I did not like "Inside"

I do not appreciate all of these streaming channels with exclusive content where you need to be subscribed to have access to certain materials. There are a few different ones where I have a list that I will get to eventually, and only temporarily.

There was a Netflix list, but due to an evident promotion of transphobic content, gouging new subscription rules, and some other concerns, I was avoiding it. Then it was the only place to watch A Love Song for Latasha, which I felt I had to see before blogging about the other related content, and here I am again. 

I am going to try and catch up over the next two months, but I really need to watch The People versus Billi Holiday for something else, and that's on Hulu.

In the process of catching up, I finally watched Inside: Bo Burnham, about which I'd heard very good things.

I did not like it. People whom I really like and admire love it. I didn't.

I have to admit he is incredibly talented. Just thinking about the filming conditions and constrictions and what he was able to produce, and the visual quality and the musical quality... yes, I can imagine him doing very well at brand consulting. 

I think a big part of my issue with it was an age difference. It is not just that he was fretting about turning 30 while I am relieved to be past those specific pressures of youth, but also some perspective, perhaps.

He kept striking at his awareness of where he was with his white privilege and his knowledge of structural racism, and being kind of vicious with himself about it. That doesn't actually help anyone. 

Being aware of your own shortcomings is a great reason to highlight other voices with more experience and knowledge. Granted, that doesn't necessarily make for good comedy, but I am not sure that his approach did either.

I assume that for the people who responded strongly to it, they had felt some of the same pressures of isolation and the personal shortcomings; seeing someone be that open about their weaknesses was powerful. 

I believe my issue with it was the self-absorption, which he seemed to loathe without overcoming.

This reminded me of one of the parts of literature that has annoyed me most, from Joseph Heller's Catch-22.

“The night was filled with horror, and he thought he knew how Christ must have felt as he walked through the world, like a psychiatrist through a ward full of nuts, like a victim through a prison full of thieves.  What a welcome sight a leper must have been!”

Seeing horrible things and feeling really bad while you keep on walking is nothing like Christ; he stopped and helped. You would not have his abilities, but who knows where life might lead once you get over yourself?

Watching the special, I was most impressed with the opening number, started having some concerns early -- especially during "Face Time With My Mom (Tonight)" -- and then he really lost me on "White Woman's Instagram".

There is a casual contempt for people (probably just coincidentally women (though it might not hurt to do a misogyny check) in the song itself. Where he completely lost me was the middle of the song when it carries that contempt to the grief of someone who lost her mother, and probably lost her relatively young, based on the things that happened over the ten years. 

That is a real pain. Maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea to post on Instagram about it. Maybe the way some people post feels kind of staged; lots of people present their best selves on social media, though they do that in other social contexts as well. It's not like no one criticizes the people who display all of their messiness. Nonetheless, grief is a real thing, it hits on anniversaries, and if something is on your mind it's pretty normal to post about it.

So do you hate that these women have an outlet? Do you hate that the outlet is shallow? Are you assuming that the person's Instagram tells you a lot about that person?

I know shallow and superficial people exist, and some people try and be deep and are actually kind of silly... they are still people. They still have feelings. They still have value.

Do you think skewering your mother and women who like pumpkin spice lattes is going to overcome white supremacy?

Or does it just make your own self-loathing feel a little more manageable? At least I recognize my privilege!

One more thought: one of the other people who loved the special and thought it was great tweeted that Burnham was like Douglas Adams. That was more about his storytelling, but that reminded me of how much I expected to like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and how much I did not. I didn't like it because I sensed a contempt for people in it.

Maybe we deserve it sometimes, but it doesn't help anyone. 

On a personal level, I hate that. It makes it impossible for me to enjoy the content, regardless of other considerations of quality.

Bo Burnham is young and talented and I believe he means well; he will probably get better.

(There might be something to dwelling on if there are some common denominators between these authors and creators that have issues with self-absorption and contempt of others.)

Either way, before I let Netflix go again, I should re-watch Nanette and Douglas, which I adored the last time around. 

Of course, Hannah Gadsby is closer to my age., but that might be just a coincidence.