BoJack Horseman and Female PTSD

It’s quick. You might miss it.

I sure as hell didn’t.

(Potential BoJack Season 5 spoilers ahead.)

BoJack Horseman tackles issues that are normally not portrayed in popular media (or, issues that are only ever portrayed in a watered-down, “acceptable” way): abortion, asexuality, and serial monogamy, just to name a few.

In popular media, PTSD is a condition normally attributed to soldiers . . . male soldiers (sometimes women soldiers, but it is primarily thought of as a wartime mental condition). Even when we see women suffering what are obvious trauma symptoms, we refrain from mentioning PTSD as a potential explanation.

Season 5 Episode 9 of BoJack Horseman shows Hollyhock returning to Bojack’s house after being drugged thin and almost dying there. She has two episodes in the house where she becomes irrationally fearful and the whole world becomes a bit grey.

She does not have any of those episodes once they leave the house, and she never returns, instead going right to the airport with only moments to spare.

This indicates that BoJack’s house (where the trauma occurred) is a trigger for her. And of course it would be. Of course she would show signs of avoidance. Last season, we saw a good-hearted Hollyhock stand up for an old lady who she believed to be her grandmother. She was consequently drugged by this woman for being too fat at a time when she was already insecure about her body.

Hollyhock has two trauma-related episodes at BoJack’s house: One when she walks in and simply sees the furniture, and another when she sees BoJack with his own pills.

When Hollyhock sees BoJack with pills, she immediately and irrationally assumes BoJack is poisoning her. BoJack has never hurt her . . . in fact, he went through great lengths to help Hollyhock feel better about her self-image last season (well, as great as BoJack can go, basically). He traveled all over California seeking her birth mother, and all without the promise of any recognition or reward. BoJack is selfless when it comes to his half-sister, and he sees his demons reflected in her.

He knows what she could become (in the worst way).

In the second traumatic episode, when BoJack is holding his pills in the kitchen, we see the split. We see the disconnect between the Hollyhock who misses and cares for BoJack, who knows he would never drug her, and the Hollyhock who is traumatized. Logic goes right out the window. She cowers in terror from a man (horse?) who has proven he would never intentionally harm her.

I braced myself for the response I thought was coming.

BoJack is going to take it personally. He’s going to get mad at Hollyhock. He’s going to get defensive and ask why she’s acting “crazy.”

But, to my relief, and perhaps because BoJack has dealt with so much of his own trauma, he actually handles this situation well. He does not belittle Hollyhock’s feelings. He’s understanding, and offers a solution (even though he really just wants more drugs for himself, ultimately) to leave the house where the trauma occurred.

Which left me thinking: Did BoJack see Hollyhock’s trauma symptoms and (considerately) gloss over them without making a big deal out of them? Or were his actions solely fueled by addition, and he was just considerate “by accident”?

We may never have a clear answer, and the truth is probably a muddied cocktail of the two. I hope Season 6 will explore Hollyhock’s PTSD symptoms in more depth — hopefully through healing.

Related posts:

Aristotelian era and his geo-centric legacies came to an end when Copernicus suggested an alternative world view i.e The sun is at the center of the universe and planets, including the earth, were in…

This question often bugs buyers as well as sellers when they are looking forward to making such a big decision in their life. But at the same time, it is quite unsettling to think like this for real…

Ms. Neena was my Chemistry teacher at school (She’s my neighbor too ). She looks like a Chinese but is a typical Malayali who was brought up at Madhya Pradesh. The first time she taught me was in…