Negative Stereotypes In The Television Show 'Bojack Horseman'

The television series “Bojack Horseman”, “Arrested Development”, and “Louie” portray older adult characters that are having a difficult time accepting that they are no longer how they were when they were younger. In the show “Bojack Horseman”, the characters Bojack and his two friends Todd and Herb all experience events that make them feel old, while Louis C.K. realizes the youthful bachelor life is not for him anymore in from the show “Louie”, and the character Lindsay in “Arrested Development” is struggling to accept the fact that she is getting older and is no longer turning heads. All three of these shows portray negative stereotypes, making belittling generalizations of the older adults and aging (Hillier & Barrow, 37). These stereotypes

impact our society’s fear and concerns of aging, causes to antagonism towards aging adults. Characters Louis and Herb also experience compassionate stereotyping; the belief that older adults are on some level disadvantaged and in need of assistance. This causes people to view older people as victims and makes the older adult feel as though there is something wrong with them leading to low self-esteem and dependency (Hillier & Barrow, 37). These five characters experience patronizing communication where friends (Hillier & Barrow, 52) and social construction of self, meaning that one’s perception of themselves is constructed by (Hillier & Barrow, 41).
The three characters in the episode “Telescope” of “Bojack Horseman” all experience different stereotypes of aging.

Bojack himself is depicted as a depressed alcoholic who is egotistical, short-tempered, and impatient. He struggles with being a “has-been” actor whose fame ended after a 90’s sitcom. He smokes and drinks heavily to manage with the stress and seclusion of no longer being relevant. Bojack is stereotyped as the typical has-been actor who is clinically depressed, uses drugs and alcohol to cope, and is often self-pitying. The fact that Bojack was once famous and is no longer popular has made him hypersensitive about aging. This often results in him questioning his purpose, his life, and his relationships. This stereotype encourages ageism because it makes the process of aging seem depressing and difficult causing younger people to believe that all older people are unhappy about being

old.
Todd, Bojack’s close friend, is an unemployed 24 year old. He sleeps on Bojack’s couch, does not pay rent, and is lazy. Todd is portrayed as an adult who is very talented at random things including screen play writing and music, but has not yet invested his skills into an actual job due to his laziness. He is the stereotypical slacker adult that children and teenagers hope never to become. His portrayal of an unemployed adult encourages ageism in that young people will think that all unemployed older adults act in his manner.
Herb is an old friend of Bojack who was fired from the sitcom and holds a bitter grudge against Bojack. In the episode, Bojack decided to mend things with Herb because he is dying from terminal rectal cancer. He is constantly insulting and does not forgive Bojack and the two get into a physical and verbal fight. Herb is portrayed as an adult who has cancer. Young people are very scared of cancer and may see cancer as an illness only older adults and seniors can get. They might fail to realize that a person can get cancer at an early age. Herb’s character is compassionately stereotyped by Bojack who feels like just because he has cancer that he must be nice and understanding of his insults due to his weakness.
“Louie” is a show about the life of comedian Louis C.K. The first scene in the episode “Night Out”, Louie is on a date with a women who confesses that she has a six year old. She is appreciative that he is understanding unlike most men who freak out. He then confesses that he is so understanding because he actually has two girls. She expresses that she cannot take on that kind of responsibility. This stereotypes the typical dating situation of adults who are single parents trying to find a new partner. Louie takes on single parent responsibilities at home such as taking care of his two girls and getting them to go to sleep. He expresses that he wants the joy and challenge of parenthood to end so that he could watch “Cash Cab”, masturbate, and eat all the ice cream. This stereotypes older single fathers as having no lives or social lives because they must only focus on their kids. In one of the scenes, the teenage babysitter expresses that she wants Louie to go out because she does not want him to be lonely anymore, that he is always isolating himself saying “I can’t just watch you waiting here to die […] Do it for the girls so they don’t have a depressing loser for a father”. After making bad jokes and failing to pick up girls at his local bar, he finds two of his younger male friends and asks if he could hang out with them saying “I know that I’m older and I don’t really run at your speed. It’s just you know how to do this whole thing and I don’t.” As he expects, he realizes the club scene is not for him since he is unable to dance or not knowing all the cool songs. He then says that although his girls are a handful, they are what he knows the best and then goes back home to take them out for late night breakfast. This kind of stereotyping encourages ageism because it causes people to believe that as an older single older parent, they have a harder time meeting women and having social gatherings.
In the show “Arrested Development” Lindsay goes to the jail to see her dad whom she has not yet visited due to the fact that he has only ever praised her for her good looks growing up.

She dresses up and expects that the prisoners would make cat calls her way. To her surprise, not one looks up. When this happens a second time, she expresses “Have I lost it?” because she used to be praised for her beauty and no longer is, it makes her realize that she has not aged beautifully making her hyperaware of her aging. She becomes very confused and lost and must reevaluate herself. What Lindsay is experiencing is a change in self-concept due to this realization. Self-concept refers to how people perceive themselves and their character, qualities, and their behavior all deriving from an assortment of self-perceptions (Hillier & Barrow, 41). Lindsay suffers from the idea that she must create a new self-concept when it comes to her attractiveness. This occurrence causes aging adults to have lowered self-worth and esteem. Though many people use cosmetic surgery, make-up, and what they wear to make them appear younger, ultimately they are still the age they currently are. Lindsay’s stereotype encourages ageism in that younger people will begin to think that people are no longer beautiful once they pass a certain age leading to adults feeling a loss of importance and that without beauty, they are no longer

relevant.
Stereotypes of older adults are very prevalent in these three popular television series. It could even be said that the plot of these shows, and these episodes especially, are satirical and make the aging process seem difficult, unfair, and boring. The majority of the older adult characters in these shows are negatively stereotyped and patronized. Representation is extremely imperative to the psychological health of aging people. By accurately representing older people, it gives them a sense of self and affirmation of identity, allows them to see their full potential and capabilities, younger people have people will respect and look up to their elders as well as have a more realistic perspective of the older population.