"Welcome to the Internet"
I have been a fan of Bo Burnham since I first watched his special, Make Happy on Netflix and I was transfixed by it so much that I became addicted to all of his body of works. From his music, to his other specials, to his feature debut Eighth Grade (which seeing it along with Mission Impossible: Fallout in theaters as a double feature is one of the greatest theater experiences ever), everything about him as a comedian, an entertainer, and as a person is something that I found myself falling in love with. But perhaps the most impressive thing about him is how he creates his works that are both comical to pleasure any average joe, while giving enough deep introspections that speaks both into his own introspection on how the world works and how it can relate to anyone at anytime of the world, and with Inside, he takes all of his tropes and best abilities into the fullest while somehow pushing the boundaries of what he can do as a comedian.
As we know, the quarantine has left a lot of us into a state of mind that wasn’t normal and drove many of us into insanity. It wasn’t a great experience for a lot of us, trapped into our homes and nothing to really do it. Well, good old Bo takes the concept of being trapped and utilized that it’s full extent. Between the songs, the comedic/satiric look of today’s internet culture, and the overall presentation, we see Bo how he is dealing with the mental state of being trapped into one space for so long and what it can do to you mentally. All of it done in very hilarious and very unusual ways yet fit so line with Bo’s brand of comedy.
The songs are simply entertaining and very catchy as hell, as usual of Bo’s previous works. But giving context of what this special is saying, it shows that his mind is all over the space. Affecting within his mind, being self aware of what he’s doing and what he wants to create, and even considering that he might give it up because he’s too obsessive with this work and doesn’t know where to go with it that he feel like to quit and let his life go on afterwards. Nearly all of his songs in this special are a symbol of defecting the mindset of how he wants to continue to provide great content for the audience in this new generation, but understand that he’s gone almost down the deep end and not being at ease with himself. Which is sad to see him like this, but it’s also understandable and even relatable.
Because we know what’s like to be prisoners of our own mind. Our fuck ups, our inner thoughts, our mental state, it’s all closing into ourselves that it affects out ability to be better and improve ourselves in a mental state that’s healthy and pure. Bo understands that. He understands us, because he’s been in the same mental unstable boat before. And he’s demonstrated where he’s been now with his mental state through the playful visuals, unique lighting decisions, unique different styles of filmmaking and the progression of time despite the COVID area we’re in. As well as giving how he’s affected with his mind and how did he get here since the days of his YouTube videos. It’s quite amazing and really sad when you take things into that perspective.
It’s hard to really dissect and give more thoughts about this special, because there’s a lot to talk about it, and continuing it might give me my own mind going to circles. Though I think drawing comparisons to Synecdoche New York would be an interesting thing to compare with someday. But to sum up in the best way I can, Inside isn’t a special, but rather a compelling and deep experience about a man trying to find ways to express his creative voice and mental state while being trapped into a prison cell both literately and metaphorically. All presented in the most human, hilarious, and compelling ways imaginable that no one like Bo Burnham can master. Truly the most profound and most artistically profound work 2021 has gave us with. Thank you Bo for this masterpiece of an experience that make us laugh with tears and make us look into our own inner demons and face them head on rather run away from them. Thank you. We don’t deserve you.
Rating: 10/10
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