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| “ | Well, I'd love to stay but I must be going. As a modern American man, I am woefully unprepared to manage a woman's emotions. I was never taught, and I will not learn. Take care you two! | „ |
| ~ Joseph after Honey's breakdown. |
| “ | Come on now, be strong. You can't let your womanly emotions consume you. You don't wanna end up like your mother now, do you? I promise. One day this will all be a pleasant memory. | „ |
| ~ Joseph's most infamous qoute. |
Joseph Sugarman is the overarching antagonist of the Netflix original series BoJack Horseman.
He is the owner of the Sugarman Sugar Cube Company and the father of Crackerjack and Beatrice Sugarman, Honey's husband and the maternal grandfather of BoJack. His dreadful acts were the driving force of all the misfortune in the Horseman family.
He was voiced by Matthew Broderick, who also portrayed RoboGadget in Inspector Gadget and Baron Triumph in Daybreak.
Appearance[]
Joseph is an anthropomorphic Buckskin horse with yellow fur, a short olive brown mane, pale brown spots on his eyes, ears, and muzzle, black eyebrows and wears an white business suit pants a dark blue bow-tie, and black socks alongside navy blue and white shoes.
Personality[]
Joseph emblems all the qualities of a typical 1940s and 50s husband and father, being cheerful and sophisticated. However, it is also shown, under all that, Joseph is sociopathic, narcissistic, and highly misogynistic, even for his time. He also had a weak conscience, and is shown to actually have very little care for his family, having to prioritize his own wealth and public image as a polite family man.
His misogyny is another prevalent feature, as he was against the idea of women doing anything that was not conducive to domestic tasks, showing disdain and anger towards Beatrice for getting and education and getting into politics, instead wanting her to get a husband and have children. He also says himself as a "modern American man," he is unable to relate to, understand, or deal with a woman's emotions, and chooses not to. This leads to Joseph being completely unsympathetic towards Beatrice, not caring about her being sick until she is nearly dying and Honey's loss towards Crackerjack. He berated Beatrice and Honey for expressing what he called their "womanly emotions", and is shown to lash out at his wife and daughter when they don't conform. After Honey's meltdown over Crackerjack's death at a World War II party, and when to made Beatrice drive them home, which resulted in a car crash, Joseph was furious at his wife for her recklessness but desperate attempts to be fixed and takes matters into his own hands by having her lobotomized, and then threatens subtly that he will do the same to a young Beatrice.
While lobotomy was a common surgery in the 40s, Joseph instead showed coldness and selfishness. He asks about how is he able to run his company, sell sugar, or flirt with his secretary if his wife kept having fits of hysteria.
It is shown, however, Joseph isn't completely evil, as he does show to understand/empathize at times. He is to be loving with Honey during the stable days and after her meltdown and wanting to get better, Joseph did look saddened when telling Beatrice about her mother's lobotomy. He was upset at Honey for putting Beatrice in danger, since she is their only remaining child left, and he hadn't considered lobotomy at hat point. He also seemed to like Crackerjack, being upset at his death as well, although not to the extent of Honey. He is even possibly regretful of lobotomizing Honey, telling a catatonic her that if he know this what would have happened, he wouldn't have tried doing it. He was even horrified by Beatrice's scarlet fever to the point of taking her to the doctor.
On the other hand Joseph did blame Honey for not noticing their daughter's illness illness in spite of his own mistakes, and the fact that Honey was practically brain-dead from her lobotomy, even to the point of violently shaking her when she showed no response. He then told Honey that if he knew this would happen to her after the procedure he wouldn't have bothered, which seemingly implies that he regretted letting his wife get lobotomized mostly because it prohibited her from taking care of Beatrice, and less the fact he reduced his once lively and sassy wife to an empty shell. This also implies he may not have known the full consequences of a lobotomy, and since it was one of the very few ways to treat a person's mental illness at the time, he may have chosen it because he thought it was the only quickest and easier way to stop Honey's reckless behavior. This even brings into question if he truly loved Honey, or only saw her as an object and didn’t actually respect and care about her as a person.
He he didn't even make any attempt to console Beatrice or even try to explain the situation to her when she was visibly upset and traumatized at seeing her own possessions burnt, including her favorite baby doll, instead he didn't tell her it was going to happen beforehand and does it while she's asleep, telling her cheerfully "crying is stupid", telling her that her sickness infected everything and that it all had to be destroyed for her own good.
He wanted to marry her off to her debutante chaperone Corbin Creamerman mainly for profit, as Corbin's father was the owner of a creamery despite Joseph forbidding Beatrice from having ice cream, as it was "a boys food" and because he wanted her to stay thin. Her debutante ball was only held because it was a tradition for high society women and for Beatrice to be introduced to Corbin so she can land a husband. He was so anxious to marry her off he at one point angrily told Beatrice, who tried to insist she wasn't interested in Corbin, that he'd marry her off to literally anyone at that point.
Hence, his motives for trying to keep Beatrice alive and healthy are questionable, as it seems, like Honey, he saw her only as an object, as his only concern was that she was raised suitable enough, both in terms of their high society's standards in looks and personality, to be married off, especially for his own benefit in terms of profits and having a suitable heir for his company
Because of all these traits, it's clear that Joseph, due to the 1940s molds and suppression of emotions, is an apathetic, misogynistic, and abusive man, who is arguably the most despicable and toxic member of Bojack's family. He may quite possibly the reason for why his grandson BoJack became the way he is. His actions towards Beatrice turned her into the cold-hearted mother that she is and said actions bled into how she raised and abused BoJack.
Biography[]
Joseph Sugarman was born sometime in either the late 1800s or the early 1900s. He was the owner of the Sugarman Sugar Cube Company, which was founded around 1916. and thus was very wealthy. It is unknown if Joseph himself founded the company or inherited it from his relatives. He was married to Honey Sugarman, and they had two children; his eldest son Crackerjack, and younger daughter Beatrice. They all lived in Indianapolis and would stay at a lakefront cabin in Harper's Landing, Michigan during the summer.
He, Honey, and Crackerjack first appeared in flashbacks to 1944-1945 in The Old Sugarman Place. He wonders where Crackerjack is they are going to take a family portrait, and he has to go back to Indianapolis for work. Honey wishes he could be able to cut back on work since the government rationing sugar due to the war, and it is summer. Joseph wishes he could, but no one else but him will make sure "the numbers add up and compliment his secretary on her tight sweaters." Honey admits they do appreciate the sacrifices he makes for them. When Crackerjack arrives he and his mother begin playing their special song, I Will Always Think of You but Joseph has to cut them off and says that time's arrow neither stays still or reverses, it merely marches forward. Honey then makes a joke about arrows having legs, Joseph then kisses her after she says she has "half a mind to kiss him with her smart mouth," to which he replies that half she can keep.
After Crackerjack was shot and killed in World War II, Honey fell into a depression. They go to the summer home in the winter with Honey frantically looking for Crackerjack's baby blanket, and Joseph solemnly tells her even that couldn't have stopped the Nazi's bullet and "that's just war". Honey starts crying and thinks she's failed him, but Joseph assures her its not her fault and that if anyone's to blame it's the "Jews for peeving off Hitler so bad." Months later they return to their summer home for their yearly tradition. Joseph tries to cheer her up by mentioning her time's arrow joke, but Honey begins crying after she plays a few notes on the piano. Joseph announces he'd love to stay, but he must be going as a "modern American man" he's "woefully unprepared to manage a woman's emotions." He was never taught and he will not learn. He then runs out the door and drives off.
On the night of the end of the war, in an attempt to cheer herself up, Honey and Beatrice go to a celebration at a local barn, where she ends up having a meltdown after seeing a piano and singing I Will Always Think of You by herself. She gets drunk and kisses one of Crackerjack's war friends, and acts hysterically. She has young Beatrice drive the car, and they end up crashing into a gas station shed, and getting hurt. Back at the cabin, Joseph is furious Honey acted that way and put Beatrice in danger, saying she's all they got, and says he can't run his company and keep his secretary's self-esteem afloat when she's having fits of hysteria. Honey admits she can't stop thinking about Crackerjack and doesn't know how to be better, and she tearfully begs her husband to fix her. The next morning, Joseph, appearing a little sad, goes outside to the back porch where Beatrice is. When she asks if her mother is ok, he says “she is now", and that Honey just let her "womanly emotions" get the better of her, which could be fixed with a little operation. He says that a broken heart can never be "fixed," but that there is a lot of science that can help "fix" the brain. Joseph tells his daughter that her mother is a "brand new woman" and would like to meet her. To Beatrice's horror, Honey was lobotomized, and she is now a dazed and empty shell of her former self. She tells Beatrice to never love anyone as much as she loved Crackerjack.
On one morning some time later, Beatrice tries to tell Joseph she doesn't feel good and that her throat hurts, while also having a cough, when he tells her to get ready for school. He believes she is just trying to skip school to avoid her bully Clemelia Bloodsworth and her gaggle, who the day earlier pushed her off a slide and teased her about her weight, and he demands she put on her uniform and to stop making books her friends, because reading builds young women's brains which takes away from their breasts and hips. However, as Beatrice starts to get ready she faints and Joseph catches her and realizes she feels hot. He pulls down a bit of her nightgown to find a red rash on her chest, to his horror, and he quickly picks her up and rushes her to the doctor.
Beatrice is later woken up by hearing Joseph scold Honey for failing to do a mother's job of keeping her children alive and not noticing Beatrice has scarlet fever. However, due to her lobotomy, Honey appears to have gone catatonic as she does not respond at all, even when Joseph violently shakes her. Joseph then says if he had known she would act like this after they severed the connections to her prefrontal cortex, he wouldn't have bothered. He then goes to check on Beatrice after she calls him. She asks if she's going to die, to which her father replies that one day she will, but for now she is fine. He even says since her throat is swollen shut, she could lose some weight. Later, Beatrice wakes up and cannot find her "baby," her horse doll, which is her prized possession. She finds it, but to her horror, the maids and servants are burning her belongings in her fireplace. Beatrice begins crying and begging them to stop. Joseph then comes up to her and tells Beatrice crying is stupid.
Joseph calmly explains to her that her sickness has infected everything and it all must be destroyed for her own good, especially her baby. He then picks up her doll and throws it into the fireplace. This traumatizes Beatrice, as she screams and cries for her baby. Joseph tells her she must be strong and not let her womanly emotions consume her, or she'll end up like her mother. A shadow of Honey with her lobotomy scar highlighted appears behind him as his ears somewhat resemble devil horns. Joseph then assures Beatrice that one day this will "all be a pleasant memory." He later sent Beatrice to Barnard so that she could find a husband, but instead, she got a bachelor's degree, much to his disappointment. When Beatrice is a young adult, he throws her a debutante ball in June 1963, as he hopes he can marry her off to her chaperone, Corbin Creamerman a sweet but awkward and dull goat. His father, Mort Creamerman, is the owner of Creamerman's Creamy Cream Based Commodities. Joseph hopes to create an alliance with him and expand both their products into ice cream which ironically he forbids Beatrice from having, in order to encourage her to stay thin.
Beatrice now rolls her eyes and scoffs at her father's outdated views on women, even for the time period, and openly expresses this to him. Joseph in return expresses frustration and disappointment in her attitude and the fact he sent her to Barnard College to find a husband but she returned "with a bachelor's degree and a mouth full of sass." Also, she worries about social issues like poverty and the civil rights movement. Being pressured about her weight at a young age has stuck with her, however, as she now takes what she calls "pretty pills" to help her stay thin. This pressure, combined with Beatrice's resentment toward her father after years of his emotional abuse, and the fact her date Corbin was boring to her ultimately causing her to run away with Butterscotch Horseman, a rebellious young horse who crashed her party. Butterscotch is presented as an aspiring author who admired the beatniks. After the two spend time talking to each other at the bar, and when Butterscotch tells her to leave with him on a dare because "Daddy wouldn't like that would he?" Beatrice leaves her own party to have sex with Butterscotch.
Two weeks later, her father comes into her room and announces that Corbin Creamerman is here to take her on a Sunday stroll. An annoyed Beatrice affirms that she is not interested in Corbin Joseph angrily slams the door and admits to not caring about what she wants, and that after her ditching her own party, she is lucky he doesn't put jellied beans in a jar and marry her off to the man who can provide the most accurate estimate of the number. He tells her Corbin is waiting and that she will be civil to him. Beatrice is forced to agree, and she does actually find a connection with him, but she ruins the date by throwing up on him due to morning sickness. She is pregnant with BoJack and finds Butterscotch to tell him. Butterscotch tells her to get an abortion, but she can not due to the trauma from the childhood of her baby doll being burned.
Joseph passed away from unknown cases in 1999, leaving Beatrice a painting that she later passed down to BoJack, but it is unknown exactly how he passed. He most likely died of old age, as he was either in his nineties or hundreds when he passed. Sugarman's Sugar was sold to a Japanese conglomerate, and while Beatrice did recieve an inheritance from him, Butterscotch would fritter all of it away and leave her in debt at the time of his death. After Crackerjack, Honey, and Joseph's deaths, this leaves Hollyhock and his grandson, Bojack as the last living members of the Sugarman bloodline.
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 Villains
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