White Woman's Instagram -- Bo Burnham Reaction

[@LifeisFoo]

If you notice in one of the photos is a set of balloons that day 27, so indicating that the woman is 27. The moment the aspect ratio changes, and she sings about her mom, she says "it's been a decade since she's been gone... Give a hug and kiss to dad." This means that the person behind the photos lost both parents by the time she was 17. Bo shows that there's a person behind the photos trying to make work the life they were given.

[@johnekare8376]

Yes! I have noticed the same thing. He really tells a story with the lyrics and images combined... The same goes for her telling her mom about her boyfriend and then tying it together with the line "a ring on her finger" so I feel the story got a happy ending.

[@LifeisFoo]

@@johnekare8376 while it feels mocking, I feel like the moral of the story is: if they're not hurting anyone, let people enjoy stuff.

[@Caramelletje]

I agree! Though I think it has 2 meanings. The one you mentioned but also that everything gets posted online so the serious posts feel sort of out of place and less genuine. A picture about your dead parents in between a golden retriever wearing a flower crown and and avocado on toast. Do you get what I mean?

[@johnekare8376]

@@LifeisFoo My take is that he is poking fun at the phenomenon of all these Instagram posts that are remarkably similar and derivative, but still showing humanity towards the individuals. My initial thought was that if she lost her parents in her late teens, no wonder she feel like sharing her life on the internet... I mean, how many important life events have I shared with my parents even since becoming an adult. I think that is a human need - to be seen and validated, and to connect with people over the simple things in life.

[@lukes.3679]

I gotta point out that while it would be 10 years since she lost her mom, we have no idea when she lost her dad. Coulda been that year.

[@Thehouseoffail]

A lot of people miss the point of this song. This song is a call out on the audience. He sets us up to laugh at how shallow this woman appears to be. To feel giddy while mocking how derivitive and basic her interests are. Then he peels back a layer to show us that she is a real person who feels a lot of pain. She lost both of her parents at 17. And she shows us a manufactured and overly positive version of herself as a coping mechanism. Because she is struggling to recover from her trauma. Then he goes right back to listing things on her instagram. Only now, we aren't laughing. Or at least we aren't supposed to be. Because he has humanized her to us and we now see her as a real person rather than a form of cheap, free entertainment to poke fun at. She isn't a prop to us any longer. And we realize at that point that we were wrong to be laughing and joining in on his mockery. Because we see these images as woman's desperate attempts to fight grief and depression by focusing on what makes her happy. A golden retriever. Tiny pumpkins. Soft fabrics. With actual context, these things aren't silly. They are a person's desperate bid to find happiness in a cold unfeeling world. This song is Bo calling us out for our toxic parasocial relationships with people who make a living on the internet. He's calling us out for assuming we know people we have never met. He's calling us out for thinking it's ok to bully them for the grand crime of..... liking tiny pumkins. Which what we are doing for most of the song even though she isn't actually hurting anyone. But we are. And we are forced to realize that we are awful for doing so. And for thinking of our actions as lighthearted entertainment. Bo is brilliant. But above all other things, he is empathetic. And many of his newer songs have the express purpose of teacing his audience empathy. But he does it so subtly that we barely even realize what's happening. He gives us comedy as a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

Oh I laughed harder than ever when he went back into the silly stuff with “a goat cheese salaaaad” purely because I was so heartbroken during the mom part and then he just flipped those emotions on their heads. 😂

[@michellewest4796]

I see it working, too. On my wall, I see posts cheering people for finding the joys in life. The things that other people would laugh at, they're being celebrated more.

[@theConquerersMama]

This!!!

[@PizzaHutCEO]

White Woman: both of my parents are dead Dave: *dying laughing*

[@alejandrocespedes9771]

The part when the screen ratio widens and the girl talks to her death mother is so sad for me. In a profile full of random bs that we clearly mock there is a glimpse of her real self, and she is just a girl trying her best when she lost her parents. And then it goes back to being more of the empty content (and back to the Instagram ratio). So yeah, she is just a white woman on Instagram with fake photos, but she still has a real life with joy and sorrow. I just love it.

[@theConquerersMama]

It makes me tear up so much everytime.

[@wallywest2360]

"Fly you fools!" - MLK

[@DParkerNunya]

"But what about second breakfast?" - MLK

[@KempPlays]

This reaction was a rollercoaster 😆 You paused the video, described pretty much exactly what the real point is (and did so earlier in the song than any other reactor I've seen), and then obliviously laughed through the serious part that exactly confirmed your theory and said "maybe there wasn't a deeper point" at the end. I don't know how to process this 😂

[@genostellar]

Right? I just left him a comment basically saying the same thing. How does he catch onto the deeper meaning, then miss when it's being spelled out for him?

[@whatitdodave]

@@genostellar it be like that some times hah

[@wantutosigh1117]

Yikes. Not a reactor for me.

[@KempPlays]

@@wantutosigh1117 If you want someone who'll perfectly understand every song the first time they ever hear it then good luck searching, the person you're looking for isn't human 😂 Also, he understood this song, super early, which he seems to have a knack for. I don't get why people need a reaction to fit an exact template they have in their head. You want 100 copies of the same reaction?

[@wantutosigh1117]

@@KempPlays I just didn't enjoy it. Simple. I don't need a reactor to understand perfectly the first time. I don't understand the need for some to defend a KZbinr so hard. It's just an opinion.

[@happyexhaustion3130]

Mocking the facade but honoring the human behind it. And the aspect ratio change when she goes from her IG-self to her real self... genius.

[@DParkerNunya]

The transition from the incredibly heartbreaking breakdown about missing her mom into "A GOAT CHEESE SALAD" is amazing and makes me laugh while I'm sad every time

[@kwheeze1269]

"Not all those who wander are lost." - MLK Jr.

[@MontgomeryWenis]

Fucking beautiful. MLK Jr really had a way with words, huh? 😂🤦‍♂️

[@Death_By_Media]

I literally quote that all over the place in reference to that joke and sadly few ever get the inaccuracy

[@genostellar]

There was definitely a serious undertone to this song, and you were catching onto it right before the bridge where he spells it out plainly, but then you missed that he did that and took it as part of the jokes and instead noticed the aspect ratio was the same as instagram, missing the fact that he expanded it for the bridge. Everything he does has a deeper meaning to it.

[@whatitdodave]

Some I get, some I miss. The life of a reactor haha.

[@Time_Is_Left]

The catchiness of this is a problem fyi- it’s the kind of thing you catch yourself singing in public and then needing to explain but it never comes out right lol

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

Everyone points out the aspect ratio changing during the bridge, but what really gets me is the fact that it slowly opens up then closes again, and the way it's timed with the lyrics is just so incredible: As the aspect ratio is getting wider, she's just opening up and talking to her mom, about how hard it is to live without her and how much it hurts. Once it reaches the edge of the screen, you can see the cluttered mess in the rest of the room; the stuff that's 'conveniently cropped' out of the instagram posts. Life is messy and confusing and hard and these stereotypical 'white woman instagram' feeds intentionally hide that stuff just out of sight and pretend like their lives are perfect and beautiful all the time. This one post on the anniversary of her mother's death is the only chance we as her 'audience' get the opportunity to see those parts that are usually hidden and cropped out. She's opening up and being vulnerable online so that she can express the pain of missing her mother, and it's showing us the mess of the rest of the room. Halfway through the message to her mother, though, the aspect ratio touches the edge of the screen and immediately turns around to start collapsing back in again. At the same time, the lyrics change from 'mama I miss you' to 'look mama I've done so well for myself'. It's once again covering up that pain and that hurt with this veneer of life being great and wonderful and photogenic, just like the rest of her instagram feed. And the thing is, telling your deceased parent how you're doing well, how you're going to be okay, and how happy you are with your boyfriend/apartment/job? That's perfectly normal, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's a perfectly healthy way to grieve, but because this is social media, it's impossible to tell how genuine it is. The rest of these instagram posts she makes are demonstrably fake: they're presenting a 'prettified' version of her life that is basically a way to brag about how great she is. This post to her mom is a very real, genuine moment of vulnerability, but it's also being posted on the internet for everyone to see. Is this just clout chasing? Why is she telling us how awesome her job/apartment/boyfriend is when she's supposed to be grieving her mother? did she actually mean any of this, or is this just a way to bait people for sympathy points? The answer is we don't know. We *can't* know. Social media blurs the line between who we *actually* are and who we *pretend* to be so much that there is no distinction anymore. Literally anyone could be putting on a performance at any time, pretending to be someone they're not for views/clicks/ad revenue. What is and isn't 'genuine' is becoming a meaningless distinction. If you wear a mask for long enough, does it eventually stop being a mask? There's a level of uncertainty added to this whole thing purely because the aspect ratio slowly begins to convert back to the 1:1 Instagram ratio *in the middle* of her message to her mother, instead of at the end. What is and isn't 'part of the performance' has become murky and unclear thanks to the ubiquity of social media in everybody's lives all the time. Bo references this idea, the concept of 'performing' for others and what that means about who you 'really are', a lot in all of his work, even back to his earlier specials. This song is an incredibly beautiful exploration of that theme while also being a bittersweet and poignant reminder that there are real human beings on the other side of the screen, and we shouldn't forget about that.

[@WynneL]

This is my take on the song too. Especially since she says "Give a hug and kiss to dad"--if she really lost her parents, why isn't she talking to both the whole time and why not ask them to hug and kiss *each other?* Did they just move away from her area and leave the family home? Maybe her mom is on Instagram and will see this but dad won't. I think, exactly as you said, the larger point is just we don't know. We *can't* know. This could be entirely performative and insincere, or it could be entirely sincere and looking for people on the internet to fill the void they left in her life--or anything in between those extremes, we just don't know.

[@spiraljumper74]

It’s Bo. The correct interpretation is always going to be the one that’s more empathetic than cynical. Speculating about whether or not her parents are actually dead misses the entire point of the song: that people online are still real people even if the versions of themselves they’re often presenting are not. And speculating on the parents in that way just reproduces the online behavior and parasocial entitlement that the song implicitly condemns. What’s more likely? That Bo is saying with this song “look how vapid and fake this woman is, even while memorializing her dead mom she’s possibly being fake.” Or is he teeing us up with a bunch of online white woman tropes that are easy to make fun of, before reminding us that everyone holds pain and deals with shit? And maybe we shouldn’t judge a bunch of innocuous stuff so harshly if it makes someone feel better about life. Old ass comment but like, it’s Bo, he’s centering empathy.

[@majinsole8554]

What he did with the changing aspect ratios here was pretty damn great. Actually didn’t catch it the first time either. ~_~

[@explodingplant2]

I often see versions of "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost" floating around. Usually attributed to 'unknown' It's in the public mind, it's been incorporated into song lyrics like Smashmouth. But yeah Gandalf said it.

[@arinaynay585]

This became a slow roast favorite for me from this special. The first few times I didn't really care for it, or rather, I liked it but it wasn't a go to song I needed to hear but now it is definitely one of the best on the special. It reminds me of my best friend, she is hella basic lol but she is such a compassionate person. The basic jokes can get to her sometimes. I tried to instill that although she may fit the stereotype it didn't make her any less a person, and if anything it made her special to me. Plus Bo hit ALL of those insta photos in the video lololol literally you said it, to a T he was posed and perfect. Which is your favorite picture? I think it is either the rainy day, or the lolipop for me. Although the blue rose killed me xD

[@gloriam1972]

Dave!! You killed it again!! I really love Bo and inside was a masterpiece!! Check out the inside outtakes... Absolutely brilliant 😀

[@nathanielstaggs6645]

Wait until you see Inside Outtakes. He really shows off just how much work he put in to get the perfect shots for this (and every other song).

[@LifeinMoments]

The best part of the aspect ratio is it widening out when the subject "White Woman" opens up about something deeper than posting just trendy photos.

[@lanmandragoran8337]

I always feel like Bo makes fun of a lot of things he doesn't like, and this song was making fun of something he does like. I feel like Bo enjoys the optimism in white women's instagrams. If he doesn't he spent an incredible amount of time perfecting them, with care. Imitation is the purest form of flattery. I feel like the concept of the pureness of the generalized "White Woman's Instagram" means something good to him. Kinda like we look at kitten videos to eyescrub something awful from our brain, I feel like Bo find random white women's instagrams to just gain a sense of peace. Am I right? How the fuck would I know, I've never asked Bo. Just a feeling I get, though. Would love someone to interview him over this song though.

[@Bakemer94]

You tend to read a lot into Bo's songs, so I was confused when you didn't say anything about the super emotional middle bit...

[@theConquerersMama]

Me too. I was looking forward to his take on that since he typically dives so deep for meaning. But everyone has an off day. And it is so catchy and visually funny.

[@Armitaco]

On one level the part where the aspect ratio widens does say something like "yes, this type of person may be an easy target for jokes, but they are still a real person that shares the same experiences as us all," but also on a deeper level this moment is an excellent example of Bo's thoughts about the flattening of all experience into "content" (the title of the first track on the album) on the Internet/social media. On some level, Instagram does not care about the difference between someone's heartfelt words to their deceased parents and the goat cheese salad that immediately follows it, they are just both things that can get likes, and the salad may even get more. The song itself is like scrolling through an Instagram feed, and it almost feels like genuine human expression is trapped in this endless stream of triviality. Personally, I think there is something really sinister and saddening on display beneath the surface of this one.

[@MasterDirox]

"A quote from Lord of the Rings, misattributed to Martin Luther King"

[@ebreshea1337]

Ya you kinda missed the important part on this one. I don't blame you, it's catchy. If you still don't understand it then just run it one more time. We all like to laugh at stereotypes but there's always a real person behind it.

[@daviddavid1093]

I am one of two biracial kids (me and my sister) in my white house. So when bo came out with this song I would scream it and get looked at weird by my aunt, who is just like the girls in those songs. Edit: the only reason I put that I was biracial is because I think she's lowkey racist.

[@carlluce7951]

You are high-key racist

[@DonnaPoynton.]

Great,Thanks Dave

[@AP-gb3eh]

It’s funny and poking fun at a very easy target but when The aspect ratio changed she becomes a real human being with pain we can all relate to, the when it changes back it goes back to being stereotypical again. There are real people out there under these facades

[@pg4594]

They don't have Lord of the Rings quotes on their IG, but they do have MLK quotes that are actually quotes from the LOR. That was the line.

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

(Sorry for the essay) Yeah, this song is basically singing about every white woman's Instagram, but there is a real person behind all those stereotypical photos. In this case the aspect ratio is like IG in the video as you stated, but when it gets to the serious post from this woman, it widens out to represent real life coming through. She is making a post that she is doing well and met the love of her life. She misses her mom because she has passed away 10 years ago or more and she tells her to give a hug and kiss to dad since they are both in heaven now (very personal post) ... Then it goes back to basic IG posts in the IG aspect ratio for the images. Basically a don't judge a book by its cover when everyone is posting the same types of photos on social media. There are real lives behind every single one of these people that you might not know about .. Don't lump them all into one category of a basic person.

[@animalunleashed3812]

Oooooh a swing and a miss. As I go through your Bo journey, you were doing really well getting the layers of Bo's work. Missed this one by a bunch though.

[@hgurov]

First Glad you're diving Inside 😉

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

There is a part in the Inside outtakes where it shows him redoing these poses over and over trying to get that right shot. Go to 17:22 in that video and you can watch the 1-2 min segment.

[@alexbridges9751]

I hate watching reactions to this song because everyone misses the point of the song. They ALWAYS miss the point that this white woman is posting to show the best aspects of her life and ignores the negative aspects. The aspect ratio widening out to wide screen when it does further enhances that point.

[@gingersnapmusic7811]

Lol I don't have an Instagram but if I did I would be guilty of just about all of these things. 😂

[@Wico90YT]

He that breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom. - MLK It is too bad you have to cover the video, the visuals are key to it.

[@whatitdodave]

It’s covered for yall and KZbin due to copyright. I still see the actual video.

[@SicMvndvsCreatvsEst8]

Such a weird but also kinda alright reaction!

[@Umbabashewewe]

I really enjoy your reactions to Bo. You should check out Left Brain/Right Brain: it's really good.

[@archeyriddle672]

To me this isn't about all white women, but the story of one specific white woman.

[@bobbicaruthers3269]

it makes me really sad when people miss the point of this song. =/ because sure, yep, we are just seen as shallow and silly....thats all there is to us, nothing deeper.

[@rebeccageorgesisto8965]

Love you!!!

[@xanadu6784]

Obviously, Bo has a lot of fun teasing white women on Instagram. But there is the one part where he and the screen, "Opens up" and talk about their real vulnerabilities. He makes fun, but he has compassion for these women too. Seems to me that end of the day, both these women and Bo doing this very special, are privledged white people cultivating a view into their personal life for the consumption of a wider audience. he will make fun of both these women and himself, but has to ask for some measure of empathy and kindness. End of the day, he knows that he is the same as them.

[@malokai1491]

dave

[@ytvideosins1269]

keep laughing during the serious part and we all know you didn't understand jack

[@KempPlays]

He figured out what the song was saying early on, didn't even need the serious part. I think it's you that didn't understand the reaction 😂

[@Spunky62]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♀️😁

[@amberfuchs398]

I think he's making fun of how performative a WWI is, including their grief.

[@darkamekkoopa3662]

a

[@bobkitten8150]

omg - the people who think this is anything other than a parody.......

[@whatitdodave]

Yeah I said that this is just for fun haha.

[@bobkitten8150]

@@whatitdodave Can't breathe without offending someone.

[@adelr9366]

@@bobkitten8150 Honestly, if it weren't for that dead parents part, I would also think it's only a parody. But when you think about it, especially knowing how Bo makes his songs, it definitely has a deeper meaning. I don't want to argue or anything, I think everyone can interpret it differently and that's the beauty of Bo's work.

[@bobkitten8150]

@@adelr9366 Parents die - they always have and always will. The whole concept of the video is that now people feel compelled to put everything on instagram.

[@adelr9366]

@@bobkitten8150 Like I've said, everyone can interpret it differently, it's totally fine :) No one knows the true meaning behind the song, only Bo. We can only speculate.