We Forgot About Butterscotch Horseman! (Bojack Horseman Video Essay)
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- Опубліковано 8 січ 2024
- Sad words, but a horse!
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I don't own Bojack Horseman or any of the clips or images used. All copyright belongs to the respective owners, I merely claim Fair Use for the purpose of criticism.
I think Butterscotch mainly exists so Bojack can also logically exist.
Beatrice's death utterly breaks Bojack, enough it got an entire episode dedicated to it.
Butterscotch's death is only addressed in a throwaway joke line.
You saying the creators never wanted him as a character?
@@errorx_x1063 More like they were required to have him so Bojack could be born.
Tbh I think they actually made him as a backstory for Beatrice. They could have easily made BoJacks’s father absentee. It wouldn’t be too far fetched to believe BoJack just never met his father for one reason or another and just have the dad never mentioned at all. But they wanted to go in a specific direction with Beatrice which includes an emotionally stunted husband.
Butterscotch is essentially the side character of a side character’s backstory.
Like he was offended that his novel was deemed as a failure that he challenged whoever thought it sucked. And when a random guy showed up to accept the challenge, they went with the classic “10 steps and shoot” duel. But Butterscotch got distracted by his pride, tripping on a root, and smashing his skull open with a rock.
Talk about “dying without dignity”
@PlanetZoidstar Of course ge was required to Bojack to be born, he is his dad
Honestly I think the fact we don’t know so much about him is the point of his character. All he wanted was to be remembered or achieve something but he never did because of all of his excuses or angry temper tantrums.
That’s his legacy and I think that’s brilliant.
Word!
“Of course I didn’t read his novel. Why would I give him that?”
My Headcannon is that Beatrice picked the gay polyamorous relationship just to spite Butterscotch.
Unlikely but funny to think about
@@alicianelson1252that should have been written in 😂
She’d only do it out of spite since her father was likely as anti gay as he was anti Jew because that was the standard back then and would’ve influenced her.
"Help the poor girl" seemed like him being manipulative more than him actually caring. He knows Beatrice can "make it go away," and he's always been good at playing at her emotions.
That's what I figured. Though, I figured Beatrice knew, but went along with because she saw herself in Henrietta.
That makes a lot of sense. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched this episode but it could be that Butterscotch knew she would ‘help.’ He knew he did the exact same thing to Henrietta that he did to Beatrice. Which makes the comment about him comparing both of them to his mother even worse. He knew he ruined Beatrice’s life. But, he didn’t care; he didn’t want another Bojack. So he used that agaisnt Beatrice to make her care about the situation. It’s emotional manipulation.
Also out of all the characters in a critically acclaimed tv show to have my name it has to be Bojack’s horrible mother.
@@YearinLou lol You also share a name with Maude's actress from All in the Family and she's a fucking icon :)
My parents were similar to Butterscotch and Beatrice. Fortunately my dad was a lot more intelligent and better educated, and more accomplished than Butterscotch. My mom didn’t let my dad fritter away her family’s money. My dad didn’t take any hand-outs nor jobs from in-laws (or anyone else), he made his own money.
But the emotional abuse and spiritual toxicity made things very unpleasant around our home. Speaking of which, my siblings and I had each other, despite our differences. My twin brother was especially a rock for me, as I was for him.
GREAT 👌 KITTY MONK 🐱 BOJACK HORSEMAN BUTTERSCOTCH TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE FATHER.
My parents were kind of like Beatrice and Butterscotch, my mom got involved with my dad because she hated how conservative and stuffy her family were, and ended up being miserable in an unhappy marriage. She was also a huge fan of The Color Purple (a movie about a black woman who has to face life in an abusive marriage). When I was kid, I remember my dad being controlling towards everyone around him, which led him emotionally abuse/neglect me and my siblings as well as my mom which ultimately led up to them divorcing each other. Unlike Beatrice, my mother never took her resentment and anger out on her children, in fact she was pretty much the polar opposite, trying to give us the happy childhood that she never had and at least one normal parent.
@@princenadroj9766Props to your Mom, then. 🙂👌.
Literally same
This horse deserves to be forgotten
I forgot we never saw his side of the family, we only saw the Sugarman's side.
@@alenasenie6928 that side should also be forgotten too!!!!
He's like... _beneath_ his son's contempt.
Made into glue.
@@princessmarlena1359 🤣🤣🤣 probably
I like the theory that Butterscotch's novel, titled "The Horse That Couldn't Be Broken", is actually about BoJack. But because of how terrible Butterscotch was to BoJack, he refuses to read his dad's book!
It really hammers home the show's point. You can't make up for constantly being terrible with one big gesture. You need to BE BETTER!
... Honestly, I doubt it. If anything it probably was a book about himself. If he had any ability to think about anyone, he wouldn't keep sleeping around on his wife especially, since he had a hand in Hollyhock's creation.
Nope, it's most likely a semi-biography about himself and his struggles.
@@seeleunit2000 Maybe "horse" is an innuendo for his privates. Since after all the times he cheated on his wife, his "horse" still wasn't broken! Wouldn't put it past him.
I'm thinking of Randy Marsh parading his "horse" around on OnlyFans 🤣
reminds me of my boyfriend's saying "don't be sorry, BE BETTER!"
Hah, a selfish prick like Butterscotch write about his son?
He doesn't care enough about bojack to do that. He has no love for his son, he probably didn't know how to love.
All honesty, I kinda _like_ that he's such a nonentity... cause it feels emblematic of how Bojack sees him as being beneath contempt. LIke, it'd be nice to see some deep dives on him the way we looked at Beatrice, but I like it from that view.
I feel like he's straightforward what a shit back he is, whereas Beatrice is layered.
I find it hilarious that the Butterscotch/secretary scene completely confirms the animal people are anatomically correct.
Gross!
But it's definitely correct. I'll never forget one time at the zoo, when an elephant suddenly grew a 6 foot...Colossal Titan, and urinated a river!
Fear
Food for the furries
@@viccolasvic9461As a furry, imma have to politely decline this one.
@@cardemis7637 Okay but what about Mr. Peanutbutter smash or pass?
So Butterscotch was willing to pay for the cab ride to the abortion clinic. Bojack was a little better, being willing to pay for half of the abortion. So at least Bojack is a slightly better man than his father.
They are both cowards
Both are still crap whatsoever
You know, I think there could have been a spin-off regarding the women that Bojack paid to get abortions. What if those women chose not to do that.
BoJack is a millionaire bruh😭 ofc he will pay half of the abortion.
Infact if you think about it, it's worse for BoJack to pay only half when he can afford it fully, unlike butterscotch who was willing to pay the cap ride fully
I think Butterscotch is supposed to be a non-entity in the life of his son. That's the point. The guy never really gave a crap about Bojack and wasn't that involved in Bojack's life.
Butterscotch thought of himself as an intellectual and Beatnick opposite to the mainstream.
But in reality he was as much of a bigoted, very conservativ, misogynistic jerkass who can't take any personal responsibility for his actions.
That's who he is. He's pretty much later seasons Brian Griffin. He most likely begged his wife to handle Henrietta because he was too cowardly to just go do it.
It's not like it's that out of character. As much as it would have been `ideal' to see more of his backstory or how he could have been handed, yet the point is that the Bojack Horseman show is all about showing the realistic consequences of your actions and Sitcom tropes.
Like Bojack told Diane: "Closure is a made up concept created by Spielberg to sell movie tickets."
Plus, in regards to how Butterscotch & Bojack handle how they found out they impregnate a woman. Butterscotch will do anything to avoid having to deal with the situation in anyway.
While Bojack can acknowledge that he got someone pregnant, give her cash for the abortion and stay out of the woman's life.
Butterscotch was a selfish, distance, uncaring, womanizer who was never a good person, father, or husband.
Nah, that's still a crap move on bojack and especially to do it over and over again makes me show abortion is just convent for men
@@92JazzQueenthe fact that *women* have a choice on what *they* can do with their *own* bodies… is convenient for men? Sounds like you are centering men wayyy too much lol
@@92JazzQueen
Well yeah, Bojack still sucks. Abortions are alright, but it can be a lot for the person getting the abortion. Bojack should have been there for the women he slept with, but the point is that he is an asshole. But somehow is better than his father XD
@@92JazzQueen Abortion isn't just convenient for men. It literally saves hundreds of women's lives.
@@92JazzQueen right just for men and not for the womenn who think they are the center of world and wants no child to sliw them down
Butter scotch is one of the reasons why i will always be sad about bojack getting cancelled,i was always so interested about his and Beatrice's story
It didn't get cancelled, it just ended
@@pinkbubblesnake there was going to be a season 7
@@pinkbubblesnakeIt actually was meant to go on longer, they just had to end it because of Netflix canceling it.
@@treystewart731and big mouth is still on despite never meeting a single fan of that show online or irl
@@pinkbubblesnake there was supposed to be one more season but Netflix cancelled it and offered them a longer season to finish it off. They didn't wrap it up how they wanted but did good as they could.
It's kind of cathartic that Bojack and Butterscotch have the same voice actor. Maybe it's because the flashbacks are directly from Bojack's memory on his point of view and he can't remember his father's voice, so he covers it up with his own voice, like in the show "Tear Along the Dotted Line".
But Beatrice remembered Butterscotch having that same voice, and Beatrice had enough interactions with Butterscotch to remember what he sounded like. I think Bojack and Butterscotch being both voiced by Will Arnett is just to convey the idea that they’re Like Father, Like Son, both are assholes who doesn’t take accountability and wanted to be remembered as a great talent
In my head cannon butterscotch is rarely mentioned because he is an absentee father. What I mean by this is a father doesn’t necessarily need to walk out on a kid to not be present in their life or to just kinda push them aside and make them feel unloved. This is butterscotch. Bojack always seeks a connection with him but he never got it and the show represents it by not flushing him out like other characters who played a bigger role in bojacks life. The show represents his distance from bojack by not developing him.
I think more focus is given to Beatrice than an even amount between her and Butterscotch because there's a part of Bojack that feels bad for his mom. With Butterscotch, there's nothing to feel bad about. When Bojack has his hallucination in the final season, Beatrice is there in her prime, but Butterscotch is a fusion of himself and Secretariat. Even though Butterscotch caused lasting trauma on Bojack, he either repressed him super hard or just stopped thinking about him once he left the house. Bojack is haunted by Beatrice because he can't understand how they both suffered from Butterscotch and yet she was still so cold and abusive towards him.
9:53 actually adoption was very much a thing then, it just looked a lot different than it does today. If Beatrice had been younger, too young to marry, her family would have had her sent to the countryside to stay with an "aunt" which was really a ranch for pregnant teens. The teen mother had no say in what happens to her or the baby and usually the baby is adopted to a couple/family that wants children. The whole thing would resemble the scene where Henrietta gives birth and Beatrice won't even let her see the baby.
But being an adult and of age to marry, the preferred solution of the time was for her to get married right away, either to the baby-daddy or I wouldn't have put it past Beatrice to try to get the goat guy to marry her and pass off the baby as his...
[The scene where she projectile vomits right into his face and he goat screams - pure gold]
11:33 Butterscotch was basically that time period's version of today's person whose only aspirations in life surround somehow being famous. He chases a romanticized dream but won't accept any of the responsibility and doesn't want to do the work necessary to be like the people he idolizes. He's too wrapped up in narcissistic pursuits to ever make meaningful changes and growth in his life. Even if he hadn't gotten together with Beatrice, he never would have succeeded.
Coax it out of my sheath will forever be the MOST CURSED LINE IVE EVER HAD TO HEAR
Bojack and these episodes should be a good ad for using birth control and condoms. Safe sex saves lives
Or celibacy
@@92JazzQueen R*pe exist.
Or both
Butterscotch always striked me as an absentee parent, always working at the office (and having affiars with the secretaries) hence why Bojack doesn't think much about him.
Meanwhile, Beatrice was a constant in Bojack's life since she was always at home, obligated to care for Bojack (by care i mean emotionally and psychologically abuse Bojack whenever she had the chance).
It honestly reminds me of my father's relationship with his parents, but it was the otherway around. His father was more in his life than his mother, hence why he showed more emotion to his dad dying compared to his mother dying.
In BoJack's dinner party dream, Butterscotch doesn't appear as himself. But you know who does? Crackerjack. BoJack's uncle who died long before he was even born.
Butterscotch doesn’t tell Beatrice to be nicer to Henrietta because he softened with age it’s because he has a crush on her and wants to defend the girl he’s into now
She literally says that in the video...
@@hopelessclown I heard her say he got nicer with age
@bimbodoki yeah but he seemed to have a soft spot for Henrietta. Or a hard spot as well
@@bimbodokiI didn't hear that. And considering he asked his wife to tell the woman he was sleeping with, who became pregnant with his child, to handle the situation because he didn't want to take care of another kid ? I doubt he was ever kind.
@@juliahornback2843... Not really considering what he did. Butterscotch never cares for anyone except himself.
How fitting that despite his lifelong attempts at recognition, Butterscotch ultimately amounted to nothing more than a background character, a footnote in someone else's trauma
Indeed.
I feel like Beatrice is a pretty horse sounding name. One of those names that can be human or pet tbh
Remember that the last episode merged Butterscotch and you know who. That's how important he was to Bojack. Barely a factor for him.
Yeah, basically a celebrity athlete that he only knew from TV was a bigger father-figure to him than his own father.
5:42 It's also possible that he didn't lied to Henrietta either. While visually you can see that Hollyhock has a brown mane, like Henrietta's hair, we don't know why her fur was brown. Bojack has brown fur from Beatrice's side of the family (he takes after his late uncle Crackerjack). So, when Butterscotch told Henrietta that his mother also had brown hair, maybe he was referring to her fur.
If this is true, then it's tragic that Hollyhock takes so much after her paternal grandmother and yet, she was the child that Butterscotch wanted less and never bothered to meet (I mean, he was alive when Hollyhock was born and didn't cared that she went to an orphanage, that's really sad).
I don’t think it’s implied that he lied to her. I think it’s just acknowledging that he used the same story on her as he did Beatrice bc it works.
I mean dosent Holyhock have a diamond too? She's not related to Beatrice so it's butterscotch. I think he actually was attached to women who remind him of his mother, he never knew her so it's not too abnormal
I feel like if season six had been two full seasons (season six and season seven) we would have gotten more closure on BoJack's relationship with Butterscotch. But I think it's okay that we don't, too. In the sixties and seventies, fathers weren't as hands-on or as involved with their kids as they are now. I like the idea that Secretariat/Butterscotch's speech about how he cared so much and he was so afraid that BoJack would know that is what BoJack wishes his father would say - some part of BoJack, the stupidest goddamn part of him, still wants to salvage something about his relationship with his father. Still wants some explanation other than "he was an abusive asshole who never wanted me" for Butterscotch's behaviour.
I doubt it. “Closure is a made up thing,” remember?
While the way she went about it is bad, I think Beatrice trying to tell Henrietta to not let Butterscotch steal her life away was her honestly showing compassion. She knows exactly what a life of being an unexpected mother to one of his children entails and she doesn’t want to see him ruin another woman’s goals.
While I agree with you, Henrietta is by no means blameless: she still *knowingly* slept with a married (horse)man, then she had the steel nerves to go crying to _his wife_ for help! Beatrice could have, rightly, told Henrietta to jog on and fired her. But what did she do instead? Offered her a chance to make a new life.
It doesn’t change the fact Beatrice was still an awful-AWFUL woman (due to her own terrible parents), but she could have been WAY nastier about it
@@LadyLeomonExactly. That's what I have been saying. And people gloss over that. Thank you !
Why does no one ever brings that up ?
@@seeleunit2000 my best guess? Because by this point we had spent however many episodes it was thinking Hollyhock was *Bojack’s daughter* and feeling sorry for her because Bojack is, by his own admission, a crappy person who had no clue who her mother was. Now this was proven not to be his fault when he figured out she was his sister, but then it became a case of “Beatrice is the reason Hollyhock didn’t know her mother!” so people latched on to that, as well as her being a terrible mother, while conveniently forgetting that if Hollyhock is the daughter of Butterscotch then she was born during their marriage (and I still think he’s the worst POS in this scenario because of how he begged Beatrice to “think of the poor girl”)
Again Henrietta is NOT blameless, a hoe who is training to be a nurse is still a hoe, oddly enough the least guilty party here was Beatrice herself. She could have ruined Henrietta, given the time period being an unwed single mother was the height of scandal, but instead she chose to help her husband’s mistress and give her the chance of a better life. But wouldn’t you know it, we were denied seeing how that panned out beyond “she became a nurse” and the only thing that irks me more than that plothole is Henrietta herself!
Again Beatrice is not a good mother, but she was way more decent than she should have been given the situation
Wendy Malick deserved an Emmy for that performance
The four "Horseman" family members, intentionally or not, represent the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Pestilence, War, Famine and Death.
BoJack = Pestilence
Pestilence is a fancy way of saying disease. BoJack has a notoriously unhealthy lifestyle. He's poisoned himself (and Sarah Lynn) with decades of alcohol and drug abuse, his diet is garbage and he's joked about having sexual diseases. Even though BoJack gets sober in Season 6, I can definitely see him suffering long-term health issues from everything.
Butterscotch = War
Even though Butterscotch doesn't fight in any actual war, he's known for bring fuelled by anger and bitterness. He dies rather unceremoniously in a duel, against someone who criticised his novel. He was willing to literally shoot someone over his novel.
Hollyhock = Famine
This is kind of inverted, as she's basically the opposite of famine. She has 8 loving dads who give her the world, and is conscious about her weight. Fitting that she wasn't raised by the Horseman family, and she inverts her respective Horseman of the Apocalypse. Even more fitting that when Beatrice comes along, she drugs her with diet pills. This causes rapid weight loss, like with a famine. Speaking of Beatrice...
Beatrice = Death
Beatrice lives a long life. But a life plagued with trauma, which leaves her as an empty husk. As a child, she loses her brother, her mother and her baby doll in a short space of time. All she has is her disgusting father, who's positioned in fire as if it's the flames of hell. She's then trapped in a loveless marriage and can't even bring herself to love her own child, as a result of her childhood trauma. She gets an entire episode dedicated to her eulogy (at the wrong funeral though!). And in her performance at the 'dinner party', Herb comments that the exit is the easiest part. Suggesting that with Beatrice's life, death was actually a mercy.
I've over-thought this a lot. It's a lot like the theory that the characters in Spongebob (and Death Note!) represent the Seven Deadly Sins. But I still think it's a cool coincidence!
Bro not everything needs to be a representation of 7 deadly sins or horsemen of apocalypse, get some new material
@@purplebruh947Ultra level hater
Cool
@@purplebruh947wanna hate on something? Go to SSSniperwolf hate groups instead.
@@purplebruh947 Ah yes because how dare people find patterns in media right? not like that's usually the purpose of media .-.
I had to read A Doll's House in high school (it was either freshman or sophomore year). Either I just skimmed the story because I was a lazy teenager or I genuinely didn't understand the complexity of it. Hearing the synopsis of it makes me want to revisit it.
It's a pretty feminist play, something I'd expect to come out today and made into a "Barbie movie" type show out. When I read it I was actually surprised it was that old but all Henrik Ibsen books evoke that feeling in me especially _The Enemy of the People._
@availanila bro is the Barbie movie even comparable?
I think not giving him any screen time was completely on purpose. All Butterscotch wanted was to be in the spotlight with his novel, and do something he would be remembered for. Even his death wasn't dealt with like Beatrice's because that'll be his legacy. It also highlights how Bojack did something his dad could never do: be known by all, and it was all for his mother's attention both consciously and unconsciously.
Do... people still take that line about Butterscotch's mother at face value? Am I the only one who gets that it's a pickup line? "I'm so wounded and tortured. Because of dead mom. She had (feature) that looked like yours, I saw it in a picture once".
Also from the way Beatrice related it verbatim, it's pretty clear this is a recycled phrase. One he used on her.
I always interpreted it as both - because of Hollyhock. She has both a white diamond and Henrietta’s hair, which makes me think, while it was DEFINITELY a pickup line, he wasn’t just lying about it either.
He wasn't lying about the diamond on her head since Hollyhock has it. Was it a pick up line? Absolutely. But one with some truth.
Yeah no duh. Kitty monk is top charitable to him
As harsh and unfair as Beatrice was with the Henrietta situation, I think she did ultimately end up making the right call for the sake of Henrietta and Hollyhock. We've seen repeatedly that Butterscotch has streak of malicious and narcissistic behavior and from people like this, they don't learn or take responsibility for what they do to people around them. The damage Butterscotch causes is cyclical and in all likelihood, Henrietta & Hollyhock would have been trapped in it the same way Beatrice & Bojack were. Even if Butterscotch had no immediate intention of being involved in Hollyhock's life, it's still very much the repeating pattern Beatrice found herself in and with narcissists, they're so manipulative that often the only way out is a hard cutoff. They both needed to be ripped violently out of Butterscotch's orbit to live normal, happy lives. And in the end, Hollyhock got a loving family but wound up physically and emotionally damaged when she came into the Horseman orbit on her own.
Beatrice is many things, but I'm going to be blunt. Beatrice was within her rights to not help Henrietta. She was an adult woman who slept with Butterscotch and decided to keep the baby (until Beatrice convinces Henrietta to give Hollyhock up for adoption).
While Butterscotch isn't free of blame, Henrietta still willing slept with a married man who she was working for.
Beatrice could have be a hell of a lot more vindictive and left Henrietta and her unborn baby out to dry, yet she just fires Henrietta and offers to pay for her Nursing courses.
Beatrice definitely isn't a saint, but she did something less destructive for someone else.
Just the fact she saved Henrietta for being a single mom in that age, from a child everyone would know she had with her boss making her also receive the label of homewrecker she moved mountains for this situation end the best way possible for Henrietta and this not even going how she still continued paying for her college even after she betrayed her trust multiple times.
Yes what Beatrice did was evil, but she saved Henrietta and gave her a good future and stability, things that she wouldn't ever have if she had stayed with Hollyhock, and this not even going how Hollyhock would probably be a bundle of trauma because she would grow in misery and being shunned just for existing.
With all due respect, I think you're missing the point of Butterscotch's role in the series. He is a classic "absent father," a man who was raised in a society where taking care of kids is a woman's job only, and fathers exist just to feed the family and sometimes teach their kids some sort of valuable lesson. Obviously why most of Bojack's trauma is related to Beatrice, he just spent more time with her while growing up. Because in the minds of people like Beatrice and Butterscotch, when the baby is crying, it's okay for the father to leave, but the mother is the one who has to take care of everything.
Show didn't forget about Butterscotch, it just didn't need to give him any kind of depth. He is a shitty father, shitty husband with shitty beliefs. And unlike Beatrice who at least attempted to connect in some way with Bojack (in her own ugly way, but at least that's something), Butterscotch never done such thing. Imo this series perfectly criticizes this approach in parenting, and Butterscotch doesn't need a deeper purpose than this
Thank you ! I've been saying that from the jump. Some explanations are just simple. Butterscotch was a crap person, a bad writer, and he died a dumb death
I think Butterscotch barely being present in any scenes really hammers the point that he wasn't part of Bojacks life at all, instead choosing to lock himself in his office all the time, pushing everyone away with a novel he could never get anyone to read. In the past the writers have mentioned that they thought out many aspects of the show that most would kinda gloss over because it's not something you really think about, especially in a cartoon. Butterscotch may be one of those things, since we're watching things transpire through Bojack's life we just don't see the characters that were'nt apart of his life for very long. I mean, even when Bojack was drowning he imagined his dad as someone he felt held the "dad" title more. He knows Butterscotch is his dad but deep down he never had that connection, and instead connected with that tv celebrity as a child. So it would make sense that Butterscotch isn't there most of the time since he literally wasn't there. It also speaks about Butterscotch's character and makes me wonder if he was treated the same if not worse as a child but we as the audience will never know because Bojack probably doesn't know anything about his dad and doesn't care to know as an adult.
I see it that he was absent almost completely from his sons life. Always working and ignoring his son or away.
In the pool episode he’s replaced by secretariat as bojacks dad. I think that detail speaks to his lack of presence being intentional
I did not thought about the fact we only really see his mother's side of the family, interestingly that means he only sees his mother's side as nocive, because at some point he says that is good that his family tree ends with him, I think he says uncle as a close family friend.
i just want to hug baby bojack i feel so bad for him
They were all drowning together.
I think butterscotches voice is like that in Beatrice’s dementia memories because it’s trying to say that bojack practically is butterscotch
I think Butterscotch did have some care for Bojack but most of that pushed down with what he sees Bojack as, the reason his life was ruined as not true as that is. One scene I always point to for this is when he actually gave Bojack some good advice about not relying on other people instead of yourself
10:34, I noticed that Butterscotch just refers to Bojack as “The Child”/“The Baby” and not his name.
The reason you don't see a lot of Butterscotch, in my opinion, is to highlight how often he *wasn't* present in Bojacks life. When he was around he was an awful piece of shit, but generally just wanted to be left alone to do *whatever he wanted*
I think they did this just to show how absent he was in Bojack's life,. So now we know, as the audience, just as much as he does about Butterscotch Horseman.
I have a small idea about Butterscotch's childhood.
He didnt mention about who his dad is, or even if he had a dad. His mother could've been selling away her body before she died. Proabably as a kid, he went and avoided being responsible for any of his actions and bullied girls that Girls should always follow the men and do their wifely chores. But sonewhere around his teen years, he was interested in books and novels (getting the idea of becoming a writer) But he did so bad at school that he didn't go to a different school or college. Butterscotch now alone would develop to be the man who he is, Always getting into a woman's pants, thinking he is a better writer, being abusive to his son and not taking responsibility.
But thats my theory.
I'm excited to see you cover more on Butterscotch! Curious about your full take on his character for sure, can't wait!
I think the writers might have intended for us not to see bojacks dad much, because even though he lived with bojack through his childhood, bojack didn't see him much either.
I think is okay that the show didn't go deep into him as a character, not every character needs a deepdive into their past to be memorable. It makes sense that Beatrice is portrayed as the "main source of trauma" in some way, Butterscotch was clearly neglecful and abusive, but he probably didn't interacted that munch with Bojack compared to Beatrice, since mothers back then handled most of the childcare.
Plus, everything we know about him comes from flashbacks, from Beatrice and Bojacks perspectives, it makes complete sence that Butterscotch wouldn't open up with them about his family or trauma, if he had any. He clearly resented Beatrice for "babytraping him" (in his mind probably) and didn't care about Bojack, so why would he talk to them about his past? (i doubt Bea would even ask him). I am also sure that he died like, really early in the show, so we never have the chance to have an episode from his perspective.
12:57
I actually wondered about that.
Since Beatrice is a heiress (i.e comes from old money/ a family of means) I would've imagined she would've been given an allowance or a trustfund to support herself.
Only explanation I can think is that Joseph cut off Beatrice entirely for disobeying him and eloping with Butterscotch and this was her punishment.
Also, even if Beatrice did have a trustfund to allow her to live some semblance of her old life, Butterscotch would've probably found other ways to resent her and blame her for his writing not gaining traction (since Butterscotch strikes me as very old fashioned in terms of gender roles, Beatrice would've technically been the primary breadwinner which would've made Butterscotch feel emasculated)
With how distant we see butterscotch in all the flashbacks, I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason we learn little about him is because bojack doesn’t know much about him, at no point does the show make us feel like butterscotch would’ve ever told bojack about his past, so why would the viewer know? Whereas with Beatrice we do get a sense that she spoke about her life, maybe not always directly to bojack but likely around him to her friends
Yeah, I think that the little we know about his life is exactly how BoJack knows, so, it wouldn't make sense watching his backstory, it would just remind how egocentric and stupid he is (but at least we would know if this is a generation trauma or another explanation for his behaviour)!
They need to do a miniseries centered around Hollyhock, to help tie-up lose ends with both BoJack & Butterscotch Horseman.
Oh if only Butterscotch could meet Brian Griffin.
They legit would hate one another because of how much alike they are. Narcissists and egotists do not get along, especially with each other
Honestly, I think his father not being relevant to most of the show works.
Sometimes people just don't interact with their parents. Not in a dramatic way where they cut all contact and get a restraining order, but they don't invite their parents to anything, they don't talk, and they barely feel it when they die.
That is cutting all contact from a family member.
@@seeleunit2000 I mean like, officially.
Fun Fact: One of my classmates in college wrote a sequel to A Doll's House where Torvald has to learn how badly he fucked up. Nora leaves Torvald at the start and never comes back, he never gets that reward.
I think Butterscotch was one of those people who talk about how much of a writer they are, but never really wrote. Not an attack on anyone, just I've met people who do not wrote and instead just info dump you their stories, but never really write it down or try working on it.
The tragedy of Butterscotch and Beatrice is that they still could've made it and be better. No one told them they don't have to cling so hard to what society told them to do. And even if someone had, their ego would'nt let them let go and move on.
Churry!
I have this theory that Butterscotch also had an abusive father, and after his mother died, he was left with him, and he became who is now
Seeing that Bojack and Butterscotch have the same voice I don't think he was forgotten during the series. He literally embraced the same 'voice' as his father. Unfortunately,he was always present 😢
Embarrassed ? You mean has the same voice as Butterscotch, right?
@@seeleunit2000 typo😂
@@cheekyguza Fair point.
Also Beatrice I love her va as is Wendie Malick known as eda the owl lady or as the dean/principal of the college from young Sheldon didn’t know it until I heard it
Honestly, forgetting him seems appropriate.
He thought so much of himself, but he's so, so small.
Butterscotch really was the Leanne to Beatrice's Hoyt Platter. How ironic, with the gender roles swapped. Both were unintended couples that became a thing due to their impulses, and both ruined their intended engagements that theoretically were better for them in the long run. And due to their clashing chemistry, brought out the worst in each other and had miserable lives.
... Not really. The only things Hoyt and Leanne Platter and Bojack's parents have in common is that they are abusive parents.
Hoyt is a habitual liar who'd sell his mom for cents on the Dollar and Leanne is a ex-con who stabs people with forks & is a mean drunk who, manipulated her daughter into indulging her bad behavior.
Bojack's parents don't have much in common with those characters in any capacity, especially gender inversion.
Besides having a mom complex, me personally, I think butterscotch was a closeted bi sexual. That car scene with Bojack talking about pearls was oddly specific.
Or he was a closet crossdresser.
Scotch is an example of someone being the instigator of their own failures. Even if people said he was a bad writer that alone wouldn’t stop him from becoming a good one if he applied himself and learned to improve but he was so convinced he was already something special and high off the idea of greatness that he disregarded or lashed out at anything that would question that perceived idea of the next great American author he held dear. He chose to ignore anything and everything that could’ve helped him and ended up as no named as when Beatrice first met him.
Just want to point out that Ibsen was not a radical or super feminist. He did the bare minimum which at the time was slightly radical but even he had quite a few backwards and misogynistic ideals.
bojack´s father is a clreary example that a man who hates his marrieged, but he never divorced about her, because of the statuos that being with her brings to him. And let´s not forget that he was sexual predator, wich explain a lot of the sexual abuses that bojack comites later.
This was probably said already, but Butterscotch wanting Bojack to promote his book could have been a slight parallel to Bojack asking Sara Lynn to be a part of/promote the Bojack Horseman Show.
Tbh, I genuently feel like Butterscotch is a walking missed oportinity. I whouod love to see him freak out over Bojacks books success. Although knowing Buttersotch, he might have took it violently. While also showing their aproach to creativity and book writing.
Speaking of whitch, I genuently feel like by watching Bojack we can get a good idea of how Butterscotch wrote his novel. Bojacks main struggle in writing is not just lack of knowledge on structure of books or narrative, and lack of concentration, but also inability to write about himself truthfully with flaws. Sinse Butterscotch wrote from his experience about himself, perhaps he struggled with it too, even if he was more literate.
Butterscotch's absence from the most of the narrative reminds me of that one Fran Bow quote: "Daddy was not there, Mommy would not care."
(Really recommend Fran Bow! Wonderful game)
I feel like Butterscotch isn't really mentioned because Bojack ended up not caring about him in the future. He never read his book, he does not reference his dad nearly as much as his mom, and we only hear about his death in a joke throw away line. I think this is because Butterscotch tried so hard to be remembered and to be something. He dedicated his whole life to writing his novel and trying to defend his "craft" and Bojacks lack of care about it shows that it amounted to absolutely nothing. He's not remembered, he's hardly remembered by his own son. His neglect to his son, the hours dedicated to his novel? it meant absolutely nothing. Not even to his own family, and that's how it should be. He didn't deserve recognition, and he never got it throughout the length of the show.
Churry.
Btw it honestly was pretty a bit of a legit suprise how so well conveying of the admittedly wide array of emotions that was really hard hitting in the sense that it feels.. intense or heavy in that its fery precise to the point and not vague or hard to understand, which ftw is a good thing.
I love how everyone has names that correspond to their animal side. Like Mr Peanut Butter and Pickles for dogs, Princess Caroline for a cat, Bojack and Butterscotch and Hollyhock etc. One of my favorite tidbits of the world they live in
Honestly sons even with abusive moms are more likely to cling to their mother than their father
I saw a theory somewhere that Butterscotch committed suicide after the affair with Henrietta and Beatrice lied to Bojck about dying in a duel either to protect their family from shame and stigma or because of some sort of internalized regret and im going to take it a step further and say that subconsciously Bojack understand the subtext of the bullshit duel story but never managed to unpack what that meant, be it that he couldn't handle his father's death as a tragedy and humanizing whatever agony Butterscotch was in before deciding to end it, but finally coming into symbolic fruition when Bojck himself was dying from his suicide overdose attempth and his father appeard to him as a mashup between Butterscotch and Secretariat. Even his conversation about regrets and life seem to reflect this theory.
... He was too much of a prideful sack of burning trash to do that. So, it's doubtful Butterscotch would do that or that Beatrice would cover it up. She'd probably celebrate over her husband ending his own life, however that didn't happen.
Fan theories, while sometimes interesting, can kinda miss the point of a simple conclusion.
Butterscotch died as he lived, doing something stupid and unable to get out of his own way
Butterscotch was just as incompetent as he needed to be in order to not counteract any of Beatrice's bad upbringing and to give bojack a bad example. Totally agree with your statement about talking about Beatrice a lot
Butterscotch was kinda forgotten probably cuz he was an absent father and BoJack doesn't have many memories of him. He was rarely in his life. emotionally nor physically
I can't forget him because I live close to where he tripped over an exposed root and died
Butterscotch reminds me of Holden Caufield
Hi everyone how is your week going so far.
it's going well. what abt yours? :)
@@randomlesbian28 Tired just got home from work.
Churry, but I am more trying to understand what the title means.
Typo! Sorry lol
EXCELLENT WORK. KITTY MONK 🐱 LOL.
It's all good XD, I was just confused. At first I thought the video was claiming "No one talks about Bo-Jack anymore!" and I was like, "My friend won't shut up about Bo-Jack still."@@KittyMonk
I wish I lived in a timeline where Netflix continued Bojack and extra season or two because I feel like Butterscotch and his involvement with the Horseman generational trauma was unexplored, like, Bojack never even read his book. It would be interesting to see life through Butterscotch’s eyes, and why his book was so meaningful to him, which led to his stupid death.
9:33 Beatrice isn't refusing to do this for those reasons you first mentioned. It's definitely the trauma of both of her parents. And she equates dolls to babies later, too, considering Hollyhock and the doll she has when she's old.
You know both of these people could be happy if they let go of this mindset they had to be together. By the 80s divorce was becoming more common and golden girls showed older people could have a chance at love so in my opinion no one else could want them is an excuse they wallow in bad decisions to feel pity for themselves instead of moving and letting go. And you know what yeah having anuexpected child derails your life but these people are cowards who may not realize that sometimes you need to change with life and not let it bitter you. Sometimes what you wanted may not be ehat you.need and have to just adjust
I reacted very normally to Philippe being mentioned for like a second to make a historical reference.
9:30 Beatrice's rich. I bet if she told her father, he would found a way get the abortion and or at least send her away under the guise of school or something else. Joseph had money to threw such an expensive ball. I bet he had some to spare to save his daughter from social ruin and save a potential merger with the Creamermans.
Joseph Horseman lobotomized his own wife and implied he'd do the same to Beatrice.
He spent money on a Ball for his daughter with the purpose to marry her off to another wealthy man.
What makes you think he'd spend money on an abortion for his then unwed daughter ?
Nope, that wouldn't happen. Beatrice becoming pregnant and marrying Butterscotch was less of a social disaster than Beatrice being pregnant, unmarried and coming to him for cash for an abortion.
If she had done what you recommended do you know fast Beatrice would have been disowned or worse ? Like receiving an abortion and a lobotomy ?
Yeah, nope. Joseph Horseman wouldn't be that progressive minded.
You think her dad, especially in that Era, is gonna approve of an abortion?
@seeleunit2000 abortion isn't progressive I think joseph would get behind it for self serving reasons.
The “THAANNKK YYOOOUUU” scene has always made my skin crawl. I will literally skip it. Lol I think it’s just that they’re in a car and there’s no where he can go. I hate that shit. This was a great video.
Forgot about him so bad you even forgot to put the letter "e" in your thumbnail
I think the reason the show doesn’t show a lot of him because Bojack doesn’t have a lot to say about him. He can (justifiably) complain and talk bad about his mom because she was in his life more and made him broken. She’s more responsible for him being a bad person but Butterscotch was just cruel and Bojack pushed him out of his mind not caring about him. Speaking from my own experience I didn’t talk about my dads faults near as much as my mom
i think its a good thing they did not show much of BoJack's father since it emphasize Butterscotch not being around BoJack often, especially works well at the end when butterscotch was replaced by the horse Bojack really look up to as his idol, or father figure.
I think us not knowing much of anything about Butterscotch has two main points.
1) The man wanted so bad to be remembered, but spent his life being bitter and sad and refusing to grow as an artist and thus is forgotten. He wouldn't even be remembered for the way he died because it was so stupid.
2) Bojack and Butterscotch had no real relationship. He was an NPC father, present but not really there and not active within his son's life.
Exactly.
I think Butterscotch is underdeveloped because the show is from Bojack’s perspective. Butterscotch was absent and distant and Bojack didn’t really know him, so neither do we
Or the fact of the matter is that Butterscotch was just terrible. He was an absentee father who didn't care about his wife or son and was always cheating on his spouse.
He was a failed novelist and died in a dumb way. Sometimes, some explanations are pretty simple. And that some people are crappy
Another thing that’s sad is it’s plausible scotch did care about bojack(even if it was the bare minimum or more accurately slightly above zero) but his loathing for the world and self pity meant he couldn’t see bojack much differently than how Beatrice saw him.
Churry! I'm so excited!!!
*me who talks to myself for all my skits* what’s wrong with doing stuff by talking to yourself?
Wow! I’m early! I love the BoJack content ◡̈!!
Churry!!
anyways im starting to watch bojack horseman and im really interested in it so these video essays are chef kiss for me
I thought that the names were, y’know, horse names.
16:00 the only Henrietta I know is an old coach and her engine is like a husband to her. Don't question I see them as a married couple
As someone who is watching Bojack Horseman, and learning about Butterscotch from other reviews… while I can understand some people’s disappointment for not learning much about Bojacks’ dad… I like to think that was intentional. Let’s not forget, the writers of Bojack Horseman are quite clever, nothing is done by accident. So I’d like to believe that there was a reason for why they never got into Butterscotch as a character. There is a reason for why Bojack has a relationship with his mom, rather than his dad. Butterscotch was the working horse, we have to remember that Bojack was born during the time when women would usually stay home with the kids while the father’s were out at work. Either Butterscotch was working at the Sugarman's mill or he was in his study writing his ‘novel’. So, it’s safe to assume he didn’t spend much time with Bojack growing up. Any moments we do see of Butterscotch with Bojack are usually abusive either physically or emotionally. So it’s safe to say that Bojack never valued his father due to that, and why he only wanted his mother’s approval and love, since Beatrice was the caregiver for Bojack. Yeah, she wasn’t as loving to Bojack either, but at least she was there.
I also see people talking about how disappointed that there wasn’t even a backstory to Butterscotch to see how he became the person he was, but again, I think that is intentional. While most of the character’s do have a backstory, they are sad because it helps to explain the issues they have in terms of their flaws and insecurities. Diane with her family, Todd with his mom, Princess Caryolyn with her mother, Beatrice with her family. But most of those backstories are sad and have some kind of abuse to them, hence why they are shown. I personally think the reason why they show only the bad backstories is because, much like how in most media, we only care for broken characters if they have a tragic development, which helps us to understand and sympathize with them. It’s a troupe that is used in a lot of media. And consider that Bojack Horseman likes to play on such troupes and controversies in real life and in tv shows… That could explain why Butterscotch’s story was never revealed.
My personal theory is that Butterscotch never had a sad upbringing, I think he had quite the opposite. I’ve seen many reddit posts where some siblings talk about “the golden child” and I believe that is what Butterscotch was! Unlike the other characters, Butterscotch was most likely some kind of golden child from his parents, who believed he could do no wrong and that he would be destined for greatness. This could be why he was adamant on making Beatrice get an abortion, because he didn’t want to deal with the consequences of his actions, since he’s so used to getting away with it. It would also explain why he’s so prideful and can do no wrong, because again, he was raised that everything he did was enough. Maybe that’s also why he wanted to write a novel, because he wanted to prove he could do something and get fame, and the quickest way would be to write a book, since that was something done in that time. He truly believed that he was a great man, and when he received criticism, he’d rather die than be admitted to being wrong.
Now, that doesn’t mean that Butterscotch should be dismissed either. I do think he is important, not as a character, but as an explanation for Bojack’s behavior. Again, the show touches on Generational Trauma, mostly in the Horseman and Sugarman families. And much like how Beatrice gave Bojack the idea of “Don’t stop dancing”, which made him view the world in the lens of a sitcom and the need to constantly please and be praised by others, Butterscotch gave just as much poison to his son. We see that Bojack inherited Butterscotch's view and attitude, making Bojack prideful, stubborn, overzealous and angry. I also think Bojack wants to be remembered by people in the media as a means to stick it to his father, who never amounted to anything famous. Then there’s Bojack’s sexual history with women and the power he has over them. Throughout the series, Bojack, whether knowingly or unknowingly, has been in relationships with women where he had significant power over them. Using them for either pleasure or to get some kind of favor from them. Examples include, but not limited to: Charlotte, Penny, the president of his fan club, Sharrona, Sarah Lynn, Princess Caryolyn, Gina, Wanda, (There might be more but I am drawing blanks). And Butterscotch himself… does have power over women which we see throughout the series. Between Beatrice, his secretary, and even Henrietta. I’m not entirely sure if this trait was handed down physically from Butterscotch to Bojack, or if it was more of a psychological effect, but it is something Bojack inherited from his father regardless.
So yeah, I wouldn’t say we forgot about Butterscotch, I just think he wasn’t supposed to be as developed because that was intentional. Bojack doesn’t care about him or bring him up, Beatrice doesn’t mention him as often, nor does Hernietta or Hollyhock… so that should tell us the audience that Butterscotch… isn’t necessary to explore as a character. IF he was supposed to be as impactful to the show, they would have done something. But he’s just a footnote in many character’s stories. Which is really ironic, considering he wanted to be a famous novelist, only to just be a side character with little to no importance. And personally, I like this aspect of Butterscotch. I think he’s supposed to be a warning to all the narcissists out there who think highly of themselves, that in the end they won’t amount to anything if they keep being selfish and egocentric. Because his attitude and need to be respected is what ultimately ended him in such a pathetic and unmemorable way.
Never been here right before the premiere. Woo!
Honestly I find the portrayal of Butterscotch to be very realistic. I also forget sometimes my father is even in my life outside of few moments, my father isn't just an abusive asshole but he certainly doesn't really have any ability to care about me emotionally too much. So I think it makes sense. It is also funnier because Butterscotch's dream was to become some kind of a famous author, and he is barely remembered in the show. We don't even know what happened to him, is he dead or what (he probably is but it is never even mentioned to my knowledge (forgot about the afterlife thing episode oops))
In the show he died in the 2000s.
FINALLY A UA-camR THAT DOESN'T PUT BACKGROUND MUSIC WHILE THEY'RE TALKING