Is Diane Nguyen a Good Writer? (Bojack Horseman Video Essay)

[@MCKevin289]

Personally, I think BoJack kinda had a point with the Neal McBeal incident. He didn’t have dibs on the muffins, just because he was in Afghanistan doesn’t mean that he’s a hero. They only call him the navy seal. Who’s to say he’s called that because he’s a seal in the navy and not because he’s part of the Navy Seals. Personally, I think it’s kinda gross of him to weaponize the fact he was a vet on tv to make a bigger deal of what happened than it really was. It deflects the fact that this argument is completely stupid and making it about BoJack supposedly hating the troops. That being said, BoJack isn’t innocent either. He constantly made things way worse with how he behaved.

[@bigpulgalokes]

Totally agree

[@radicalpollution4270]

I want to agree 100%, but I still remember how seconds before Neal came out of the bathroom, BoJack explicitly states how he hated those muffins. When Neal asks for them back, BoJack buys them out of spite and eats them which leads into the plot of that episode.

[@MCKevin289]

@@radicalpollution4270 I don’t remember him saying he hated them before Neal left the bathroom. I remember him saying I’m gonna buy them now and I shouldn’t have gotten them, but not that.

[@adrianacruz9222]

BoJack is flawed, but he most definitely HAD the point here regarding the military

[@remyhavoc4463]

That played a fairly huge part of why Bojack is so sympathetic and why we roor for him despite his fuck ups imo He has has a point sometimes even though he's very defensive and petty It's a huge part of what makes Bojack Bojack When Diane called Bojack when Bojack was struggling with grief because of Sarah Lynn's death, Bojack immediately said some things with a snarky tone and started his sentence with "Oh lemme guess 🙄" And Diane replied with "it didn't take too long for you to be yourself again"

[@zoettaday5729]

Idk, I thought it was very clear that Hank Hippopopolus was accused of sexual misconduct. I don't think it needed to be any more explicit than it was. I agree with the take that they never end up listing the accusations because most media outlets don't get a lot more specific than "the controversy surrounding".

[@Mu-vm4ij]

Exactly, the point of it not ever being said outright is to hone in on the fact how these allegations are Often never mentioned in media specifically and are always mentioned vaguely or in passing.

[@em6153]

i am a diane defender first and foremost because i’ve never felt so represented. i am a part of the asian diaspora in america, i am a creative writer with a strong sense of morality and justice, and i have a diagnosis or two from the dsm-5. diane being good at her job is something i had never thought meaningfully about because so much of her arc isn’t about work-even when she’s struggling with her work, it’s never about the act of writing itself, but about social justice, or mental health, or feeling deserving of happiness. i really appreciate this new way to look at diane’s character: as a skilled professional. it shows how work can be a valuable and important part of our lives without being outwardly defining. kudos to the writers for creating a character that can have a successful professional life while meaningfully growing and changing in a personal way so effortlessly!

[@siegfried0752]

I am of the opinion that diane was suppose to be the heart or straight man of the show But to me so is soooo inberable, she is self righteous, holier-than-thou, and a hypocrite along with being a shitty friend She brought up new mexico to hurt bojack and solely to hurt, she exposed his trama to sell a book And justified everything in her head If she gets replaced by chat gpt i eould celebrate

[@beneficent2557]

Yeah, I definitely don't like hypocritical moral busybodies like Diane. She radiates mediocrity and is just as out of touch as Bojack.

[@nebuchadnezzar8683]

She's pretty much a "Diamond In The Rough:" but deserved alot better after there still treated her over the years.

[@pumkin610]

There?

[@NG_Lark]

A *Dianemond* in the rough, if you will.

[@thebiggestofoofs3176]

@@NG_Lark I wish I could like your comment twice

[@dessaelizabeth9676]

THE HER BEING GHOSTWRITER AND WRITING FROM THIRD PERSON IS SO FUNNY IM LITERALLY GONNA SCREAM ABOUT IT

[@pie1o1morris46]

She didn't write from third person though, she wrote in first person from her own point of view

[@skyrogue1977]

Diane doesn’t always know how to separate work from life, as evident from the pregnancy thing.

[@sohayla7238]

I think Hank hippopoplous is meant to be Harvey Weinstein and it’s kind of common knowledge what happened with his assistants so I think that’s why they didn’t go into detail

[@emily-wb4fv]

I agree

[@Alsyoutubeaccount]

I see the connection, but he’s supposed to be a stand in for Bill Cosby. Family friendly celebrity that people refuse to believe could be capable of doing bad things behind closed doors.

[@judeconnor-macintyre9874]

@@Alsyoutubeaccount He can be any Hollywood guy who uses power\fame to get away with assaulting women.

[@TheAlexSchmidt]

​@@AlsyoutubeaccountAlso at the time the episode was written Bill Cosby was the latest scandal of that type, Weinstein hadn't been publicly called out yet. Diane casually dropping the facts at an unrelated event and it going viral was also meant to reflect how the same thing happened to Cosby after a Hannibal Buress routine. The show was a bit overly pessimistic though in that Cosby did not wind up being forgiven as things only got worse for him.

[@Shmungus72]

I think Diane would be a pretty good writer. Her book Ivy tran book was very well received and I’m pretty sure her book on Bojack won a golden globe. She just really struggles to write sometimes since she struggles because of her depression and little motivation to write things she’s either or not wanting to write or when she has little ideas. Also I think you should make a video on bobs burgers

[@MooseShower]

Diane inspired me to write my own autobiography and helped me learn to cope with trauma through writing. I HATED her because she was too much like me and too many bad things happen to her and remind me of my own misfortunes, but I take so much advice from what others tell her or what she figures out, and she's been huge in my life :)

[@madisonanderson602]

i disagree w the mass shooting episode being all over the place. i think the fact that gun control is a gendered issue is rarely expanded upon in a meaningful way like it was in this episode, and the “I can’t believe this country hates women more than it loves guns” line is iconic

[@Penname25]

But that “iconic libel is untrue. Many women are gun owners and members of the NRA.

[@averagejoe6031]

I kinda liked how Stefani is showed that she’s not really a good person. Even though she’s talks a lot about feminism and social Justice, she’s also a union buster.

[@ladybug1681]

I think Diane is a raw character. She isn't perfect, but she teaches that you don't have to keep everyone in your life forever, as seen with Bojack, and that it's okay to still love those who hurt you, as seen with her relationship with Mr. Peanut Butter and her friend Abby. There is no "bigger person" in this show, that's not how it runs, not for Diane or anyone else. There are just people. Diane spends most of the show hiding and trapped, as many might do, and subsequently, so does her writing. It's trapped where she is. That doesn't make it bad, it makes it less than it could be.

[@TheCommenterDragon]

Diane is one of my favorite characters in Bojack! she may not be well known for her writing but as a character she's very interesting.

[@DragonGoddess18]

And yet Mr. Peanutbutter has bad listening skills which is part of the reason why they broke up Plus, he's a "Yes-man" Diane was right: he doesn't stand for anything

[@drrpdingo]

thank you for standing up for Sebastian! not many people point out that he's actually there doing work even if he's on some kind of self serving trip.

[@UniverseGeek-xi5wz]

agreed! The writers touch on the idea again in the view from halfway down. I found that whole conversation about sacrifice and whether its selfish or not really telling.

[@bittipasuta]

Rewatch those episodes. Sebastian isn't actually helping; he sews the wrong arms on a refugee and declares a live man dead a la Holy Grail.

[@laughingmask3118]

WHO THE FUCK WOULD SAY PENNY'S NOT A VICTIM??? I love Bojack but OMFG he did something SO stupid and thoughtless to Penny and it was absolutely a harmful scummy thing! I'm with Kitty Monk on this.

[@mrlean5078]

It’s complicated. What he did was awful but it’s implied that nothing actually happened

[@HPD7D]

Diane probably DID write positive things about Bojack, like the time he helped her cope with her family issues as you mentioned. Like she says in the show itself it paints him as a flawed but relatable person. I feel like we really see the aftermath of the book through the narcissistic eyes of Bojack who ONLY sees the negative stuff and can't process it. He says at one point he only sees the warts but not the all, but that doesn't mean the book really is just the warts. We never really get to know much of the contents except for the bad stuff Bojack cherry picks so...

[@MangoMagica]

Thanks for mentioning Dead End Paranormal Park! The episodes where Norma finds out about Pauline Phoenix and how much denial she's in makes me see myself her a lot more than I already do. This was definitely me when I was huffing so much copium during the Vic Mignona controversy and I didn't get out of it until recently. It's hard to get out of that mindset and when they're tied to a special interest you have, it hurts!

[@koichidignitythief7429]

It's hard to find content on that show that isn't complaining about the trans character and that one scene.

[@KittyMonk]

For reference, what scene? I don’t have any problems with Barney as a character, but I do think Logs is sort of boring as a boyfriend. At least when they tried for Zagan and Badayah, they gave them little mini arcs.

[@koichidignitythief7429]

@@KittyMonk The Scene where Barney tells his family that they only do the bare minimum of accepting him for who he is, but won't even stand up for him when their conservative grandma is visiting. People on twitter have talked about that scene to death making it as if the show is just "woke garbage" or "the writer's therapy session no kid (by kid they mean them the full grown adult) wants to hear."

[@MangoMagica]

@@KittyMonk It's in episode 8 when they're in the TV worlds of Pauline's past projects.

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

as someone who was in the Risembool Rangers in 07 until I watched him "ALLEGEDLY" play grab-ass with my high school gf thank you for waking up to Vic's true nature.

[@BrodisWorld]

A lot of the time creators do have comfort characters. Ones that make the writers and creators feel better. Characters are supposed to be fun and they are supposed to make the creator feel better first and foremost as we tend to write for ourselves most of the time. It's getting things out there and it's getting our thoughts and feelings or story we want to write whether its a drama or adventure out there. Writing is hard but rewarding and can be fun. If people like it cool, if they dont like it thats cool too.

[@moxxiedemongamer3019]

as of one of my favorite characters from BoJack Horseman is Diane not just as a writer but one of those Good will characters that got mistreated pretty much like Meg Griffin from Family Guy but done right

[@Bartholomule01]

The last season came out after I had already been on and off anti-depressants. Diane is maybe the best portayal of depression in media I've seen. I've definitely had the good damage thoughts, and I love the representation of her thoughts. The special interest part of her brain is beautifully animated and the depression part is incoherent and crudely drawn. Being afraid of anti-depressants taking away all of your personality and not just the bad parts was very real.

[@phoenixofgrandeur2387]

Your video made me love Diane as a writer and myself as a writer a little more too.

[@BlueGamingRage]

I appreciated Sonny's rant. Especially since he mentioned my town as "not Chicago"

[@DiaryofDeans]

I wonder how Diane would move about in her career if she was more financially independent from Mr. Peanut butter and success from Bojack. She doesn't seem to get blackballed anywhere.

[@Kettkatt_]

As a tfp fan I haven’t seen your essays on it! But by the looks of it they cover some of my favorite characters from the show! I love this show it’s criminally underrated and I’m definitely gonna watch the video essays on ko and ss since I loved the way you put your thoughts into words!

[@fighter0056]

I like her character Can’t say why she is just a good character

[@pink-pixie9603]

Really really want the algorithm gets this popping off! I love your bojack horseman video essays

[@dummybelles9651]

9:10 but he was. that was one of the problems he had with the book, it wasn’t what she was supposed to write.

[@ljubicaotasevic2412]

About Transformers Prime, which used to be my FAVORITE TV SHOW 7 or 8 years ago. I'm the type of person who is more into villains (joker, "BoJack", "Jinx" etc) but I loved the personality of Bubbleby and Optimus. Optimus has a special place in my heart and I'm thankful for that because now I'm more into guys that have that type of moral codex.

[@crypt7cmsp]

the first watch, i didn't like diane much. i didn't really have any specific reasoning as to why. i saw her as at times pretentious and very self righteous despite her own biases and struggles, but it turns out i just relate to her too much and when i stumbled across the show, i wasn't the happiest with myself -- kinda like how there was a wave of people who tried to justify that bojack wasn't a bad person simply because they related to him and couldn't accept it. diane's a complex character and i really enjoyed her arc, especially when we see her meet guy and begin to really showcase how confusing coping with trauma and mental health can be.

[@digidittoboy]

This is more than a little surreal to me that right after I finish watching dead end paranormal park that you reference it twice

[@therevoltingslob2564]

I don’t think they need to say exactly what Hank did because it’s obvious to anyone familiar with the entertainment industry or to anyone who has lived as a woman and I think detail would be unnecessary and upsetting and potentially would lessen the relatability and therefore power of that storyline

[@kayakat1869]

I loooooooove this show. Please please please keep making videos about it

[@angelicabomination1699]

Hey Kitty been a fan for about 8 months found your channel through the youtube rabbit hole of other video essay channels. I have to say though, after watching through all your old content and having caught up on the new, you are one of a few content creators i have never seen waiver in quality. Literally every new video seems better composed and thought out then the last, and I am excited as hell to see how far this channel is gonna go

[@remyhavoc4463]

29:09 I like how you can't swear or say some other taboo words but can show this 💀

[@kaitlyn3168]

KZbin. It's a paradox

[@joslynhayes8530]

I really think they didn’t say what he did because news stations often don’t say exactly what beloved actors/actresses did. We all know what Charlie Sheen did but that’s because the industry hated him. But Bill Cosby I didn’t know until I did my own digging I just heard he did “unspeakable” things to women. I think the goal was to illustrate this double standard.

[@moxxiedemongamer3019]

as still do find BoJack Horseman to be one of my Favorite Netflix Adult Cartoons a side from Big Mouth to F is for Family Disenchantment But I'd still do LOVED BoJack Horseman

[@moonshadow1795]

Bro havn't watched the full video but when you mentioned how the algorithm fucks with the transformers prime vids and doesnt get views I nodded my head in sadness. THose are some of my favorite videos from you, but the algorithm has other ideas.

[@ericastones1052]

I understand Diane because I was bullied for being a nerd but not by my family expect my sister. However, I think she shouldn't have to impress her family and should have gotten therapy for her trauma from her family. My family wasn't great but not enough to end up in therapy. If she did go to therapy maybe she could have written a book about it without the trauma getting in the way of it.

[@Hectorlopez-pr]

Hey kitty monk i want to say i found your vids and liking them. keep up the good work.

[@tunajenkins4]

love this video. been catching up on all of your channel. love from austria~

[@kyahbeausns1996]

In regards to the hippo section. What she said was spot on. When I herd what Cryaotic did it KILLED part of my childhood

[@anthonygillette]

5:06 well yeah, this is an accomplishment. This means your writing was good, but not what they want. Most publishers won’t even respond with anything if the writing wasn’t good at all. This is a big deal for writing

[@NIGEL341Hilasd]

Loving that New York New York Chicago joke, loved this video. On Diane herself, I get her aimless politicking, I’m there myself.

[@left4twenty]

"Reeeeeally, Diane?"

[@olivergarden9106]

I'm a simp for her

[@baymaxinarmor4133]

Same, Diane is hot!

[@nineinchthread]

​@@baymaxinarmor4133 I agree with you both though idk if I call myself a simp just I think she one of my favorite characters

[@chewyleaf8868]

wake up everyone new kitty monk post!!

[@iceluvndiva21]

Finally someone else who's read "The Things They Carried"! Also, I kinda think Diane is definitely something of a mesh of all different writers. Though the true irony is how her take down pieces lead to Bowjack being successfully taken down.

[@mrlean5078]

It was Paige Sinclaird piece

[@SunnyCida]

Half hour kittymonk vid on Diane? Christmas came early

[@ReforeSetka]

Oh Barbara Manatee!! You are the one for me! Sent from up above! You are the! One. I love!

[@guywiththeweirdspellingoflogen]

At the beginning of the video still, and y’know, 2 months late, but you should definitely make more bojack content! I just watched the entirety of the show, but I’ve already gone through like, all the Johnny 2 cellos videos on it, so I was super happy to see you’d also made bojack videos because I really enjoyed a couple of your owl house video essays a little while back :D also now I wanna rewatch transformers prime cause you just reminded me of it’s existence xD

[@upmost2766]

Great I got that veggie tail song in my head!

[@lostmediadetective2590]

*4:01* very impactful

[@JM-gd3hr]

In English her name is usually pronounced "win".

[@guywiththeweirdspellingoflogen]

24:39 all the bojack casters secretly have Gina’s musical obsession xD

[@powned100100]

I love the bojack videos

[@prairiehorngirl]

BABE WAKE UP NEW 40 MINUTE KITTY MONK VIDEO JUST DROPPED

[@brandonscott5544]

GREAT BOJACK HORSEMAN VIDEO 👏

[@guywiththeweirdspellingoflogen]

Was not expecting the veggitales or good place references but glad to have them xD

[@guywiththeweirdspellingoflogen]

Also I’m assuming the “🎶popular🎶” was meant to be a wicked reference and love that too xD

[@a.n.9800]

Thank you for the Barbara Manatee jokes

[@themanganeko9203]

I’d love to see more videos on bojack! >:3

[@bobi200samatar6]

The issue with gauging the quality of Diane's writing is that the show loves using it's in-universe shows and books as gags. Horsin Around is an overly saccharin parody of 90s family sitcoms, Miss Taken is a parody of action movies with excessive violence that doesn't take into account how real violence could destroy the fun of watching it, and there's an Oscar winning movie called 'The Nazi who played Yahyzee'. The only in-universe production that seem like they'd be watchable is Kelsey Jennings cut of Secretariat and Philbert. With that said, everytime people have actually read out Diane's writing it seems like it does read well. I remember Diane being at her most enjoyable for me was when she was confronting her feelings in the back half of season 6. I enjoyed her role as the moral compass and straight man to Hollywoo's ridiculous and pompous scandal. Some of my fav episodes are Diane centric, like 'Brapp Brapp Pew Pew', by but something about always making her the one who calls out everyone else when she herself is flawed and troubled didn't sit right. Like the show was telling me 'Listen to this person, they know how to help' and the person can barely fix themselves. Diane has a lot of problems regarding her self image and desire to distract herself from her feelings by taking on giant causes, but it took so long for her to actually start addressing those issues that by season 5 I was starting to get fed up with her. Thankfully she did start tackling those issues and it was great. 'Good Damage' is one of the shows beat episodes and I'm just mad we didn't get something like it for Diane sooner.

[@the_UF365]

Mark Hamil's voice acting career is much more interesting. The Joker, Ozai, Skips, and Chucky.

[@iamgawd6969]

Talk about it's always sunny in Philadelphia

[@mackthompson616]

so ready for Dead End video

[@violetsmokes5815]

"A large amount of Hull House fans are from abusive homes." *crying in the corner*

[@tell-me-a-story-]

I think the Hank Hippo thing was a noodle incident, except not for comedy. Basically the audience can imagine the terrible things he did on their own.

[@jackhsiao-wecksler8731]

NOOOO U DID NOT JUST COME FOR MARK HAMILL LIKE THIS MY BOY WASN’T THE GREATEST JOKER EVER TO BE DISMISSED LIKE THIS

[@pie1o1morris46]

24:39 she also plays Nifty in Hazbin

[@DiaryofDeans]

Please watch this video people 😭. I need more Bojack content 🙌🏾

[@TheHobgoblyn]

You seriously think the only thing Mark Hamill ever did was Star Wars? He has a HUGE voice acting career-- probably most notably as the voice of the Joker for 30 years. I would think someone who does a channel that reviews cartoons would be aware of that. He also did the Trickster (Flash villain) and the Hobgoblin (Spider-Man villain).

[@larrychilders6599]

I think she was making a point t

[@andreadrussel2716]

I always forget he did Ozai (Avatar the last airbender).

[@billandbraden1439]

Can’t forget skips

[@kinglizardwizardry763]

Brap brap pew pew

[@zer0w0lf94]

15:17 - 15:28 I wholeheartedly agree.

[@nathjcaldeira]

love this

[@deezgaming]

i love ur videos!! ❤

[@zooweemama-fl1je]

why is vanessa gekko your favorite character

[@ioannnnnna]

I'm guessing cause she's voiced by kristin chenoweth who played glinda in wicked and sung popular

[@alyssascott8489]

Love the video! Nguyen is actually pronounced Win

[@1986BNick]

I think that name *umm* is pronounced close to In or Win. I could be wrong....

[@blackleon1708]

Okay, you're really fun

[@alchemistofsteel8099]

Eh, I feel like Diane is more like an older Diaria

[@qupidshoots3914]

tbh i think it would’ve been less compelling & also kinda just. gross if they had went into detail abt the hank hippopopolous allegations! naming a specific act would be either disturbing or silly or both imo. like if u said “oh he p33d on g1rls f33t then cut them off and baked them into pizza rolls” that would be both really nasty and also kind of ridiculous. it being left to your imagination prompts you to like, have morals not grounded in nosiness and de facto disbelief

[@colinbanning9416]

Having to bleep the word sex is wild. What is this, the goddamn 60s?

[@crazyinvaderfangirl1]

Its pronounced: n’WIN

[@phoenixofgrandeur2387]

Like Logs from Dead End. Logan Nguyen.

[@firefly_ace]

10:28 OH MY GOD PLEASE MAJE GOOD PLACE VIDS

[@EvolveBeFree]

Love the veggie tales reference LOL

[@MyraMabry]

What is the Dagmar threshold?

[@EmotionsNeverLie]

Can confirm, Dead End is a good show

[@user-gp5yz5yz4x]

The gun rights episode was all over the place but I think it works for that one in particular. The plots do play well into each other, especially with how it ends with gun restrictions being applied to prevent woman from getting guns

[@Potatoguy-qd8ei]

I don't have a problem with reading the Harry Potter books after what JK Rowling said because I don't pay for any of the books or movies because there's this magical thing called pirating

[@shlokwaghela9560]

She sure as hell is a great character tho lol

[@aleksabanjevic8316]

Why, what happened in dead end?

[@sheyannev2757]

If she's talking about the show I think, one of the main characters finds out her childhood idol is (spoilers) . . . . . . . . . . . . body snatcher

[@Ray105x]

Yay!

[@mr.v6052]

We still haven't gotten a todd Video..

[@dylanmcdermott1110]

30:10 Yes. Yes it does.

[@josephmorellas3503]

How about a video on the gravity falls grapphic novel(it's Canon)

[@Plasticplas1]

Your suggestions were basically to eliminate all subtlety

[@carmel9583]

31:40 Preach. I at times feel like a total outsider cause my ethnicity is more Scottish then my grandpas Irish or my grandmas (RIP) Italian heritage, and I don’t even sound Scottish to some people

[@meganhawksworth5127]

The reason I asked how you got your name Kitty Monk is because cats and monkeys are my two favorite animals. Does it have anything to do with that

[@FalseWormKing-bv2bz]

I had always had some strange disliking for Diane and often at times I try to justify it by saying that she’s a bad person. I’d hate Diane the do everything I could to love bojack because I thought I saw myslef in him. I told one of my friends the other day “I’m literally bojack frfr.” And he said “If you think your bojack, you’re Diane.” (Verbatim) Ever since that I’ve kinda fallen down a rabbit hole of Diane video essays and rewatched of all her titular episodes and I’ve realized that the only reason I hated Diane is because she is so much like me. I’ve felt in her position so many times and you’re rant at the end especially about writing stuff like that really helped me realize that maybe I am Diane. But that’s okay. So thank u for that.

[@NewfieCatgirl]

Does anyone else find the volume low? My laptop volumes at 100 and it's not loud, normally I keep it at 30.