Bo Burnham's Inside and "White Liberal Performative Art"
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- Опубликовано: 16 июн 2024
- Bo Burnham's Inside currently streaming on Netflix is one of the best things I've seen all year. It perfectly captures so much of the emotions I think all of us felt in the last 18 months or so... emotions that we probably should keep close since things are going in reverse.
However, some parts of Bo Burnham's experimental special were... a bit othering. I realized that as a whole the special wasn't for me. It was a deeply personal piece that spoke explicitly to Bo's experiences and worldview, and as a "straight white male", there's definitely some elements of his worldview that aren't going to look the same from my standpoint.
This got me thinking about other works of art with similar themes. I think there's tons of art made by white creators that speak explicitly to a white worldview in a way that isn't explained by just being "for general audiences". I named it "White Liberal Performative Art" and I'm super proud of myself for that lol.
In this video I give a little background on what brought me to this idea and how Bo Burnham's Inside works as a proof of concept for it.
00:00 Intro
00:38 Some thoughts on the paradox of blackness
07:05 Who the F is Bo Burnham?
13:00 The Erasure of "Whiteness" from Mainstream Pop Culture
16:15 White Habitus
20:43 Performative Wokeness
25:10 Existential Dread
33:35 Final thoughts
featuring
Shawn and Mel - / @shawnandmel4life
Just Tennile - / justgossipfolks
Hollaatjrazy-
/ hollaatkrazy
Song ID Nine One Nine by Sarah the Instrumentalist
the phrase “the luxury of being horrified” is so perfectly apt
i feel like being shocked at certain events is a big sign of privilege too
You are correct, being horrified by life's circumstances is a luxury of the rich, everyone has to feel all the feelings and then go back to their shitty, low paying job, and risk their life to be there. Still, an artists job is to process and explain human emotion, so I can't complain about an artist, genuinely being horrified about stuff you should be horrified about... instead... what really Scary, is that the world has become so harsh that feeling your feelings is now a luxury only afforded to Rich white people.
@@ufilm844 I mean, as a poor white person you still get some of that leftover like... I mean your understanding of the world isn't as well rounded as it should be, because even poor white neighborhoods tend to be somewhat segregated from the other neighborhoods if that makes any sense? Like the poor white part of town and the poor mexican part of town are different parts of town yeah?
Well, what else do you expect them to do
@@esayers yet this video mocks the people for being horrified. Let me ask, what alternatives are there? You could lean into it and support it, but that’s racist and evil. You could say nothing, but silence is violence. That leaves this, the only acceptable option.
I owe a lot to Samuel Jackson giving that interview because it made me realize if my standards of not being racist was never saying a word, I needed higher standards.
it's about noticing when you have internalised racist beliefs, and actively making an attempt to counteract them. growing up white in a majority white area, one is bound to internalise some degree of racism and cannot be blamed for that. you can, however, be blamed for actively ignoring it or noticing it and chosing to not counteract it.
@@ajtaylor7905 What you want to do is study philosophy, and try to construct a non-contradictory moral framework that supports and clarifies your moral axioms (the deepest principles you’ve assumed / moral intuitions).
@@ajtaylor7905 one thing I've learned(can't remember where I heard it,sorry) is
1. Intrusive thoughts do not describe who you are as a person (chronic intrusive thoughts can be caused by anxiety, depression, and ocd, probably other stuff too but I'm not an expert, and that's a whole different deal which I would highly suggest researching if youve got any of those)
2. In a situation where one is having internalized racist thoughts, it is not the thought itself that defines what you truly think, but the thought after it that does
3. Just noticing the internalized racist beliefs and then going "hmm. Now why was i thinking that?" And just digging deeper into where you learned it and kinda picking apart at it that way
All of this sort of stuff has helped me i think a lot, and noticing and comparing it to other places where you might be in the minority (i.e. LGBTQ+, being a woman, religious minority, etc.). That sort of comparing has helped me get a better grasp(but also knowing there is a big difference) on what racism feels like to non white people. Obviously since I _don't_ know what racism feels like i can't be sure of that, but that is advise i have gotten and it sounds solid to me.
I'm definitely not there all the way bc how could I be, but i think remembering these things has helped me learn and grow a lot. Continuing to listen to non-white peoples' perspectives is also a really good way of doing so, too.
@@ajtaylor7905 sometimes i catch myself having a racist thought and as i see the world largely on systemic and societal levels ill be like "aha. that was my upbringing speaking" and proceed to analyse that racist thought and where it came from and what it implies abt the world and how i was raised. acknowledging your own racism is hard pill to swallow but its made a lot easier when you recognise that a lot of your even most internal behavior is an element of the system.
edit: M Blair put it really well in point 3 and the last paragraph
@@ajtaylor7905
Humans are tribalistic. Honestly I reckon the only way you could remove any subconscious biases is meeting people of different races and making friends. That way your initial judgements of people can be removed. This idea extends beyond racial lines.
9:24 During Inside, there's a scene where he's sitting in a dark room watching his old videos, and the framing and music and tone is shot like a horror scene. With no sound other than dreadful tones and a look of revulsion and anger on his face. And this is the exact song he's watching.
This is one of many segments in Inside that I was extremely confused as to why it wasn't touched on further. He’s proud to have coined performative liberalism as something he tentatively assumes nobodys coined/thought of before, yet the entire point of Inside and honestly his whole career was Bo grappling with many of these topics. Problematic goes into his guilt while still acknowledging it's purely self-indulgent and performative. How the World Works and Art is Dead is about how him even making songs spreading awareness ultimately become more about him than the actual suffering. (Like how I'm talking about it right now) It annoys me that he only acknowledges that Inside is self-aware half-way through the video in a tangential segment rather than acknowledging his first impressions were flawed and going back to accommodate the script.
@@Ban-zx9seLiterally one of the first things he says about Bo Burnham and "White Liberal Performative Art" in general is that they are self-aware. It's almost halfway through the video I guess, but it's right at the start of when he's actually talking about Bo specifically or the concept as a whole. The entire video before that is just anecdotes and context leading up to it. And he did acknowledge his feelings of realizing what was going on with Bo and Inside, so I'm not sure what you want from him lol. Seems like you're being unnecessarily picky about how someone is talking about presumably one of your favorite artists.
10:22 is not what I would consider the beginning in a 30 minute vid. If the first 1/3rd of your script is anecdotes than there's something wrong with your script lmao. Admittedly, yes, I'm a fan. You got me there, but I just feel like putting yhis sorta thing out there as what feels like a footnote is disingenuous in representing the full special. I'm guessing it's because having a title/thumbnail that advertises his own ideas over the special that he loosely springboards off of isn't very appealing to the algorithm, but it just still feels weird regardless. I should've prefaced that I liked the video and think it has a lot of valid points, I just feel like it did a disservice to Bo's art.
@Ban-zx9se Yeah it's very clearly giving fan who can't hear a different take on their fav
That's unnecessarily rude. After watching more of F.D's content, I've come to recognize that his content as a whole revolves around his deeply personal perspective as a black man. While I still think it misinterprets the special a little bit, I get now that fully tackling the special wasn't really the point of the video and never was. If you think I'm bashing on F.D or his take in any way then I apologize.
What you said about George Floyd strangely brought back a memory of when I (an autistic person) sent Hbomberguy's vaccines video to one of my closest neurotypical friends. When he was done watching it, he was PISSED at the people who torment autistic people (usually autistic children) for financial gain. And honestly, it actually felt kind of nice to me. I personally see value in the reactions of people who are just discovering the horrors that you've been living your whole life, because it can provide clarity, perspective, mutual understanding, and all that good stuff. Though I also understand why this sort of experience could be frustrating for others.
I think (as an autistic white person), that what it is, is it often feels good the first time. It feels like you are being understood at first. But then it keeps happening, and over time you realize people only have this reaction because they don't really understand. But I might be wrong idk
@@universal_stupidity I think in this case, it's just that my friend found out about some truly horrendous shit and was genuinely really mad about it. He's definitely not the type to "virtue signal" or whatever.
As for understanding, he'll never fully understand what it feels like to be autistic. But should that mean he should be kept isolated from the issue and not try to understand as best he can? I guess my larger point is just because someone cannot understand the experiences of certain people doesn't mean they can't genuinely care about making life better for said people. Though it does mean they have blind spots that should be taken into consideration and pointed out.
@@anananananananananananananana What's NPD?
Honestly as the typical white guy with no specific features to lead to discrimination (besides being the openly ethnic german-american and get called a nazi out of nowhere) I also never thought disliking the “horrified feeling” of people like me when they find out about bad shit in the world.
The feeling itself is an indicator of clarity and growth for the person. Any other reaction would be inappropriate for the real horrors and dystopian existence suffered by many in the world. Of course it comes from privilege from not knowing before, but why should we EVER push someone away for learning? Its just a function of gatekeeping and the classic toxic leftists who use left-wing ideology and stances as a personal identity, ruined if someone not associated with the left starts agreeing with our ideas.
Class consciousness, the recognition and action for the benefit of less fortunate, of provilege, is THE only way to spread awareness and progress.
@@Jekyllstein_Gray Narsisistic personality disorder
I love that the vibe of this whole video is "I liked the special but I'm being critical because there is a lot to be learned from this". I think more people need to have this mindset when consuming media!
Exactly the world isn't black in white. You can appreciate something and criticize it. Or disagree with something but appreciate the pov
@Sketchy Stuff if someone watched the video and reached that conclusion, they probably came into the video with their mind made up already. Just my 2 cents.
@Sketchy Stuff Sorry you feel that way - You did however comment on the video (as an FYI) and I assumed it was an open conversation :) Hope you have a better day!
Or let people hate things if they want to? Theres nothing wrong with ppl not having a preference for his type of comedy and criticize it for its lack of self-awareness at the same time. Both are valid forms of consumption
THIS.
"only churches and public schools are more segregated than the world of comedy"
and SUBSCRIBED
💕 💯
Ghettos are even are more segregated between blacks and indian mexicans.
@@josephanglada4785 Indian Mexicans?
@@thehorse5307 Using the world indian for native american, yes. They prefer that term: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation
@@josephanglada4785 Why would you think that indigenous people would prefer a name forced onto them by colonizers due to an "misunderstanding" rather than calling them indigenous or native? Also, why is it so hard for you to just say black people instead of "blacks"? It seems dehumanizing to not even refer to them as human.
Great video but just one comment on the Samuel L Jackson story.
It’s important to include the rest of the story here because when he said “it’s just Tuesday”, he was talking about the characters in the movie. He was trying to get Leo into his character. “It’s just Tuesday, we’re you’re property, not people.”
Obviously he wasn’t being literal, but trying to reshape how Leo was thinking about the role. At the end, Jaime says that when Leo came back on set the next day, his black colleagues were greeting him on set, and he wouldn’t even acknowledge their existence. Samuel knows Leo is a strong method actor, so I think this advice is part of what made Calvin Candie such a stunning performance.
The result is that "it's just Tuesday" is a happy accident of a double-meaning in that it was a great term to get him in that casual headspace as well as a teaching tool on how unfortunately casual the way racism pervades everyday life
RIP Raul Julia
The Lerdrit was legit
It's dirty how Inside got snubbed by awards types
I think this is a great video. Personally, the first time i really woke up to racism ESPECIALLY model minority racism was when i was meeting my biological mother (who is a darker skinned asian woman, and myself, being asian but very light skinned) and we happened to go window shopping in a very high end part of town . They seemed to pay special attention to us for whatever reason, and then an older black couple came into the store. It straight up felt like the air SHIFTED. Both workers even stopped paying attention to us just so they could eyeball this older couple. Ngl i still bristle about that.
Did you mean to say EXPESHALLY
I’m axe’n for a friend
@@brianspayd8718 All these years here and THAT is the only thing you say?
"Racism isn't evil, evil isn't real, racism is." That line had me thinking for a while.
@@grabble7605 evil can exist and not be harmful. Rac|sm is a moving well oiled self sustaining entity. It’s tangible. Unlike a evil, which is more subjective.
@@grabble7605 You can be racist without being labeled as 'evil'. By merging together these concepts, you are creating distance between rascist, ignorant, but not 'evil' people and their racist ideals.
@@unfairdani You can be racist without being labeled evil, sure...But you'd still be evil. Whether people choose to call you such is irrelevant to it. There are no "racist but not evil" people.
@@Aurischoice Evil can't exist and not be harmful. If evil weren't harmful, nobody would be bothered about it. And racism is a concept. It's not tangible.
@@grabble7605 The binary concept of evil and good does not exist in reality. Most (If not all) of the actions and opinions one can make are a mix of the extremes 'good' and 'evil'. When people label something as completely evil, they separate it from their being, as no one sees themselves as truly evil.
So, with that in mind, saying "racism is evil" invalidates the idea that an ordinary person, that would not be seen as evil, could behave in racist ways/have racist views.
Racism IS bad, mind you, but saying it's just "evil" doesn't put the truth into perspective, and harms the understanding of people about racism.
Broooo it’s like when people complained about how L in the live action death note was changed to black… the entire damn cast had their races changed. Did these forget that the characters were all supposed to be Japanese?!?! So making L black was no different than making all the other characters white.
I really like the actor that played L and thought he was literally carrying that movie. That movie was a piece of crap but that had nothing to do with the actors. To me in a perfect world that can't exist, every role regardless of gender would go to whoever was most qualified. Women playing men, men playing women, adults playing children, children playing adults. But obviously that's a pipe dream.
I want more American anime movies, because I know that if someone truly gave a shit, they could create something unique. The lack of creativity in just about ever culture is apparent. All entertainers have their own pandering money making system influence by culture and demographics. When we start crossing the techniques then interesting things will happen. Just like all things in life when it comes to entertainment we put everything into a bunch of separate boxes.
Give me an American isekai that takes place in space.
An American style shoot em up with cute anime girls.
I want some really absurd ideas taken seriously and some super serious ideas taken absurdly. Sure not everyone will hit but at least there will be a lot of fun to be had and insight. I mean worship of other cultures wouldn't be such a big thing if everyone in their countries weren't so limited in how each of our cultures tell stories.
To be fair, in my circle, I heard everyone being more critical about the white actors. To be honest, that movie was set up to fail from the start.
Lakeith was the only saving grace in that terrible adaptation and all those mfs could focus on was him being black. Literally the least of that movie's problems but any opportunity for that demographic (idk what to call em but theyre majority anti-sjw edgelord memer gamer bros) to act like any casting decision ever made is some woke politics BS. Nailing your audition doesn't exist anymore, everything pandering or the agenda.
L is actually a mix of Russian, Korean, Japanese, American and British.
@@memes6060 I knew he was British but that was all I knew. That and that Ohba said L was slightly evil.
I really pick up the manga instead of watching so much anime.
I'm an Indian man in a clinical psychology doctoral program, an overwhelmingly white liberal & majority white liberal women dominated field. In a class discussion about social justice, I just blurted out "White guilt is not useful. I don't like the taste of white tears, I have enough salt in my diet. That's not the answer to these social issues". I don't think the room really understood what I was getting at. But you just put it into better words than I had.
It's a scary picture when if we could Thanos snap the world into one with 0 injustice and we had 5 seconds to decide "keep changes" or "revert to previous save state" would we actually keep the changes if it meant the new just world had no Nikes, no conflict mineral cell phones, no more nice upscale neighborhoods, no more nice cars, etc? That shit is terrifying for most of us, but as you mentioned some people have no idea what it's like to live without those things at all point blank. How much is it wanting to uproot injustice vs simply feel like you're not a contributer?
I think you put it into perfect words, that’s such a raw quote.
This was written in the most incredible way
I like looking at these comments because it's mostly just essays whining about white people not being nice enough and then Marvel references. White people aren't doing enough, Thanos, video games. This is our expert class speaking- these are our doctors and academic professionals.
You touched upon a truly horrifying theory there that people are 'terrified' to live without their nikes and cell phones. I refuse to believe that shit, personally. It's too depressing.
@@blank4227 If you're referring to my comment then you misread it my friend. My mini "essay" is literally the opposite of complaining white people are "not nice enough". I explicitly say that white guilt is not useful. White folks shouldn't feel guilty about being white. Their existence is not some flaw that they need to continously apologize for.
As for the marvel & video games part, doctors have hobbies lol. I don't sleep in the clinic. You have a Deus Ex profile pic yourself. That's dope. Also if you do therapy with kids & teens like I do, then understanding pop culture literally makes you more effective at your job. So it's a compliment really
As a "white liberal" myself, and one who loved "Inside" as well, I will admit, I hesitated watching this video when it first showed up on my suggestions. I was worried I was going to hear something I didn't like about a piece of work and a performer I really _did_ like. I finally got over it, and I'm really glad that I did, because you got me to think about things in a different and challenging way. I admit this hesitancy because I think it's important to face the fact that a little fear of hearing something I didn't like was enough to give me pause, which I need to recognize is a really privileged sort of thing to even experience. Like, can you imagine having a world be so cushy for you that you can easily tune out voices that don't validate you? Or, from the privileged side, can you imagine every day being full of images, voices, worldviews, and works that constantly _invalidate_ you?
Anyway, the part that really stuck with me the most was how, basically _pissed_ Sam L. Jackson seemed to be with that white interviewer who wouldn't say the N-word when prompted, refusing to talk about the subject unless the interviewer would say it. It reminds me of something I heard on a Pacifica radio show one time about some moderately famous personality who went off saying the N-word repeatedly in some rant, and then some Black folks were responding to it, saying at one point "the N-word was the least offensive part of that." It's difficult for me to put into words, but I think I kind of get the frustration that you and Jackson might be having, that to get so caught up on the word itself, in isolation, as though it's the _WORD_ that's racist, and not the whole ideology behind it, is missing the point, or that a white liberal's delicate sensibilities, wanting to avoid the discomfort of merely _saying_ the N-word is nothing compared to the discomfort that Black people living in a white supremacist society suffer every day, so white liberals shouldn't burden Black people by interrupting a filming schedule or interrupting an interview by being unwilling to utter that one word when it is literally called for. That's not being an ally; it's centering white guilt.
Let me know your thoughts on my understanding. I'd like to see more on the subject.
HELL YEA BRUTHER
Based :)
Maybe I misinterpreted his intentions, but it felt like Samuel L. Jackson was intentionally trying to destroy the guy's reputation to trick him into saying the N word.
The word itself does not carry any power, but that doesn't matter. If a poor white person says the N word, even if by the request of a black celebrity, their life is over. They lose their job, they can't support their family, and they die.
Rich white people can afford to get away with saying the N word because they don't have to worry about survival.
My advice? Don't play these games. Don't do or say anything that would put yourself in mortal danger.
I don’t know. I still don’t think there was any good reason for Jackson to insist the guy say the word. I don’t see what purpose it would have served to get him to say it. I’m left thinking he was just messing with him for sport and it’s a little disappointing. Those press junket interviewers are in fairly powerless dime a dozen jobs and are very expendable. If he’d allowed himself to be pressured into saying it, he very well could have lost his job and had a hard time getting a different one in the industry. Would Jackson with his many millions have cared? Should he have cared? I think he should have. Maybe something else personal was at play that we
didn’t see and he had reason to be dismissive of the guy, but I don’t see the purpose. I’d love to be shown I’m wrong.
@1027 EastSide
Exactly
Tldr: racial divide + class divide. Although white people hold privilege in this system racially, it's important to recognize class privilege as well. And frankly, I believe most if not all forms of intersectional divide would be erased if our current capitalist system was radically and fundamentally torn down and rebuilt.
theres like a misinterpretation of bo burnhams work and his fans because it seems they lack Bo’s self awareness, he’s aware of his limited world view and i think he jokes about it in a satirical way, but when some of his fans absorb the joke, the dont fully understand to what depth, and then they go online and say shit like “woke king😍” lmfao
Its because of tiktok. Most of Bo's fans understand how far his jokes go. Kinda proves that people are only judging "fans", most likely from tiktok, and Twitter. And trust me, the smart fans didn't post statuses about how the show made us feel. Lmao
@@SoundRayStudio1 No this was happening with his stuff long edited TikTok
i totally agree with the “woke king😍” comments but I also think some of his songs were just GOOD and thats why people posted about them. I listen to Inside constantly. Sometimes I wanna actually reflect on the lyrics, sometimes I just wanna hear good songs🤷🏼♀️
of course it goes without saying that it depends on how the songs were used
Noticing that younger people (tiktok generation) don't really connect with Bo Burnham like millennials do/did
That Samuel L Jackson interview is hilarious. What a point to make.
Serious, best way to start this kind of essay.
Truly!
"It was a good question..."
"No it wasn't."
I'm kinda stupid what exactly what the point he was trying to make
@@leohickey4424 I'm white so I may get some of the nuance wrong but my takeaway was that white liberals get really hung up about the n word (and racism in general) in ways that are more about their own concern with not appearing racist but not in ways that actually move the needle in a productive way. In this specific instance, while no white person should ever get to a place where they feel comfortable saying the n word, that discomfort is misplaced when you are an actor portraying an extremely racist character in a movie that intends to lay bare racism in its ugliest form. Jackson seemed annoyed by DiCaprio getting hung up on portraying a racist character because his discomfort kind of bespeaks that he never has to regularly live seeing that ugliest side of racism; Jackson has to see that racism all the time. In the interview it seems he is also uninterested in having a conversation about the issue with another white person who is so afraid to confront the ugliest side of racism, when that discomfort from the interviewer's side is once again "will I look racist if I say this word?" and not "by using this word, am I inflicting racism on people." The n word wouldn't have the power it has to inflict racism if that racism didn't exist to give the word power so handwringing over saying the word can miss the underlying point of WHY we don't say the word. It's a very nuanced and radical point to make and if you make the point poorly you might accidentally sound like you are encouraging white people to feel free to use the word whenever, which is not the point Jackson was making imo
A friend of mine recently had a moment of revelation about the police when he saw a video of a cop cracking jokes about a woman another officer had just hit and killed with his cruiser.
He damned near had a mental breakdown cause he was finally on my side with "that ACAB shit" while he's living with his conservative parents.
He said, and I quote "my whole world view is crumbling around me."
and I feel I had a similar reaction to that Samuel Jackson quote, "Motherfucker, to me its Tuesday."
To be fair that is probably the tamest example of police cruelty in the past year or two to be the straw that breaks the camels back. The Jackson response seems more than warranted.
i have to be honest, that was me when uvalde happened. it was already weakening when George Floyd was killed, but that cemented it for me.
@defaultdan7923 why has the community decided to martyr George Floyd? He didn't deserve murder, but this postmortem canonization is extremely weird. Like the dude was such a terrible person, why are the people who get monuments and memorials always people like this in thr blk community?
@@KangwithoutaKangdom 1. His death was caught on camera. 2. His death was very obviously undeserved and the police was in the wrong in a way that isn't up for debate. 3. The imagery of a police officer with literally a knee on the neck of a black man is very powerful symbolically as a sign of systemic oppression.
The sort of person George Floyd was doesn't really matter at all. The person who died that day could have been literally any black guy, which is the point of the whole BLM movement. Digging into it in order to make Floyds death seem more deserved is very telling.
@@KangwithoutaKangdomhe's personality is not being matyr-ed (?) Its the landmark situation and widespread coverage of something that black people have been trying to expose to the wider public for decades. There's plenty of "terrible" people who are fondly remembered and deified in white spaces but why is this criticism being placed on black people?
i like hearing topics like this discussed in such a relaxed manner, like it ain’t no lecture and it’s very informative
And none of the greater-than-thou snark.
@@gjtrue exactly, devoid of pretension, even if it’d be arguably valid
I don't get anything of what he's saying. I'm also German tho so maybe I just don't know US culture well enough to understand what he's on about.
@@neonice yeah man y’all got a whole other thing going on there lmao
The thing about snark is that it doesn't matter if you're right, people who you could accuse of being hateful especially, but people in general, won't be inclined to agree with you and might throw any thoughts about the validity of your argument or point out the window, not questioning it in the future, either, in petty, human rebellion. This being a response to (however reasonable) petty, human self gratification, or putdowns. But I'm white, middle class with modern accommodations, and have thought very similarly to what he describes. It's pretty much me to a T cause I'm a product of this big machine. And instead of feeling attacked, I'm thinking this is the realest talk I've heard in a long time, and legitimate basis for middle ground and discussion. Sort of therapeutic in a way, if that's not overly selfish to say
"It ends in ego-death and nihilism when you realize that the only way to fix the problem is to lose everything you've learned to appreciate in your lives."
Beautiful.
Which is why I love being White & refuse to allow the inevitable hellpit of leftist nihilism to reduce my status in any way.
@@sydnacious4239 Go miss the point on someone else's comment, please.
@@sydnacious4239 what status? You're not rich, you hold zero power or influence. You're basic like the rest of us. Your Whiteness is the illusion of advantage, when it's circumstance at worst and privilege at best only because your skin color grants you society looking the other way on things other races cannot recieve as a benefit.
Your existence is a convenience afforded by a lack of pigmentation.
@@sydnacious4239 tell me you’re a closet racist without telling me you’re a closet racist.
@@sydnacious4239I came to argue the comment too but sounds like you could really use some ego-death
Listen, I've been trying to talk to my friends about the erasure of whiteness from pop culture forever. Young white people don't want to be "white"anymore. They speak in AAVE and memes that reference black culture all the time and it is soooooo jarring to me. There are no pop icons for them anymore. No more Britneys. No more Justins...Its so weird.
The whites do have a pop icon- his name is Donald Glover 😂
But were Britney and Justin really white icons in the way the video is talking about? I feel like they may have been the beginning of the move towards pop stars being crafted by studios to resemble black performers. The same thing happened to P!NK and Robyn, but they both kicked their lables to the curb.
Are there any young metal or punk bands? How are we having this wokeness infused gen come up with no punk?
@@RT710. how? Black people lobe Donald glover just as much.
@@theirreverentreader6970 i agree but they were still very much white in the way that they presented and talked. Yes, they're dance moves and music were inspired but black culture especially in their late careers but they were still considered all American blonde white pop icons vs...miley and jack Harlow now.
@@fernandacita what difference does that make? I mean the dude was a regular on “Community” for god sake lol
As a white 90s child, we were taught that the best way to get rid of all the "-isms" is to treat everyone the same "we're all in this together" "everyone is red inside" (I actually remember a dance song that said that...). As we got older we realized by doing that, we are erasing aspects of other cultures and beliefs. It also completely invalidates the struggles and setbacks everyone that is not "us" faces ("We're all the same, so why are you not like me?"). By treating everyone the same (which by default would be the same as yourself), you take away the voices and the things that make everyone special and unique. So then the pendulum swung the other way, with "let's include everything from everyone" which then got packaged and sold and benefited white people again ("I love all cultures, so I'm including these sacred objects from this culture and that culture and mixing them together as a way of showing I love everyone. That will be $50 please"). Mix that with the natural tendency of humans to only really understand those that are like ourselves, you get the "safety pin" movements you mentioned, and all the "I'm a safe space...(but really only for people and cultures I view as okay)".
So now as adults, we 80s/90s kids (who are more educated, more globally aware than previous generations) are trying to find the sweet spot of getting along and also celebrating others. And as always, the pendulum swings.
I try to teach my child something in the middle. That we are all human beings, but there are aspects to all of us (as a collective and as individuals) that make us special and unique. And we all have things that have happened to us (and are happening to us) that hold us back and make it harder to move forward. We only see a small fraction of someone. Everyone we meet has a whole life, a whole past, a whole future, a whole family tree, a whole inner voice that we don't see that creates the person we see before us.
Great video. Gave me a lot to think about.
What?
this
Treating everyone "the same" as in with equal amounts of respect and understanding regardless of their differences, is definitely not the same as pretending everyone is literally the same.
in the effort to get rid of racism and sexism, we lost judaism, buddhism, sikhism and hinduism🫡
no?? Treating everyone the same is one way to fight racism, what??
This is incredible, thank you so much for taking your time to create this art and teaching me. Thank you for the introspection.
I remember seeing a clip where the interviewer either calls Bo or asks Bo if he’s a feminist and in way or another he addresses that while yes he is for gender equality, he is not out there leading the cause- so labelling him a feminist (or putting him on a pedestal as a feminist icon) would take away from its meaning.
Eh, I get what he's saying, and I guess to an extent I agree with it, but if saddens me that I have to agree, if that makes sense. Even though his views are 100% feminist, he knows that if he says it, way too many men will immediately stop listening to and agreeing with his feminist talking points. And we need as many men agreeing with feminist ideals and we can get. I think the same goes for a lot of issues, people focus too much on the label, and not nearly enough on the message.
@@WobblesandBean I think it has nothing to do with him not wanting to alienate fans (he’s been pretty scathing when attacking white men and men’s rights activists for being crybabies in interviews) and it was more that he felt he didn’t EARN the right because what is he actually doing? He compared it to calling himself a civil rights activist just because he’s against racism. He hasn’t done the work and doesn’t feel qualified to take credit or label himself an activist. He framed it as declaring himself “a Feminist” implies he’s done something tangible for the cause more than just the bare minimum.
His press for promising young woman he also was pretty pointedly targeting men (including himself) to hold themselves accountable for contributing to rape culture in a spectrum of ways.
@@crycrywolf yea just because u want gender equality doesnt make u an activist. Taking action in your own community does and its a good point from Bo
@@crycrywolf I agree with that personally, sure he has the views, but isn't having a respectful view on women and gender equality supposed the bare minimum? Shouldn't everyone believe in all genders being treated with respect? He's not a straight up feminist going out and fighting for rights several times a week, he's just being a proper and respectful human being (correct me if im wrong)
@@worstusernameintheworld9871 I'm confused, as far as I can see you've mentioned exactly the same points as the person you're replying to talked about Bo saying in the interview. So who are you arguing against and who are you expecting to correct you?
Something i found extremely interesting personally while watching the special was how I, the only POC within my friend group was surprisingly emotionally destroyed by INSIDE due to mutual feelings of isolation (homeschooling in my case), imposter syndrome and depression while every last one of my white friends who also deal with similar forms of mental health issues were not able to connect and actually ended up laughing at it and making fun of ME for connecting with it because of how "white and pretentious the message felt" when i'm usually the one who points out when messages in media have a privileged view of a topic.
I know everyone's individual experiences influence the way they consume and view certain media but WOW it's strange to see it in action.
@@black_forest_ I mean I think it's Def about living during the pandemic but Bos specific journey through it and the depression it led to in a person who has previous mental issues.
It doesn't go over like most privileged takes because Bo addresses the irony in his message throughout and the issues with it.
There's something in there some people will relate to.
the mental health bits in Inside destroyed me, it was even more terrifying when I went to see it in theaters and the audience was laughing at these bits that were really hitting me hard as somebody who does struggle with mental illness
watching everyone who claims to be an advocate for mental health LAUGH and make jokes about the real issues talked about in that special makes me so uncomfortable tbh
@@black_forest_ so many people were laughing at the bit where he's projecting that video of himself talking someone out of suicide while he sits there with that far off look and I was just looking around absolutely dumbfounded
Okay, which one of my siblings are you? jk. But as a black, homeschooled millennial on an SSRI, I too related to Inside too much. Maybe, having basically been raised by the internet and TV, my living experience is closer to the experience of white people? Idk. But I feel like a lot of the humor and topics in Inside really transcend race, especially if you're a socially isolated internet citizen.
This one hit me hard. You accurately describe a lot of my recent journey. Love your content. It’s thought provoking and brutally honest while remaining compassionate. Thanks for what you do.
i really like the slow build of your points; it presents almost cinematic in nature (granted, old cinema). its not that you're taking your time to get to the crux of it, but rather, the information presents itself slowly and cumulatively until we have no choice but to realize that what you've been saying has always been there
In Judaism we have a saying. "You are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." I personally found that phrase was really helpful in dealing with the existential dread and nihilism that you mentioned. It's impossible for me to single-handedly dismantle white supremacy, or the patriarchy, or capitalism. But that doesn't mean it's okay for me to just throw up my hands and say "Well, this problem is bigger than me, I might as well do nothing."
An appropriately understandable and also confusing saying.
Hmm. Weird saying.
I’m just a person caught in the gears of history. It’s not a problem that I caused and I’ll only do something to correct it if it directly benefits me.
@@yunleung2631 "I'll only do something to correct it if it directly benefits me"....... sounds like someone "abandon[ed] it"
@@yunleung2631 wow, what a shitty take
I'm really not sure how this is confusing to y'all. The point of the quote is simply that the hearer is to abandon the expectation/hubris that they can entirely dismantle systems of oppression without giving the pass that because they can't completely destroy it, they don't have to do anything about it. The point is just that you gotta dig in no matter how hard it is because the struggle itself is significant both to how one creates themselves in the world and to the ongoing project of destroying the system of oppression.
im a 13 year old black person and i just wanna thank you so much. im so glad i get to grow up with role models like this, this video was really helpful for me and put all of my past uneasy feelings into words. idk how you worded this so perfectly but thank you, again
turned 14 today :)
I’m not crying… you are :’). I loved this comment
❤️❤️❤️
@@Jays_Den happy birthday!!!! :)
This comment is so wholesome but as an adult in her 30s teenagers on the internet nowadays is so scary. People like you can just as easily find horrible things. I'm happy you're here.
Amazing video. Inside is one of my favorite pieces of art and it’s fascinating to see it from this perspective
The one clip that stuck with me (besides the entire episode) was when Bo was a guest on the second season premiere of The Green Room alongside Gary Shandling (amongst others like Judd Apatow, Ray Romano, and Marc Maron) where it was a bunch of middle aged white guys and a 20 year old Bo.
If I recall correctly, just before performing Art is Dead by request, he makes the observation of self reflecting on why he wasn't dealing with or addressing anything deep with his comedy since as such a young person, he himself doesn't value what would have to say on any deep topic.
That Green Room episode is sensational. The interaction between Bo and the older comics are incredible
Rather than saying racism is "evil", maybe "insidious" would be a better word. "Evil" implies that its like some dragon over there you can go off and slay and then the problem is fixed. "Insidious" still has a negative connotation, but better fits the idea that one could be doing racist things or participating in a racist system without being aware of it.
i think this is legit a huge section of the problem. I think most people these days that participate in bigotry really believe they are good people and that there is no way they can be racist because only bad people say or do racist things- and to that end when people come at them from a place of anger they get defensive and end up driven further into their ignorance, or they start to get annoyed at the movement itself thinking “Im not racist but they think I am so it must be fake.
not saying bigots arent wrong or that people are wrong for being angry at them, its justified. But its a bit of a cycle at this point in some cases
this is such a smart take. my uncle is textbook southern racist--only friends with white people, only trusts white people, pissed off that non-white people moved into his neighborhood...
but he doesnt wear robes or burn crosses, so he's cant *possibly* be a white supremacist, right?
I've found if I'm trying to get someone to change, it's better to call out actions as racist, instead of the people. People seem to stop listening an get defensive when you judge a person to be racist (seemingly over one action). When I tell them an action was racist, we can focus on that action and then it is up to them if they will try and change it.
@@mwva13 That makes a lot of sense as being a more effective strategy. It reminds me of my early years report cards where you were evaluated on whether you criticize ideas/actions rather than criticizing people directly
@@mwva13 That makes a lot of sense. I don't see myself as racist, i believe skin color doesn't effect how someone acts culture plays a bigger factor, but if i do something hurtful unknowingly I would want some to talk to me about it.
“Bo Burnham might be the closest thing white people have to a Donald Glover” is one of best things I’ve ever heard on RUclips. I gotta subscribe
EDIT: Thanks for the likes, y’all. They’re both very talented individuals. I don’t get how some of y’all choose to wake up and hate on people that aren’t you
I'm now using this in bo convos wow
“I won’t stop till they say James Franco is the white Donald Glover” - Childish Gambino
its a bit of a stretch but I see it
I think Bo is better than Donald Glover.
@@chris2489001 definitely not but okay
Thank you for this video, a lot of things I’ve been trying to learn were put into a clearer picture with overall perspective. Love your videos
I remember going through this sort of pipeline of thought when Tamir rice was killed. Like you said, I woke up, and the world was burning, and suddenly, I had to deal with it, and it made me angry. I got lost for a long time. I didn't want to participate in the system anymore. I hated that just my continued existence made me a benefactor of all these problems. What I really should have done is listen to my mother, who's been around for longer, and is a lot smarter than I am. She said, "How's doing nothing with your life going to help anyone? You really think you're going to make anything better by giving up?" She told me that she went to dental school, and worked her ass off so she could do things her way. She bought a small practice, and when someone came in who couldn't pay, she'd let them pay some other way, food, art, whatever. She realized that the best way you could help people is by helping yourself first, so you can elevate the people around you. That doesn't mean everyone needs to get into the highest level positions they can, and amass as much power as possible. To me it just means, whatever power you do have, you share it with those around you, do people a solid. For me, I guess that means liking, subscribing, and ringing that bell.
your mom is wise! i went through the same thought process she described not long ago (still do sometimes). there were times i wanted to die because, as you said, i felt like just me existing as a privileged person contributed to all these problems i felt powerless in addressing - i didn't even have my own life together, how the fuck was i supposed to also deal with racism or poverty or anything that actually matters in the world at large? but then i realized that me dying would *also* only cause pain to those that love me and wouldn't solve any problems at all because there being one less privileged person will not make oppression disappear. i was put into this world into a position that unwillingly causes others pain by just existing, yes, and the only way i can even begin to offset that damage is by getting my shit together and doing my best. right now that means commenting on and liking videos that tackle these issues, donating to causes i want to support, and working on my mental health so that one day i can do more. there's always *something* you can do.
This is unfortunately the way western society keeps it's power too, though, by allowing people to be just comfortable enough to not wholly revolt
@@glowerworm oh yeah, a VERY important addition to this should involve that the things you're supporting with what you have should be actual revolutionary action, not just things that are bandaids for the status quo. and that when i say work on my mental health so i can do "more", by "more" i mean participate in things that actively try to change the system, not just "make it better".
@@darkacadpresenceinblood to be honest changing the system wouldn't work, the system overall needs to go
@@circleinforthecube5170 oh yeah i meant "change the system to a different one", i agree 100%
I love love love love Samuel L Jackson in that moment. My view of what essentially happened there, was Samuel was evening the playing field. Basically saying, we are not going to have a risky discussion solely at my expense. If you want to have a risky discussion, you need to assume some of the risk. And if you're not willing to do that, there there is no point in having this discussion. Brutal and completely fair.
i like the way you explain this. a lot of people tend to get uoset when confronted like this without realizing its equally as upsetting (even more most the time) when you actually have skin in the game, when its your daily - but poc are so used to it we handle it better ahahah.
Also, I'm sure that the interviewer knows, just knows (as I'm sure Samuel knows too) that if he lets that word escape his mouth, then his tone, every inflection, his body language, his facial expression when he says it, all of that is going to be very revealing of what he actually thinks beneath the facade. And the fact that he's not willing to risk being that authentic, says a lot. Samuel wanted to see just how honest that guy was willing to be. It is essential to expect from people who want to engage in a conversation about race to come to the table with absolute honesty and authenticity. And often that means they need to be willing to put their public image on the back burner. Because that's the only way to properly engage in a discussion about race, with all of its history rooted in power dynamics, in a way that isn't innately exploitative to an already wildly exploited population.
lol he wasn't trying to be deep, just having some fun messin with an uptight white guy...my brother used to mess with white people the same way to make them uncomfortable for laughs
@@bigsky1721 well i think it's different when your job is on the line... they definitely would have fired him for saying it. so in my opinion samuel l jackson was being a bit rude.
Very well said.
What you said about Bo's comedy being a parody of itself is perfect. Inside hit me fucking hard, and, in rewatching it, it struck me just how much of the whole thing can be taken as satire within satire. It's that surreal element
“An onion of satire” is definitely what his comedy has become. You started seeing it in Make Happy and now he’s gone full throttle in Inside, and it’ll probably stay that way.
@@The1nvisibleJeevas Yes, from all his specials, you see a gradual move from Modern (as in the art movement) to Post-Postmodern by the time we get to Make Happy. Where the snark and irony has given way to a sliver of earnestness. Inside doubles down on that. It is so self-aware, and so self-aware of its self-awareness. It must be so hard to make anything from that point of view.
@@AllTheArtsy I think it’s pretty easy imo. Just have anxiety and write it into your work lol. The reaction video skit in Inside is basically what social anxiety feels like.
@@The1nvisibleJeevas I have generalised anxiety. And I'm an artist. So every time I make anything, the constant battle is between "this is good, this makes sense" and "why did i even make this, everyone already knows, this is horrible"
That's what I mean by it being difficult. There is a certain necessary narcissism or self-delusion needed for artists, to ever think you can make anything worth anything for anyone. The higher the level of self awareness, the more difficult it is.
Yeah, it’s interesting when he shared old clip of Bo-it’s super cringey but even then it felt like it was satirical-like he knew and was making fun of all those ridiculous thoughts and sentiments
I know I'm about 2 years late when it comes to the day this video was uploaded but they (the videos I have watched) are very enlightening. Keep up the outstanding work.
I am so glad I found your channel. I really appreciate the insight you bring to the table and the way you approach things. It is entertaining, it is educational, it is real.
What happened with this special is what I call "the hunger games affect" - so many white people watched this special (including myself) but a majority missed the point entirely. I know a lot of conservative teenagers that loved hunger games.... But didn't even notice what it was truly about. So many people just like Inside because hey the songs are catchy and it's trending right now, but I don't think enough white people have actually thought about it. The way I see it, Bo Burnham provided them the easiest way possible to start confronting their bias and privilege. The only problem - people don't want to.
Yes, you can notice this even on several themes, like with climate change and the hard times ahead in the next couple decades. It is most notable on reaction videos of the special. To be fair, to understand some of the references you have to know or be in the same context, otherwise it goes unnoticed. Again, for example with climate change, it is much MUCH more serious than the majority of the population believes.
I've recommended INSIDE to several people and was somewhat disappointed on their response to it
"Blazing saddles" hits me as a much better example since it is clearly antiracist but a lot of people see it as just the film they use the n word a sh* ton of times. I get where rightwing economic populist fans of "The Hunger Games" come from (there are no overall conservative or rightist fans of it from any strand, more specific currents, mostly libertarians and right economic populists). Political fiction is a worse way to make statements than a manifesto since having to fit points and plot & characters will often lead to points not be too clear since you have to give room to fiction's inner workings too, and so authorial intents get very easily lost. What are the regime and opposition of "The Hunger Games"? The regime is an oligarchy, essentially a market economy, but very centered in the upper class as end in itself and the state associated to it, and social conservatism vs social progressism isn't really an issue (this isn't "The Handmaiden's Tale" where social conservatism is a main point of the regime) and although immensely white it clearly doesn't exclude "poc" by default if cooperative and economically risen. The opposition is more racially diverse but pretty white lead and there doesn't seem to be a big focus on rocking racial relations and economics is more the focus (this might be from the book being vague on most characters' racial background with few exceptions, probably Panmem being more racially mixed than current US, but of course this makes the film adaptations with real life races look a bit white lefty). So, if you're racist, a reaganomics capitalist, oppose strong and emancipated women leading movements, you think only socialists can be dictatorials, or only social conservative regimes can be dictatorships, THG isn't for you. That means as long as you defend some sort of multiracial movement, oppose an elite-ruled government and statism in a market economy, THG seems fittable nicely in your view. Having in mind that Panem elites look as colourful as a Pride Parade, dress like hipsters and do not seem to be particularly conservative in a traditional sense, and the oppressed seem to dress more squarely, and look more conventionally manly and womanly, I see where rightwing "Hunger-Gamittes" come from (especially Hillbillies, Katniss is from what is now Appalachia, afterall). This isn't saying that Suzanne Collins INTENDED it, but it can be very easily TAKEN that way. In that sense it is quite natural that both the Occupies and the Tea Parties claimed it. And unlike political movements, that can very clearly say what they mean and refuse support from this or that person or group with another viewpoint, the authors of political fiction cannot do the same as easily.
I previously called this the "Chappelle's Show Effect" and these days, I'd say the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Effect." You see the exact people who are being parodied just taking the shows at face value and using them to push their bigoted beliefs.
It does bother me the way people idolize and deify him when he's clearly critiquing that mindset the entire time. People love "All Eyes On Me" and so do I but a lot of those who do don't see the irony in it. They take the song at face value and are like "Oh yeah the world already ended for sure so relatable lol". But like...no it didn't? Lmao. Throughout the special Bo critiques "Inside" AKA social isolation, the internet, social media, etc. I don't understand how people are taking "You say the ocean's rising like I give a shit" at face value and finding it relatable. Is it that feeling of being overwhelmed to the point where you stop caring? We all clearly care that the ocean is rising. We are all still clearly in a world that has not ended. And no one seems to mention how 2/3 of that song is just Bo selfishly bossing the audience around like a game, telling us to stand and sit and then pray and pray and pray for him. He is clearly critiquing not just his own relationship with his fans but fame in general, as well as the apathy that people are finding so relatable.
Not only white people are racist, and not only white people missed the point. Also, you didn't include the "point" in your opinion of the Hunger Games or the Special.
I almost didn’t click on this video because I was like “awh man I like Bo burnham I don’t want to be faced with the idea that something I enjoy hurts other people” I had no idea this would hit on exactly that. Great video.
ME TOO!!!!!
I clicked on it right away because I was interested, I'm not sure what that says about me but maybe I'm just anti-woke
@@SinfullyHera how would that make you anti woke though?
@@whyareyoureadingthis5227 lots of shit, even in this video, have you seen 18:35 ?
@@agatofelin722 that's not woke. Let's not identify with people who think like that. Being "woke" is something else entirely
Love how frank these videos are. Thanks for the upload!
Every time one of your videos pops up, I think, “fuck, this is a long video, do I have time for this?”, then I start listening and make the time. Funny, thought provoking, and invaluable content. Thank you.
"For us, it's just another Tuesday"
This struck home for me. I'm currently at a certain company where there is a massive sexual discrimination case in the works, which you may or may not have familiarity with. We had a team meeting to discuss how we're feeling. White guy after white guy stood up and spoke how shocked, hurt, and ashamed they felt about the situation going on. I got sick and tired of this and viewed it as virtue signalling and finally spoke up: "This is just another day for me and for the other POC women here."
This is just another Tuesday. I get it now. I'm white passing so I could slip by a lot of the racism but that comment you mentioned finally makes sense to me .
Thank you.
You work for Blizzard? 😂
The men that spoke up... Did they all already know that sexual harassment was going on and never did anything to discourage or report it?
What was the point of saying that though? You're just minimizing the seriousness of sexual harassment.
Like legitimately what was your actual intention there?
@@Nefariousbig i mean, then you could say that f.d. signifier is minimizing the seriousness of racism. and he clearly explained why "it's just another tuesday for us" is a valid response, so unless you didn't watch the video, not sure why you're confused. if you didn't watch the video then i get it tho
@@naplzt4k the structures of racism and sexism Unfortunately have worked hand in hand historically and into today, but i digress on that point. f.d. signifier doesn't talk about that. but he does explain why "it's just another tuesday" is in general, a response from marginalized people to shocked or ashamed peers
I 100% agree with you but for “how the world works” I’m pretty sure him removing socko was *meant* to be white people shit.
I think the point of the song is meant to be a white person in power giving a minority a chance to say what they think, but when they get out of hand or say something that they don’t like, they take away that opportunity and go back to silencing them. That going along with the “yes sir” bit is meant to be a reminder of who is in power.
Which is a portrayal of white liberalism. Bo’s main brand is painful self awareness so I’m like 90% sure that’s the case.
It’s very realistic and that makes it so hard to watch, for me at least.
nope. you’re totally correct. bo (white people) are happy to give socko (poc) a voice UNTIL that voice is used to point a finger back at him/them.
It was him taking off the mask that disguises white power behind petty moralizing (or taking of the sock, as it were)
Hehe.
Socko did indeed *get out of hand*
(Cuz Bo Burnham removed him from his hand...)
That is all.
@@sg-qi7np this always makes me wonder. That response, the frustration response, is absolutely justified but it is effective? I empathize and agree with the frustration, but the uncomfortable ending of the skit is the result in many cases. I wonder if the cathartic feeling is worth the stagnation that can result.
That’s exactly how I interpreted the skit too
I have to say you have a very nuanced take on the topics you cover…
Keep up the great work.
The more I watch your videos the more I realise that I’ve got to adapt and try to apply and modify what you are saying to my German heritage (I’m literally German, living in Germany not some 3rd generation American bs)
I still feel like your input is helping me understand the American perspective while also giving me a good starting point for my own German one
Great work as per usual
I remember when Netflix's death note came out, everyone was complaining about how they made L black but nobody gave a fuck that they made Light white.
I hated that whole ass movie it really had nothing to do with color
Now Im heated again.... the CGI was fine, but the acting and plot.... Like even if they changed details of it I'd be okay, but they made light a fuck boy..... Deathnote is one of my favorite animes and it got draggeddd in that live action lol
THEY LITERALLY CHANGED HIS NAME TO LIGHT TURNER, L WAS NOT JAPANESE IN THE MANGA OR THE ANIME HE WAS ACTUALLY A BRITISH IMMIGRANT WHO LIVED IN JAPAN SOMETIMES. IT WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE TO MAKE L BLACK CONSIDERING BLACK PEOPLE EXIST IN LARGE COMMUNITIES IN LONDON AND ENGLAND IN GENERAL. HOWEVER THE CHANCES OF LIGHT BEING WHITE IS LITERALLY NOT POSSIBLE CONSIDERING HIS LAST NAME WAS YAGAMI AND HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN FUCKING JAPAN.
@@doodoodoodle actually tho the actor (I forgot his name but hes an excellent actor) who played L was excellent for the material he was given. The plot was awful and the movie was straight awful but he did a great job at playing the role for what he was given.
What are you on about? Light "Turner" got lampooned to shit. The L change was just a bigger deviation from the original mix raced British immigrant in opposition to light, a Japanese student, obviously people will point out how they specifically went of their way to change an already diverse character for no reason. The entire movie was a shitshow
@@ratqueenqueenofratsandalso2192 it was Lakeith Stanfield right? Fantastic actor btw
"The 90s were different" re: Leo playing disabled in Gilbert Grape, yet Sia's Music came out this year, and it was WORSE
Damn...
Yeah, pretty extreme ableism is still very ingrained in our world, and especially in film and media. It's exhausting.
whenever people mention the 90s my mind think 'a yes twenty years ago' but then i realize it's actually thirty years ago.
then i go into a dark...
inside 😳
Thank you for mentioning that.
Sia's Music is just.......ugh. don't know how to describe it other than something that crawled out of the dumpster behind the old video store in the ninth layer of hell.
I watched some of your videos and this thumbnail kept popping up and it was in the back of mind to watch. I then watched Don't Look Up for the first time and immediately this notion of white liberal existential dread as a performative art really resounded. Excellent analysis.
what you said at 30:46 really put into words what I have felt when I learned the truth behind a bunch of crap, it was like I had been being kept comfortable by someone I thought was my friend only to find out that the way they got things so I could be comfortable was through some incredibly heinous actions that in no way would I have ever agreed to, but it's too late and I've already spent years and years of my life benefitting from those heinous actions. I may not have blood on my hands, but every other inch of my body is soaked in it and I just never knew. So now I turn and look at that "friend" who has done all these things on my behalf and they're just standing there smiling at me because every other time I was happy about what they did for me and there is this internal conflict of trying to figure out how responsible I am for what has happened, what I need to change in my life to try to stop this from continuing, how much I really even can do when the problem was caused FOR MY BENEFIT. All this time that "friend" is just smiling at me as I grapple with the newly uncovered horror and when I confront them about it it'll be a fight and one I don't know if I can win.
Not a single lie was told. Your channel is quickly giving me " multiple things can be true at the same time and that's ok." energy and I AM HERE FOR IT. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Growing up means understanding that almost nothing is black and white
RUclips during the pandemic helped me grow up a whole lot. Nuance is amazing! Nuanceho helped me start
@airlockengage EXACTLY
“Evil doesn’t exist” was a pretty big lie.
@@philip3707 nah
Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm black and people don't see me beyond that. It's bizzare.
Every time it happens it's like it's the first time it happens.
Yes! You don't realize it until somebody makes a weird out of nowhere comment. Like ohhhhh you're just seeing me as a black person and that's it. Wow okay
Get out of the USA. Its the country. Not saying racism doesn’t exist in other countries, but the States its ridiculous
@@withien7554 I live in the UK and it be happening here. It’s the effect of being a Black body. Which is literally the point of this video. It’s not the people. It’s the system (society)
@@ModernConversations 🤔 this reply is a good example of what Signifier was talking about with the white separation from the problem thing. describing what OP was talking about as being the result of "childlike brains" etc distances yourself from the problem and is kinda performative. it doesnt take a childlike brain different from yours to remind someone theyre black. saying so separates you from the issue, feels like youre making a particular note of how you dont have a brain that works like that, youre one of the good ones. and that reminds of the self-soothing mechanisms people often experience when theyre going through an existential crisis, with people often unaware theyre doing it.
white people self-soothing in that sort of way is just one of the ways im reminded im black, for example! its not always just blatantly racist people, or caricatures thereof. cause its nooot due to problems with individual people, its part of living in a racist system. how that racist system is being reflected in the actions of different populations of white people - self-soothing of white liberals, the dismissal of white conservatives, etc. - is due to where we're currently at in the process of dismantling that system.
im half-white and ive been having my own crisis with this, on top of other crises haha!
This was a really cool video, I definitely was a bit on the fence of clicking it but I'm really happy I did!
Gave me some wonderful insight, I know I can still improve a lot and this helped greatly :)
Just discovered your channel and these videos have really had me thinking a lot. These are incredible, love your work so far!! I can’t wait to see more!
Incredibly ironic that I, a white dude, only found this channel through the algorithm shepherding everything Bo my way. Really well thought out argument and presentation.
Same. 👆🏻
That's what struck me initially. How much good content do I miss out on because RUclips's algorithm is curating what I see? Hopefully less now that I'm subscribed to this channel.
@@nathanfilbert6652 I have a feeling it only takes a couple POC channels for the algorithm to take notice. At least I hope so
@@nathanfilbert6652 Luckily, once you're aware, it's really easy to find more great content creators. Khadija is in the comments and they do channel shout-outs every month as well as making really wonderful videos on a variety of topics. Expand your horizons and check out some new channels, you'll find plenty that click.
as a latina (who also loved Inside) I also thought it was interesting to see the typical american white person's existential dread when facing these issues and realizing that the things that they've always had as a positive space for them are actually unfair for others. I just can't relate to America's culture in so many aspects and when this pandemic started and I started seeing so many people saying "oh no now i can't travel to Y place" I was like "it was always a bad place, you just didn't see it before." it's shocking for me to see people just now realizing that this tropical country they love so much is actually fucked up and only has a structure to please the tourists it receives so it can produce a good image, it was crazy for me that so many people didn't realize that while they were enjoying their airbnb beach house there were kids being sh*t 3 streets away and our hospitals couldn't handle the pandemic not because it was too much but because those hospitals in the poorest neighborhoods were breaking down years before because of negligence out of the people's control
i don't see a problem with people finally opening their eyes to it, i just hope they do better
I'm from Latin America too. What country are you from?
holy shit dude i'm cuban and same feeling. seeing people praise cuba as a socialist paradise and thinking they know what it's like just cuz they walked around habana vieja while staying at a top hotel pisses me off. a tourist experience isnt "knowing" the country. they think theyre so open minded for not being anti-communist anti-cuba americans but then they dont wanna listen when i tell them ive got family members in small towns just dying to get out of there bc the country doesn't support its fucking citizens whatsoever and that's no way to live a life. they don't wanna listen to people who know how it is. and then there's the white american leftists praising cuba when all they have as experience is growing up in a white picket fence suburban neighborhood. makes my blood boil.
@@mateus9741 going from their description, my first assumption is they're from Cuba, but as a cuban-born immigrant, I'm probably just biased. My first reaction after learning that cuba was called "The Pearl of the Antilles" was, "Well that is one dirty pearl."
@@exyzt9877 that description would fit any Latin country though from the Dominican Republican to Brazil.
Achei que seria uma latina de outro país, mas aí você descreveu o Brasil e minhas dúvidas sumiram... kkkkkk
@24:44 just a little thing, but man, this warmed my heart for some odd reason, like, "dude, you are my soul brother," was this edit. Who else does such wholesome scrupulous small things? Not many.
Been watching a lot of your content this evening, sort of on a tear. It's all great stuff, and insightful for a non-American. But this moment more than your thoughtful scripts, was really for me _this guy takes the time to be careful and be the best human being he can be._ Maybe you are an axe wielding murderous psychopath off hours, but I just about could not care if you were. Thanks man.
you have just gained a sub brother, absolutely wonderful video. can't wait to explore the rest of your channel
31:06 that's getting to the real distinction between "allyship" and solidarity. If white liberals conceptualize themselves as allies in a struggle that is fundamentally not their own, then they will eventually experience a contradiction between their moral self-conception and their material interests in a hierarchy where race and class have been intertwined for centuries. If they can understand the situation from the mindset of solidarity in a shared struggle, though, that would resolve this contradiction. The dread and anxiety would melt away, because they're no longer thinking of the situation as being, to a degree, irreconcilable with their basic interests, but rather, as their interests being indistinguishable from those of the people with whom they share a bond of solidarity.
As they say, ACCOMPLICES NOT ALLIES
yes yes yes
Shiiiit, yes, thank you, I feel like you just distilled the problem with "being an ally", which always sounds kind of hollow
How about just friends or community members? Friends are there for each other whether they can relate or not.
Allies are there for war, strategy, mutual benefit. There's no warmth. Same with accomplices. That implies you're doing something wrong or underhanded.
Thought this was going to be "Your fave is problematic." Came out more as "Your fave knows he's problematic, and it's kinda exhausting tbh" which is pretty fair.
weak people find almost everything problematic
@@thoticcusprime9309 cowardly people blame others. Strong people take responsibility for problems, when they come outside but especially when they come from within.
@@thescowlingschnauzer What's strong about taking responsibility for ANYTHING outside of yourself? That sounds more foolish than anything
@@Aion1os there's plenty weak about pushing problems off to others.
@@thescowlingschnauzer Its not pushing problems onto others if it's something you were never responsible for in the first place.
Great video. I’ve been watching your videos for a while. Glad you made a video talking to us
This is the first video ive seen of yours, excited to see whatever you make next !!
This video reminded me of something my middle school teacher taught me. I'm a white Hispanic but at the time I never thought of myself as white. I was never told I was white and I embraced my Hispanic culture heavily, but I never personally experienced racism.
In middle school I had a black English teacher that talked to my class about pre-civil rights America. She was telling us straight up how some kids in the class would be treated differently to others. She used me as an example to say that I would have been fine but another kid in the class would have been harmed. I raised my hand and said "but I'm Hispanic. Racists don't like Hispanics." She said "yeah but they wouldn't know. You could blend in and survive". I slumped in my chair and had that sort of waking up moment you were describing. I tried proving myself for a while after that.
I wanted to post this comment because it's interesting to see this shared experience that privileged people have and to see what privileged people then do with this new knowledge and understanding.
Yeah, I'm sure the group of European elitists who hated people so much they hated other European groups just as much as black people would have been fine with Carlos Espinosa walking around the colonies lmao. "But I'm white just like you!" 😆
As a white hispanic I really identify with this comment.
I found it very hard to come to terms with the fact that my white skin provided a way to benefit from a white supremacist culture. Something that often goes unspoken in Latino communities is how overtly racist it can be, I grew up hearing some truly awful shit back in the country I was born in. There’s a lot of work I’ve had to do to untangle the racist culture I was born into and the racist culture I adopted when I moved to the US.
That being said I never truly could identify with white culture and often found myself feeling more understood by black culture and it made for a very confusing time as a teenager.
It takes time and effort but I truly believe that the antidote to most fucked up things in this world starts with self knowledge and flows out into the world. Without that first step, even good intentions can be destructive
@@steventapia2794 heavy agree. Taking the time to know yourself and others, talking to each other, and understanding the reality of our world is the path to making it a better place. Now that requires a lot of work and of course lots of people will stubbornly hold on to power but y'know... Can't do the physical work without the mental work.
Was your teacher around at all during the pre-civil rights era? How would she know that would be the case? That’s a really big generalization and kind of inappropriate to start singling out kids by race and skin tone in a class room for an example. I don’t think you should have your mind blown by this unless your teacher really knows her shit.
yea, i'm gonna fight with your teacher about that. i'm half white, half mexican. my dad's side is dark as hell, manual labor workers their whole lives. i'm mostly light skinned but in the summer i get pretty dark.
people can say "oh you're a guero you fit in with the whites" while consistently ignoring that what's white to PoC is not white to whites, and what counts as white to whites isn't even close to what counts as whites to the racists who will have a problem not being white. ignoring also how being interracial gets you treated differently by members of your own race. the mexican side of my family hated my white mother and made fun of me for being white every time I saw them.
hell, i've had a lady tell me to my face "you look like a jew." to racists, you're never white enough and all that comments from your teacher do is give those who have experienced that horrific flashbacks to being mistreated by your own family/kin/race because of how you look. normal liberal cannibalism
"When people call Racism evil, they mythologise it" I like that. Great insight
Really? You think a statement about the morality of racism calls into question the truth of it? It's a non sequitur. But sure, tattoo it on your forehead for all I care.
@@Fourttrax hey bro, chill. We're trying to enjoy ourselves here. "For all I care" only really applies if you actually walk past without caring my man.
@@jordank1489 L
@@jordank1489 I'm sorry. Far be it from me to pop your delicate echo chamber? But if I see a clearly fallacious statement, I'm gonna comment on it. ""For all I care" only really applies if you actually walk past without caring my man." Again another non sequitur my man. If your going to try to make a point, I normally expect the comments to follow to make sense.
@@Fourttrax those aren't non-sequiturs. Look, guy, I'm not interested in having my time wasted by an edge lord debate bro, picking at scabs and thinking they're unearthing something. Feel free to ramble your psuedo-intellectual nonsense, I'm muting this
Thank you so much for this video. You made some great points and gave me a lot to think about.
This is a great video!! Honestly, thanks for making it.
"Woke Cosplay" is the most incredible thing I've heard all month. Absolute solid gold name for it.
Yeah I got a good chuckle out of that.
Legit laughed out loud there too
Awe damn, growing up a black dude in suburban areas 😅 i totally grew up watching Bo Burnham and getting pumped for his specials. I knew I'd never hear his name in a barbershop but I didn't realize how much a disconnect there was in his fan base until those clips of reviewers saying his name with hesitation lol
I’m also a black suburban girl, grew up being called an Oreo, and I also forgot that black people have no idea who he is. A strange disconnect it is.
I grew up in the Caribbean and found his stuff through RUclips so I knew who he was even if I fell off lol. Those clips called me out haha
@@Chromagens oop; I’m from the Caribbean too!!🇻🇮
For real I dead ass found out who he was last week when I randomly watched ”Inside” on netflix. I was like okay netflix is lifting up new ppl?? LOL I had no idea. He cool tho theres a sound trending on tiktok from one of his shows.
haha same!! as a suburban black person i was like 😳 wow ppl dont know bo?
I forgot about the safety pin thing...God it's so stupid to look back on!! The intentions were mostly good but dude...the bar was in hell 😭
Also thank you for making all your videos, I love how long and thorough they are and you really do us a service sharing your knowledge and opinions. You're awesome man!! I'm so happy I found your channel thru watching Khadija 🥰🤘🏻
I still have safety pins on several things I own... at least the habit of keeping a safety pin or two handy is practical?
Safety pins as a show of solidarity actually originated in punk circles to show that they would fight and protect you if needed. While there are many strong women out there, i highly doubt that many of them would actually attack a cop if they did something corrupt, so it detracts from the original meaning of the symbol.
As someone who is a white liberal (if i was in the US) man, you definitely hit the nail on the head with the lack of white mainstream culture. It made me feel nostalgic for the music at that time. And that's maybe why I also like Bo so much. I can extremely relate to it because it speaks exactly to my world and my worldview.
I'm a biracial queer woman, I f'ing LOVE Bo Burnham because I feel like I relate to a lot of his changes and growth. Inside got me because that's how I feel about modern liberal takes... I'm actually leftist, I'm an anarcho socialist (but on paper a democratic socialist) and the white liberal takes on BLM was just... not it? These were ideas that were based on the idea that this was new and startling while, as a brown woman with a social worker Black father, it was an average murder just caught on camera and FORCED to be acknowledged. It was EXHAUSTING having to be the "what do you think about this" brown person in a liberal college town in Iowa... like, a man was murdered and you wanna discuss my feelings? You wanna talk about what "you can do"? It's not ABOUT you...
Anyway, It was a great special because he made sure that you as an audience member KNEW it was preplanned and formated on purpose... It's an art special, you became a participant...
I'm curious if you agree with the video's assessment of categorizing white liberals with white leftists. I agree with his take as it pertains to white liberals and performative wokeness, but he makes it a point to say that he's not drawing any distinction between anyone who is left of center.
@@xe0n To me, as someone who grew up in a blue county in a red state, a white liberal is a term, like saying WASP or Karen. It's not really about what they actually believe in, but how they act. Not all WASPs are ACTUALLY protestant, but they have a vibe. It's a combination of an insult if you don't like them but a demographic if you do. Black republicans all have the same vibe, to me, and to them, that's fine but to people like me, it's an insult.
To me, again I'm a brown socialist, a "white liberal" is someone who would 100% vote republican if they owned a business. They'd talk about being liberal and having Black or brown friends, but vote conservatively because they earn enough to hate taxes. It's an act. They hit certain beats and don't do anything more. They'll march, but they won't vote. They'll post a black square, but still sing the N word in a Jay Z song.
Bernie is a leftist, Obama is a liberal. They're both TECHNICALLY left leaning, but only one tries to act on it. And even then, comparing them to more left leaning countries (not so common right now, the entire world is leaning right), Bernie is just a moderate liberal, while Obama is a centrist with right leaning agendas.
millennials
@@dinahmyte3749 I agree with everything you're saying, but that seems to be in opposition to what is said in the video.
Around 6:10 he defines what he means when he uses the term "liberal" going forward in the essay as "anyone who voted for Biden and left of that." I agree with you that there is important nuance within that group, but I don't think the essay author would agree with you (or at least that's not what I'm hearing).
@@xe0n I understand what he said, but to me, that's not really the terminology used in everyday interactions. My parents consider themselves liberal, both are in their 40s, but they're left of center. Me and my sibs (ages 25 to 18) are all liberal but more so leftist. We're "radical" in our ideas, rather than aligning with modern dems.
To me, which is why I always preface it that way, liberal = democrat in America. So if I'm left of that, I'm leftist. The names and labels change, but to me, liberals aren't always left leaning, just left of the Republicans, which are far right. Our center is right leaning, is what I'm saying. To me, as both a woman and queer one at that, the nuance is important.
I like his content, the OP, because it keeps me aware of how older people are perceiving the world, much like Bo, who's 5-6 years older than me. There's a LOT of difference in generations, between young millennials/older Zoomers like myself, and Gen X/older millennials like the OP and my parents.
This video has been in my recommendeds for a month, and I'll admit I put off watching it because this particular work was really affecting for me and I didn't want to have that challenged. I just want to say I appreciate you and your contributions to the discourse (including making people like me check my defensiveness and inspect where that comes from). Got a new subscriber here.
Same story. But we white liberals sure do love feeling smug about challenging ourselves for personal growth
@@danieldionne9709 y'all do
@@treyyert9561 LMAO why are you the sam jackson of this comment thread 😭😭❤️
@@valuedCustomer2929 pretty sure it was a desire for comfort and a fear of pain. Speaking from personal experience.
I have been guilty of that, too.
And I feel similarly.
I avoided this video since I first saw it pop up probably a little after it was posted, but since I watched Inside I’ve been on a journey from liberal to leftist from looking up the lyrics to the song where he has the puppet, and from listening to a ton of people on tik tok from all sorts of backgrounds, which is how I found the Deprogram, which is how I heard about you, looked at your channel, and then realized it was you who posted this video. Loved this analysis, and totally should have watched this video earlier, but I probably wouldn’t have understood it back then either ❤
Extremely thoughtful commentary as always.
I watched “Inside” without ever engaging any of Bo Burnham’s previous content/work. I knew he was a skinny white dude who did stand up comedy, but that’s about it. While watching “Inside,” the moments of performative wokeness came across super forced and overall just cringey. It made me think of some of my close white liberal friends who think allyship and activism looks like posting progressive content on Instagram. However, the more I watched, I questioned whether Bo was “doing” performative wokeness or if we he was performing performative wokeness? In other words, was he inadvertently criticizing his (likely) white liberal audience, and simultaneously himself, whose “good intentions” usually don’t effect systemic change and sometimes even hinders it? To me, “Inside” felt like a criticism of white woke culture rather than another version of it, especially when thinking of the work itself as a performance. I hope that all made sense for anyone that reads this.
Anyways, this was an incredibly profound analysis and I definitely hit that subscribe!
I think it was both! Just like white women's Instagram was both knocking it and validating part of it. I think Bo is struggling with the amount of reach he has and being told by one group "you need to support and not be the one talking" and another group saying "You have so much influence why aren't you speaking and leading the cause". I also think that after trump a lot of millennials are waking up to the fact that while their family even the close ones they love are so mislead in their beliefs that they supported trump, after he said a long time ago he would run for the republican party because they would be stupid enough to vote for him.
You should check out his past content. The stuff in Inside is not new to his usual performances, it's just to a much more blunt degree.
@@OvertPumkin Ohh I've seen many different interpretations of the message of White Woman's Instagram. I don't really think the part where it slows down was "validating" the white woman, but rather showing that, even though she has struggles, they're very first-world and not at all affected by her race. Her life is still so much easier because of her whiteness and wealth. At the end of that part "give a hug and kiss to dad" made me think the mom isn't even dead-she's just away and the white woman's just being dramatic. It gives white people the opportunity to think "yeah, I'm a person. i have problems. but my problems are not caused by my skin and I'll never understand what minorities are going through to the extent they do," but that's just my thought on it.
@@angelopouIos I believe the slower portion in the middle of the song was meant to convey that amongst all the pointless, superficial content you're likely to see on a white woman's Instagram profile, there can be moments of genuine reflection and humanity too. You'll notice the camera pans out from the recognizable Instagram square to a full frame shot, only to pan right back to the iconic square as Bo starts singing about goat cheese salad immediately after the highly scripted but heartfelt message to this white woman's dead parents. She asks mom to give a kiss to dad because (as she is likely to believe) they're both in heaven, not because they're both simply away. Much of Bo's content criticizes social media and the internet while at the same time acknowledging the individual humanistic elements that create it as a whole.
@@octavianjoseph8633 wdym blunt
the chills i got when you said “do i really want to fix things or do i just want to feel better” wow. this is a great video
Great video, an even better summary and a perfect ending. Thank you.
Well, that was extremely thought-provoking. Very well done!
"Do I even really want to, or do I just want to feel better?"...Oof, that's the gutpunch. I loved your video essay.
When you said “and then a scary ugly question comes up, do I even really want to or do I just want to feel better” I got chills. This was a very insightful video and I enjoyed it. Thanks
this was very thought provoking, subscribed and liked. Looking forward to more discussion
As a straight white male, I hate everything this guy says because I keep wanting to fight against it, and then I realize he is totally right and I'm proving his point buy feeling defensive...
That's how you grow brother, lean into that discomfort and learn from it
I know this isn't going to be an exact parallel but I can empathize with the exhaustion of dealing with overly apologetic allyship in my experiences as a trans person. Like, people will spend five minutes tripping over themselves saying "oh I hope this isn't offensive, please tell me to shut up if I'm out of line, I dont want to hurt your feelings with this question, etc etc" and then when I've reassured them a million times that its fine, just ask, thinking its going to be something really intrusive since they're so nervous, and then they ask just the most mundane question that they could have figured out themselves if they spent their energy on critical thinking rather than hanwringing. (Example: If you're a trans man with a boyfriend, is the relationship gay?)
And its like, you don't want to push them away by telling them to chill out because its better than them saying that you deserve to die or spitting on you, and you know that they are trying to be decent but like, also, when you've dealt with people telling you to go die for being yourself, it feels infantilizing to be treated like you're so fragile that you can't handle questions and it cues you in that they aren't going to be ready for any in depth conversations because the shit you've gone through is going to shock them if they are so afraid of the conversation already so you know you're going to actually be the one coddling them to ease them in if they don't lose interest the moment they are confronted with anything actually heavy.
Glad you acknowledged being Black and being trans are different experiences. I agree with your point too, it can be exhausting dealing with liberals who are still stuck centering their own experience and growth at your expense. Cis people can consume trans-created media and form perfectly valid thoughts on trans issues without the need to ask me for approval on every little thing that crosses their mind. Whenever I get someone asking an easily googleable trans question, I just ask them "What do you think?" and you know what? Usually they're not that far off. And if they somehow get it completely wrong, I just direct them to my favorite youtubers who talk specifically about these issues.
The problem that also compounds this is some people just don’t know how to respect boundaries. Like some people will straight up ask questions like this to someone they JUST met or someone they don’t have that type of relationship with. People have asked me questions how I felt about some police killings and looking for insight and I still explain to them, but in my head I’m like “yo idk like you that to be having this conversation” lol
I feel like both sides of this as a white trans person.
I feel I have to coddle others on any trans related stuff. And, I am lucky and privledged to do that. But just to get the basics, I have to be nice to cis people about trans stuff. Like, it's just how I have been able to get any help on trans related stuff.
But I am so guilty of this white liberal thing. Like. I know I am like this in the positions of where I am privledged. So. I feel confused and mixed up either way, lol
Given the number of times that soft bigotry ends up being a cover for some truly vindictive and manipulative underlining, I really wish people would take what you’re saying to heart.
Yeah I thought about that. I'm black but even in my own experiences with my trans friends trying not to overdo it with being overly apologetic is something I actively have to work on not doing, which is something I notice in nonblacks in their interactions with me.
It's surprising to see someone talking about Bo Burnham without talking about depression and suicide.
won't SOMEbody think of the poor little rich white boy?
@@thequietpart_ bruh, hes not saying that, hes just saying its weird seeing someone talk about something with one of the main points of the thing being left out. also depression affects lots of people, not just poor black girls, or something like that.
totally fair point, it would just be nice to get to engage with the points in the video without being reminded of the main way most people comment on Bo Burnham's work
@@thequietpart_ you're like the woman who celebrated when a toddler got eaten by an alligator because her dad was white
The third main point F.D is making in this video is about the 'existential dread' that arises in white people when they become aware of the systems of oppression that benefit them. In Bo’s case, yes, depression and suicidal tendencies come from not only that awareness, but also from other sources (i.e. climate change, performing, social media, etc). In this video though, F.D is focusing specifically on the depression and suicidal tendencies that come from awareness of racist systems of oppression, and not from the other reasons. So, when F.D. talks about ‘existential dread’, that’s him talking about ‘depression and suicide’, just in a more targeted sense that relates to the overall topic of the video.
Fascinating video!! Youre incredibly well spoken. Have def learned a few things today
I really appreciate you for making this video. I’ve been à perpetrator of performative wokeness at times in my life to be sure. I really appreciate folks like you laying out how it isn’t helpful. I just discovered you so I’m looking forward to going through your catalog to learn more. I hope through your life that your Tuesdays get better.
This is a phenomenal video. It was interesting for me to watch because at the beginning of it, I couldn't understand the problem with what Leo DiCaprio had done. I thought to myself "I would probably be uncomfortable saying it too" and now I realize its annoying that white people act like saying the n word in a context like YOUR JOB is a pearl-clutching moment, and yet do nothing about systemic racism. They're getting worked up over the wrong shit and its exhausting for everyone around them. I understand that now. It helps no one to get all flustered over the n word if you're just going to go back to your regular, privileged life and ignore the suffering of people of color. I think this was a huge step for me, and I just wanna say thanks.
I understand this point and Sam's reaction makes sense, but... If a white actor just jumped into a role like the one Leo was playing with zero hesitation or concern, without some kind of dialogue with the black cast he was working with, is it possible that would be a bad look as well? I'm totally open to the idea that there could have been a better way to approach it, but speaking as a white person, I think I would be uncomfortable with just launching into that character without having some sort of conversation. And maybe that's not the way it should be. Maybe that conversation could be interpreted as condescension because you're all professionals and you know the job and you've read the script so it doesn't need to be talked about. At the same time, if you're a person who doesn't want to offend and cares about how others are feeling, I personally think it'd be tough not to externalize those concerns.
@@BeMoreFunny i think there are a lot of actors who play offensive parts though. DiCaprio was specifically playing a villain who owns and tortured people, who rapes a woman. At that point you are so past offensive it kind of is a bit laughable that what gives you a problem in this role is the n-word.
Thanks for adding this, it cleared things up
ye reminds me of when after George Floyd’s passing a bunch actors from Hollywood did that corny stand together ad campaign or when immediately a month after the uprising of support a bunch of white voice actors stepped down from black roles which is cool in thot ig cuss people of color in general need to more jobs in Hollywood but it kinda felt more like we know the actual shit u care about like the entire system your governed by working against you but uhh here’s some jobs yk since u been asking. Like now that the wool has been lifted from my eyes I can b a better person and step done from my one of many roles I got from offered daily that should be enough to sooth the suffering oppression but I guess I’m not much better I don’t do anything to help my community partially out of laziness partially out of hopelessness and the last percent is probably the most problematic in that I’d rather just leave this country and pretend it’s not my problem just cause I could wayyy to easily pass for just white leave my paycheck to paycheck black mom and siblings struggling memories behind while if I glide off my appearance and hopefully never look back to days of having to eat fucking tilapia every night the point is I’m selfish and not saying I’m great more just venting sharing my unanswered thots and moral dilemmas do I feel like I can’t help so I don’t or am I just to lazy to actually try anything and that’s why I cling to this ideal of myself rich and then finally being able to helpout it’s an idealistic world I don’t have to live in yet or possibly ever I can say I’ll do whatever the fuck and it doesn’t really mean anything and even if I do help does it not mean as much since now that’s it’s in my eyes easier for me to do personally and practically it’s more of a selfish act to soothe my conscious over anything to feel like I’m actually doing something without having to actually put that much effort idk idk I could tell u what if I’m speaking honestly as much as I care and as much rage and all around despair I feel when trying to even begin to tackle how to improve black lives in America without completely starting from scratch I plan to get very wealthy or atleast wealthy enough to try and leave to try to be so rich and white appearing that all the systemic racism that trickles onto me as a result of being half black just stops just misses me in that way I’ve had a very annoying and similar awakening the white liberals had last year my own willingness to overlook whatever if I can get without a scratch hmm interesting great video ranting to myself and ur video helped me make that connection an annoying one but it’s tops fyre video
It completely makes sense why he was hesitant. It isn't his place to say that. Plus many people don't care about context, especially the left.. Why destroy your career over that? And also you can't attack people for not understanding. He sees black men at his Level so he probably ignorant to any systemic racist issue. And that's fine. Y'all need to stop attacking people for being passive.
I feel like the "How The World Works" song has a really good line when Socko the puppet goes "Why the fuck do privileged white people see social progress through the myopic lens of self-actualization??" So while I do feel like Bo has been guilty of WLPA, he has more of a beat on it than most people. He knows whats up. And I also think that him knowing this doesn't make him better, because of another line in the special " Self awareness doesn't absolve anyone of anything." Dude knows he's inherently part of the problem. Doesn't mean he doesn't deserve criticism, just that in a world where WLPA gets more and more suffocating and annoying its nice to see someone acknowledging themselves.
That line messes with my head on a weekly basis haha. A very solid observation, on his part and yours.
At 32:25 I think F.D. is completely missing what Bo is doing in that song. He's not playing "himself" but rather portraying, satirically, a white liberal in a position of power who is saying the "right" things but then when confronted with *doing* the right thing they revert back to being an oppressor, which they just spent a bunch of time saying is bad.
It's wild to me that some people still don't pick up on the fact that Bo is portraying different types of characters in these songs and bits. He even acknowledges so in songs like Art is Dead.
"White liberal performing art gets suffocating".
You're a narcissist.
What is WLPA? Sorry I’m old 😅
@@Onus6688 Um...its in the title of the video? White Liberal Performative Art.
My friend just recommended this channel to me! This is my first video of yours - Excellent video.
ive been waiting for a video like this
As white people, we really are guilty of putting other white people on the “non racist” pedestal for doing the bare minimum. Really truly appreciate your perspective on this even though I did like the special
the creator of the video liked it too
The "non-racist pedestal" doesn't make sense. That's not a pedestal, that should be default, and it generally is.
@@gyojinsho9737 I mean not really, we praise non-black people for simply supporting BLM when you’re right it should be the default. Unfortunately it isn’t in a lot of places
@@gyojinsho9737 How can someone be aware that they put people on a “non racist pedestal” but not aware that their default is generally racist? I am truly asking this question. I see this sort of thing be shown to me but I’m never sure how to address it.
@@yoliedmonky I see it a lot with celebs tbh, white celebs can be praised by people for doing just about anything. Meanwhile these same people hold subconscious prejudices. For example, you don’t go into a part of town because it’s the “bad side” when it’s usually just a heavily minority neighborhood. The racist action isn’t necessarily intentional but the reasoning behind it is. I’m not the best to really explain this as I’m white but that’s the best I can do
I think the existential dread portion really put into words this feeling I’ve had for a long time. A sort of “I can acknowledge the horrible injustices of the world, but do I have the strength to do something about it? Do I have the strength to lose things that comfort me for the betterment of society? And would that even make a difference?” feeling. Thank you for treating this topic with empathy, I’ll be thinking about this stuff for a while, even if there’s no clear answer.
I had the strength. Didn't make a difference.
I'm just waiting.
@@jasonjohnson6938waiting for what?
I found this video via an archived meme page on I stumbled on in my memories from facebook. It was illuminating and speaks really truly to my lived experience. It was also very informative, and I’ve added another book to my reading list.
16:38 This is the part that got me to read Bonilla-Silva's book. Excellent suggestion. Thank you.
"Racism isn't evil, because evil isn't real, racism is."
You should get an accolade for that one, seriously. It's a bit on the nose, but it really extend as a concept to... well most things.
I'm not even someone who necessarily believes that evil isn't real, but your point of mythologizing something that is a material set of consequences really struck a chord with me. Whether or not it is evil is irrelevant, it's whether or not we believe it should even be at all.
"Racism isn't evil, because evil isn't real" is SUCH a good way to put it. So glad I watched this video.
@@skiphopflipflopdripdrop 28:36 there’s the quote
Evil is real
@@thewizard1 if evil is a thing, then would you mind telling us what said thing is. What is „evil“. And I’m not talking about the adjective, I’m talking about the noun. The concept.
What is the noun „evil“?
@@KeDe1606 what is evil?, Easy. The holocaust and the people that perpetrated it, not only the holocaust of course, but things of that nature.
@@thewizard1 Evil is how we describe the Holocaust, evil itself didn’t appear, the acts done by nazis were evil, the holocaust is a real event that happened, evil is a description of what happened
currently binge watching. your content is 👌cheffs kiss.
This gave me a lot to think about. I’ve also recently had some conversations with friends who are Latin American historians who feel very alienated by these discussions we have about race in America, primarily because there’s a significant way in which American citizens, despite our internal racist structures, are still mor powerful than much of the world culturally and politically.
I share your take on George Floyd I was one of few who was asking himself why was THIS one so much more triggering for people to get the attention it did. Botham Jean was murderered in his own apartment for nothing that was soooo disturbing too me and the fact this woman was a police office who "thought it was her apartment she was entering...like that could literally be anyone. It still makes my blood boil when I think about it.
i remember going on twitter and hearing my family talk about it, and i was surprised at the attention. i was more surprised at the protests, and attended one not knowing if it all meant anything or if people would forget in a couple days.
thats the problem i have with 'bursts' of activism. these racially motivated crimes happen every day. the way people made it into a trend, especially with that blackout thing on social media, may have been well-meaning but was completely performative.
@@angelinaxtriana when people went out to demonstrate for black civil rights with MLK or even X, they risked their social status, both black and, to a lesser but still existent degree, whites. to demonstrate meant something. now, especially as a white person, you go, scream, go home, without realizing you've probably not even reflected your own problematic attitudes, be it a white savior complex or you masturbating on white guilt.
does that make demonstration redundant? I don't know. don't think so. it feels liberating, which might even be bad for your cause long-term, as you feel like you've changed something by painting a sign. but at the same time, it *can* change something. the truth is though that the most valuable activism is the quiet one that you can't post on instagram. standing next to people when it counts, and just being good. I think. whereas insulting people with a different mindset online or IRL is arguably even harmful for the movement, whichever it may be.
the problem is that there's this couch activist lifestyle going on with social media pressuring people to confine themselves to some terms, to define themselves in order to present, and - sadly - sell themselves to the publicity. so people call themselves vegan, (intersectional) feminist, anarchist, whatever, without even thinking about WHO they truly are when it comes down to it in reality. do they regularly buy from Amazon, Prime membership included, do they donate, or, really, do they do anything other than publicly proclaiming how much of an activist or ally they are? it's complicated, but it also really isn't. just don't be a fucking hypocrite. and be honest about your own shortcomings.
I think it was a true perfect storm and "virality is chaos" moment. There was so much frustration, there had been so so so many smaller, semi-viral incidents of racism. But I think a key part that can't be ignored was the level of onlooker & witness involvement. The crowd of bystanders trying to intervene, yelling at the cops, the clear, recorded events. It shouldn't take that level of on-record, undeniable proof or, to some extent, seeing other people at the scene pointing out wrongdoing, to persuade people of the reality of that kind of police abuse, but it did. And I think for that reason, and the rest of the perfect storm, it really hit home among a lot of people who weren't really aware. Idk, it sucks, and maybe nothing has changed. But I do think the end point was that more people are more aware, so maybe a cultural shift can gain actual traction? Idk
@@angelinaxtriana Honestly... it's dismaying because it feels like neither constant pressure nor big bursts of activism seem to do the trick. The US is so resistant to change it's terrifying.
In a situation like that, you can't let any opportunity slip by.
Your line, "do I really want to change it [the system] or do I just want to feel better", hit really hard. It's a very uncomfortable thought! I have genuinely never thought about it that way. So many things people say are just surface level, especially when it comes to systemic change in general. This is a really thought provoking video and I'm definitely going to be taking away your key points and thinking on it for a while.
bro, this is first 5 minutes of thinking type of thoughts. He just got stuck on step 1 and remains there purposefully. Go way past where this dude is. Way past
I'm very skeptical of people who want to change "the system". Especially in modern times, it's likely more mess things up than correct them.
@@djgroopz4952 "the system" needs change in its roots. The process of change, especially of large and complex systems is full of pitfalls; and easy to fail at without thorough knowledge of how they work, and how they are structured. But the idea of being afraid of changing them, just because a boo boo might happen, is a good way of making sure they are able to persist and metastasize their worst qualities and increase their power.
@@djgroopz4952 When thinking critically instead of viscerally the right changes are much more apparent.
@@djgroopz4952 I'm very skeptical of people who don't want to change the system. Especially in modern times, since it's so obvious that so many modern evils stem from the system itself, that changing the system becomes a moral imperative.
"The existential dread" concept you articulated hit hard. Thank you for the mind expansion on that.
FD, I'm kinda' new to this channell (was introduced to it by The Deprogram) but the quality of your video essays is just outstandingly higher than most of what I have found until now. Great job, my guy.