Problematic Bo Burnham Reaction

[@godzillaeyes]

I think it’s a bit of both. He has expressed how he’s embarrassed by some of his early stuff and how he was in that phase of being an offensive edgy teenager (he’s even removed a couple of his oldest videos from his channel) but there’s also definitely an element of sarcasm, and a commentary on cancel culture, and commentary on how low the bar is for certain people in society, and commentary on over the top insincere apologies….there’s a lot here.

[@TomJones-wx5on]

This ones an awesome take down of fake apologies by people who got caught doing stuff and used their apologies as an opportunity to crucify themselves cus it’s good for public image. But it also serves as a genuine apology from bo for his past insensitive stuff.

[@ameliakinsolving4543]

He has spoken in interviews about how he had the opportunity to fail publicly as a teenager and make mistakes and that our culture doesn’t really allow teenagers to do that now. I think it was during his press for Eighth Grade. So he does seem genuinely sorry about some of his earliest stuff from his teenage years (he has removed some videos) but also I think it is a little bit about cancel culture in general.

[@Roneish1996]

I interpret it as him both acknowledging the jokes of old he made that aren’t great upon reflection. While also making fun of the fake apology videos on KZbin and overly “masculine” music videos/behaviour in general.

[@palpablenotion]

Bo has such an amazingly high understanding of Principle as defined by Kohlberg's stages of moral development - so many never fully immerse in social contract which makes principle so rare. His big hit from KZbin, the moment of virality, was My Whole Family Thinks I'm Gay. Theres an interview that stands out to me wherein the reporter asked well did they think you were gay? And Bo replies (paraphrased from memory), "I didn't know if I wasn't. Growing up in theater, it was like all my friends were gay so I wasn't sure at first." Andbthe reporter says, you've been accused of being homophobic, but considering you didn't even know, wouldn't that make it not homophobic? Bo responds that he doesn't get to decide that. If people were hurt by it and gay people say it's homophobic, then it's homophoobic. That level of understanding of the human experience... intentions don't matter if it hurts someone. To parallel it: if you're driving recklessly and or drunk and you accidentally cause a wreck, does that make the person's arm less broken? Because it was unintentional? No. The intent didn't matter. The hurt you caused is what mattered. You didn't intend to cause damage but you did. Bo /understands/ that. He gets that intent matters only to the perpetrator of the harmful action. It doesn't matter to their casualties. It brings to mind that old proverb of good intentions paving the path to hell.

[@TherapeuticReactions]

So well put, love this.

[@thereptileroomeh8646]

I love the Alladin bit. Our prime minister up here in Canada legit dressed up as him back in the day complete with blackface and everything, yet Bo's satirical apology was far more sincere than Justin's xD

[@XanderHarris1023]

One L two Ds. Jafar from Twisted taught me that.

[@thereptileroomeh8646]

@@XanderHarris1023 I thought it looked wrong when I wrote it lol

[@iainmcguire7190]

"And thank you for, uh, letting us in on your work out session... Bo" haha

[@ASG-nm4cz]

If you have time not to react to it but I highly recommend listening to Bo's interviews with Pete Holmes on the podcast "You Made it Weird." It spans multiple years and goes really in depth about Bo as a person.

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Love Pete Holmes! Thank you for recommending that!

[@Kerrigore2]

My favourite part is that he starts apologizing for the first half of the song at the midway point. I think that part is a commentary on the constant cycle of celebrity faux-apologies.

[@Femtastico]

Thank you for reaction to this! You're right there is a duality of sorry and not sorry in this song and then also satirising ppl who feel the same way. I am very curious how long you have been a youtube watcher. Bc Bo was there pretty early and knows all the #1 channels who have come and gone and definitely has seen his share of apology videos lmao, its an actual genre. I used to lament that I seemed to only have problematic faves (also a genre lmao). I used to love Shane Dawson for example, he barely posts anymore nowadays but i don't put it past him to come back AGAIN lmao. He has been cancelled like yearly for pretty much the same stuff and every year there was an apology video, one worse than the next. I always felt like he just did it but actually wasnt sorry at all and stood by his art even though he had new insights and honestly never wanted to hurt anyone. Im pretty sure Bo has watched those and on some level, feels the same way.

[@TherapeuticReactions]

I don't know if you'll believe me but I actually started watching KZbin this year!

[@Femtastico]

@@TherapeuticReactions wow that is.. amazing!!! And prooobably for the best xD ya know, anything and everything-wise

[@christinagray4278]

I've been waiting for Bo's problematic reaction!! He also regrets his Helen Keller jokes. Ty for doing this! :)

[@historydragonsandmagic]

One of my favorite songs from Inside!

[@klusek0077]

I think this is the most misunderstood song of the special. It is impossible to understand it without context and out of place. Thats the context: first there is 'look whos inside again'. Then, immidiately after it, a scene where he is watching his very old youtube videos looking at them with some kind of hating or judging or sad look on his face. Then there is this song. This the way i understand all this: 1. He realizes how deep in depression/anxiety he is, stuck inside with two terrible options - stay inside and keep going deeper, or go outside and expose himself to what he is scared of most. 2. He mentions 'boy stuck in his room' as a reason for all this and watches his teenage self with judgment and possible trying to place blame on himself. Or rather the immature and attention seeking 'kid' part of himself that got him into all this. 3. Problematic is literally like a self-dialogue between his tormented 'now' self and a manifestation of this 'kid' inside of him that got him into this state. The song is a response of this silly immature 'kid'. Through irony he says something like 'ye blame all this on me im so bad', literally crucifies himself in this song to get this point across. When he says 'father forgive me for i did not realize what i did' he refers to the Robert Burnham - the main 'him' who is trying to blame himself for his depression. He doesnt really mean that he is sorry, otherwise he wouldn't continue doing the same immature things on the music video. It's irony - 'please forgive me i deserve all the blame for your torment because i did really bad stuff like one time i dressed up as alladin, i deserve all the blame is anybody gonna hold me accountable?'. He formulates this at the end when he says that all of the things he did were not really awful, just not very thoughtfull but he meant no harm, he was just messing around. He did a lot of stupid stuff but no crimes against himself or anyone else. So its just an inner dialogue - he accuses and trying to blame himself and his past actions, and then self-refects that he shouldn't accept this blame, because although he was immature and offensive - none of his actions, as a teenager on youtube, can be blamed for his current state of depression. So he is realizing that looking back and blaming yourself in the past is not the way forward. Really watch the entire sequence and listen to the lyrics carefully, this song hits hard. And also it is followed by turning 30 which is also about switching your attention back onto what's now, despite not liking it. so 4. Reality check. p.s. i know im late to the party but every few months i like bingewatching reactions to 'inside' and finding new angles and interpretations. This special is endlessly deep ;p

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Awesome breakdown! Missed this comment I'm sorry! Thank you for that!

[@papasmurph131]

I took this as more of a nod to the current cancel culture.

[@TylerTabs]

This was my take on it too, and all the attention people give to being offended at things that really aren't a big deal compared to all the terrible things people actually DO. And then when you do try and fess up and make things right you can still offend people by how you try to take care of it (e.g. whether he should burn his Aladdin costume are not because people will still criticize him for that). And on top of all that there's this air that if you're famous or in the public eye in some way it's like you have to be full Paragon on your Mass Effect save or people will crucify you, like they're allowed to be shitty and have flaws but others aren't.

[@papasmurph131]

@@TylerTabs Most definitely. It's awesome to see a therapist react to and enjoy Bo's content. It's not fair to expect everyone to get it right away, but sometimes, it can be difficult to watch people laugh as Bo talks about his pain. Although, maybe that's actually what Bo wants, to a degree. Who knows?

[@SuperMatt2112]

Another great reaction from one of my favorite reactors, I think your spot on, sorry but not sorry, the reason I say this is, in one interview Bo did, he talked about some of his earlier works, he realizes that he was young and insensitive and he knows this, but he refuses to berede himself over something his 16 y/o mind and self thought of at the time as being catchy and funny. so sorry but not sorry

[@fandomgaymertransgirl2.0]

Great reaction. New subscriber.

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Thank you :) Welcome 😊

[@fandomgaymertransgirl2.0]

@@TherapeuticReactions You're welcome.

[@pLobzina]

Among all the things you've said, the song is about the fact, that making mistakes is ok, especially when you're young. Bo said in interviews several times that he is afraid that young people are always at display because of social media and they don't feel they can fail, everybody's watching and people can destroy they life if they find you did something wrong in the past. We're approaching cultural moment when every president will have humiliating Google history and we need to develop some kind of amnesty for that. For me, the cancellation culture is too cruel sometimes.

[@Piktro]

Nice setup! :)

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Thank you!

[@Savage-zo5ww]

I was waiting for you to react to this! So much to talk about...

[@kookiescream9840]

Yes! I was looking forward to this! :D

[@zacharyodell4599]

Think about all the little kids you see on the internet doing outrageously offensive things for views and likes. Now imagine those kids in about 20 years trying to run for a public office they'd have a lot of apologizing and explaining to do as well. That's basically what bo is doing here. At the time he made the problematic songs it was the normal for comedians. The video he was watching in the special right before this song was one of his earliest videos and at the time there was a lot of gay hate, racism, and other things floating around in main stream comedy. Think about like Jeff Dunham's peak days. So it's him acknowledging that he said some really messed up things and letting people know (in his way) that it's something that is on his mind and that he is sorry for. You can tell in his early work that he was brilliant but the things he was saying were more of a crutch to relate to the masses and also he was just a dumb kid from a small white town and was taught that that type of humor is acceptable because of the tensions at the time. All that is to say I believe he is being sincere, I get that mainly from the second verse. Where he says that in the first verse he tried to just say its because he was a kid that he did it and then goes on to say his actions are his own and he won't explain them away. Showing that time has passed from the first verse to the second verse and its STILL on his mind and he still wishes to apologize further.

[@Tessimistic420]

Were they really messed up or was it because people were less sensitive to comedy? It's only funny when it's true. The truth hurts. Laugh at/in pain. Nothing can/will hurt you more then if you want/let it hurt you. Edit: p.s. I agree with you..

[@ASG-nm4cz]

@@Tessimistic420 People were much more willing to laugh and be ok with the "cheap joke." I know one of the songs he deleted was about Helen Keller being the "perfect woman." So yes, the jokes were "messed up" by being insulting to minorities who don't get treated as equals. I feel like right now, after much of comedy and people have slowly evolved, there is now a backlash of people complaining about "cancel culture" because some people feel like they really want to basically think that those bullying jokes still should be laughed at and that those who find them insulting just "don't have a sense of humor." I think this song is a great juxtaposition with what Chapelle is doing right now. Bo is listening and learning while Dave is doubling down.

[@Tessimistic420]

@@ASG-nm4cz cancel free speech and see what kind of backlash will evolve.. The one's who can't laugh at themselves or get upset by not understanding that jokes are made for every kind of human. Every human is equal, till they think their feelings are more important then the minority. I feel like Bo was pointing out all the messed up shit he has done in the past that no one has called him out on. Edit: look at south park they make fun of everything and everyone.

[@ASG-nm4cz]

@@Tessimistic420 free speech doesn't mean freedom of consequences. That goes for both the person saying things and the people they are saying them about

[@Tessimistic420]

@@ASG-nm4cz "We could fill our coffins with the rocks they have thrown.. Or we could build our castles with the sticks and the stones"

[@animalunleashed3812]

I may be misconstruing his meaning, but I hear him talking about our changing attitudes about PC culture, and how things we've said and done, in a time where they weren't seen as offensive, when put under the new spectrum of society make us feel guilty. But should we judge people on "mistakes" they made in the past, or see the person as they conduct themselves now. An interesting Reaction you might want to take a look at is Tim Minchin's 15 Minutes. It is basically about cancel culture.

[@Charsept]

This was never a favorite of mine. Thinking about cancel culture kinda bums me out so that's always put me off. But musically, I'm suddenly reminded how much of a bop this is.

[@RandiPie71]

Thank you!

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Thank you Randi!

[@miguelCravo]

Great review but I think it is the other way around. This is also about cancel culture, where it is only a matter of time before people start investigate his past and hold him accountable for past mistakes. I think.

[@davidresnick81]

It is deliberately ambiguous. On the one hand, he is apparently a bit sorry/embarrassed by some of his younger works. I'm not particularly sensitive to PC culture, and even I found some of it a bit cringeworthy. On the other hand, the "angst" about the Aladdin Halloween costume is silly, a sendup of cancel culture run amok. And in any case, being a comedian without pushing some cultural boundaries is not going to work either.

[@AA-xb2zm]

I think we have all done or said things that we are glad that are not on film when we were a teenager. You are naturally pushing limits at that age. I feel you should be given a little sympathy when at a more mature time in your life you can admit that it was insensitive.

[@TherapeuticReactions]

Agreed

[@jasonrogers1752]

thank you could u check out george carlin also he was bo before bo was bo

[@Zabiru-]

It's tough to tell if he is genuinely sorry. On the one hand he's absolutely aware of how cancel-culture is affecting how entertainers need to relate to and view their previous work and I'm certain that he knows that quite a bit of his early stuff is offensive. On the other hand I'm positive that while he wants to make people happy with his comedy he, like he said in the end of his Kanye rant, wants to say what he thinks and not care about what people think about it. Mind you there's a difference between being offensive for offensiveness own sake and I don't think that's what Bo wants. At the very least not anymore. If anything he, perhaps more so before than now as he's matured, used offensive things to get the viewers attention and make another point. All of that said, the different culture we're living in today where we need to revisit and reevaluate how we looked at and presented things before isn't something that Bo, any more than anyone else is immune to. And lastly, of course, he's aware that if enough people bring up something he has done in the past as problematic and offensive enough it can and will impact his ability to perform in the future. On some level I'm sure that this is what made him write this song. To signal that he's aware of how his early stuff can be perceived and that he's at least somewhat sorry if people genuinely took offense to it. I personally don't think that the likelihood of him being "Cancelled" for his earlier stuff is very high since Bo, as I see it, has never really tackled any issue without the seriousness it deserves. The way he structured and presented the issues in "Kill yourself" and "White woman's Instagram" is a good example of what I'm saying. Comedy with a serious undertone and ultimately respectful overall.

[@nGUNNARp]

i don't take this song as him saying he's sorry about his past...i take it as him making fun of the industry for doing that, as well as acknowledging that his videos wouldn't be considered "okay" today...he still has all his original videos up on his youtube account, they are great representations of the type of humor all of us actual good intentioned kids had back in 2008...yes, the goody two shoe kids were calling each other faggot or gay and making edgy jokes all the time with no negative intentions, it was a different time and we were a different age.

[@fenhoward9724]

We

[@Zero_Requiem]

He is mocking woke people getting offended at things that happened so long ago, kicking a fuss over those things, forgetting people grow up and change over time. His apology is half hearted, kind of a sorry not sorry.