While it’s certainly possible to give creators more credit than they deserve as far as self awareness goes, I think that “it feels fake” is one of the primary points of the whole thing.
Creating content is an inherently dishonest and unauthentic endeavor. He makes that point implicitly and explicitly throughout the film.
The context that he creates is, well, created. When he has outbursts, breaks down, or does anything in this film-and-also-making-of, is it capturing an authentic moment, or is it another scripted bit?
To me, the way he creates an experience in which the audience is progressively asked to believe more and more in the authenticity of what we see as the emotional stakes get higher while at the same time he keeps warning us against taking manufactured content as truth is what makes this movie work.
I loved the moment near the end when
he kept trying to get through the lines about being not well. He starts and stops a number of times, and ultimately knocks over a camera. I remember thinking “um, ok, maaaybe that was real, but what if it was scripted? What if this is the third take of him trying to create that emotional moment to serve the narrative? Holy shit- this is the white woman’s instagram! None of it is real, and the whole point is that he is asking us to question everything ever done for an audience. If there’s honesty there, can you even parse it out of the rest of the made-up shit? Do the creators of content even know when they are being honest or when they shape themselves into a designed version of themselves?
And that’s why he’s a genius. There were the seeds of this idea in the song Art is Dead and he’s always presented the idea of artifice (“make happy”) along with a sincere desire to do something meaningful with his work, and that juxtaposition of artifice with genuine passion and never being quite sure if you’re being put on (or if he’s putting himself on) is part of the journey. He’s doing high-concept stuff here. It’s not Kauffman but there are echoes of Kauffman in the way he pushes the comfort envelope and at times seems apathetic to the idea that comedy should be funny.
Take White Woman’s Instagram. He’s mocking the artifice through artifice and halfway through he drops the white woman’s sentiment about the death of her father, going on at length about this woman’s grief, and suddenly you are made to feel deeply uncomfortable for mocking a real person (even though it’s not a real person!)
And if he’d shown his actual situation, we wouldn’t have that visceral claustrophobic reaction from seeing how we’ve felt this past 16 months playing out on screen. Inside is the physical representation of how many of us felt. And probably how Bo felt. Lockdown was a nightmare for many of us with mental health issues like his.
There are other comedians I love more, but he’s one of the few I can think of that takes these kinds of artistic risks. He’s working on a level that I can’t compare to anyone else today.
Totally. And, the thing is, to some degree what he’s doing in his songs is very simple- it’s almost like a regressive move back towards observational comedy (I’m not an expert on comedy, so I may have that descriptor wrong). This is like a modern musical version of Seinfeld (or a mix of Weird Al and MLK) asking “what’s the deal with airline snacks, they’re so small!?!?” No he’s not coming up with an original idea, he’s just turning a small oddness into something funny. Similarly, “people are so fake on social media” or “you know what’s strange? When people who dedicate themselves to projecting a curated life online drop in oddly personal and honest details in and among the staged perfection” are not unique or inightful observations.
All of the songs and scenes in this are, as individual items, smart and clever, but not revolutionary.
What makes it magic is the narrative framing. The camera filming a camera filming Bo Burnham. How many artists can successfully call themselves and their audiences into question as he did while still creating excellent versions of their art?
Sorry for rambling a bit. I really loved this and don’t get to talk about it much
I think Welcome to the Internet is the best song I’ve heard in years and I gushed as much upthread. However, I want to add one more technical point that just multiplies the genius: He got it in one take. Not the first take, no doubt, and I’m sure there was some editing but it really stands out when he sings the part quoted as he looks at different cameras for the ‘vac-cin-nate your kids.’ His head is, as they say, on a swivel and doesn’t know where to look because it’s coming from up, down & all around. You should kill your mom.
I had to take a break from social media, including the Dope, after the election. For my own mental health. I didn’t know about the existence of this comedy special until a few days ago, and even though it was obviously driven by the pandemic, it just incredibly, almost magically, connected with how I’ve been feeling lately, at least when I haven’t been able to distract myself with parenting, work, video games, etc.
Just an amazing piece of performance art, and comedy, IMO. I can’t recommend it enough. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, please do.
It’s years later and Bo lyrics have taken up permanent residence in my head and become established vocabulary for certain situations. I consider that a positive attribute and joins the likes of the Simpsons, Beastie Boys, 80s breakfast cereal and chewing gum commercials, Ron White, and Star Wars, among others.
Things I find myself saying/thinking:
Regret for starting something still unfinished “Wouldn’t have got the peppers if I knew they wouldn’t fit.”
When someone complains about a system working as intended/ (especially if requested): " (But) It does all the things we designed it to do."
“white woman instagram lights” for small LED strings
“Obama sent the immigrants to vac.cin.ate. Your. Kids!” in response to ‘no way anyone could be so dumb’
“Can I interest you in anything, all of the time?” is great, flippant and profound.
Personally I found it to be a work of genius. I remarked at the time I saw it that Burnham’s “life in physical isolation but in a (self-imposed) virtual spotlight” piece was simultaneously the thing itself, a parody of the thing, a commentary on the thing, a parody of the commentary on the thing, and a commentary on the parody of the thing. And against tremendous odds, it works. On every level. The whole thing boils down to “It’s ridiculous that this is the way that I am and society is and even you are, and yet here we are”.
And yes, “Welcome to the Internet” and “White Woman’s Instagram” are both mocking and profound. Note that in the middle of “Instagram” when we get the post about the woman talking to her dead mother, for that moment the visual boundaries go away - it is the one genuine moment of uncrafted emotion. And then they come right back afterwards.
The “Inside Outtakes” film actually shows why the main film was so good - it shows a lot of material that simply didn’t add to that core message and thus was discarded. Although I did laugh at the spider-themed material.
