Why did Diane even date Mr Peanut butter (and what it has to do with JD Salinger: Bojack horseman analysis)

BoJack Horseman released its final few episodes on January 31st, 2020, following a declined renewal from Netflix for a 7th season. This abrupter ending to the show leaves its fans with many unanswered questions about the origin of its characters and the development of their conflicts (BoJack's father Butterscotch's childhood still remains a mystery for example) One thing that always eluded me personally was the the inception and symbiotic relevance of Diane and Mr Peanut butters relationship. In other words: Why the hell were they together in the first place if they are so incompatible?

They are, after all, very different people.

Diane herself starts the series as the Ghost writer for BoJack's memoir, and is introduced as a responsible, morally centred antithesis to his selfish, nihilistic and slacker-ish tendencies. She tries to both maintain these traits, and apply them to her friends and the World around her to change it for the better. Frequently Diane acts as the voice of reason in any given situation in the show, pointing out the corrupt nature of much of what she sees happening in Hollywoo. She criticises Princess Caroline, BoJack, Frank Hippopopalous, and many others for what she believes to be immoral behaviour, even though it rarely leads to any sort of change. In "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen" it is revealed that she grew up in a household where her slacker Bostonian relatives never took anything seriously, forcing Diane to be high-strung and teaching her that it was normal that people did not want to listen to her. BoJack himself notes at the end of the episode, through a fake letter from Diane's high school pen pal 'Leo', "you're a good person Diane, and that's the most important thing, even if no-one appreciates you, its important that you don't stop being good."

Diane is also recurrently revealed to be an intelligent and yet cynical character interested in writing from  young age. She tells Naomi Watts her childhood dream was to win a "MacArthur grant" (described on Wikipedia as being informally known as a "genius grant") for a zine she wrote on how the girls in her school were "bitches." She also mentions how she used to want Belle's library from Beauty and the Beast as an adult. She has a desire in her early twenties to be published in The New Yorker (although she was rejected), and she works as a content writer for girl croosh. She successfully writes two autobiographies, and sets her ring tones to podcasts from various theorists. She attends a feminist "in conversation" discussion between two women scholars with Mr Peanut butter for her birthday and is shown to have a lot to say on the topic of feminism when discussing Sarah Lynn and when helping BoJack in "BoJack the feminist." It's clear that Diane is quite clever, which ties in somewhat with her morality. These two traits frequently set her against the grain of Hollywoo and its one-dimensional and unethical lifestyle. 

A source of constant enigma throughout the show therefore is her relationship to her Boyfriend, then husband, then ex husband Mr Peanut butter. Mr Peanut butter is possibly the least intelligent character in the show (described in episode one by BoJack as "so stupid he doesn't realise how miserable he should be"), and the most laid back and go-with the flow. This is in complete opposition to Diane's core traits, and they frequently argue over things which pertain to these fundamental differences. Diane's ex Boyfriend Wayne, who observes them over a few weeks, even states "I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that you shouldn't be with Mr Peanut butter." telling Diane that she's a "Zoe" and should be with him instead. Diane admits that Wayne is "smart, and sophisticated and cool" but says he is "Also mean" "Mr Peanut butter is nice to me, he's kind and generous and loyal."

What Wayne said led me to believe that Mr Peanut butter, although he is nice, lacks the intellectual substance to be compatible with Diane. Wayne goes on to say "we're zoes, we're cynical and we're sad, and we're mean." It leaves the viewer to conclude that Diane is merely with Mr Peanut butter because she is trying to escape her own negativity. However, is that all there is to Mr Peanut butter's appeal? When re-watching an episode of BoJack Horseman where a tribute to the late writer, JD Salinger appears, I began to realise that Mr Peanut butter also appeals to Dianes intellectual merit in a way that is frequently overlooked.

JD Salinger is first referenced much earlier in the show when exploring Diane's adolescence. It is revealed that her brothers pulled a cruel prank on her, where they pretended to be a "sensitive boy from Cambridge" writing to Diane that they are "kindred souls" and that "everyone else is a phony", This reference to being "phony" relates to Holden Caufield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger's most famous novel, and his distaste for what he perceived to be 'phonies.' Diane ends up crying after her boyfriend is revealed to be, ironically, a fake. (This letter that Diane was written using the voice of Holden Caufield might also be another reference to the real-life JD Salinger's falsehood, as it was known that JD Salinger had written letters to a number of young girls using the 'voice' of Holden Caufield in order to woo them. )

Later, When Diane is 27, she is working at a coffee shop and we see that she has refused to use her real name for her company name tag, instead opting to write a pen name, "Blarn." This reinforces Diane's fight for authenticity in a world she sees as corporate and fake. She claims this is an attempt to "subvert" the shameless "co-opting [of] personal identity to further corporate branding" Amidst this Mr Peanut butter is arguing with his second wife Jessica Biel, who criticises Mr Peanut butter for taking jobs that are 'beneath' him. Diane later encourages Mr Peanutbutter with the sentiment that his eagerness is refreshing considering a good number of people in Hollywoo would worry about what others think of them taking jobs like that, and Mr Peanut butter tells her, rather profoundly "Well that's dumb, if you care about what other people think, you're never gonna do anything." This elicits a positive response from Diane, to which Mr Peanut butter immediately breathes a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you agree, for a second I was like why did I say that? That was so dumb, but then you were like, that's right, and I was like 'woo' validation." Even though this is a contradiction of his former statement, Diane laughs and is endeared by Mr Peanutbutter. In his first moments with Diane it seems that what sticks out to her is not only his nice body, and positivity, but his utter transparency, a trait that is synonymous with being a real, authentic person, i.e. the exact opposite of a 'phony' and fits in with a philosophy that Diane cares a lot about. 

This sort of thing is confirmed when J.D Salinger makes a debut as a full on character on BoJack Horseman, season 3. Given the perfectionistic, reclusive nature of JD Salinger and his hatred of Hollywood, it is severely ironic that Salinger only returns to the limelight to create a trashy game show. The severe irony of JD Salinger's sanguine character on BoJack Horseman, parallels the irony of Diane and Mr Peanut butter's relationship. In fact, Mr Peanut butter and JD Salinger get on very well in the show. In a call to Diane Mr Peanut butter explains to Diane that him and Salinger are good friends "Did you know that we both hate phonies?" he asks, to which Diane smiles knowingly "I did know that."

This use of "phonies" takes us back to Diane's teenage years, in which her dream man was formed. In a strange way, we realise that Mr Peanut butter is an abstracted version of her dream boy Leo, from her adolescence.

Mr Peanut butter and Diane eventually get a divorce due to their differences, and Diane has a very telling quote on the matter. "You know, sometimes I think our marriage is like a magic eye poster. And its messy, and it doesn't seem to make any sense. And it's hard to figure out. But sometimes if you squint at it just right, everything lines up and it's the most perfect, beautiful amazing thing. But I'm so tired of squinting." It seems Diane has forgotten why she initially decided to be with Mr Peanut butter, but that it's a peripheral thing. In certain glimpses of Mr Peanut butter's character, there exists a "beautiful, amazing" compatibility, that perhaps proves the two of them to be intellectually "kindred souls.""