The Intracacies of Mr. Peanutbutter (a Bojack rant) pt. 2
By Ty Gitonga
NOTE: This will be pretty short because I articulated most of my original points in the prior article!
One thing that I think truly speaks to Mr Peanutbutter’s immaturity though, has to be, and is his relationship with his ex-wife Diane Nguyen, something we see explored throughout the show because they’re the relationship that Mr Peanutbutter has for 4/6 seasons. Because of this, we see most of his problems highlighted here, though, we don’t get a specific look into his issues until Season 5 Episode 8: Mr Peanutbutter’s Boos (Yes I know every episode’s season and episode number, just a flex).
To start, rather controversially, on my first couple of watches, like the first three, of Bojack Horseman, I always thought that Diane’s issues with Mr. Peanutbutter were pretty trivial. I thought, because I had never endured an experience like hers, that having and being in a relationship with someone like him wasn’t that bad. For example in the season 2, “After the Party”, Mr Peanutbutter presents Diane with a massive birthday party, even though she clearly said that wasn’t what she wanted. Something similar happens in season 1 episode, “Our A-story is a D-story", when Mr. Peanutbutter, feeling jealous that his girlfriend and “good friend” Bojack appear to be getting along so well, pretends that he was taken the Hollywood “D”, now making Hollywood Hollywoo. When he reveals to the press that he is the one who did this for his wife Diane, it is all over the news, as well as Hollywoo, something that upsets Diane greatly. Diane is a very shy person, which we see throughout the series, even when she starts to become more settles into the main cast. She is opinionated, yes, but is not someone who enjoys the attention or spotlight, something that cannot be changed regardless of how much her partner (at the time Mr. Peanutbutter) would like. She consistently tells him that she doesn’t like grand gestures, though, he never listens, something that actually speaks to how well he is willing to care for and understand his partners. This, in itself, is an act of selfish immaturity from Mr. Peanutbutter, which is explained in the prior article.
This leads me into Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane’s 5 big fights, something that’s actually hinted in season 3, episode 3, “Bojack Kills” where Mr. Peanutbutter remarks that he and his wife are only 5 big fights away from getting a divorce and how much he doesn’t want that to happen. These five big fights are actually noted upon throught the seasons, the two that I feel are the most important in s3, ep8 “Old Acquaintance” and s4 ep4 “Commence Fracking".
In the fight they have in “Old Acquaintance”, the episode in which the couple fly to the Labrador Peninsula in Canada (which is a real place actually), a land full of happy Labrador retrievers, they go to visit Mr. Peanutbutter’s brother, Captain Peanutbutter’s home to celebrate New Years 2015.
Mr. Peanutbutter and his brother are clearly very close, though, when Mr. Peanutbutter leaves briefly, Captain Peanutbutter starts remarking to Diane (who just had an abortion in the episode prior) about the sanctity and the importance of live, especially in a universe as unforgiving as this and a world that can only accommodate human life for no more than a few centuries. Throughout a good chunk of the episode, Captain Peanutbutter continues to make these existential remarks, which make Diane uncomfortable, on account of the abortion she had just previously had, which make sense. Diane questions Mr. Peanutbutter on just exactly why his brother is acting like this, as well, as, sensibly in my opinion, if he might have told his brother that she’d had an abortion.
Mr. Peanutbutter proceeds to fly off the handle, saying that just because Diane has a bad family life doesn’t mean that’s applicable for every other family, something that deeply upsets her. Though, Mr. Peanutbutter quickly apologizes for what he’d said, it still speaks to how he truly feels about the trauma his wife endured and how it relates to her life today. Diane, to put it simply, was emotionally neglected by all members of her family, being raised in a household that always prioritized the feelings of her brothers over her. This created feelings of inadequacy within her, something that she still carries the burden of to today. Mr. Peanutbutter saying something as insensitive as this, especially when Diane was just asking a question, is likely to spark confusion and disconcertion within her, which is why this is regarded as one of their five big fights. For Mr. Peanutbutter to speak like this of the struggles she went through means he sees it as something she constantly complains about, rather trauma that he should be helping her to deal with.
This fight speaks to Mr. Peanutbutter’s insensitivity, for the moment that his view of things is somewhat manipulated by something one says, he flies off the handle. Everything must be seen before his eyes before anyone else, which is shown here.
In their second fight, in “Commence Fracking”, Mr Peanutbutter has been running for Governor of California, and, in doing so, his manager, Katrina (ex-wife), tells him that in order to appeal to the public he must play the part of someone who is impartisan in all matters, or at least, the matters that counts. (One joke that he makes is, when speaking to the press, he says he’s on the side of “facts and feelings” which I think is extremely hilarious for some unbeknowst reason). An old lady comes by their house, asking for Mr. Peanutbutter to sign a petition. Katrina insists that Todd sign it for him, because Mr. Peanutbutter is currently too busy, though, not reading it, Todd signs it in support of fracking, making Mr. Peanutbutter a Pro-fracking opponent.
Diane, of course, does not like this. She doesn’t want Mr. Peanutbutter to go through with this, even if, when he’s in office, he doesn’t intend to support fracking through his actions, and insists that she will be releasing an article for her new blog, Girl Croosh, about how awful of a governor he’d be. In quote, she states, “You [Mr. Peanutbutter] don’t stand for anything.” This is the statement that causes them to spiral not only into a verbal fight, but a physical one as well, for, in order to prevent her from posting the article, he attempts to take the mouse from her hand. I find her statement about how he stands for nothing to not only speak to his political stance, which in itself is a problem if you’re going to run as Governor for a state, but also who he is in general.
Mr. Peanutbutter, as shown on multiple occasions, always tries to appease everybody, because the more people that are happy the better. Though, this mindset becomes a major issue when he must make decisions for the people he loves, over the mass public. In him choosing to prioritize his own self-image, it means that his own well-being matters more than the feelings of his significant other, both emotionally and publically, which is showcased by his, for lack of better word, “wish-washy” personality. I believe this is one of the reasons as to why this is the first time we see Mr. Peanutbutter physically angered, because it is something he refuses to come to terms with, because, if he does, it means he must fix this issue that is so deeply-ingrained into his person, and thus, to change really himself.
Though the writers may not have intended to speak all of this when writing this scene, like Todd says in the final episode, “Nice While It Lasted”, “But isn’t art less about what people but into it and more about what people get out of it?”
That’s a nice quote to end this article, and to begin the series of me explaining all of my favorite Bojack things in depth (I write much better than I speak haha). Anyways, if you made it to the end of this article, thank you for reading and for listening to me rant about my favorite thing ever! See you next article!