Our song by song, scene by scene analysis of Bo Burnham's INSIDE continues with "How The World Works" and "White Woman's Instagram."
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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
From spotify, this is dissect long for
musical analysis, broken into short digestible episodes, the support
of our seven part series on inside a music
Poverty, special shot performed by boat, burn him for the course of a very unusual here. I'm your hosts cushion
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Your performance knows no bounds. Learn more had showed that? U s slash the power last humming dissect we examined in size. I want song comedy
Or both establishes his desire to help the world and his fear that the comedy specialities choosing to make war help the song and transformed into a
full blown satire as both plays a white savior who centres himself and his work as the solution to the enormous global problems we are currently facing. We also looked at face time with my mom: were technology becomes a frustrating barrier, impose communication with his mouth
Finally, we saw an interlude scene in which both its down at his laptop for another day of work on the special were currently watching in the lower right corner of the screen, but a split second flash, a bow playing a twist dream
foreshadowing the dissociation process that will consume the second half of the special. After this brief interlude, seen, there's a heart cut to both sitting at the piano he's in the spotlight once again, and I projector colors the walls behind him, solid orange. He smiles widely and begins performing insides. Next, on the subject of the first half of our episode today, how the world works a kids today, we're gonna learn about the world
The world that surround us is pretty amazing, but how does it work? It must be complemented by the same rate as the world can only work when everything works together.
A b drinks from how the world works.
The children song satire that begins with bo alone on piano, addressing an imaginary adolescent audience by free
the song as a foundational learning exercise executed through media allah, sesame street bo
be alluding to our learning, shifting from the classroom to the media and the new,
our children are learning about the world what they are doing increasingly through their phones. The entire for,
first as a rosy optimistic sing along typical of these types of educational, kid songs. It focuses on the harmony of nature, the interdependence amongst all living creatures. He began
by singing the world that around us is pretty amazing, but how does it work must be complicated. The scene
is the world can only work when everything works together. He goes on to give a few examples of this hobbes feed from flowers, but also give them paul it now squirrels eat seeds, but also
them around, which is essential to propagation. The songs. Precarious continues this thread as both emphasizes how every creature, from the biggest.
elephant to the littlest fly are essential to the natural order and harmony of the world. He then
inches into the song's chorus and every single cricket every fish in the sea gives what they can and gets what they need. That is how the world works, or that is how the world works from ada zebra to the worms and the worms or it's surface. The opening few minutes of how the world works could pretty easily pass as an actual children's song ready made for a performance on sesame street. While we're going to talk about this opening portion of this
more detail. We can only do so after hearing from both sock puppet, whose perspective reveals more about the function of both character. Everyone
look, you stopped by to say hello. It saw go where you been sancho. I've been we're. I always am when you're not wearing me on your hand, in a frightening limited space between states and being not like dad, not line alive, similar to a constant state of slate around saga we were just talking about the world and how it works. By that sounds complicated. Do you have anything you'd want to teach us about the world? I wouldn't say anything to you probably have already said yourself. I don't know about that, psycho. How about you give it a try continuing
into the songs. Adolescent framework bo introduces a sock puppet on his head does mike
not to a bit by one, a beau burns, favorite comics dutch absurd as hans tee when here's botox about tee. When back in two thousand eleven on the green room,
what's happening ponds tail when you do or losing either
absurdist. One of the things he does is he brings out a sock puppet, which is a black sock purity. I don't like them yeah and so ends a white sock and then the he just sings a song and feeds the song
a baby, ruth and just
Meantime, the Beirut entire post
His name's sancho, which, given his
she was political views that will be revealed in a moment is likely his name.
Sancho, is upon a sock. Spelled s. O c is a nickname for a socialist
When, though, as soccer, where he's been, he describes being not quite alive, not quite dead,
between states similar to sleep paralysis, a condition
which you are awake, but can't move or talk. The seems, too,
the physicist urban shorting, our thought experiment about quantum mechanics known as schroeder's cat to help illustrate the counter intuitive nature of subatomic particles in something called the superposition
double schroeder gave an example of a cat being placed in a box with a radio active substance that has a fifty percent chance of killing it until we open
box to observe whether or not the cat is dead. The cat is in a sense both dead and alive at the same time. Hence a puppet existence would not on someone's hand when not being observed is akin to the cat inside the box. Not quite did not quite alive.
Though, continues to tell stock or that there were just talking about the world and how it works, to which soccer responds that sounds. Complicated
ironically bo himself said this very thing to begin the song when he sung, how does it work and must be complicated? This irony is in
in general, because when both ass arco, if you'd like to teach us anything about the world soccer response, I went say anything that you probably have an already said yourself. Those seems to be cheaply playing with the perform relationship between master and puppet. A puppet doesn't have original thought, wherever it says, is a reflection of its master, the one in control of the whole charade. This concept will have larger implications as we get deeper into the song.
But first let's hear what soco has to say about the world and how it works. The symbol, narrative ton in every history class is demonstrably false and pedagogically and know lastest. Don't you know the world is built and genocide network of capital essentially functions to separate the worker from the means and the f and the killed. Martin luther lurking, private properties and psycho goes hard from the start. Singing the simple narrative taught in every history class is demonstrably false, pedagogical classist
Sancho immediately exposes the structural function of both first first, as the exact type of simple reductive narrative spewed fed to our children, with pedagogy, referring to the theory and practice of teaching sancho. Pedagogical closest refers to the fact that curriculum is always determine and taught by the class, with the most wealth power
industrial control. Both might be nodding to brazilian educator Paulo fairies book, pedagogy of the oppressed, which argues that education
is never neutral that it serves to perpetuate oppressive systems established by the ruling class. It calls the current system, a banking bottle of entry,
asian or one superior individual recites facts and ideas and the inferior class.
Possibly listens, memorizes said facts and ideas, thus dehumanizing students in this model students like the freedom to question the teachers or how the world work
they are seen as empty vessels train to simply accept and regurgitate what they are told. This
an additional layer to both opening verse as it was done.
By a member of the white ruling class in america, a class largely responsible for creating our countries, education, curriculum and thus controls what historical information is included, what is excluded and how that information is presented:
both character, blissfully naive, as he is simply regurgitating what he was taught as a child. As a member of the privilege ruling class has experience would likely
I am truly believing this reductive worldview, ignorant or able to easily ignore the darker workings of the world. This highlights the fact that those that benefit or perpetuated
Press systems are always aware there doing so, a perhaps intent
result of her biased model of education. Sancho continue singing, don't you know. The world is built with blood and genocide and exploitation.
Of course. These dark realities are what's missing for both reductive view of the world's workings. History can
ain't, no shortage of war, slavery, the attempt, an execution of entire people groups and any complete examination of a country's his
It is likely to reveal some version of this bloody trifecta plus philosopher
walter. Benjamin said quote. Empathy with the victors thus comes to benefit the current rulers every time
and so the ruling class often neglects to teach a thorough history or justifies your atrocities under marketing campaigns, like america's manifest destiny, which was used to
If I genocide against native americans soccer then continues the global network of capital
essentially functions to separate the worker for the means of production. Here sancho states, one of Karl Marx as central critiques, a political economy in the socially
Few capitalism essentially separate people into two classes: the working class, those that make the goods and the capitalist those who own the means of production like the land, factories and raw materials used to make products
rather than a system that benefits everyone. Equally, the supper
asian allows the capitalist class to benefit at the expense of the working class who sell their labor at a fixed price to the capitalist, despite the workers, labour being equally important to the production of products and thus the wealth, those products, a crew, the vast majority of profit to go to the few capitalists who owned the means of production and a socialist view,
The capitalist gain is always the workers' loss and the separation of the workers from the means of production prohibits a worker from receiving the true value of their labor saga. Then caps off his verse by singing. In the f b, I killed martin luther king
While today, our nation largely celebrates the worker martin luther king Jr, during the civil rights movement, we often overlooked the fact that king was viewed as a threat, but
fbi up until he was assassinated in nineteen sixty eight under a program called coin tell pro
which was a series of covert and illegal operations aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting and disrupting domestic american political organizations. The f b I actively worked to discredit king and his work initially painting him as a communist
they started by wiretapping his folds and when they discovered,
was having extramarital affairs. They secretly taped him in his hotel rooms and paden form as to spy on him,
they then use this an attempt to blackmail him sending kings
whether tapes, along with an anonymous letter that suggested if he didn't, kill himself, they would publicly exposes infidelities
after kings assassination. It was the fbi,
that was assigned to investigate his death.
James Earl re confessed to shooting king and suggested that he was merely a player in a larger plot to kill. King was set
to ninety nine years in prison. Three days later, he recanted his statement saying it was forest both never granted a retrial
for decades kings. Immediate family has maintained their belief that kings murder was part of a larger plan involving government officials. Twenty five years
Dr king's assassination, lloyd showers, who owned
restaurant below James arrays, Memphis, hotel room stated that he'd been part of a conspiracy to kill king, along with,
Memphis police officers, a mafia member and others.
Ninety ninety nine kings, family, sewage hours for a symbolic one hundred dollars and a civil case
by unanimous verdict. The jury
Where did the money to the king family deciding
king's assassination had likely been a result of a conspiracy that involved showers as well, as quote others, including governmental agencies. Unquote, after the trial king's wife, coretta, said quote, the jury was clearly
vince, but the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to MR showers, the conspiracy of the mafia, local state and federal government agencies were dead
We involved in the assassination of my husband, unquote overdue
scratching the surface here within the context of sakharov verse, the example of martin Luther king Jr serves to expose the hypocrisy of america.
And a selective memory of our history today are curriculum, paints king as an american hero, and rightly so, but
We often forget to mention what soccer reveals that our own government saw
as a real threat and actively worked slander, discredit and threatened him and was possibly even involved in his murder as an example.
The idea that education is never neutral, that it serves
perpetuate a narrative established by the ruling class
It is inherently that neo liberal that just aren't destroying the lab, then every ball, the dish and every cop on the street protects the interest of the pedophilic. Cornbread only soccer begins his pre course. A private properties, inherently theft,
This is a nod to anarchist Pierre Joseph producers, who famously declared property, is theft in if eighteen forty book, what is property produce critique, applied, specifically to lie,
and ownership that one could essentially play finders keepers with the earth arbitrarily claimed public land for themselves assent.
Stealing it from the rest of society for personal profit or Karl Marx, too,
issue with specific phrasing of property is theft. The idea of private property is a central critique of marxists thought
allowing one person or party to own the means of production. I land or factories, built on that land allows them to exploit the labor of the working class and reap the mass benefits of the goods produced on that property in perpetuity.
To the critics of marks, desire to get rid of private property marks, responded quote your horrified.
Our attending to do away with private property, but in europe
existing society, private property
is already done away with four nine tenths of the population. The existence for the few
solely due to its non existence in the hands of those nine tenths, unquote and other words
most land today is already own. Putting the vast majority of
people at an enormous disadvantage, leading to extra
disparities and land ownership and wealth, for example in america,
people on more than ninety, eight percent of u s land and the five largest landowners. All
why, on more rural land than all a black america, combined soccer continues his pre chorus.
And neo liberal fascist are destroying the left mueller.
with them as a model of free market capitalism that favours greatly reduce government spending, deregulation, globalization, free trade and privatisation since the nineteen eighty
Neo liberalism has been associated with the trickled down economic policies of president ronald reagan: nesbit critic,
as for limiting social services, overly empowering corporations and exacerbate
economic inequality. Psycho
there's neo liberalism with fascism,
emphasizes extreme nationalism and militarism using violence and imprisonment to enforce national policy. Thus, it seems that psycho feels the left in america are
destroyed by politicians who favour neo, liberal capitalism and enforce that system through fascist means, rather than a true
left party in america with socialist values that actually benefit and prioritized the working class, we essentially have to pee.
it is with marginal differences that propagate the same neo liberal system that inherently benefits the elite, weathers george bush or brok, obama, donald trump or Joe Biden. Its moral
business as usual, and the united states of america is likely this.
Well with suckers views would argue that the only way to truly solve the mass inequities in america is a full blown revolution and complete transformation of its corrupt neo liberal.
capitalist system that inherently benefits the few at the expense of the many assistant bill on the exploitation of labour from its working class. Sancho than ends is pre cor's point into what he views as fascist tactics used to uphold this system singing and every politician. Every cop on the street protects the interests of the petty philip corporate elite or were largely taught that police serve and protect the people. Sancho asserts the belief that the police were created by the elite to protect the system
benefits them. People who hold this belief often side the history of the police, knowing how they did not exist until the late nineteenth century, when the wealthy elite felt threatened by an increasing working class population, a population that could potentially joined forces and overthrow them
specifically in the united states, before police forces. There is a systematic
did constables and shares in the north and slay patrols in the south due to the large influx of immigrants, rage, workers, the wealthy.
eventually hired thousands of our men to establish order or police. New working class cities has class conflict and
greece, there are more and more strikes and riots
chicago alone. There are major strikes and riots in eighteen, sixty, seven, eighteen, seventy, seven, eighteen, eighty, six and eighteen. Ninety four, each time the police attack strikers with extreme violence
an increasingly establish themselves as a force meant to protect civilised society from the disorder of the working class. Those who hold beliefs, like soccer, pointed this history to showcase how the police did not begin to protect individual citizens, but rather to protect the elite against potential uprisings that threaten a system based on property theft. In other words, the police were created
protect criminals from having their crimes returned an ideology of order that still exist today. Suckers edition of petty philip corporate elite likely not of the recent public exposure of Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire pedophile, and convey
it's sex offender who was arrested in two thousand nineteen for sex trafficking and died, while in custody, Epstein had personal relationships with many high profile, politicians and wealthy elite.
It has been speculated by many that some of these individuals took part in Epstein sexual abuse of minors. Soccer contain
by reciting the songs chorus which, in the context of his verse, takes on an entirely
meaning. That is how the world works, and that is how the world, where genocide, the natives say you got, do it or that it works. That's ironic back in,
when he's by both character, sancho performs the songs chorus with one important change, rather than
the line from eight zero to the worms in the dirt sancho sings genocide. The natives say you got two at first
care. Psycho uses genocide as a verb, referring to them
ass murder and displacement of native americans when europeans colonized north america, the many deadly tactics, colonizers
is to remove. Natives from their homelands was infamously rationalize as manifest destiny. The belief that
expansion. The united states was divinely ordained and inevitable. This made up false narrative, again exemplifies sancho point about history, favouring the ruling
ass, which has alluded to in the line say you got to have first calling attention to the fact that colonizers credited themselves for the discovery of the land, as if people were already living there, and also calls back to suckers
earlier critique of private property, highlighting the worst outcome of land being seen as something to be owned, genocide and war. As historian,
free ostler wrote in his book surviving genocide quote in order to have a land,
opportunity required space to expand early american senses of freedom fundamentally depended upon the taking of native land
which almost inevitably would lead to the taking of native lives. Unquote, author
argues. U s. Leaders always understood this yet obscure their true aims, with a series of self serving narratives built around the ideal of civilization,
in the beginning, civilised society was viewed as a gift colonizers were giving to indigenous populations, and later defending civilization was used to justify killing them. Here we find the magic threads back to the origins of police and their use as a force to protect order to protect those
live civilized lies as opposed to the unruly disorder of immigrants or the savage uncivilized ways of indians, and also calls back to sophos point about the fascist tactics used to instil and enforce america's way of life and its values. As how the
works continues. Bone psycho have a very revealing dialogue,
that's pretty intense notion, what can I do to help read a book or something I don't know just don't burden me with the responsibility of educating you? It's incredibly exhausting, I'm sorry sokka, I I was just trying to become a better person. Why do you rich bucking white people, insist on seeing every socio political conflict through the myopic lands of your own self? This isn't about you about you. So either din women get out of the fucking way. Watch your mouth buddy responses. Suckers first spoke ass. What can I do to help
Well, perhaps an innocent enough questioners surface sancho expresses frustration with
burden to educate, privilege person about the system. He enjoys the benefits from rather than take the time to learn
search, consider his own complicity, be uncomfortable and work to find solutions. Both privilege, as he is, looks too
handed and easy solution. That requires no personal effort on his part. This mindset ties back to the banking system of it
occasion in which we are treated as empty vessels to be filled, and thus its no surprise when boe expects to be spoonful answers, and the irony is by
solving his own responsibility to educate himself, he's essentially out
sourcing, the labour of that education to the oppressed to the socket of the
world already burdened with the ill effects of the system, thus perpetuating the very exploitative system causing the oppression
the real motive behind both question reveals itself when he follows by saying I'm sorry psycho, I was just trying to become a better person to which soccer responds why
rich fucking white people insist on seeing every socio political conflict through the myopic object land every own self, actual asean? This isn't about you, so either get with it or get out the fucking way sancho here
out the tendency of some dissenter themselves in the plight of the disenfranchised, which calls back to both white savior character and comedy, and the performance
activism done by those who can't be motivated by anything other than self interest. The specific wording of
Self actual zation might be around
to one of the most well known uses of the term and, what's known as bachelors hierarchy of needs, which has a five to your mom,
of human needs visualized in the shape of a pyramid, the base of the pyramid. The widest level, is our most basic needs: food, water, shelter. The second level is safe
the third level is belonging and relationship needs. The fourth level is respect and esteem needs, and finally, the fifth level, the tip top of the pyramid, is self actual essays
which is the realisation of a person's potential self fulfilment seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
oh described this level as the desire to accomplish everything, one can to become the absolute most that one can be,
the central idea. Maso hierarchy of needs is that one cannot move up the pyramid without having fulfilled the needs of each stage that comes before it, for example, without meeting our basic needs like food and water, we cannot fulfil the next stage of needs safety.
That food, water and safety we can fulfil our need for belonging relationships and so on, and what
of actual impatient being the top of the pyramid. We cannot obtain self actual possession.
Without having the rest of the pyramid, fulfilled
My bow might be intentionally using the phrase self actual asean to references hierarchy because a further display
the entitlement of the ruling class who sees socio political conflicts through the myopic or short sighted lens of their own self actual asean. The benefits of the system have helped them obtain all those other needs, so they have the privilege of actually worrying about things like self actually
on the other hand, the system keep sancho stuck on the lower stages of the pyramid perpetually working to fulfil the more basic
and never being able to advance up. Thus he becomes frustrated when bo, whose at the top trying to self actual eyes, is looking down and viewing
problems below simply as a means to self actualize to become corn quote a better person as bones.
I could continue their conversation. Another layer of both character reveals itself get
bugging way watch your mouth buddy remember who is on whose hand here, but then what have you not been bucking listening? We are all right. All right only make now lies, not illegal downloading him up again, I get go back. Please please! I'm sorry are you can behave yourself? Yes, yes. What yes look at me? Yes, sir, that's better
Responding to suck us push back, battell sancho to watch his mouth and remember whose hands on exemplifying them
power dynamics at the heart of sakharov critique displays. How bow
actually learned nothing from soco further evidence that his attempt to help was hollow and self serving soccer. Retorts again saying, have you not been fucking? Listening were entrenched and it's at this point bo cut soco off by beginning to pull him off his hand. Cycled then screams rowboat,
pleading that he doesn't want to go back back. Here refers to that liberal state of being not quite dead, not quite alive that he described earlier friend my
those willingness to use his power to destroy him sancho apologizes bo demands, a soccer behave himself and then demands to be called. Sir sancho obliges mournfully
Turns out both as the neo liberal, fascist, destroying the left, he faint empathy and concern for the plight of the disenfranchise offers to help
and even teaches children about the necessity of harmony working together and the importance of even the littlest fly.
Even bows line from his first verse. Everyone gets what they can and gets. What they need is a nod to the marxist axiom for each according to his ability to each according to his needs.
It, even though his entire verse expresses fundamentally socialist principles and even though he might think he actually believes in them when push comes to shove as soon as he feel slightly uncomfortable or pretty
Julie, threatened by uses militant forced to censor snuff out descendants, Allah, Martin luther king and maintain the established order that ultimately benefits him, because
on the means of production protected by militant police force. Sancho is relying on both for his livelihood and is ultimately forced to surrender the interaction
in both psycho, thus dramatize, is the exact kind of authoritarian suppression, sancho sing about the surface level.
Harmony of america is reliant on the force, suppression and cohesion of the working class and poor minorities, which makes the final course with bow and psycho singing harmony all the morning
magic is world. The world were bad, is how the world, where you learned. You learned your lesson in war.
Does despite circles compliance as soon as and psycho and their duet bill, rip psycho off his hand anyway,
is an obvious by now. This is a reason. A sock puppet is used to voice arco. A psycho only has a voice
long as bo allows it and
just like a sock that where's from use and is discarded when the song is over when are exploited workers sophos job is done. He's tossed aside back to that limited state of non existence, never thought of again. The tragedy of how the world works is that the interaction between bow and psycho was shaping up to be a conversation. It could have been an example of paulo fairies, antidote to the banking model of education, which is a collaborative educational process where the learner takes part in the creation of
knowledge. Of course, the irony is that sophos defeated at the end. The conversation was only allowed to go so far, even when plot
form by neo liberal, who openly claims to care about equality, and this
he is one more interesting aspects of how the world works. The actual bernie
constructing the song could have made his character and easier target a right
you're wearing a red hot, for example, and steady,
show someone more like himself. A white
american liberal, who generally supports the idea of equality and democratic politicians who claim the same. What bossy
to be doing is forcing those of us who somewhat identify with those character, likely himself included to truly examining
intensity of our own belief system and how it holds up under real scrutiny, really only claiming equality, because it feels and looks good results,
happening. How much we are personally participating in and benefiting from an oppressive system or
simply placing all the blame on the other side, the aisle, because that's easier and dodges, our own complicity. How much are we persons,
willing to sacrifice to achieve equality. How much discomfort and disruption are we willing to tolerate if push really comes to shove, this threat of self examination extends backed a comedy and those own critique and sat a relation of the very special he's making. As he's
their despite the world issues he's doing the thing that he'll get paid and praise for his not excluding himself from being a participant in the system. Sancho just criticised
mrs, where things get really hetty, because when we view how the world
works through the myopic, linda, both self actual innovation. We realise that bobo.
is literally both sancho and bow. But the song is
examination, just as much as it is satire and social critique as read.
user. Little have on mars pointed out bo burnham is both puppet and master, capitalist and worker master and slave. The liberal idealist and the marxist materialist sancho and bow even rhyme, perhaps to reflect this, and when both
presses sancho. He suppressing a part of himself because he relies on the system to make a living and be the centre of attention and, if you honestly enjoy
It is with the way the world actually works. You'd have to give up his way of life and, as he admitted on comedy, he's not willing to do that,
and this is where a lot of us are both the oppressed and the oppressor were all
born into a system where our choices result an exploitation of someone's labour either in our own country.
Or more commonly now outsource somewhere else, because it's cheaper and frankly, easier to ignore. Porthos
need to work within this system to survive and while many
thus in america, lived more privileged lives due to our race, gender or class. Most of us
also in the business of selling our labour to a larger corporation, who owns the means of production,
The majority of the benefits and wealth are labour creates. This reveals the double meaning of work in the songs title, a reference
both how the world system works and how the exploitation of work or labour is vital to the system
Well, read it user, highbrow alcoholic our need to
choices within the system to be able to survive day to day, gives this system the illusion of legitimacy progressively worsening
Others lives and kills us all, both individually and collectively year to year or involuntary omnipresent system as a global economic addiction from which we seemingly can't break out because we have
safe space or spare time outside of it and which we could recover.
There is literally nothing outside the system to reject the system for because the system
literary denies you the life, giving resources you need, unless you engage with it so to keep a roof over. Our heads were coerce to play the game and exploit, just as we are
exploited, even while we're revolted at the exploitation in general? How the world works illustrates this dichotomy,
bo. Burnham is our short term needs, as we can see explored through the rest of inside each of us individually, desperate to find short term strength amidst chaos. Sako is our long term concerns each of us getting used and noticing that over time were deteriorating unquote and that kids is how the world works. Now a word from our
corporate sponsors, hello? My name is bo burnham and I am a form,
comedian turn,
Social brand consultant
it's a very exciting time to be a brand. It's also
scary time, because
stammers expect a lot more from their brands than they did in the past during this incredibly necessary.
overdue social reckoning that we're having in our culture. It is no longer acceptable for brands to stay out of the conversation. Consumers want to know. Are you willing to use your brand awareness to affect positive social change, which will create more brand awareness inside
tennis with a sketch mocking a promotional video for a social brand, consulting firm. This long, haired pulled tightly back.
Sure unbutton, just a little too far down both police. The do she consultant working with brands,
how to navigate marketing campaigns during times of social unrest? It's about
in video for branding firm, working with brands, other brain campaigns approach
The ironic concept following how the world works, there's a perform seriousness
to both sales pitch, who, once again,
is playing into the white savior trope. An expert here to lead the charge
solving race relations. Of course, the irony of marketing camp,
centred around a brand suppose. A commitment to a cause is that it still functions as pause,
the advertising and pr for that brand
question is what are you selling or or what service are you providing? The question is: what do you stand for? Who are you
lights, all these big companies there so scared of other social change, and I come in and I put their fears voracity. You know I tell them just be honest, tell your
customers, then that J p morgan is against racism in theory, but continues to expose them.
Dick foolishness of brands personifying themselves. By asking what do you stand for? Who are you bagel bites coming off the heels of how the world works and exit
both of the capitalistic system based on the exploitation of labour to the benefit of large corporations. The idea of one of these larger,
preparations committing themselves to social change is extremely ironic and inherently hypocritical. For example, bagel
it's is owned by craft hides the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world.
With over twenty six billion dollars in annual sales, when viewed through the world view of sancho corporations
These are, by their very nature, a fundamental part of the problem and any real commit
to social change when include a sweeping upheaval over the exploitative business model. A more extreme example of this is a company like J p morgan, which both sides after big about
it's morgan is the largest bank in the united states, with nearly four trillion dollars and total assets. The united states banking industry as a whole has a troubled history.
He was systemic racism, unbiased dating back to the euro.
slave trade and extending into things like red lining practices that denied loans and insurance to residents of certain areas based on the race or ethnicity for exam.
In two thousand five gb more
and admitted to being involved in the. U s. Slave trade between.
Thirty one and eighteen sixty five,
subsidiaries accepted around thirteen thousand slaves as collateral and ended up owning over us
thousand slaves or recent
J p morgan has had multiple complaints of racial discrimination alleged against them. Ironic
today when you search something like J, p, morgan and racism, the search results.
are dominated by articles about J P, Morgan's fight against racial bias. In the banking industry, unintentional
positive marketing strategy, headed by some, unlike those character, to combat the company's troubled history with the very subject of the search during this part, the sketch care-
listeners will realise that the instrumental music behind bow is actually a reprieve or reworking of the song comedy for comparison sake. Here's an excerpt of common,
leading world we are making a friend was bad for italy and now them
behind social brand consultant.
This reworking of comedy into a corporate inspirational patriotic score intended to make those character feel important. Powerful is extremely clever. Just like income,
many we have another white savior here to heal the world centering himself in the brands who works with which ultimately benefits him in the branch
works with there's no sugar coating it the world is fucked up and you gotta choice as a bread. You can
and bury our head in the sand and hope it fixes itself or you can roll up their sleeves and get to work, and so
but her fingers.
well here fitting the answer skip by saying and get to work. It's likely an intentional callback to how the world works, and this motif of work as both the operational workings of our current systems and how the
boy of work or labour is essential to those systems. Despite what,
one is to believe what their marketing campaigns the real work of both the consultant and brands he works for is not healing the world its to sell butter fingers is to make money when your primary funk
as a corporation, is to make money? Operations are almost exclusively guided by the aim: morals be damned leading to things like the exploitation of labour. The exploitation of the invite
in, and the exploitation of trendy social movements through marketing campaigns that seek to capitalize on these movements for positive pr and brand awareness. What critic
of larger corporation seems just do think its import,
in the age of the internet and social media reconsider our own individual
complicity in this branding critique. During the presto
with two thousand a eighteen film, eighth grade, something
would bring up time and again as the convergence of the brand in the individual jobs and
I'm playing your life like a board game which would use to be careerists me like
career was treated like that for awhile made, of course, you gonna strategies, but your life in your family and your taxes.
Stuff for like now. It's literally every stop social interaction. Every opinion you head is now like this. I dunno it's weird and I feel like to be a thirteen year old kid and feel that way. Now I feel, like you, have a brand and a and a narrative and that you're in a movie every thing you do as a quantity to be sold and presented and thought about and attended to, even after the fact yeah plan a moment
reminisce on that moments. Maisie crazy, weird, the inherent self curation of social media has a lot of us thinking about ourselves as a brand to be managed a carefully crafted presentation that deeply considers how are perceived by others and makes decisions accordingly. This boy,
an overlap of brand and individual can result in behavior very similar to those empty corporate brain campaigns. Around social issues, for example, and are
step aside, we talked about influencers using black lives matter. Protest as a backdrop to
lies on the attention the movement was receiving and raise their own brand awareness, and this confluence of the curated individual and brand makes for a perfect,
the magic transition from the social brand consultants git to insides next song white woman's instant,
is this woman's hamster line mormons understood. Why woman's insight
m is, of course, a satire of a stereotypical white woman's instagram page the songs, lyrics or structure.
Like a social media feed
driving a single curated cliche image before scrolls onto
other unrelated, but equally curated and cliched image and the visuals match. The images except the white woman is, of course,
played by the long haired bearded bell, burnham
don't think. A line by line analysis of the song is needed as a whole white. Women's instagram ties nicely in the insides developing motif of the internet and social media and suddenly points to how these new tools have trends.
Form view of the world and how we view ourselves within what social media purports to be a space where we can express ourselves and connect with others,
We ve quickly realized that these spaces are not that simple. The perfectly manicured instagram feed calls to mind the damaging effects of social comparison. The fact that our actual lives in appearance cannot compete with a perceived perfection of someone's
your life in appearance? Recent studies are finding that technology based social comparison and feedback seeking or associated with increased oppressive symptoms, body issues and feelings of isolation,
equally among young women.
Study by the university college. London found that girls experience depression at a much higher rate than boys and is closely linked to the greater
I may spend on social media the same
but he also found that as many as three quarters of fourteen year old girls who suffer from depression also have low self esteem or
happy with how they look and sleep for seven hours or less each night. This context
mind. We might wonder why boas satirizes something with such severe consequences as well
in sum, ass. After incites release for one, I think,
Have you white women's instagram within the context of inside as a whole, which, as will see, ends up being a pretty pointed critique of the damaging collateral effects of the internet on mental health and the same
we're curated, instagram post might seem harmless in the moment, but as potentially harmful in the long run, white woman's instagram only seems
hearted and the moment, but it's inherently a part of what fuels the collective dread and dissociation experienced by the films and also
Careful viewers of white woman's, Esther grandma notice, something visually symbolic during the songs bridge or the majority of them.
Video uses a square aspect ratio to mimic the original square image of instagram photos. The aspect ratio widens to full
aim during the songs bridge we're both also wines, his lyrical scope, revealing the human being behind
target of his sad a lied to her favor.
her.
Options as I can
it's bad decades.
You then got me ass, you said, and we knew in the frying yeah. I've still got a little better about it. Still my boyfriend crazy about your little girl did. You love you gave up gives no here invites us to empathize with the basic white women character, using the universally shared human experience of a mother's death, symbol
Luckily, widening the frame to accommodate this more complete picture does is to remind
that there still human being behind that curated feed a human being. There
Your sorrow and pain like we all do the can
trains of social media. Don't always allows to see the entire picture of whose someone is interviews
We often use the example of appearance death to illustrate that, while we all have specific experiences, recital ten
so we have a shared human experience that connects us all. I dont want the believed to be,
we can never understand each other. We
Yet you know there, of course, are certain
certain circumstances and life experiences. That cannot be understood,
we need to listen to each other, and specific groups need to step back and listen to other groups
Of course, there is a shared humanity that we can all talk about right right
like you, I mean that we all have
once that are like dying. We all it we're
trying to love each other, we're all like hearts in chests and brains and heads.
Tellingly, just as the aspect ratio widens too for frame during the songs bridge and immediately be
insta to narrow again returning to
square ratio precisely went by returns to describing the single frame instagram photos the ship
back to the more limited view, perhaps symbolizes the inherently restricting nature of social media. Now it's impossible to be fully
human on the internet. Instead, stead were only
able to show a piece of ourselves and we're inside
devised to only show our best pieces we perform before
shopper own lives in order to construct a highlight real of who we are
this temptation to shore best side can lead to the commodified nation of our experiences appointed
heard both make in an earlier interview. Rather,
living authentic experiences and then sharing a piece of that experience online. We ve started to reverse engineer this process.
We start with what would make a great posed and work backwards from there. We curator
it's so much that we actually devoid ourselves of living. That moment, we begin to think of ourselves:
as a brand manager and compete in the attention and
rural economy alongside other brands, both individual and corporate entity is back to
themes explored and how the world works as the big tech companies that reap the benefits of our competition harvest,
our attention and streamlining our social lives in order to collect data, to sell to other companies who use that
the service targeted advertising in order to sell stuff. This is the self. Can
nature of capitalism. Our lives
tension relationships have been commodified like any other good or service, and this just happened and fast what I think
with social, medium morton, the internet. I mean the internet really just dumb it wasn
showing up. There's gonna, be just like the information superhighway who gives a shit. It was really
social media I do think which was some form of- and I didn't have this the internet when it was me, would like you to post something you do there
as opposed to what the internet is now, and you too, in all these things, live there, be there with you, and it is now for kids twitter, an interim. What do you think? What do you look like? What do you think? What do you look like? Those are base, weird, deep questions that are being asked of kids.
And the thing is happening in these decisions that are being made by a bunch of men in
silicon valley that have absolutely no, on average social scale,
are making this really are making decisions about entire generations, neural chemistry
updating it up and raising their hand. Interim our social
did not need to be actualized. They did not
to be made more efficient and we're applying like capitalist logic to
our relationships with each other with ourselves. It,
insane and really really is, and in its going completely unchecked
decisions are being made by people who have no idea what the actual repercussions of an hour. Even the participants are doing so, but again the internet. I mean that movie is not trying to portray that judgment right. What what is happening you know and its in what's happening.
It's not like selfie. It's just like how the degeneration is described like self involved, when it's like self involvement is bad, where self involved people in solitary confinement, like that's, that self consciousness and I'd love to think about something else.
love to be telling a field, ok,
sorry. Sorry, very blindsided clearly
These issues are something both thinks and cares about very deeply. The latter point he made about being self involved in solitary confinement is particularly wrong.
But the insides exploration of media, social media and content creation, which is now most often
created alone in front of a screen, and we actually see a pretty vivid visual depiction of this concept directly after white woman's instagram
when the song ends at immediately cuts to a shot of bow in the dark sitting in front of his laptop watching white woman's instagram. He stairs intently into the screen.
Clearly analyzing the video likely reviewing the peace during the editing process, like he setting content, he's back to work, an idea that has gained complexity after the exploration of work and how
world works. The immediacy of this lonely working seen coming directly after white woman's instagram, continues to us
I wish that insight is just as much about the process of making inside as it is about this
and videos presented in inside it is a performance. The construction of a performance
display of the psychological effects of performance all at once and to this point, the contrast between the bright colorful curated imagery of white women's instagram against this much darker isolated view of
seems to illustrate the contrast, relies we present a social media against our actual lives in reality, and also begs the question
though, all that different from the women he sat arising as an essential
undergoing the same process of creating curative content to present to the world or behind,
Since, in reality, looks much different, this threat of
self examination running concurrently. With his examination of the world, around him has persisted from the.
Restart of inside were bo began self sat
rising his need to be the centre of attention and heal the world with comedy after all, inside out
core is an examination of performance and all its innovations from the stage
social media, from corporate brands to individual influencers from what we present
the world to what we present to ourselves now:
closer examination of the seemingly simple scene of both reviewing his work in the dark reveals. A few key details
We noticed that his reflection can clearly be seen in the large whiteboard on the left side of the screen. If you turn
brightness of your screen. All the way up, you can kind of make out a bunch of riding on the whiteboard ready,
there's have since screenshot. It enhances image until the writing is legible and it reveals both rough story borne out.
for the entire narrative structure of insight
can see the names of the skids and songs in order, and sometimes
sir denoted, with their intended function and red ink, most visible and perhaps most
feeling is the song comedy the ward
divided and half with two underlines one night
is under seo. Em,
other line is under Ebby, why the first half com
noted as set up an eighty, why
denoted as call to adventure like we suspected
analysis of this on the first half of comedy.
those version of an I want song, but sets up his desire and fear too
of a musical narrative and the second
ass. God made both call to adventure to heal the world with his comedy with this very special he's making this whiteboard confirms the net
the intention of inside,
Bill has set out to create more than a traditional comedy special, but actually
as an intended story arc. All a traditional film structure, but the interesting
about the whiteboard, is that we can see both reflection in it as he stairs into his laptop screen. The contents of the whiteboard reflect and visualize his thoughts as he sits alone. Analyzing his own work in the dark
both mirrored reflection is also more foreshadowing of slow dissociation. Over the course of insight recall that in the
Have you seen a bow sitting alone in front of his laptop just before how the world works? We saw a split second supplies of both as a twitch streamer, which means
but it s an early sign of his dissociation. Now we once again
see bo alone and isolated in front of his laptop his reflection in the wipe words,
lee implying that bow is becoming disconnected from himself. Why creating content analyzing himself, judging himself alone in front of a screen
and both makes us even more apparent with the next thing in a slow dissolve.
The whiteboard night seen begins to be overlaid, but the next scene, which is about
sitting alone on a stool and the centre of the room, there's daylight now and we hear sounds of chirping birds implying that its morning time.
this transition from night today implies time has passed a first, we might think he's been up all night working
But we also notice in the morning seeing that the room is much messier than it was in the previous seem killing us in on the fact that much more time has passed than just one night,
if these subtle details at visually conveys both slow deterioration. As this
association, intensifies the pyrenees
getting to lose his sense of time that days and nights are beginning to blur together, like someone spending time in solitary confinement,
and because the dissolve between the night shot into the data is intentionally slow for a few seconds, we can actually see both seen simultaneously laid over each other, which creates one of the cooler effects in the entire special.
the left and right side of the screen receive bo on his laptop at night on? The right is the real bow and on the left, is his reflection in the whiteboard in the centre of
screen in between these two bows is bow
stool and the new morning seen these look
to the left, which mirrors exactly his reflection in the whiteboard, creating a reflection of a reflection, and if this was an
Well enough, the image of both on his laptop on the right side of the screen is now soup
imposed on top of a large mere on the wall that appears in the new morning seen implying yet another reflection, the overall effect of all
reflection. The boat is similar to a hall of mirrors, an idea that both
open about as an ominous side effect of our constructed digital presentations of self you'd have bobo number than you have
Burnham in the world, you have a brand. You are your own publicist. You walk through your experiences, but you also float behind yourself. Like a camera,
following yourself through your own experiences, you're you're, sort of out of body all the time, your dissociated you're in a situation, but europe already thinking of how that situation is going to be perceived when presented to the world. Digitally your anticipating the backlash too. That perception, maybe even before you leave
had the experience. It's that weird sort of hall of mirrors
strange matter thing that makes you not want to leave? The house may not want to ever open your mouth
and speaking of never wanted to open. Your mouth inside continues with the hard cut to a brief stand: routine ken. Can anyone shut the fuck up? Can anyone
any any one. Any single one can any one shut. The fuck up
alone on a stool in the spotlight. Bo rhetorically asked an imaginary audience if any of us can shut the fuck up, and actually I'm going to do just that. We'll discuss this skit and a lot more of inside
next time, I'll dissect, the episode of dissect was written and produced by the enjoy. Today's episode, please tell a friend about the new series or share on social media. It really helps additional analysis by camera to stream audio editing by Kevin Poulin, the music by bureaucratic. Alright thanks everyone talk to you next week, the.
Transcript generated on 2023-09-17.