none discussion from anyone about Sarah Lynn. It was about how Bojack lost $5 million to her parents in court and was #1 on 10 Most Hated Men (or as the fast food workers called it 10 Most "Hatted" Men).
Bojack didn't have kids. But he damaged Sara Lynn in the worst ways possible, throwing all the worst things he could at her like his mother and father did to him, as she was his own child. He even let her die. He waited 17 minutes...
i just thought, in the underwater ep when he babysat the baby seahorse, he kept losing them and they were put in dangerous situations that he could barely get them out of. seems super reminiscent of sarah lynn now i think back on it
Bojack did a lot of unforgivable things. But he had every excuse imaginable from his upbringing, existed in a world that was upside-down and full of awful people, and he was a character in a show. I could keep rooting for him to finally turn it all around, and hope he would move towards a happier future.
That 17 minutes made want him to burn in hell.
Personally, I deeply relate to the “don’t stop dancing” message. Even though I’m not famous I relate to it because I feel the need to be entertaining and interesting 100% of the time or people won’t care. Feeling that if I’m not benefiting others, I’m not wanted. and if I’m not okay I have to pretend to be okay and “don’t stop dancing” or I’ll just be a burden. I believe that more than just celebrities/influencers can relate to that.
Omg this is so relatable. I had friends who bullied me and kicked me out of the group because they said I was too vapid and shallow. Keep in mind I had the same nerdy interests as them such as reading, learning, and watching old movies. I just also happened to like fashion and beauty too which they didn’t like.
And for a while I felt like the only way to keep people around was to constantly prove how deep and interesting I was as. I was trying to impress people with my different interests and talents because I was afraid of them leaving and mistreating me.
@@alyssapinon9670 omg are you living my life??
@@Nifilway wait how much of my story is similar to yours? I’m curious now
@@alyssapinon9670 I was kicked out of a group because they thought of me as a crybaby and overly emotional l, they also thought I was vapid. I had the same interests as them, and honestly allowed them to belittle me and pick apart my interests and bully me. When they were bored of me, they threw me away. They were also nerds. I had to be what they wanted me to be, or else I was nothing.
@@Nifilway omg I’m so sorry. I think that was my first lesson in learning that nerds could be just as shitty as (if not worse than) the douchey popular kids. I hope you found better friends. I’m glad I eventually found friends who not only accepted all sides of me but also loved geeky stuff as well as girly stuff.
even after that incident with my old ex friends I was eager to please the nerdy crowd and show that I could be girly and geeky not just one or the other. Hell even the guys I’ve liked before tended to be my opposite because I’ve probably internalized that math and science is so much higher than arts and humanities.
I currently have a crush on a guy who is pretty similar to me in certain ways which I think is a good step in loving myself. He likes fashion but is also really book smart. And he said that people used to think it was weird that he was an athlete and a theatre kid in high school so he gets it in his own way
I dont think Todd meant that you're responsible for how your trauma has shaped you, just that you cant use your trauma or addictions as an excuse to be selfish and lazy person. Youre not responsible for how you are but you are fully responsible for your actions. You need to at least try to fix yourself as an adult. If you guys are going to judge Bojack for his actions you need to accept that your choises are your own despite what you're gone through, its you. It would be super lame to think a heavy f-bomb moment's message is specifically targeted for a specific character and not as a general message for everyone to take from this show. "Bojack is responsible for his actions but not anyone else." yare yare daze...
Along with this i think the show was pointing out the difference in position that Bojack benefited from compared to those he hurt. Bojack constantly ran from responsibility, and he could continuously do that because there was always someone he could use to clean up his mess because the fact that he enjoyed fame, wealth and power. Sarah Lynn didn't have this despite her equivalent fame and wealth because it was derived from her absolute objectification. Where Bojack could escape being his one dimensional public image through new movies and roles (which he ultimately tried his best to self-sabotage). Sarah Lynn had been reduced to a youthful sex figure. As she aged she became less and less relavent.
So in my mind the idea of personal responsibility gets turned around here. Sarah Lynn no longer owned her own person, and couldn't take responsibility. Bojack could, but often made the same mistakes in order to fulfill his own identity of victimhood.
I think you're right. Todd's words were really important. They might have pushed Bojack in a bad way, but at the same time it's something he needed to hear. It's something I tell myself all the time.
Trauma can't be an excuse for the actions we take now. What happened to us was wrong, and although they may have shaped us in a way that influences our behavior and decisions, we can't rely on it as a crutch to explain away everything we do.
When we hurt ourselves or the people around us consistently, we need to realize it's not a moment of weakness, its a pattern of abuse and we're the only ones in control with the ability to break the cycles.
Without someone around to finally put the foot down and tell Bojack to start taking responsibility for his actions, he wouldn't have the first step, or building block of growth he needs to finally realize his mistakes and work on himself.
The pain and trauma inflicted in the people around him wasn't his mother, or his father, or show business. It was his decision to lay back and let his compulsions be his navigator while he lived on autopilot.
We can't change what happened in the past, and we can't heal without putting in the work. But if you try, and you put in the time and care to recognize what kind of person you want to be, and what actions you're taking that might prevent that, it can be the beginning to closing up some of those wounds. Sure they may live in as scars, but they're scars that can serve as a reminder of what you've overcome. Often our past traumas are some of the worst things that could have ever happened. But they can be cathartic in the sense that you lived through the worst of it and came out the other side. And when you make it to the otherside it helps to envision yourself becoming the person you wish had been there for you in that trauma.
No one can save you but yourself, and no one can change who you are except for you. Apologies don't always make up for mistakes unless your actions change for the better. Just like Bojack I think a lot of us need to know that in order to start moving forward.
Both Bojack and Sarah Lynn did a good thing that they went to that rehab and tryed to get help, if Bojack didnt contact her cause he just felt bad she could have been alive to this day.
I totally agree. People can be persuaded or pushed into making certain decisions but ultimately it’s only you who makes the call. The blame can absolutely be put on the person who manipulated or coarsest them but if they know better (which they not always do) then they should still partially take responsibility or their actions
I also interpreted it this way
What hurts me the most about Sarah Lynn’s story, is that she was so close to being fixed. She just needed that one person who was a actual friend to her, and tell her that its not over. Instead the show killed her off, and she never got a chance to do what she wanted.
the show is real. real shit. people die. it was gonna happen. it was premeditated and they needed to show that. did you watch the video?
@@saigeskinner6535 Yep, a bunch of times in fact ^^
Bojack could've been that person too, but nope he led her to her death
Sadly i dont think she had a chance to be an architect either way. Shes way too famous, she wouldnt be treated fairly at all her teachers would either kiss her ass and give her grades she doesnt deserve or ask her for favours for grades.
But yeah at least she would have been alive and sober amd maybe eventually get some positive people in her life
What makes it sadder is how young she was as well when she died. In fact if she had not gone on that bender and kept the sobriety she could have used her money to study and become an architect. I think the episode that when she died she tried to open up to Bojack, but he was too oblivious to even listen to her. I can say that I didn’t like her in the first season, but as the show went on I ended up liking her a lot.
I OD'd two days ago. It was intentional and once I couldn't breathe I desperately wanted to live. I was an EMT Monday and Tuesday I died in an ambulance and Wednesday I was discharged from the hospital. I refuse to think that Sarah Lynn was comfortable in the end, she deserved better.
Makes sense, her last words were "I want to be an architect" she likely felt herself slipping away and had regrets, which she couldn't right due to dying. Its really sad, I'm also sorry about the troubles you faced.
You also deserve better. I hope you're well.
Wait you died?
@@mariam-ni7be Technically yes, if your heart and respiration are zero you are dead. You have 3 minutes to revive before permanent brain damage and 5 before you won't wake up and at 7 you're just a cadaver. They revived me in about 28 seconds, I saw the light and heard the bells and that shit is fucking terrifying.
Holy shit dude... I hope your okay :) stay strong
As much as I love him, Sara Lyn is why I can never, ever forgive Bojack. He took advantage of someone who relied on him and looked up to him and when she needed him the most he left her for 17 minutes to save his own skin. He let her die. I could forgive the bender, I can't forgive the active choice to let her die.
I don’t think bojack can forgive bojack
Yeah the letting her die was the thing that made me think Bojack went way too far. I mean, he always did "way too far" things, but they never were "someone will die if I do this" (except for Gina I guess, but you can argue that he wasn't really on his mind when he did that, which doesn't excuse, but makes it slightly less worse). Sarah Lynn literally could've survived if he wasn't so selfish about being or not in jail for giving her the Heroin.
I think this is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this show; the main character, unlike the main characters of many stories, *does* end up crossing a boundary that can't really ever be recovered from. Bojack Horseman is seriously, actually flawed in a way that is extremely realistic; people in real life do terrible things and cross boundaries all the time, but shows/movies don't seem to often depict main characters this way out of fear of making them too unlikeable, while this show isn't concerned with Bojack's likeability because it's not about that, at all. Sorry for the tangent, hope this made at least a little bit of sense
@@singularity___ not a tangent. You're right. The show challenges the audience by making Bojack a relatable character but someone willing to go too far to save his own skin.
So reminiscent of Walter White letting Jane die…
I recently read the book "I'm glas my mum died" by Jennette McCurry and it can't help but connect her and Sarah Lynn in my mind
Jenette McCuccy et Sarah Lynn got of problems similars
i thought this exact thing when I saw the show after reading the book. It's so scarily realistic and sad
@@daniapfel2825
One difference is that her mother was the one exploiting her AND molesting her.
@@morbidsearchSarah Lynn’s mother may not have directly molested her; but she did enable and possibly even encourage her stepfather to molest her, as well as sexualising her from a very young age
I never realised that “I want to be an architect” were her last words. That is genuinely heartbreaking
It makes sense that Sarah Lynn is the “runt of the litter” when it comes to character development because in reality, her character never got the chance to develop. Due to being a child star, addict, and abuse victim I think that her character development is spot on. Sarah Lynn might not know who she is yet. She knew that she wanted to be in architect, but she lived her whole life for others.
Not gonna lie, I always felt bad for Sarah Lynn. I think she was the one most wronged by Bojack. She was exploited by everyone in her life and had no guidance like Britney and Lindsay. She deserved compassion and to have someone to try to help and guide her on a better path, but Bojack only led her to her death.
Everybody loved her. But nobody liked her. And that's the loneliest feeling in the world.
Me also
Reminds me a lot of Judy Garland's experience
Holy crap you watched the series 6 times?! I agree with you, Bojack Horseman is a masterpiece but at the same time one of the most depressing things ever developed. You Ms. Ariana have dedication, my hats off to you!
You haven’t watched the entire series several times?…is that not usual?
AM I CRAZY?
@@neozero2598 “the view from half way down” it’s an episode that hurts me in ways I’m still figuring out…
Ive watched this show over 30 times because i cant stop watching it i love bojack horseman
I binged it over and over again just because i was struggling alot at the time and could relate alot to it. For a little it was my "comfort" show despite it also making me emotional 😂
haha.. *laughs in the fact that i've seen the show more than 10x*
I really hate to say this, but we can't take anything "Sarah Lynn" says in View From Halfway Down as what she actually thinks or felt.
That "Sarah Lynn" is just a manifestation of the guilt Bojack felt for killing her and how his brain thought she would feel in relation to her life. He's trying to justify to himself that "Well at least her 'sacrifice' made others happy" and she spent her life making others happy.
But when you remember the quote about the funeral, it wasn't real mourners. It was people saying that they knew this was coming.
And then a network TV show proceeds to make a show detailing her life which probably wasn't flattering or covered half of the truth about what she endured as a kid that only made her legacy look worse.
It's great to see Sarah Lynn actually break down and be emotional, but the whole episode is just a fever dream as Bojack's mind shuts down in the pool. It's what he wants to see or what he has seen before.
To be fair though, of all characters Bojack would likely undetstand Sarah Lynn's experience more than any other.
Right, that's not her, it's what Bojack is imagining what she might say. She can't speak for herself anymore, her voice was silenced forever at that point.
There's one vital thing you missed: "The View from Halfway Down" is what BoJack was going through when he nearly drowned in the pool. When we see her in this episode, it's not through her eyes, it's through BoJack's eyes. She was never concerned about her legacy, but BoJack has always been worried about his. He not only never really listened to this (as he even talks about it in the scene she's dying when the last thing she says is "I want to be an architect"), but the fact she talks about the sacrifice she made for her legacy in his mind, shows he's never once listened to her. All that being said: I think it goes into your theory in the sense that BoJack sees everyone else in his life as people (or animals) who have their own lives, but he only sees Sarah Lynn as someone he was on a show with and as someone who pops in and out of his life, instead of her own person with her own life.
This is exactly what I was thinking. What Sarah Lynn said in the episode wasn't coming from her. It was coming from Bojack projecting onto her.
I do think some of what she said stemmed from some lingering guilt Bojack had for his part in sending her so far down, but it is mostly Bojack projecting some of HIS ideas about sacrifice onto the one person he felt sacrificed everything.
It's the same reason Beatrice insults Sarah Lynn during the dream. It's not just an in-character thing for her to do, it's Bojack subconsciously telling himself that the sacrifices made, be it his own or that of others, don't matter.
Exactly. It even goes further then that. BoJack has always been worried about HIS legacy, but Sarah Lynn hasn’t. She’s been in a place of being upset this life was forced upon her when she was too young to make any choices for herself. She’s even used architect terms in the show which shows that’s where her interests lay. But BoJack never truly listened to what she was saying, and it continues on to even after she’s been dead for years he still thinks she’s also worried about her legacy. He says it in the scene where she dies about how they’ll be remembered, when her last words were “I want to be an architect.” So in “The View from Halfway Down” it’s more about how BoJack views himself that he continuously pushes onto her.
+
I think you're mostly right, but I think it would have been fairly consistent for her to hate herself, wish she'd have been an architect, and *still* believed she'd made a worthwhile sacrifice. Hell, Diane, with her comparatively tame level of damage, took forever and a day before she gave up the ghost on thinking that it was *for* something.
That being said, yes - everything we see in this episode is BoJack's perspective. Speaking of Diane - the conversation BJ and her have at the end of the episode is the conversation Diane said she wanted to have with PB earlier in the series.
Sarah Lynn's story is a story of objectification. It's fitting that she never gets to be more than an object. That's her real tragedy, that's where it's meant to hurt. That no one sees her as a person and the show drives that in.
i feel like the line "you are everything that is wrong with you" refers to the question, "how much of your trauma is (after a certain age) your problem?" because of course at any age you can get traumatized but there's a certain age or level of maturity where you have to start handling your trauma by yourself. because you cant just blame your environment forever. i relate to most of the characters both as people and because i have similar trauma. im just 16 but i have to get my life together and i cant always use my trauma as a pass as bojack (mostly in the first couple seasons) so often does. he thinks that he doesn't have to continue because he's been hurt. and often when he tires, he slides back into horrible coping mechanisms/behaviors. but that's part of the process of healing and he cant just get away with blaming his mother forever. who is also just as damaged as he is. he is product of his enviorment. we all are. but he continues to be in environments where making no progress is fine. unpacking trauma and getting through it is rough all hell, but you gotta do it. he can do and that's what i think that line means. its not that "every bad part of you is entirely you fault and your problem" i think its "all the bad parts of yourself are still you and it is no ones problem but yourself to handle your trauma. because nobodies gonna come save you" and thats my ted talk :)
The first time i heard todd say that to bojack it really was the most shocking line i heard on any show that tackled mental illness and trauma such as bojack horseman especially from a sidekick to the main anti hero of the show trope like todd it really goes to show that as much as it is so uncomfortable to hear the truth at some point in ones life no matter what they went through has to reconcile with themselves to not only save themselves but others from a pattern you cant help but perpetuate because of your own personal circumstances you grew up in for better or worse.
@@rosakami1588 exactly!
EXTREMELY well said! I agree with all of that and you’re incredibly intelligent and reflective for being so young!! If you keep growing you will certainly be someone who does a ton of good in your life!
@@DirectFireDave thank you so much I really appreciate the kind words :)! it means a whole lot, man :)
agree. u can’t choose what happens to u, but u can choose how u cope with it.
I think the limited character growth of Sarah Lynn is deliberate. I think she is supposed to be a reflections of the way we view celebrities.
Personally, I relate the "You are everything that's wrong with you" to not getting help. Sarah lynn didnt get help with her drug addiction, bojack never went to a therapist, and diane didnt take her anti depressant meds, and so on and so forth. And thats why I think it fits in the story.
Sarah lynn did actually get help. She went to rehab and stayed sober until bojack asked her to go on a bender with him
@@deanroyea4430 But she only went sober to make it feel better or more exciting when she drank again though
@@stanley2588
But she was willing to stay sober until she had an actual reason to break her improvement. As in, Bojack calling her up to party being a reason in her eyes. I feel like she truly wanted to improve herself and gain some control over life by staying sober and attending AA meetings, but was comfortable enough to slip back into old, self destructive habits because she sees Bojack as a safe place.
Sarah Lynn was an interesting foil to Diane's search to define "good damage." She found her way to cope with damage not out of a way of justifying that the results are worth it, but accepting the damage and feeling that being willing to accept it is inherently of value. Diane's world collapsed when she realized she wouldn't be able to extract the value out of her damage that she had hoped. Sarah Lynn's world collapsed when she realized that everyone saw her as already damaged and were not interested in damaging her further... except for BoJack. She could have stopped dancing, because nobody cared anymore... so she sought out someone who she could extract that care, and the damage that follows, from.
“The thing is you gotta give the people what they want. Even if it kills you, even if it empties you out until there’s nothing left to empty.” It did bojack. It did kill her. god.. I wonder how the reporter would react to seeing everything we know.
I think her assesment would have cut a lot deeper, and maybe pushed bojack closer to diane’s theres no good people philosophy.
To me the reporter scene sort of doesnt hit like it should, it feels like the reporter doesn’t fundamentally understand why bojack has destructive interactions with women, so gives a weird vibe in her judgement and denouncement of him, but at the same time imitates many real situations around abuse quite closely and can easily be misunderstood
@@PropheticShadeZ thats dramatic irony for ya we know the truth about almost everything but she knows something that broke us from bojack.
I’m an actor, though of course not a famous one, and that is originally how I related to Sarah Lynn. Even on a much smaller scale, acting is a lot like Hollywood - people use you and abuse you and then toss you away when you’re no longer useful. That part of Sarah Lynn’s story always resonated with me. But when the pandemic happened, and theatre got put on an indefinite hold, and my life completely changed as a result, I started to relate to her on a deeper level. Because the theaters were shuttered, I couldn’t bring in audiences anymore, and all I did was sit at home, alone. I quickly realized that, not only did I perform onstage, I was performing 24/7 offstage, too, to hide my depression and my resulting addiction problems. “Don’t stop dancing” became my mantra - don’t stop pretending that you’re okay and everything is fine, because you don’t want to lose the only people you have left, right?
I’ve done a few commercials and was fortunate enough to land a role in a indie film that’s going to film in a couple months. “Don’t stop dancing” is a mantra I lived before and after I ever acted. I don’t think anyone really admits to wearing a mask every day. Even after someone takes their work mask off, you put on another one to appease your family or your friends. And when you do reveal who you really are to those closest to you, they often shut you out. I’ve been awful about using for the last couple years, it’s easier to be alone when you’re high
@@andyn46 what’s the indie film called?
Honestly as someone who’s taking their first steps towards the acting industry, these kind of scare me. Of course I know, this is what I want to do but is it worth it? I know how it feels to be used, I’ve faced it so many times it’s kind of an old topic. But thank you for telling your story, hopefully I can use your story, other stories, and Sarah Lynn’s story to find the best solution to all this.
There's always something new to be found in this show. This is the first time that I noticed the connection from Beatrice demanding a performance from the young Bojack hiding under the table, and Bojack doing the same to Sarah Lynn.
Sarah Lynn functions a lot as a reflection of the worst of Bojack (what he's done and just his characteristics). She doesn't really get to be her own character because, even to her, so much of what she is is dependent on Bojack, what he taught her, instilled into her. He shaped her, for better and for worse. He was her life and her death. She was maybe the only person he really loved and I think he was the same for her. Nobody else was really like that for Bojack. They all had their own lives.
I don’t think he truly loved her. I think he accidentally groomed and then killed her.
@@Daniela-kd6ln might be a stupid question, but how do you accidentally groom someone? i thought it was something done with intent? thanks in advance if you can anwer
@@Daniela-kd6ln Is not grooming. Is having a bad role model. An abusive parent.
@@dcscruz2970 I agree, it definitely wasn’t grooming.
@@gingermaniac5484 I don’t think he groomed her. She was already groomed by her stepfather. You could argue he failed to put up healthy barriers between them though.
I feel like people take Sarah Lynn's line about "drugs feel better when you're sobber" too seriously.
9 months went by where she even had stuff loaded in her walls and she didn't touch it meaning she really took her sobriety seriously.
She probably used that excuse as a reason for her to actually stop doing drugs and get sobber since she promised Herb she would try to
My sisters ex husbands best friend died of an overdose cause he took the same dose he did when he actively doing drugs. He sadly relapsed
Arguably, she was so happy to start back using
She said to call when he wanted to party
She wasn't being sober to be sober. That's not good ground to stand on
Yeah, this title got me. She is absolutely a tragic character abused and let down by every single person in her life and I couldn't imagine needing to defend her. She is Bojack's saddest victim.
I always thought that Sarah-Lynn being a child when she and Bojack first show up at the death house was a way of saying that she was destined to wind up there - dying tragically young from the moment she became a child star.
Sarah Lynn was a sweet soul broken by what everyone expected and wanted from her.
“You’re everything that’s wrong with you” is a phrase I keep returning to in my life.
There are a handful of things in my life that have made me the person I am. Inappropriate peers, unsympathetic adults, bad parenting etc. I’m a miserable and angry person because of my past and this past is a huge part of who I am now.
However my actions are my own. I wasn’t forced to be a shitty distant lover and friend. I wasn’t forced to attend university. I wasn’t forced to give up a child.
These were my decisions and they are so far removed from my youth. My upbringing can be used loosely to validate my current situation but I am an autonomous being who’s made terrible mistakes by my own standards and I only have myself to blame.
When I heard that line in Bojack I remember this sudden realization that my current unhappiness was not a product of my upbringing and instead were choices I made. Granted some of my actions are a result of mental illness but I was fully cognizant of my actions.
The past builds the framework for our actions but we dictate how our life will look moving forward. It’s a hard lesson but an important one.
I think this is the piece that's missing from this essay. "You are everything that's wrong with you" is a major theme of the show, but that doesn't mean it applies to every character. Todd is not talking about everyone, he's saying that line specifically to Bojack. And that works, because it is objectively true in Bojack's case. He uses his fucked up past to write himself off as fucked up, because then it's never his fault when he does shitty things. Todd was simply pointing out that as wrong ad what happened to him was, he still has agency. It's a bit of a misnomer to apply the quote to Sara Lynn because she had no agency.
Including the 2012 footage of younger you is the bravest thing I’ve ever seen in the context of what you said
Sarah Lynn an princess Carolyn are definitely my favourites because they both deserved so much especially Sarah Lynn because of what they’ve all been through
I would love to see an “in defence of Jerry” video. He always gets into terrible situations that he then must be rescued from by someone but his intentions are rarely bad
Who's jerry
Jerry in rick and morty?
@@fsh2263 OH
Oh okay I thought Jerry was that panda and this was a joke comment
quickest way to trigger a bunch of people is to say that Jerry is all of us or at least 99% of the people that watch Rick and Morty. No one wants that kind of reality check watching a show about a crazy smart scientist and his side kick going on great adventures lol
Sarz93 a good youtuber would be able to make us all laugh at that fact and would discuss the nuances between the different perspectives (jerry and not jerrys). i hope someone makes it!
"For a second before her death she felt like she could stop dancing"
I'm not crying you're crying :')
"In defense of Sarah Lynn" How is this video not four hours long I feel like I could scream about her for years without stopping
"in defense of Sarah Lynn" She doesn't need defending. We all saw what happened. No one is blaming her for her death.
My family does. I'm also the only one who liked and related to her so guess my days are numbered.
@@user-jn1wm3tb8v Understood.
I don't take her death as 100% her, but with the last thing she said to Bojack being 'Call me when you wanna party' and re-watching the show and seeing her house was practically made out of drugs, and why she was going sober. She still made the choices and wouldn't let those wanting to help her get better be around her.
But That doesn't clear everyone else that shaped her into that kind of person, especially Bojack, her Mom and Pedo stepdad.
You should watch the video. The video is in defense that Sara Lynn is not just a character that prompts Bojack to reflect and grow, but a character on her own
Her parents were so horrible and it's so sad that her step father was never had to face consequences cause it's really close to real life. Abusers get on with their lives normally like they didn't just ruin a person's life and the world will never know the horrible things they have done. It's also mentioned that her step father took photos of her (we can only imagine what type of photos but it's pretty clear). Probably that installed a thought in her mind saying that: "People will love me only if i show and give them my body". She is such a tragic character, never had a chance to live since the beginning because of her shitty parents. That's why i believe that children should never be allowed to act so young, look at how child actors have ended and what they have gone through :(
Every deep dive into Bojack Horseman leaves me with an even greater appreciation for this show. It might start off as crass and a little unrefined, but it turns into a masterpiece of a character drama.
The whole "don't stop dancing" montage actually comes from one of the first interactions between Bojack and Sarah Lynn, when he verbally beats into her that she never stops performing no matter what, which ties into Bojack's mom forcing him to perform and not offering any attention to him unless he performs. Everything is linked together so beautifully it makes me wonder if they wrote the show from finish to the beginning.
What I like about Todd's words about BoJack being all the things that are wrong with him is that it's not a condemnation of BoJack's or anyone else's trauma effecting them, it's a confrontation on letting your trauma hurt everyone else around you. It's a confrontation on BoJack thinking his self-flagellation and wallowing in his learned helplessness is enough to earn forgiveness for being shitty to the people that care about him, that's my takeaway with the broader context of that whole segment of dialog. The whole time, BoJack is deflecting responsibility for what he's done in pushing everyone away and trying to gain pity from Todd so he can find someone to comfort him in his hour of need. And Todd can see what he's doing because of how many times now that BoJack has done that to him. How many times has BoJack let his trauma responses traumatize Todd? Like, let's not forget something important, Todd started living with BoJack at 18 or 19, he lived with him for 6 or 7 years, the young man is like 25 when he's giving this speech to a 60 year old man who he's lived at the mercy of his fits and flights of fancy for years. Todd has suffered trauma because BoJack refuses to deal with his trauma. Todd, during that conversation, found out that one of his very close friends, someone he loves and feels protective of, has now suffered trauma because of BoJack refusing to confront his own trauma. What Todd was trying to say is that BoJack isn't trying to be better, he's letting it make everyone lives around him worse. And that's why their relationship is permanently damaged and would never be the same after the midpoint in the series. BoJack is all the things that are wrong with him because he's perpetuating the cycle and letting his trauma traumatize the people who love him instead of trying to actually be better.
Secondary Note, maybe a Defense of Todd is in order? Because I feel like people don't appreciate him as a character
This show is one of the most well done representation of addiction ever. Sarah Lynn was a "dry drunk" and never really came into true sobriety. Both Sarah Lynn and Bojak are victims of fame and addiction. I didn't really come to love her until the second time I watched the series, but she really was more than met the eye. Great breakdown of why.
I don’t think she needs any defence, she was the purest soul on this show
fr and if anyone who has watched the show is able to legitimately hate her i feel like thats weird and cringe because A) hating a character in a story is just a sign of media illiteracy and immaturity and B) she represents the toxic results of the way the industry treats children and turns them into money making machines... she is like an analog of amy winehouse... someone they kept feeding drugs to to make her keep performing until she tragically died... people who watch tv are dumb sometimes tho lol
I really appreciate your message that we don't get to choose how we get fucked up. I replayed the "are you really everything that's wrong with you, if what's fundamentally wrong with you is not your fault?" (16:24) part over and over again just to absorb the message. I'm livin with ptsd so this was really, super comforting to hear, as feelings of guilt about p much everything is an all too common thing for me. You immediately gained a new subscriber after I heard that. Made me entirely reconsider why I feel guilty for having symptoms of ptsd. Thank you :)
The thing that gets me about the comments like ''Sarah Lynn would've relapsed anyway!'' is that yeah maybe she would've but that doesn't exempt Bojack from the fact he enabled her to do so. Like if I walk through an area known for stabbings and I get stabbed, is the person who stabbed me exempt from facing consequences because ''I was probably gonna get stabbed anyway''
One of the best Bojack breakdowns out there
this show really did sarah lynn so dirty she honestly did not deserve all that horrible stuff that happend to her she was my favourite character she deserved so much better then what she got .
True, but if she'd had a redemption/breakout the theme would have been lost: she shows the consequences of Bojack's character and values when projected onto someone who _isn't_ as lucky as Bojack.
@@williamchamberlain2263 True
I really would love a Sara Lynn spin off, I loved her character. She went through so much, I thought she was very interesting.. But I agree, they didn't really flesh her out enough.
So I watched this show when I was at my lowest alcoholic depressed going through drug addiction I can honestly say how they portray those struggles in the show is frighteningly real I know it’s fucked up to say but bojack was familiar to me on a personal level almost as if he was a representation of myself the themes and messages in this show struck such a chord with me and I can honestly say it even helped me deal with said struggles as silly as that may sound. You did a wonderful job of analyzing Sarah Lynn and sum up my sentiments about her character exactly really well done anyways just wanted to say thanks for the video I enjoyed it very much so
If you like this video, you may appreciate one of my personal favourites about When Harry Met Sally that deserves more love. It talks about why Harry and Sally’s relationship is actually toxic. Check it out!
ua-cam.com/video/fJbRTdbZRq8/v-deo.html
I don’t understand why everyone wants to be like Sarah Lynn. I’m a heroin and fentanyl addict Ive overdosed and been forced back with narcan so many times. I started using the day I turned 18 I have had people hold guns to my head, threaten to kill me, rape me for money, and I watched my friends die of overdoses, I went on a drug bender with my rapist and he told me he loved me more than anyone when I saw the scene with BoJack and Sarah Lynn I started crying hysterically cuz it was so similar I don’t understand why people want to relate to her or how they say that they do, it shouldn’t be romanticized I get everyone will sacrifice everything about themselves for love but that’s not a good thing and idk about you but I hate that about myself Sarah Lynn is nothing but flaws which is why I don’t understand why people want to be like her so bad unless people are romanticizing and fetishizing herion use
Don’t stop dancing also relates to Bojack, when his mother used to force him to dance for her friends, and basically told him he only had worth if he was entertaining people. This was engrained in Bojack so he engrained it into Sarah Lynn.
I kinda like Sera. But I kinda think she’s a jerk at times. Like when she gaslit Bojack. And gave away his award for drug money
Hi, Your "in defence" videos are pretty good, I like how you narrate. I really am a fan of BoJack horseman too, but I noticed how it seems that most fans are cool with bojack ruining his life in the end. I didn't really like that. I mean don't you think people like Biscuits braxby, Paige sinclaire, and Angela were just as much in the wrong in the end and were also part of the problem. I personally didn't really like how the series ended mostly because of those characters. What do you think. Maybe you should make a "In Defence of BoJack" video later.
Please please please you can do a video of "In the defense of Peggy Hill of King of the Hill because Peggy is so hatred so she got a shitty mom who critized of all what she do
Something my friend told me that's very true and I think of every day "It isn't my fault, but it is my responsibility"
I think we need to remember the Sarah Lynn in View From Halfway Down isn't really Sarah Lynn, it's a dream Sarah Lynn from Bojack's hallucinations. She's a very accurate portrayal of Sarah Lynn because Bojack knew her very well, but she's still part of Bojack's fantasy; not everything she says and does is something the real Sarah Lynn would say or do.
That's true. And that shows us Bojack had the time to analyze very well why Sara Lynn was the way she was, what she was going through since she was a child. He was very aware of her situation. And even though, he did what he did to her.
I didn't realize people hate her or even why they hate Diane? As characters they are both important, well fleshed out and a great character doesn't make the "right" choices every time
i think the worst part about everything is that bojack desperately attempts to make amends with everyone he’s hurt, and even in his drug filled stupor it’s at least a nice thought. but he doesn’t apologize to sarah lynn. he tries to say sorry to everyone he’s hurt, but not sarah lynn.
I just finished the series and Sarah Lynn for me felt like one of the deeper characters. You don’t get to know much about her outside of her act and that’s intentional. The brief moment she seems genuinely happy (winning the Oscar) is snatched away as she dies on the shoulder of the man who helped set her down the path with those 3 words “don’t stop dancing”. Until her death I kind of wrote her off as just a side character and I think that was intentional. We don’t see much of the darker stuff in her backstory until she’s gone and that helps build towards the last few episodes where Bojack is racked with guilt over her death. She seems similar to Bojack in the sense she was taken for a ride and promised happiness if she dove head first into that lifestyle and the two characters play off each other really well on their bender. Bojack realises how alike they are but its too late. The girls life was a tragedy and initially, just like the people in the show, it’s played to us for laughs.
Yes, a video in defense of Jerry, please!
I never understood the unbridled hatred for his character, sure he's kind of a loser but he's hardly a bad guy.
It's cause Rick the main character doesn't like him. People like what Rick likes and hates what he hates
This video is a literal masterpiece
Truly philosophical art
Kristen Schaal is such a great voice actress. I can’t still move on Gravity Falls. I can still still hear Mabel Pines in my head wheb she talks
A 21-minute video dedicated to my favorite Bojack Horseman character??
That’s too much, man!!
Sarah Lynn was one of my favorite characters, and I think that is partially because of how scarily relatable she is. Sometimes I can feel my life going in her direction
I 'accept' my 'demons' the same way she does, because honestly I can't tell anymore what I'm supposed to fight against. I don't know what parts of me are myself and what parts are supposedly wrong. I think the scariest thought is that all of the parts of me are true, which would mean that I'm fundamentally flawed.
@16:16 I think that the point of that line is that despite all the outer factors you are still responsible for your own actions
Amazing video, so excited to see it finally released! And I’d LOVE an In Defence of Jerry video, that would SUPREME content. Keep doing the amazing work!!
I've been scourging this site for more Sarah Lynn content since "That's Too Much Man", thank you
please do more of those! they're wonderful! you always give me a new perspective of those characters and I love it! thank you!
I'm not even an actor but I relate to Sarah-Lynn. It reminds me of how clueless & reckless my choices were as a teen, before I decided to leave it all behind. Just so I could one day have the choice to a normal life. I cut ties with those who would not support me, stopped smoking & to drink till I blacked out. Started to really focus on school & allowed myself to have dreams and ambitions. I know I'm not perfect and not even exactly where I want to be but at least I don't burden myself and self destruct anymore.
Ok she literally said it her self. You're broken, and you can't control what happens to you of it's forced on you. But you can choose to move past your trauma, get out of the situation, and find people who'll HELP YOU.
Diving in character psychology is a a drug on its own. This is an amazing show dude.
You and your content are amazing! Easy subscription and an even easier like on this video :)
Sarah Lyn's relative lack of agency within the overarching plot is allegorical to the feelings often experienced by current and former child stars. Fame does horrendous things to a still developing psyche.
Honestly I love Sarah Lynn because of her voice actor. Kristen Schaal plays Louise Belcher and I love Louise so Sarah Lynn gets residual love.
she’s also mabel in gravity falls
sometimes i see a really well made video like this and I'm like dang humans are so cool when they do stuff
This show really is an amazing depiction of depression and psychological issues born of childhood trauma and abuse there's really not such thing as a genuinely good person everyone has a evil and I feel like every character is a representation of issues and problems no one should be in pain
when i first saw the title "in defense of sarah lynn" i was like... "who would you need to defend her from!?"
Hey, great video.
One thing I thought of when you were talking about Sara's state of mind when Bojack called her out on the binge (that makes her claim of getting clean so she could get higher suspicious) is that one of the major struggles an addict has when getting clean is dealing with the temptation from social groups. Unless she was a total shut in until Bojack called, she probably would have had ample oppurtunity through out much of that time to relapse and never had until Bojack specifically called her. In the context of your analysis it's like she was waiting to become useful in that situation.
There just stops being a time in your life where you can justify your actions with your childhood trauma. This is a 60 year old man we are talking about. Bojack is being a horrible person to other people while actively being aware that what he's doing is harmful and horrible. If you go through life, knowing you have to change in order to keep the people you love from constantly being hurt by your awful actions, but not deciding to seek out help in order to actually become a better person... You ARE everything that is wrong with you.
I've always thought that the 'don't stop dancing' and the 'you are everything that's wrong with you' lines actually pair well together for the show. On the surface they do seem like they completely contradict each other, but they fit pretty well into Bojack Horsman's them of 'nothing is black and white'. You are shaped by your past and traumas that you didn't get to choose. Other people push their traumas onto you or instill things into you (such as the don't stop dancing mantra) which will follow you through the rest of your life. However, even though these things are pushed onto you, you- even if you don't feel this way- are in control of your own actions. In the case of Sarah Lynn I think these two lines do work well together. We can see the clear ramifications of how she was treated in her childhood with how she grew up and the things she internalized... but we also see how she does decide to keep up harmful behaviors. She made the decision to go on that bender, jump right back into that life, after being sober for so long. She consciously made the decision not to face her problems even when she knows she should. She is a product of don't stop dancing, but her vices like the addiction that runs her life, her refusal to get better, is her being everything that is wrong with her. She tried at first to remind herself that she has her own destiny, but later lets herself abandon that and she refuses to look back.
Absolutely loved this video! Thank you!! Also, I was admiring your top and trying to remember where I'd seen it before until halfway through the video 🤦♀️
That's right the top, where is it from? Of course. Well played.
"You always have the choice to take the more fulfilling road"
... damn
I recently started watching the series with my bf (we are at the 4th season) . He watched it alone till season 3. I was so shocked at first, and was a little bit angry bc he knows I am really sensible when it comes to tv shows. I needed a break after I watched her last episode. It feels so real and I am so invested in the stories of every character
So glad you did a video essay on Sarah Lynn
Waiting for Jerry.
Worth of things is subjective... in general most people have a large group of motives that carry similar perceived worth. I wouldn't call them purely social constructs as many of the urges predate society and even us as a species, but whenever one thinks of "the right choice" or the "right set of values" one has to remember they are subjective and character can look all sorts of ways and still be solid, interesting and even beautiful in a non conventional way.
The scene when bojack asked her to guest star broke my heart
I like to think that she heard what bojack said to her in the end
i honestly adore and can relate to her, i wish i that she got more screen time
plus im the oldest child so i can relate deeply to the don’t stop dancing bit, i always had to be the happy friendly face or else nobody wanted to be around me, and i had to give up my whole childhood for watching my siblings because my mom always worked and my step dad didn’t care, i had to cook, i dropped out of school to babysit, i had to be a parent for them, i had to give up my hobbies to watch them, i lost friends over this all while having to wear a smile on my face, i feel like i will never be able to stop dancing
Sarah Lynn story makes me legitimately want to cry . Truly tragic
UA-cam recommended me this video a few weeks back. I watched the show for the first time because of it. Holy hell, man.
personally I think "dont stop dancing" is a very relatable message, even if you're not in hollywood or show business. My family isn't exactly the best, i'm treated more like a dress up doll than a daughter. I play the loving daughter in public in front of others, whenever i try to express my feelings im screamed at, so i just smile and pretend i dont hate every moment around them.
dont stop dancing can be interpreted in a variety of ways, for me it means that people arent willing to accept who you really are. they want to accept who they THINK you really are. and no matter how much they claim they want your true self, you can't be honest if you want them to stay around. Not just applying to Hollywood, but to everyday people
I'm SO glad you did another one of these. Sarah Lynn rarely gets covered, but I see a bajillion videos analyzing Diane or Bojack- which at some point all that can be covered is covered. So I appreciate seeing some of the side-characters getting some anaylsis.
Honestly Sarah Lynn should've have a bigger role in the story IMO. With a character like both Todd and Mr Peanutbutter it felt oversatured in the goofy-side-kick department. Like the two could've merged or something. Todd being an outsider but we also had that perspective with Diane. Mr.Peanutbutter seemed "immune" from the Hollywoo perspective, so someone like Sarah Lynn being around more would've been more approriate. I get Mr.PB is a foil for Bojack and all that.. but in the end it didn't seem he contributed all too much or had an interesting story.
As much as I love Bojack as a series, I think some tweaking and tuning would've made the story more solid and concrete. Mostly being, the twist at the end having Bojack and all the bad things come crashing down around him - it should've been reinforced more. I.E. The Penny arc and everything around that wasn't communicated as well as it could've been. More focus on her friends suffering or having a brush with death, Bojack being more of an asshole. Or maybe he did entirely go thru with Penny's suggestions - leaving a bigger scar, since he slept with a minor. Sarah Lynn being more frequent in the story along with their complex relationship would've been nice too.
That way when they finally get to season 6 of "Bojack is absolutely horrible, look at all the bad stuff he did" it would hit even harder.
Tbh I would’ve liked to see an interaction between Sarah Lynn and PB. He would’ve been the father figure to her that BoJack should’ve been. And I don’t think that’s a bold claim either considering we never see adult versions of either Zoe or Zelda in the series, which shows that he at least understood boundaries.
Huh? Sarah Lynn is a fantastic character but her being in the more wouldn’t have really added anything her only being in a few episodes doesn’t lessen the impact of her character at all. Although they’re not my favorites Todd and mr.pb definitely do have they’re own narratives that contribute to the overall story (Sarah Lynn did too she was just in less episodes) also bojack actually sleeping with penny misses the point of that storyline entirely which was while bojack didn’t technically do anything “illegal” it was still morally wrong
@Saltine Cracker yes but the show still wanted us to be somewhat sympathetic towards bojack for other reasons so him actually crossing that line and going through it wouldn’t work with the rest of the show. Plus the moral wrongness of the action would be to obvious and up front it wouldn’t really challenge anything
Todd and PB are actually really nuanced.
Todd’s narrative didn’t get too much attention, but it was one of people pleasing, and how this can strain relationships. a friend to all is a friend to none. not to mention, his entire place in the show, at least the beginning, was such a big part of showing the damage bojack has done on a whole new level.
PB’s is one of an over-positive narcissist, and i’d argue it’s one of the most important to the show. he is a self-absorbed asshole who could never see that he was the problem (up until Mr. Peanutbutter’s Boos). His entire narrative with Diane was vital to the show and him having even a slightly smaller role completely destroys the impact of Diane’s and thus Bojack’s character. sure, his story wasn’t as obvious, but it was extremely nuanced, interesting, and objectively important to the show.
Sarah Lynn having a bigger role in the show would’ve negated a pretty big point of the character. There would be no reason for her to be there as often as the main characters. She was famous, far more so than Bojack, so she couldn’t be there anyways. Her being there, even if just to showcase bojack and sarah lynn’s relationship, ruins the character. not to mention, the relationship between them was explored deep enough. the inconsistency of them seeing each other and how they make each other spiral down whenever they do is also a big part of it. if she was always there, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be destructive towards each other, again, ruining both their characters.
bojack sleeping with penny removes all sympathy, it would make him 1d instead of a nuanced 3d character. the point of s6 wasn’t bojack is completely terrible and irredeemable, it was he fucked up but there is a way to make reparations. even after xerox of a xerox. should he have slept with penny, that wouldn’t be possible.
todd and pb have to be there as much as they were and play the roles in the show they did, sarah lynn couldn’t have been there more, everything bojack did had to happen the way it did for the show to end in a way that makes sense and keeps the show as amazing as it is. any tweaking and tuning you’re suggesting ruins the point of the show.
@@keeghan6480 also one big difference between Todd and PB is that PB seems to be pretty nihilistic despite being such a happy-go-lucky person
One tiny detail-when she goes through the door she turns around and falls backward. She doesn’t face it, she just lets it happen and doesn’t face the view “halfway down”
Everyone is a product of their environment AND you choose how to handle that.
“You’re not your damage” is something I needed to hear right now. Thank you.
Great to have you back on youtube, nice video as always :)
Don’t know how I ended up down this rabbit hole but wow I needed this today. Thank you! Definitely subscribing
So excited for this video to be released
Love this video and the character so much❤️
Also I don't know what it is but something about this video is different, but special
I very much support and appreciate everything you do
Hope you're well
this was a really meaningful video to me, thanks for making it