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it happens usually late at night when
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we're most vulnerable the endless scroll
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through new year new me posts weight
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loss Journeys career Transformations
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life makeovers each one a carefully
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curated story of reinvention that makes
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us question everything about ourselves
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we save these posts make our resolutions
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promise ourselves that this time we'll
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finally become that perfect version of
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ourselves we've imagined it's exhausting
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and as we'll see through the following
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stories
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deadly the pressure to transform
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ourselves never really goes away it just
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gets better at hiding what starts as
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innocent self-improvement becomes an
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exhausting performance an endless show
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where we're both the star and our own
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harshest critic and no stories capture
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this destructive theater quite like
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perfect Blue and Black Swan both fellow
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performers Mima a pop Idol turn actress
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and Nina a ballet dancer whose
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professional acts begin to blur with her
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desperate attempts to become better
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versions of themselves while most of us
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aren't performing on stage we're all
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caught up in this endless show playing
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the role of someone constantly improving
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constantly transforming in perfect blue
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mima's nightmare begins when she
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discovers mima's room a website
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documenting her daily life with
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terrifying accuracy this digital diary
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insists she never wanted to be become an
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actress that a fake version of herself
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is ruining her reputation it's
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chillingly familiar in an age where our
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past selves live online forever each
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post and photo and archived identity
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that can judge our attempts at change
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the Real Horror for Mima isn't the
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stalker maintaining the website it's how
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the diary's contents begin to feel more
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real than Mima herself Nina's
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transformation in Black Swan reaches its
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breaking point in a scene where she
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watches her reflection fragment into
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something independent her mother's voice
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Echoes about perfection while she
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obsessively checks for Flaws scratches
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waist measurements any imperfection that
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might Mar her performance but it's not
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just the dance she's perfecting anymore
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it's her entire existence every movement
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every interaction becomes another scene
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in her endless performance of becoming
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better the hallucinations these
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characters experience reflects our
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modern anxieties nah sees herself
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transforming physically
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her toes fusing into the perfect Ono
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shape black feathers erupting from her
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glistening dimpled flesh a grotesque
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manifestation of how we tear ourselves
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apart trying to evolve into something so
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different it's
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unrecognizable Mima finds her former
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perfect Idol self stalking her haunting
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her with a trail of bodies and
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belittling her choices it cuts to the
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Bone because we're all haunted this way
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scrolling through feeds full of people
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who seem to have achieved what we're
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killing ourselves to reach while our
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pelves sit on our profiles watching and
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judging every failed attempt we make the
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most devastating parallel emerges in
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their climactic moments both
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protagonists achieve their perfect
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performance only through complete
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psychological collapse Nina's
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declaration I felt it it was perfect
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comes moments after she's fatally
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wounded herself Mima reclaims her
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identity only after facing the physical
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manifestation of her former self one who
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would rather see her dead than imper
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perfect what makes these two stories so
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terrifying isn't the supernatural
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elements it's how they expose the
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exhausting performance of perfection in
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the New Year we commit to glowing up but
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we're not just changing our habits we're
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putting on an endless show performing
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our transformation until we become
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unrecognizable even to ourselves when
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you make your resolutions this year
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remember the real fear shouldn't be that
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we might fail it's that when
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self-improvement is performative the
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curtain never Falls
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the performance never ends until there's
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nothing left of us but the act
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itself when we start performing
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Perfection long enough we start
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believing that act the audience's
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demands become our inner voice and
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that's when the real destruction begins
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both Fight Club and Bojack Horsemen show
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us what happens when we try to hate
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ourselves better a brutal cycle where
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self-loathing masquerades as
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self-improvement our guides to the
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psychological mind field if you're
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unaware are two-minute war with
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themselves an unnamed office worker so
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disconnected from his own identity that
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he creates an alter ego to destroy his
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life and Bojack a wash Up sitcom star
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whose attempts at Redemption constantly
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spiral into self-destruction in Fight
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Club we watch the unnamed narrator
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attempt to find authenticity through
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lies he attends support groups for
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terminal illnesses he doesn't have
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discovers that losing all hope was
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freedom and sleeps soundly for the first
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time in months it's telling that his
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peace comes only when pretending to be
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someone else his life is a carefully
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curated catalog of possessions and
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personas each one more empty than the
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last if you wake up in a different time
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in a different place he wonders could
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you wake up as a different person this
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search for authenticity leads the
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narrator to create Tyler Duran an
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idealized self born from self-hatred I
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want you to hit me as hard as you can
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Tyler begs believing that only through
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violence can he kill the unstable
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consuming part of himself but you can't
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punch your way to a better self each
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fight each Act of Destruction just
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fragments his identity further until he
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can't tell which version of himself is
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the original anymore this desperate
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search for a new identity Echoes through
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bojack's endless cycle of celebrity
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Redemption arcs in one particularly
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revealing scene from that's too much man
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Bojack attends an AI meeting not to
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recover but to perform his guilt he
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booze others honest confessions while
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dramatically recounting his own misdeeds
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turning even his moments of
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self-reflection into
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entertainment like the unnamed narrator
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support groups its vulnerability as
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theater this pattern of self-destruction
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reaches its breaking point in bojack's
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Desperate attempt to rewrite his friend
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Diane's biography of him he can't stand
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seeing himself through her honest lens
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so he locks himself away on a drug
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fueled Bender trying to create a version
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of himself that's heroic loved worthy
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when he finally emerges he begs Diane to
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tell him he's a good person years later
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the roles reverse he visits a depressed
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Diane in Chicago finally in a position
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to offer genuine help but immediately
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after he does so he can't face his own
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truth can't admit to his role in another
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friend's Bender related death his
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self-hatred runs so deep that he'd
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rather preserve the LIE than risk
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looking relatable for him the
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performance is easier than to be really
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seen what makes these stories
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devastating is how they expose the
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commodification of self-improvement the
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narrator Rebels against his consumer
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identity by creating Tyler only to build
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another kind of Conformity through an
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underground movement dedicated to
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violently dismantling Society Bojack
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repeatedly sells his recovery story to
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the media turning personal growth into
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content both characters are trapped in a
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system that promises transformation
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through consumption but what's truly
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Insidious is that both of these
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protagonists at some point know they're
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performing when bojack's daughter asks
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if the voice in her head telling her
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she's worthless will ever go away he
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lies and says yes the narrator creates
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an entire alternate personality rather
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than confront his genuine concerns about
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himself they're both so convinced of
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their worthiness that they'd rather
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destroy themselves than risk genuine
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change because that's the Trap of trying
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to hate yourself better it's not really
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about Improvement at all whether it's
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orchestrating mass destruction in the
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name of Freedom or Bojack cycles of
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relapse and Redemption it's just another
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way of running from who you really are
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real change requires something both of
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these characters are terrified of
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accepting the possibility that you might
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be worthy of Love even in your most
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imperfect form
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now our obsession with self-improvement
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runs far deeper than just hating who we
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are sometimes it's fueled by those we
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admire most Twisted into something that
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masquerades as guidance but functions as
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control other times it manifests as
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paralyzing restraint where our fear of
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our potential becomes its own kind of
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prison a young Jazz drummer and a middle
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school psychic might seem like an un
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likely pair but both Whiplash and MOB
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psycho 100 embody our fixation on being
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special and how it can transform
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mentorship into manipulation and
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self-control into self-destruction in
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Whiplash we watch Andrew a drummer
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accepted into a prestigious Conservatory
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where he bleeds for his art practicing
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until his hands are raw chasing the
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approval of a teacher who weaponizes his
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desire for greatness there are no two
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words in the English language more
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harmful than good job Fletch tells him
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turning Andrew's passion into an
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exercise In Perpetual punishment even
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after surviving a car crash Andrew
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rushes to perform covered in glass and
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dripping wounds and still Fletcher's
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approval remains far out of reach the
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ending of whiplash is horrific in a way
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it ends with Fletcher smiling Andrew
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smiling and Andrew's father looking on
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in horror as he sees what this life of
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pressure and anxiety will do to his son
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this pursuit of greatness cost
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everything in his life he breaks up with
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his girlfriend because even a dinner
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date threatens his practice time his
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family relationships wither as he
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insists they just don't understand his
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Ambitions Fletcher breeds a toxic
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environment deliberately keeping his
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students terrified they'll be replaced
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at any moment making them compete not
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just with each other but with their own
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limitations it's a pressure that doesn't
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just push them to improve it breaks them
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meanwhile mob a typical Middle School
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schooler who thinks he's not good at
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anything is actually a powerful psychic
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who takes the opposite approach
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suppressing his extraordinary abilities
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out of fear of hurting others his
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self-imposed restraint builds up like a
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pressure cooker exploding with
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devastating consequences whenever his
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emotions reach 100% the body Improvement
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Club becomes mob's unexpected Sanctuary
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a place where growth isn't measured by
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natural talent but by consistent effort
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unlike his psychic powers which he fears
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and suppresses physical training gives
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him a way to improve without the risk of
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destroying everything around him it's a
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different kind of strength one built
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through acceptance and encouragement
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rather than control what makes mob story
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particularly powerful is how it subverts
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our expectations of the gifted
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protagonist Trope instead of celebrating
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his extraordinary powers we watch him
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grapple with the weight of suppressing
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them his mentor Reagan though a
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self-proclaimed psychic who can't bend a
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spoon ultimately teaches mob something
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far more valuable than power control
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The Importance of Being Human in the
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show's finale mob finally confronts his
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other self the part of him that's been
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suppressed and judged for so long this
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jaded powerful side of him had grown
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stronger with every moment Reagan seemed
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to use him every time his feelings were
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disregarded their relationship takes an
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unexpected turn when rayan expresses his
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fraudulent nature publicly but what's
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revealing isn't the Revelation itself
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mob had always suspected Reagan wasn't
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really psychic what matters is Reagan's
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willingness to finally admit his
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deception choosing honesty with mob over
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maintaining his facade it's a moment
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that shows how true mentorship isn't
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about maintaining power over someone
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it's about being vulnerable enough to
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show your own flaws this stands in stark
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contrast to Fletcher's relationship with
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Andrew while Fletcher demands Perfection
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through fear Reagan tells mob something
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revolutionary in its Simplicity you must
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Embrace that characteristic as part of
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yourself and continue to live positive
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ly after all the truth behind one's
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charm is kindness so just be a good
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person okay it's advice that seems
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almost absurdly gentle compared to
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Fletcher's chairs being thrown across
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rooms but it's exactly what mob needs to
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hear both stories ultimately show us
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different paths in the pursuit of being
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special Andrew fragments himself through
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obsessive practice while mob learns to
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integrate the parts of himself he fears
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most one relationship leads to Blood on
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the drum kit the other to understanding
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that being extraordinary isn't about
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power at all it's about accepting
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yourself completely even the parts that
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might scare
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you what if we've been measuring
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Improvement all wrong what if the very
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metrics we use to judge our growth New
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Year's resolutions or otherwise are part
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of the problem the good place takes this
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question to a literal place a universe
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where every Human Action is scored and
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only the highest achievers make it to
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heaven we follow elanar shellstrop a
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self-described Arizona trash bag who
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finds herself accidentally sorted into
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heaven after death and TI Aragon an
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Ethics Professor so paralyzed by the
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pursuit of perfect choices that he can
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barely choose a muffin their afterlife
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is run by a point system that assigns
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numerical values to every action
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positive points for acts of kindness
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negative for moral failures it's not so
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different from our own obsessive
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tracking of likes weight dollar signs
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productivity metrics or other numbers we
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use to quantify our worth their initial
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attempts at self-improvement mirror our
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own desperate New Year's resolutions
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Eleanor fakes being good to avoid being
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discovered and sent to Hell while Chey
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obsesses over finding the mathematically
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perfect moral answer to every situation
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convinced that every problem has an
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answer this pursuit of perfection comes
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to ahead in the episode best self where
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the characters face a balloon that will
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only transport those who've achieved
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their best possible version one by one
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they fail chaty spirals into anxiety
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about whether some other version of
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himself might be better Eleanor realizes
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all of her attempts at honesty are just
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performances what starts as an innocent
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test to see how much they've improved
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becomes another way to hinder their
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Improvement the show's biggest
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Revelation that no one has made it into
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the good place in centuries because the
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standards are impossible is a plot twist
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that mirrors our own Society where the
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pursuit of self-improvement has become
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so extreme it's literally killing us
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like Nina's bleeding feet Andrew's
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bloodied hands or bojack's endless cycle
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of rehab we've destroyed ourselves
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trying to reach an impossible standard
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what makes Eleanor chy and even mob's
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Journeys different from our other
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examples is how they eventually
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understand growth unlike Nina or mima's
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fractured attempts at Perfection Bojack
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and the narrator's cycles of self-hate
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hatred or Andrew's obsessive pursuit of
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greatness they learned that Improvement
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isn't about dramatic transformation or
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reaching some final perfect State as
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chiy says life isn't a puzzle that can
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be solved one time and it's done you
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wake up every day and solve it again
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this is what real growth looks like not
00:15:48
a perfect performance that earns your
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mentor's approval not a complete
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reinvention of your identity not even
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reaching some numerical threshold of
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goodness it's about making slightly
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better choices each day understanding
00:16:02
that you'll fail sometimes and trying
00:16:04
again anyway as Elanor tells Michael
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that's the whole point you try you do
00:16:10
good things and you do bad things but
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you try to do good things when we return
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to those New Year's resolution posts
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that opened our discussion maybe through
00:16:20
these stories we can see them
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differently now they're not promises of
00:16:23
perfection or demands for complete
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transformation they're just
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opportunities to try again to make one
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better choice today than we did
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yesterday as chy finally realizes after
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lifetimes of searching for perfect
00:16:36
answers there is no answer and maybe
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that's the point when we stop trying to
00:16:42
become some idealized version of
00:16:44
ourselves where we can finally be
00:16:45
present for all the small moments of
00:16:47
improvement where we choose to be a
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little bit better a little more
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authentic and a Little More
00:16:54
Alive did this video spark any ideas for
00:16:57
your own writing leave a like like and
00:16:59
share your thoughts and questions in the
00:17:00
comments below your insights might just
00:17:02
help someone who needs it until then
00:17:04
whenever you find yourself in a pickle
00:17:06
on how to improve your story just know
00:17:08
ditto you're not alone and I'll be here
00:17:10
to help
