In Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, Sigmund Freud summarizes Kuno Fischer in stating that “a joke is a playful judgement.” He emphasizes the importance of having the freedom to simply enjoy jokes without “ask(ing) anything of the object”; to Freud, laughter is a moment when our conscious minds give way to our unconscious instincts and allow us to relieve the tension of thinking too hard about things. He quotes John Paul Richter, stating that “freedom produces jokes and jokes produce freedom”, as “joking is merely playing with ideas.” The examples Freud uses to illustrate this point are mainly instances of wordplay, in which two or more words are condensed together due to their similar sounds, creating a silly-sounding phrase (appealing to our unconscious minds) and a new meaning.
In this short snippet from Bojack Horseman – from 1:09 to 1:20 – the character Princess Carolyn (an anthropomorphic pink cat) is on a blind date with someone who turns out to be an anthropomorphic white rhinoceros who works as a gynecologist (bear with me here). Princess Carolyn’s date offers to give her a gynecological exam, and she’s disgusted, professing that she wouldn’t allow it even if he were “the last albino rhino gyno on the planet.” Her date responds, “Well, I’m the only albino rhino gyno I know,” before asking for some wine. Princess Carolyn then says, “Oh, great. You’re also a wine addict.”
The repeated ending sounds in “albino rhino gyno I know” create a sonically silly experience. Hearing the phrase makes us laugh because, as Freud would have it, it tickles the unconscious part of our brains which appreciates playfully goofy repeated noises. It also invokes Freud’s idea of condensation, or combining sound-alike words and phrases for the sake of simplicity. Rather than explaining that Princess Carolyn’s date is a rhinoceros working as a gynecologist who has albinism, it’s simpler and quippier to call him an albino rhino gyno.
Additionally, the brief exchange about the wine brings an added dimension to the joke, still playful but in a less instinctual way. Based on the start of the exchange, the viewer would expect Princess Carolyn to call the rhino a “wino”, thus adding on the already absurdly long series of rhymes, but she subverts their expectations, refusing to condense the term further and calling him a wine addict instead. This adds another layer of humor, one that doesn’t necessarily fall under Freud’s definition of “unconsciously” funny wordplay; the viewer has to first recognize their own expectation for Princess Carolyn to continue the pattern before finding it funny that she chooses to subvert it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhbIXBdJxM8
(clip begins at 1:09)
Freud, Sigmund, James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey, and Alan Tyson. 1991. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarth Press And The Institute Of Psycho-Analysis, , Cop.
This is a very funny and clever example of how Bojack’s writers manage to include jokes that help to ease the show’s tenseness and keep its tone balanced and digestible for the audience.
It is so interesting to me that you picked this clip! When I first watched the show I specifically remember this joke stuck in my head because the “you’re also a wine addict” line left me thinking about the joke in a way that is very rare for me. So speaking from first hand experience, it is completely true that the viewer enjoys the joke by recognising their own expectations and how they have been subverted.
Bojack Horseman is such a good platform for wordplay, especially considering its position as an adult cartoon. The show as a whole does not need to integrate hidden jokes like children’s cartoons do, but it can implement open and more complex comedy through language.