“Quarantine Art” – Bo Burnham's Inside
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Hot Off the Press Summer 2021 14.07.2021 “Quarantine Art” – Bo Burnham’s Inside Franziska Friedl Introduction The Netflix special Inside was released on Netflix only a few weeks ago, on May 30th, 2021. It is written, directed, filmed, and edited by Bo Burnham, starring him in his role as “Self”. Burnham produced the special on his own during the Covid-19 pandemic in a garden shed behind his house. If you have access to a Netflix account: If you can, please watch the whole show on Netflix. Since the show is a sort of “gesamtkunstwerk”, each component informs the whole. It is only 1 ½ hours long, the more polished song segments contrasted with performances of the seemingly “real” self. If you do not have the time to watch the whole special, please watch the following scenes: - Beginning (until ca. 11:15) - Brand Consultant, White Woman’s Instagram: 18:25 – 25:00 - Reaction Video: 26:10 – 31:30 - Look Who’s Inside Again: 35:30 – 38:00 - Intermission, Twitch Stream: 48:20 – 53:30 - Welcome to the Internet: 56:00 – 1:04:20 - Ending: 1:18:30 – End If simply watching the special bores you, pay special attention to the light sources illuminating the room, the framing of the shots, the set design, and the themes of Inside / Outside and performativity. Additional material: If you are interested in the topic, the Netflix documentary The Problem with Social Media offers some contextual knowledge for the song “Welcome to the Internet”. There is also another Netflix special by Bo Burnham, Make Happy, if you have grown to like his comedy and want to watch some of his other works. Several scenes of this special serve as a point of reference in Inside. If you do not have access to a Netflix account: All the songs of Inside are on Youtube and Spotify in chronological order. I’d especially recommend “Look Who’s Inside Again” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3FnqD1UqwM) and “That Funny Feeling” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPB6u1BqZqU). However, only three of them have been uploaded with the accompanying video. Since Burnham crafts careful visuals with lighting, costuming, and framing, please watch the following clips: 1. White Woman’s Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHotXbGZiFY 2. Welcome to the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1BneeJTDcU We will pay special attention to this song, especially the role of the lyrical I (/We) in the following text: Welcome to the internet! Have a look around Anything that brain of yours can think of can be found We’ve got mountains of content—some better, some worse If none of it’s of interest to you, you’d be the first Welcome to the internet! Come and take a seat Would you like to see the news or any famous women’s feet? There’s no need to panic; this isn’t a test, Just nod or shake your head, and we’ll do the rest 2 Welcome to thе internet! What would you prefеr? Would you like to fight for civil rights or tweet a racial slur? Be happy! Be horny! Be bursting with rage! We’ve got a million different ways to engage Welcome to the internet! Put your cares aside Here’s a tip for straining pasta; here’s a nine-year-old who died We’ve got movies and doctors and fantasy sports And a bunch of colored-pencil drawings of all the different characters in Harry Potter fucking each other Welcome to the internet! Hold on to your socks ‘Cause a random guy just kindly sent you photos of his cock They are grainy and off-putting; he just sent you more Don’t act surprised—you know you like it, you whore See a man beheaded, get offended, see a shrink Show us pictures of your children, tell us every thought you think Start a rumor, buy a broomer, send a death threat to a boomer Or DM a girl and groom her; do a zoomer find a tumor in your— Here’s a healthy breakfast option, you should kill your mom Here’s why women never fuck you; here’s how you can build a bomb Which Power Ranger are you? Take this quirky quiz Obama sent the immigrants to vaccinate your kids Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy’s a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy’s a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time 3 [Spoken Interlude] You know, it wasn’t always like this [Bridge] Not very long ago, just before your time Right before the towers fell, circa ‘99 This was catalogs, travel blogs, a chatroom or two We set our sights and spent our nights waiting for you! You, insatiable you Mommy let you use her iPad; you were barely two And it did all the things we designed it to do Now, look at you! Oh, look at you! You, you! Unstoppable, watchable Your time is now, your inside’s out, honey, how you grew And if we stick together, who knows what we’ll do? It was always the plan to put the world in your hand Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A bit of everything all of the time Apathy’s a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy’s a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything and anything and everything And anything and everything and All of the time 3. All Eyes On Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rx_p3NW7gQ This scene might be difficult to understand without having first watched the last segment of Burnham’s previous special, Make Happy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYy0o-J0x20 4 Additional material: If you want to watch a full special, Burnham’s second comedy special, what., is uploaded on Youtube in its full length – but keep in mind that it is eight years old at this point and does not reflect the current state of his work, being much closer to traditional stand-up comedy in nature: what.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejc5zic4q2A Additional Reading and Reviews: If you are interested, feel free to read these professional reviews of the special, but you don’t have to by any means. A short introduction to the special: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/may/31/bo- burnham-inside-review-netflix A more in-depth analysis: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham- inside-comedy.html Despite being released only a few weeks ago, Inside already has an extensive Wikipedia article, if you want to have a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Burnham:_Inside 5 .