Got to teach Bojack Horseman in class today!

You don't know how much fun it was for me to get to teach about one of my favorite shows at Lesley today. Bojack was my one odd choice for material that I put on the syllabus, so it might have been a bit of a risk. Every other protagonist was either a classic or at least better known, with slightly more consensus on their cultural value. But I believe the show is brilliant with plenty to analyze, so I did it. And it was a blast.

We studied episode 1.08, "The Telescope," which I think is a great sample because it contrasts modern day Bojack, who we are following through the series, and the person he used to be before he got famous. It's great because it subtly presents us two parallel situations in his life and shows us how he reacts to each of them at that point in time, which reveals both the origin and the journey of his character.

The students were really engaged, which pleased me enormously. They usually do okay on that front, but I think it was particularly high this morning. Partially it was because we actually watched the episode in class. That meant there was nobody who "hadn't done the reading" and therefore nobody lacked context. It's also likely easier for them to connect with a thirty-minute cartoon about a horse than, say, a thousand lines of Ancient Greek poetry. I'm also a drama person, my professional focus is in how dramatic works function, so I had an even better grasp on it than usual. But the conversation was lively and interesting, and I think people actually started to connect with the ideas that I personally found so interesting and made me love the show.

Also I was observed today by another professor. It's a requirement for new Lesley teachers. I knew it would go okay, because I'm doing a pretty good job, but I was still a little nervous anyway. This is probably not the day I would have picked to be observed-- I felt a little guilty spending a third of the class showing a video, not to mention I probably would have chosen a more "proven" text to talk about. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn't be seen as sufficiently "academic." But I did a good job facilitating a cracking dialogue, and she thought the premise of my class was a good one. She even had a few helpful pieces of constructive criticism that I will use going forward.

But I really enjoyed teaching this show. I wish I could do more. Hell, I could do a whole seminar on how episode 2.11 is put together from a writing standpoint. Maybe someday I will. :-)