I think one of the worst things Diane ever did, that she never got called out for, was using Penny’s story as a plot point in Philbert, just to rip Bojack a new one. I do understand he needed to be called out since he hadn’t really faced any real consequences for it yet, but making it into a plot point in a show that aired publicly was a shitty thing to do. Yes, the circumstances in that story were slightly different, but on the off-chance Penny or her mother happened to see that, it’s her trauma being aired without her permission. That wasn’t Diane’s story to tell and if she really was that angry about it and so determined to go after Bojack, she should have done it differently. I also hated the reporters who pried so hard into Penny’s story without any regard to how it would affect her, but they were already established as shitty people who didn’t care at all. Diane knew better and still did what she did.
I just got so angry about this and had to vent. I get why it happened, but I still hate that it happened and that no one called her out for it once they all learned about what Bojack did. Not that I can think of a way they would all find out it was her that made that plot point in the script, aside from maybe PC or Bojack connecting the dots since they were there for it.
The pattern of Diane is interesting.
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she publishes “the full truth” about Bojack (Bojack is celebrated and it validates it’s ok to be a careless asshole to him & others)
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has a full rage tantrum about her family in Boston!
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rages about her surprise party
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she gets caught up in the Hank Hippopotamus drama because of the need to expose the truth (She gets shit on publically/called out by Bojack and Mr. Peanutbutter & nothing changes.)
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she goes to Cordovia, learns that dude is a narcissist, kids are dying, she has no power to change it. She DOESN’T CALL IT OUT but goes deeply into a depression. (Repressed anger can do that)
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Abortion thing with Sextina disturbs her, she tries to be quiet, go along with it… Eats her anger about the music video & does the job …
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gets a job blogging at Croosh about things in LA that make her angry
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5 fights with Mr. PB
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Trys to find the truth about the dead whale
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writes that piece on Philbert out of ‘anger and exposing the truth’
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actually gets mad at Bojack to his face at the Premiere
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started video blogging at Croosh with Guy (who listens and believes her!!!)
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Guy actually listens to her, believes her, treats her opinions with respect… This changes things for her…
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Attempts to expose White Whale - learns murder is legal…
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She fully walks away from Bojack when she learns the truth about Sara-Lynn
Diane’s Anger is almost entirely about not being heard/People in power taking advantage of people with less power/ people lying and covering up terrible and shitty things and her powerlessness to change any of it. She goes between rage/depression, trying to be actively changing things and understanding she can’t change things.
It’s actually a very good intention, but she has no idea how to deal with it.
Getting away from fucked up people who don’t listen/care/think lying is ok was the answer. She is powerless to change those people. They won’t hear her. Putting the focus on people who will listen was a good resolution to her anger issues with that.
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someone else on here made the point that Diane regulates her mood by using moral outrage, and I think it was a brilliant observation, and relevant in this case as well. a lot of her moralizing is just an attempt to self-soothe; it’s not grounded in introspection and a genuine desire to be a moral force in the world; she projects her own self-hatred as a defense mechanism. her choices are NOT the choices of an emotionally mature person. her Philbert script was vindictive, as was her choice to leak the excerpt of her Bojack book. the people who are baffled by the Diane hate fail to see her hypocrisy I think. good observation on your part.