In Defence of Diane | Video Essay (Bojack Horseman) 

If you like this video, you might also like this one I made exploring when exploitation is ok in film and television told through the lens of true crime and the Netflix Jeffery Dahmer show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RmiEtfeGc9o.html Or this one looking at the messy behind-the-scenes of Steven Spielberg's forgotten Jurassic Park spin-off, We're Back: A Dinosaur Story: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RKOhw8NZpXg.html Or here is the In Defence of playlist if that's what you're into: ru-vid.com/group/PLqStSJhv1GeS_4n1Fw7I-mbgo1s_QDtFF

“while bojack and everyone else makes the audience comfortable being broken, diane makes the audience uncomfortable that they’re not doing anything about it.” harsh truth

Diane has repeatedly said that she doesn't like grand romantic gestures. It should have surprised no one that she didn't like the belle room.

I think a lot of the hatred also comes from the fact that in most shows, Diane would be the "mother/angel" figure who would only be there to try and help Bojack be a better person. In that role, she can't have flaws. What's brilliant about this show is that the writers refused to take that route, and instead made Diane a fully human character with her own shitty behaviors. But the audience isn't used to that, and I think most of this Diane hatred comes from their confusion.

I never saw Diane's unappreciated advice as "high and mighty", because to be honest she was usually spitting straight facts

“All of the characters have problems” Judah: "I belive this is not accurate."

I loved Diane, she’s one of the few female characters I’ve been able to connect to. Her character was written as a person and not a two dimensional mother figure we’re used to seeing in her place. A lot of people in the comments have brought up how people have projected their own issues on to Diane and I agree; Diane was not written to fix Bojack and she refuses to do so as the show progress, this clearly has pissed audience members off because they see it as her neglecting Bojack rather than seeing that it’s not her job to fix him.

Diane and Princess Carolyn are my absolute favorite characters, because of their self-awareness of how broken they are, but still trying to be better and help others be better as well.

in a lot of ways I feel like diane was written to be the female counterpart of bojack with a lot of issues stemming from her childhood like bojack. except since she’s an asian woman she’s not allowed to act up like bojack when she’s confronted with her issues bc it would destroy her life. we can see this when she’s ridiculed for acting out even in small ways. so instead she’s forced to deal with and work through her issues all on her own. while she wants to be a good person it takes her time to work through her issues to do so and allow herself to be happy

Diane asking herself why can’t she be happy under the earthquake is like one of my favorite moments because I could relate to how she was feeling

What her brothers did to her was one of the cruelest things I have ever heard of.

I was really surprised when I heard a lot people didn't like her. I thought she would be quite popular. Cause I felt she was a unique character. Coming from an abusive family she's the only character that understood bojack in a way that nobody did. And it scared her. Because she's aware that bojack is not a good guy. And she saw herself in him. The whole journey from seeing her as the "stable, good head on shoulders" character to realizing she's just as broken as bojack was quite amazing imo

In regards to her Post-Cordovia period staying at Bojack’s, I saw her breakdown as a form of PTSD. She literally watched people die in front of her. She was in a war zone. Even when Wanda wakes her up on the patio, her first words are her screaming “Kinko!” As if she was having a nightmare about his death. Don’t forget she grew really attached to him. She was more than likely mourning those people and processing trauma she experienced. That made her extremely human to me. She couldn’t handle being in a war zone and then felt immense guilt for leaving all those people to die.

wait, people hate diane? She’s the most relatable character in the show. Half the time she’s a vessel for the audience when she’s dealing with bojack

I never knew people didn't like Diane until now. I always assumed she was a well-received character.

I didn’t even know people hated her. I thought she was a solid character

Sometimes, a hypocrite is nothing more than a person in the process of changing

The fans: Diane is awful!! Bojack: almost slept with a literal teenager

The Belle Room was superficial. It didn’t even have REAL books and the furniture had sharpie smiles on it. It was meaningless. Did Mr Peanutbutter even know what books Diane liked? Diane told him countless times she didn’t like big gestures. She told him she didn’t like parties and he threw her a crazy one on her birthday. He never listened to her. They did love each other, but divorce was inevitable since the proposal. Diane’s flaw is that she worries too much. She wanted to help others so her life had purpose. Naturally, she felt more hopeless when she realized she wasn’t strong enough to help a troubling world. Diane is such a human character. Not many people understand her because they don’t understand depression. At least in the way it manifests in Diane.

I really liked Diane because I can relate to her being so hard on herself when she fails at becoming good.

I relate to diane more than anyone else in these series, feeling like I have to be stable and help "fix" others who are broken, while finding out I'm horribly depressed and not meant to. Why do people hate her so much? Was she not allowed to be human and to want to better herself too?

Everyone gets mad at her for rejecting gifts from peanut butter when she repeatedly tells him she doesn't like big gestures, she tried to communicate and he doesn't listen, it always made me mad that people blamed her for that

i feel like she had the most satisfying ending of any of the cast

I remember not liking her until I realized that it was because I see myself in her

i had no idea people hated diane so much, so incredibly ironic considering the amounts of topics that discuss misogyny within the show

"She's supposed to know better, and yet she's deeply flawed and makes mistakes all the time 😤". Wow it's almost like the show is trying to say something.

"While bojack and everyone else makes the audience comfortable with being broken, Diane makes them uncomfortable that they're not doing anything about it." This is why Diane is my favorite character.

“while bojack and everyone else makes the audience comfortable with being broken, diane makes the audience uncomfortable that they’re not doing anything about it.” i think this is the exact reason so many people hate her and love bojack! it’s the same problem we see in season 5 with philbert. it’s a running joke how alike bojack and philbert both are, with the set being exactly like his house, both characters dating sassy/gina, bojack constantly wearing the philbert outfit, etc. it gets to the point where he says that philbert makes him feel better about himself because he’s vulnerable, and it makes diane very upset because that’s never been the point. i always believed this was the production team breaking the 4th wall while adding to the joke of how similar they are. because he’s the main character we give him leeway, feel bad for him, and feel better about ourselves, and because she’s not we aren’t as forgiving. but you were never supposed to forgive him. you’re not supposed to watch bojack horseman and feel okay that you are the way that you are, same with philbert. you have to atleast attempt to change, like diane does. but that takes effort and makes us feel guilty, so instead we hate her because she is doing the one thing we won’t. she’s atleast trying, rather than “fetishizing her own sadness” like the rest of us.

I, unfortunately, cannot ignore the rather simpler reason for the rejection of Diane and not Bojack- misogyny. She's the "crazy woman" and he is "misunderstood." She is supposed to better because women simply aren't allowed to be seen before they are "better". Even their imperfections must be positively charged like Princess Carolyn- constantly staying committed to fixing the Bojacks of the world, "killing it at work" by exhausting yourself and having an equally strong contrasting motherly instinct but the self sufficiency to do it alone.

Wow, i didn't know that everybody hates her, shes one of my favorite characters :/

Ive always loved diane. She has her flaws but shes the character i relate the most to.

I didnt even think Diane was unpopular? Edit: reading through these comments reminded me people miss the point of this series and idolize Bojack for some weird reason

I think everybody else in the show is so grotesquely broken that it makes the audience think: oh, at least i'm better than THAT one. Diane, on the other hand, is more realistic that it makes people see themselves in her too vividly. Also, it's easy to hate a solid, "cool" intellectual types, because people think they don't have issues, so when they say they have, others don't believe it and perceive it as 'whining'.

Bojack: betrays two best friends, assaults woman, pretty much makes girl die Mr. Peanutbutter: fracks under the house, almost killing wife and tens of people Diane: dislikes gift People on the internet: we gonna hate her

As the child of immigrants I loved her episode where she returned to her country. It explored a lot of the feelings I have... not fitting in while I’m in America but also not fitting in there... kind of having this middle ground culture where you don’t really belong anywhere

re: the “Belle Room” gesture. I can’t believe people think Diane’s reaction was unreasonable. how would you feel if you felt like your spouse never listened to you? they were together for 10 years ish and he never got it. there weren’t even any real books, showing how hollow and performative the act really was. good intentions don’t mean bunk if, had you been listening to your partner or friend or family member in the first place, you would have known it wouldn’t have actually meant anything to the recipient.

i also hate how people think she’s a bad person for not being there for BoJack in the end, when he needed her the most. for once, he reminded her of herself as she was trying to get better and start her new life in Chicago and on top of that, she just didn’t want to support a literal abuser

I think people hate her because they project unto her the role of the female character who enables the main male character's character growth. They latch on to the moments where it feels like Diane wants to play that role, and they moan about the moments that go against it. Being someone else's step to character growth isn't a real thing, you're still a person with your own stuff going on and you can't subsume that just to be a rock for other people. Also, if being a hypocrite makes a character unlikeable, literally every BJH character is unlikable.

I feel like you also have to talk about the misogyny in the room. Not a single person calls bojack "whiny" or "bitchy" even though he does the exact same things and worse. He constantly whines about his life but ive never seen anyone call him whiny.

I didn't know people hated Diane, she's literally my favorite character

Diane for me is one of the best tragic characters because her struggles are relatable for me. I didn't find her issues to be overly dramatic; she's not a self destructive celebrity hooked on drugs, she's someone setting themselves standards and struggling to meet them. Who doesn't do that? Her self reflection episodes are as meaningful as Princess Carolyn's. Love seeing someone defending this character.

diane is literally my favorite character, i had no clue people didn't like her

I always liked Diane and understood the belle room thing right away, consider MPB has been acting obnoxious the entire season... don't understand why people thought the belle room thing was "just a gesture with nice intentions". MPB fracks his whole house 20 feet under but somehow it's all ok, because he never bothered to understand what consequences are? I don't get it.

She’s my favorite character. The high and mighty thing is incorrect. She is shown to hold herself to the same standards and self loathes because of it. I can’t believe that she would be the most hated character when Bojack literally sabotages his best friend’s rock opera, gets Princess Carolyn’s hopes up and then breaks her heart, fires Diane for writing “bad” about him, gets Kelsey fired, bails on Secretariat, almost sleeps with someone 34 years younger than him who is still in high school, sleeps with his best friend’s special friend, destroys Sarah Lynn’s sobriety and takes her on a bender that leads to her death, forces a fly to move on when he wasn’t ready then destroys the house they built together, calls his assumed daughter garbage, doesn’t believe a boy could actually be attracted to her, chokes Gina, and so many other things. Diane is not the bad guy. She has a complicated nature. I see myself in her.

Honestly I feel like everyone who hates Dianne are split cleanly in to two halves: they hate her because they're a Bojack or they hate her because they are also Dianne

just watched a video essay w two men saying diane was a “bad person” and “ungrateful” and “unrelatable” 🤦🏻‍♀️ here to cleanse

The second Diane was introduced, I was like “People are going to hate this character”. Not because I didn’t like her, because I love Diane’s character personally. I think she’s very complex and nuanced and is a fantastic character to balance out the show and make the characters more relatable and real. My first thought towards people not liking her, however, stems from the fact that whenever there’s a character like Bojack, when it’s a male character it’s received as funny, relatable, complex, and people like the IDGAF attitude. Whereas whenever there’s a female character like Bojack, in this case Diane, they’re almost always denounced for being whiny and hypocritical and a bitch. I’m not saying anyone does this because they actively hate women, I’m saying this seems to be a bias that many people have deep in their subconscious. God knows I’ve had it for the majority of my life. Had I watched this show even just a year or two ago, I probably wouldn’t have liked her either. I had to acknowledge and actively change my own internal bias, and it was difficult. As a woman, I didn’t WANT to admit that other women pissed me off more than men. I always tried to pass myself off as “not like the other girls” and condemn other women for just being who and what they wanted. For looking however they wanted to look. For acting however they wanted to act. For talking however they wanted to talk. And I feel like Diane’s character encompasses that; the idea that you need to look at yourself and make changes. You judge others harshly, and have to turn that same lens on yourself and make judgements about yourself as well. Whereas, Bojack was more of a “this is just the way I am so why change it this is out of my control” kind of guy (at least in the beginning...I’m not saying that’s how his character stayed towards the end). But also, I think that’s part of what the writers intended. Bojack is rich and privileged and he could get away with a lot more than a woman in his same position would be, and that is reflected in the fan reaction to her character. I believe this is intentional, and the writers are GOOD at delving into shit like that and exploring it. I’ve found that the people who say they hate Diane are often people who have unresolved issues and are angry at the way her character points out that yes, it’s okay to have flaws, but you have to actively work to get better and overcome them. Whereas the people who like Diane as a character are people who have grown and moved past their traumas and strive to be better, mistakes and all. No one is telling you to be perfect, they’re just telling you to be mindful and to work on yourself. Everyone works through these things at their own pace, and it’s okay to not be there yet. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you make an effort to be better. To DO better. It’s okay to do bad things sometimes. It’s okay to make mistakes. No one is perfect, and Diane isn’t either. That’s the point. I think you said it well in this video. Thank you!

I loveeeeeee Diane, she totally is the epitome of the struggles of a woman who’s aware and empathetic in a world that wants to alienate her and hate her for speaking the truth. Don’t put Diane down because she’s strong and doesn’t take shit. She’s the most morally-aligned character in the show tbh, besides Todd mychild :)

To date, her quote "I'm just so tired of squinting all the time" made me realize just how hard I was trying to make relationships (platonic, romantic, and family) work and helped me readjust my priorities in my life. I've lost friends because of it but I'm happier in my closer relationships now since I'm not focusing on only the small amount of happiness I can get in a friendship but whether the overall dynamic is worth the effort.

all the charecter are whiny, hippocratical, self destructive, and often horrible but that’s what makes them so real. i think the people who hate diane so much hate her because they see themselves in her.

Honestly, the whole library thing just made me mad. Not at Diane, but at Peanutbutter. Through the series we see here tell him more than once that she doesn't like the grand displays of affection. And time and time again, we see him to something over the top, because that's what he likes, that's what he wants. I get that he just wanted to show her love, in a way that he thought was best. But that just wasn't her. He never listened.

Bojack: *almost takes advantage of a minor* Fandom: *_I sleep_* Diane: *rejects a gift* Fandom *_REAL SHIT_*

Honestly it's people hating characters like Diane that remind me that the majority of people can't tell what high functioning long term depression looks like or how wide it's impact can span and the sacrifices people need to make to be stable after crashing from seeming put together not even to mention the mood shifts it can cause

I feel like Diane was the most relatable, most intellectually honest character.

it's wild to me that people will rake diane over the coals when, most of the time, her bad behavior is so, so much less outwardly destructive than bojack's. diane can be callous, sometimes, but bojack is downright cruel and thoughtless towards others. they both use their mental health issues as a crutch, but while bojack uses it to excuse his behavior (especially toward the beginning of the show), diane uses it as fuel to genuinely want to change/make change, even though she doesn't have the tools to do so. i think that both of them show how the same background can manifest in two different ways, and the reactions to them -- both from characters on the show and the fans -- show how eager we are to forgive certain people for their objectively awful behavior and not others.

I feel like P. Carolyn and Diane should've been a lot closer.

Honestly I feel like the reason people hated Diane is because she didn’t sugar coat things. She was upfront and honest with Bojack when he was being a dick and not a lot of people like that.

That's crazy that people cite her slumming it at Bojack's as the reason why they don't like her character. I never liked her more than that moment. She was finally taking a break, and not worrying about being a hero for anyone or sticking up for what is right (and constantly being putdown/neglected/marginalized for it) and just truly thinking about her self and what she actually wanted to do in the moment. We saw multiple times on that show that bojack would slum it up or go on a bender, regardless of what other people had going on in their lives. And I thought in a weird way, it showed that they had a true friendship. That bojack was the only person that she'd feel comfortable being truly pessimistic and kinda destructive around. And the fact that she was so ashamed about how she couldn't handle Cordovia that she lied and hid from her husband because she was so embarrassed, idk it just made me really appreciate her character honestly.

I really like and appreciated your defense of Diane. Personally one of my favorite characters in the show because I do feel she is just as broken as Bojack and as you say, has been trying to improve herself through therapy, ending a relationship, etc etc. It doesn't work out for Diane and she does play the role of the voice of reason but she tries. In trying and repeatedly failing, she shows that change is hard, which is never popular. I learned something valuable after the Belle room scene. I didn't get it at first, but that was her dream, and her goal. She has every right to grow and struggle to try and achieve her dream without it being handed to her. Despite it all, she sticks to one of her core values which is helping her friends and trying to remain loyal in those relationships, even if at times she can be disloyal to herself and at the expense of others. Great take!

"She makes people uncomfortable for not changing, that's why people don't like her" When a person makes another realize that something they are doing is wrong, they lash out at that source, state they are bad for doing so and ostracize them. People don't want to be better, they want to be told everything they are is okay and to be coddled. This is actually why I like Diane over many in the show because she is against the easy way of existence and makes people realize there is something wrong.

I liked Diane as a sort of anti-Bojack. While Bojack always wanted to be better, he was perfectly willing to take the easy way out whenever offered to him, whereas Diane more often than not takes the difficult route of trying to prove herself and failing in different ways. But at the end of the day, I never doubted that Diane has a good heart. Bojack oftentimes gave me the vibe that, while he wants to do better, that desire was purely driven by his narcissistic need to prove to himself that he’s a good person, not out of the actual desire to be better.

I feel like almost every action from Diane in the show can be justified in more than one way.

Bojack literally choked a woman, almost had sex with a 17y/o girl, helped a sober girl relapse and OD. AND DIANE? Is the most irredeemable character?

"While Bojack and everyone else makes the audience comfortable with being broken, Diane makes the audience uncomfortable that they're not doing anything about it." This is so perfect! I have friends who have said they didn't like Diane on the show. I never disliked her, and then on my 2nd (and 3rd, 4th, 5th...etc...) re-watch, she became my favorite character. I've defended her to them by saying that she actually tries to be better and wants her loved ones to want to improve. But like everyone in life, they sometimes fail, but she does her best to pick her self back up even if she doesn't have the best support structure. (MPB is optimistic to a fault and ignores actual issues, BJH will spiral downwards with her, PC might help but will do so by seeing how she can benefit from it as well). For me, my favorite summation of Diane was her conversation with Stefani Stilton. SS: You know what your problem is? You hold everyone to an impossible standard. including yourself. It's super helpful for writing hot-take shakedowns and click-bate take-downs, but totally toxic for your personal life and internalized sense of self worth, girl!. DN: But shouldn't we be asking more of ourselves and of the people in our lives? SS: Of course, but we all fail, Diane. The world is unforgiving enough as it is. The least we can do is find ways to forgive each other and ourselves.

I relate to Diane so hard and watching her in Bojack helped me realize my own problems. I'm not surprised that people are so misogynistic towards her. People loooove Bojack and hate Diane :/

I fell in love with someone who was very much like Diane, and sadly, I had a similar relationship with her as Bojack did. We were friends, and I was toxic. Our friendship ended and it really sucked. I am surprised to find out people didn't like her

specifically her character development after the divorce was absolutely beautiful, I love the show but watching her grow has to be my favourite part of it.

Confession time: I still have a crush on Diane.

I love Diane. I also always thought that she and Bojack were soulmates. Like, soulmates that could never actually be together romantically because they were like gasoline to a fire, but like, twin flames, or something. They understood each other better than anyone else understood them

She's my favorite in this show and i was overwhelmed with joy when she flashed her engagement ring

Sooooo Diane was always the character I felt I related to the most. Finding out everyone hates her kinda hit me in a particular way

She is my favorite character because she feels so real and relatable

to me, Diane was the most relatable. she's the only one who *doesn't* have a horrible, completely tragic backstory and astounding, almost unbelievable trauma. what she did have is a couple of shitty parents and some shitty brothers, who weren't out right abusive to her but said so many mean things to her and never gave her support. Diane was the most... normal person on the show. i like to think she has C-PTSD, so many tiny, insignificant traumas building up overtime that accumulate into her subconscious. that episode where she was trying to write about her life and was attempting to come up with "valid" examples of her horrible life, but couldn't, really set the tone for how sad she was. i personally felt related to her. i've never had a significant, life altering trauma happen to me; what i have gone through is things like bullying, insults from parents, and little incidents that left me emotionally unavailable at times. all of these seemingly *nothing* things still ended up making me severely depressed and i was suicidal for years.... without exact reason for it. what i am trying to get at is Diane is the common (wo)man- neutral ground. she's not a celebrity, she didn't grow up with abusive parents, and she's not actively putting herself into harms way, and yet she still gets depressed. she still hates herself. AND she's completely, 100% aware of it. i think Diane represents the majority. it can be hard to connect with characters like Bojack because the problems he faces are so extreme and illegal and so, so awful. Diane is the bridge between Bojack and ourselves, a reflection of many people who feel the same way she does without true cause

I think Diane is the person that cared the most about bojack.. I don’t hate her at all

I never understood why people hated Diane. And in a way it made me nervous, because - well, I am like her in so many ways. When you want to hold yourself and people accountable, and think we should all strive to be better it is often seen as being "on a high horse" and being condescending. In fact it often stems from two things - seeing all the ways that society is fucked up and how much people suffer because of it, and having such low self esteem that the only way you could possibly be worth something is if you strive and reach (or at least come close to) perfection. And you expect other people to feel the same way, when many are content just acknowledging their own shittyness and not doing anything about it (like Bojack for most of the series). It's a frustrating place to be in when you fight so damn hard, and people just hate you for it. I've fought all my life to be perfect and tried to make the world a better place, but eventually broke down and had years of Diane's "bumming out at Bojack's house". Just giving up, because nothing ever gets better, and sometimes you just can't anymore. That's not in contradiction with trying to be a good person, it's a natural reaction to constantly fighting and being depressed and feeling like you are never good enough. Somehow it seems like we're more comfortable with that mindset when it comes from someone that never tries, but when it comes from someone that tries to hold everyone to a high standard, it's "hypocritical". But striving to be better is about just that - striving. Not being perfect, because no one is.

I always identified more with Diane than with any of the other characters.

Most of the time, people hate Diane for the same reasons they understand and feel bad for Bojack, or call him “relatable”. No one in the show is perfect but she gets the most hate mostly for being a woman and having flaws that don’t benefit others, like Princess Carolyn’s compulsive need to help everyone else.

Perhaps everybody hates her because in some way we all have a Diane sort of voice inside telling us what should we most do, we hate that it's right and we just can't help to ignore it. Diane represents that conscious, brave part of the duality of depression while Bo jack plays the pity, comfortable and sinking part.

"Why does everyone hate Diane and love Bojack?" -it's the misogyny-

I don't find Diane offensive. If anything, I find her the most relatable. Diane, near the end of the series, has a monologue about the experience of having once been close to Bojack, but now she has no part in his life. I had a close friend, but we stopped a few years ago. It's hard to accept that loss - Diane Nguyen made me able to accept that loss. ❤

Diane is a very well-written character. I absolutely understood everything she did in the show... The beautiful thing about her story is that she helped Bojack get out of his own problems and only after seeing him change she finally decided to help herself up. They basically helped each other. Unlike as you might have thought from the first seasons, that she will be the one who will be providing help. And that's the hidden masterpiece of this show. Even the strongest characters have their own problems to deal with.

I always thought Diane was so hated because she's openly a feminist and is what some people would describe as a (ugh...) """SJW""". I'm convinced at least some people feel that way.

Finally someone who understands Diane. That's why her relationship with Guy is so meaningful. He supports her and loves her for who she is, and pushes her to be her best self when she needs it. He is a really good Guy.

I do understand the whole Dianne getting mad at the library, because when you are raised in a abusive family and at a place you can't wait to escape and you have no friends, you create a safe place in your head where you can imagine going, or you can imagine having it one day. You feel that it would make everything right. So many times in my life I have carried on instead of giving up, because I tell myself I will one day have a John Rylands library replica in my future house and it will make everything right. But if I walk into that replica one day out of surprise, and nothing changes, I would die.

I feel like Diane actually understand what it meant to "take responsibility for your own happiness" and to "not feel bad about it", and the reason why she doesn't like grand gestures would go back to the "Cryanne" video

Diane was the realest character in the whole show honestly.

if i'm being honest, in my first watch of the show, diane's reaction to a lot of things used to agitate me. i never hated her, but from saying nothing at bojack's, "i need you to tell me that i'm good," and her dislike of mister peanutbutter's library gift, i just couldn't put my finger on why it made me so mad. looking back, i realize that a lot of my relation to bojack comes from that crutch of others for my own trauma. i am comfortable when people excuse some of my questionable actions from pity. but when diane didn't give him the satisfaction of being told he's a good person, it made me mad. i was uncomfortable that she couldn't be the support he, or how i saw it- i needed. but not only did bojack not deserve that satisfaction he's already gotten so many times, but he put her in an extremely abrupt spot. additionally, the problems with the gifts was not with the gift itself. it didn't matter how personalized it was- diane has made her dislike of outlandish presents clear from the get go. but mister peanutbutter's inability to listen really shines when he admits to her it was because she made him feel like diane was a guest, making HIM uncomfortable. she is such a smart, multi-layered character, and i will always remember that scene in season 5 with the 4th wall break. calling me and many others' out that bojack is not there to make you feel better about being a bad person. diane is working on herself and trying to be better, and is so much more than a plot-device to make bojack, MP, or any other character just feel good about themselves.

Wow, I like Diane very much, no issues with her. I had no idea people dislike her.

Considering the themes of the show, it always surprised me how much hate Diane gets. I'm glad to see a defense of her.

Im surprised that Diane gets so much hate. She’s actually the only one in the show that gave me hope. Like yeah I get that the show normalizes being broken. It’s supposed to be comforting. But I was actually horrified at how similar I was to bojack, at the idea that if I’m like him maybe I’ll never change. That the voice telling you how awful you are never goes away, that no matter what you do, you’ll relapse etc But as broken as diane May be, she never stopped trying she never stopped believing in bojack as angry as she could be and that was amazing to me.

I actually liked Diane, I was surprised at the hate she got

Don't forget that there's always a level of misogyny too. ;)

I cannot believe people don't like Diane! I feel she is the only character that that holds Bojack accountable. Which he desperately needs

Diane told him more than once she didn't like grand gestures! If Mr. Peanutbutter actually wanted her to be happy, he would have listened! He gave her a big ass room because he would love a gesture like that. It is sooooo rude to assume others want the same things we want... or that others should go about things a certain way just because we've accomplished things by going about things in that way. We are NOT all the same... that is why it is so important to LISTEN.

She's always been my favourite character

I had no idea Diane was such a hated character. Her constant effort to improve herself despite how hopeless she thinks it is sometimes was what I liked best about her character.

I really relate to Diane getting mad about the Belle Room. My mother use to throw birthday parties for me but she always designed them the way she wanted her birthdays to be. So if I ever said “I want an indoor birthday where we play board games” she would make it an outdoor birthday with a bonfire and loud music. I now hate celebrations of any kind because I realized people don’t do nice things unless it feels nice for them. My birthdays were always catered to my mother or my friends, my baby shower was catered to my friends and in-laws, etc. Diane doesn’t like big romantic gestures… But of course Mr. PB had to do this huge gesture because it felt nice for him but it wasn’t considering her and what she wants.

i was proud of diane at the end. she isn't perfect but she's definitely making strides to be content with herself and the way who she is

The audience gives every character leeway for their imperfections. Every character but Diane. So I figured it was time to give her the benefit of the doubt. I've been working on this video for a while and I'm super excited for you all to see it!

I didn't even know she wasn't liked lol Out of the main cast, she's definitely the one I'd prefer to be friends with.