Shriram | Week 8 | 1920s Influencer
I will now compare The Great Gatsby to a Netflix special. Sorry Mrs. Smith!
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel is considered to be the “quintessential novel of the Jazz Age,” creating discussions regarding wealth, class, disillusionment, and serving as a pristine reflection of its time. At the same time, the novel does not analyze itself. It presents the world as is, honestly showing the excessive wealth, moral decay, prejudices, and shallowness of American society in the Roaring ‘20s. Personally, this was one of the reasons I enjoyed reading it. The book doesn’t tell you what to feel or come to conclusions on its own; it simply presents a story and gets you to think about its complex themes. It’s a work of art, not a declaration regarding the state of affairs.
Similarly, some (although a much smaller group) consider Bo Burnham’s Inside to be the zeitgeist of its years. Catchy, sardonic, and emotionally impactful, this 90-minute “comedy” special is indeed one of the most original and honest works of art I’ve ever seen.
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| either a profound epiphany or grim shower thought is forming. both of them are equally revealing. |
It doesn’t actively try to capture my attention, firstly.
From tired, drawn out dialogue to long, silent, and solitary shots of a man once thriving off of a crowd, Bo Burnham—often without saying a word—effectively pictures the deep turmoil that he went through during the COVID-19 lockdown, addressing both his own personal anguish and our complex, collective existence as individuals-cum-members of a demanding audience.
It’s painfully self-aware, critiquing modern internet culture and morality, capitalism, consumerism, and fiercely attacking the concept of “content creation” whilst actively engaging in it.
This last point is the major factor from which I drew comparisons to Fitzgerald’s novel. It shows the obvious flaws of contemporary society while continuing to engage with it, a characteristic that gives both works additional levels of depth. As a result of this decision, the impacts of their respective societies on individuals can be seen to an even greater extent, both from what is explicitly said (or shown through the actions of other characters) and what is implicitly so (such as through the actions of Nick, the narrator).
When Nick discusses the wealth of others, he paints them as almost entirely incapable of true human emotion—undoubtedly impacted by his personal disdain for their lifestyle. At the same time, Gatsby’s lavish parties are exempt from such judgement due to his seeming infatuation with him.
When Bo Burnham criticizes people on social media for constantly feeling the need to share their opinion on everything, he is himself performing the very act he claims to despise—allegedly justified by his popularity as a comedian and the duty he feels to speak out on such issues. He critiques himself, and effectively so. He is as much a product of that which he creates as it is of him.
Inside does not make any profound claims. Nor does it “reveal how to solve the problems of life” or provide any “fashionable or comforting message.”
“It is just a masterpiece.”
I LOVE BO BURNHAM I LOVE BO BURNHAM I LOVE BO BURNHAM—ahem. When his special first released in 2021, I voraciously watched it. Every single scene oozed with meaning and was worthy of analysis, and I spent hours poring over every second.
ReplyDeleteIn interviews promoting his movie, Eighth Grade, Burnham talks extensively about internet culture and his place in it, often going off on a tangent and ranting about some topic he’s passionate about. In one interview, he states that he doesn’t try to find a solution to the problems plaguing the internet. He isn’t trying to be prescriptive, but rather descriptive. He aims to draw attention to the issues and hopes that future generations will be able to surpass him.
The Great Gatsby and Inside both share the crippling self-awareness the creator then passes on to the reader. At the end of both pieces of media, they ask an implicit question to the audience: what now? Now that you have an awareness of the dark underbelly of this incredibly pressing topic, what will you do? They both pull the audience—willingly or not—into their narratives. Not judging or commanding, but simply illustrating the situation as it is. That’s something I love about both pieces of media; they encourage the audience to form their own ideas. They don’t assume the audience is inherently, well, stupid. I love media that is open to an infinite number of interpretations, that The Great Gatsby and Inside are both of those kinds.
Hello Shriram! I’ve never watched Inside, but I watched a video a few years ago of someone discussing the special, although I can’t recall much from that video. Of course I’ve seen his more viral comedic songs, but apart from that, I’m not too well-versed in Burnham’s works and ideals.
ReplyDeleteHowever, from what I do understand, Inside presents an unavoidable, undeniable reality about the current state of the world: the Internet being so deeply interwoven with our lives means it does have the potential to corrode our mental states. Like Claire said, for both works, audiences are left to make their stance on the topic, to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to succumb or indulge in the culture all around them. The Great Gatsby and Inside are both introspective “here’s a deep dive of my life, do with it as you please”, touching upon the burn-out from trying to stay afloat in society. Burnham needing to stay away from live performing due to his declining mental health is similar to Nick, who diverges further from the socialite lifestyle because of his distaste, yet both are active in that sphere of life in which they criticize. It’s hard to run away from something when you’re completely immersed in it, whether that be the internet or 1920’s Jazz Age that is and were so overwhelmingly present at the times.
There’s a saying of someone being “raised on the internet”. While that is undoubtedly true for some people who spend most of their time interacting and consuming content online, the positive, heartwarming parts of the internet come with a side dish of extremities that fuel into emotional rollercoasters that surely can’t be healthy. It’s just so easy to be hypocritical because acknowledging how something like the internet is “bad” doesn’t necessarily correlate with taking action against it, which requires a lot of discipline and resilience that just isn’t worth the hassle.
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is definitely one of the more interesting books that the education system has assigned in my opinion, especially because as you said, it just harnesses the life of a wealthy individual in the 1920s. I think knowing the context of how Fitzgerald’s life went in the 1920s makes it much more interesting; his wealthy life as an artist went downhill because of his obsession with alcohol and later divorce with Zelda. Throughout the 1920s, despite the many progressive changes that it brought to life, this era never really brought out good outcomes for Fitzgerald. As a result, it’s understandable that Fitzgerald essentially critiques the 1920s when he portrays the life of a wealthy citizen.
ReplyDeleteI really like the concept of having a simple plot in media. I'll definitely try this Netflix series (from the sound of it, the movie sounds like the type of leave one to cooped up in their room, pondering the idea of life and awareness). I think the appeal for me personally is that it’s a “slice of life” genre, and it’s nice to have that comforting feeling of watching a show and turning your brain off without thinking too deeply into analyzing the show.
The idea of having a story without any general direction is really interesting for audience interpretation as Claire had mentioned, and I think that’s the reason why the books and movies that follow this format have mixed reviews, because for the people who don’t understand the appeal to portraying a simple life, they can find these pieces unamusing in comparison to the plethora of action movies on Netflix. But the fact that it’s simple and relatable is all we need.
Thanks for your blog and Netflix show recommendation, Shriram!