1 00:00:10,414 --> 00:00:14,414 - Yeah, and I have a bit in my act, that sort of makes fun of Justin Bieber 2 00:00:14,417 --> 00:00:16,655 and some of these young pop stars. 3 00:00:16,665 --> 00:00:20,015 Basically, it's a song that mocks the way that those songs are written 4 00:00:20,015 --> 00:00:23,425 which I think is... What the songs basically do is they... 5 00:00:23,425 --> 00:00:25,995 they're love songs to girls and they describe the girls 6 00:00:25,995 --> 00:00:28,810 as vaguely as they possibly can, so that every girl can think 7 00:00:28,810 --> 00:00:30,450 that that song is about them. So it's like... 8 00:00:30,450 --> 00:00:34,080 It's like "I love how your fingerprints are different than everybody else's" 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,280 And like "I love how your eyes have that, like, 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,520 blue-ish, brown-ish, green-ish color." 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,310 " And, like, your torso has an arm on either side of it" 12 00:00:41,310 --> 00:00:42,230 or like, whatever... 13 00:00:42,230 --> 00:00:45,890 That seems sort of harmless, but then it kinda gets a little darker 14 00:00:45,890 --> 00:00:49,890 and sort of accuses these young pop-artists of being part of the cycle 15 00:00:49,890 --> 00:00:53,230 where girls, who read magazines, feel terrible about themselves 16 00:00:53,230 --> 00:00:55,138 cause it says, you know: "you should be skinnier, 17 00:00:55,138 --> 00:00:58,808 you should be prettier". They feel terrible. And then these pop stars 18 00:00:58,808 --> 00:01:01,678 tell them that they're perfect, and that they're beautiful 19 00:01:01,678 --> 00:01:03,638 and the songs, they buy the song and ten the pop-star is 20 00:01:03,638 --> 00:01:05,778 on the cover of the magazine, so they buy a magazine again so then... 21 00:01:08,054 --> 00:01:11,534 And it sort of gets like this vicious cycle... And I basically... like... 22 00:01:11,534 --> 00:01:13,546 ... sort of implying that he's working for Satan, or whatever... 23 00:01:13,546 --> 00:01:15,706 "Oh, hello, Satan! eats microphone" 24 00:01:15,956 --> 00:01:18,836 (audience laughter) 25 00:01:18,836 --> 00:01:21,446 - Little shout-out to Justin! How's Satan? Yeah... 26 00:01:21,715 --> 00:01:23,225 - That's great. 27 00:01:23,231 --> 00:01:25,691 Unless something else that I find more engaging 28 00:01:25,691 --> 00:01:29,341 or more important comes along I do plan to continue making episodes 29 00:01:29,341 --> 00:01:32,691 of Fake Friends proper past episode 4, but either way 30 00:01:32,691 --> 00:01:36,231 there are a ton of topics related to parasocial relationships 31 00:01:36,231 --> 00:01:39,491 that I feel would be better-suited to smaller standalone videos. 32 00:01:39,491 --> 00:01:43,271 Like I got a lot of comments asking about k-pop or idol culture 33 00:01:43,271 --> 00:01:45,547 and those would warrant a longer video, 34 00:01:45,547 --> 00:01:47,827 but if I hadn’t included PARO in episode 2, 35 00:01:47,827 --> 00:01:51,227 that’s the kind of topic that would fit as something shorter and more self-contained. 36 00:01:51,227 --> 00:01:55,247 The Fake Friends episodes are long and dense and are my attempt at bringing together 37 00:01:55,247 --> 00:01:58,167 a bunch of seemingly unrelated topics to show a broader picture 38 00:01:58,167 --> 00:02:00,780 of how these relationships have infected our lives. 39 00:02:00,780 --> 00:02:03,820 The spinoff episodes will be more self-contained and closer to 40 00:02:03,820 --> 00:02:06,860 a regular video essay than a sprawling documentary. 41 00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:10,860 The two shortest and most accessible pieces I’ve found in the past two years 42 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:14,680 of research that cover parasocial relationships the way that II view them 43 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,680 are the original Horton and Wohl write-up from 1956 and the music video 44 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,050 for Bo Burnham’s song “Repeat Stuff”. 45 00:02:21,050 --> 00:02:24,720 It’s a fun video to watch and not think twice about. But part of why 46 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,821 I find it so valuable (and worth devoting a 47 00:02:26,821 --> 00:02:28,081 a whole 40-minute video to) 48 00:02:28,081 --> 00:02:30,891 is how dense it is and just how much is going on, 49 00:02:30,891 --> 00:02:34,021 including what didn’t register the first time I watched it. 50 00:02:34,021 --> 00:02:37,311 Or the second. Or the third. It’s not only one of my 51 00:02:37,311 --> 00:02:40,521 favorite music videos, but as I watched it rewatched it 52 00:02:40,521 --> 00:02:43,061 and grew to appreciate just how much work went into it 53 00:02:43,061 --> 00:02:45,614 it's become on of my favorite short films as well. 54 00:02:45,614 --> 00:02:48,799 You really should watch the full music video before watching this analysis. 55 00:02:48,799 --> 00:02:51,549 I’ll link the music video, the earlier version from 56 00:02:51,549 --> 00:02:55,549 his comedy special, and an even earlier youtube upload in the description 57 00:02:55,549 --> 00:02:58,609 so you can watch all three version I'll be talking about, if you want. 58 00:02:58,609 --> 00:03:01,119 The other two are more optional. But the music video 59 00:03:01,119 --> 00:03:05,119 functions as a fun, dark short that goes unexpected places 60 00:03:05,119 --> 00:03:07,349 and it’s also best to hear the final version of the song 61 00:03:07,349 --> 00:03:09,629 before you listen to me talk about its evolution. 62 00:03:09,629 --> 00:03:12,249 Burnham, especially as he has gotten older versus when 63 00:03:12,249 --> 00:03:14,277 he was an edgelord teen youtube star, 64 00:03:16,356 --> 00:03:19,166 has done a great job with taking subjects where an easy, 65 00:03:19,166 --> 00:03:21,986 demeaning joke could be made and instead applying some 66 00:03:21,986 --> 00:03:23,933 level of nuance and empathy. 67 00:03:23,933 --> 00:03:27,569 The song "Art is Dead" is off of his special "words words words" 68 00:03:27,569 --> 00:03:31,201 Repeat Stuff is off of his special "What" as is "Sad". 69 00:03:31,201 --> 00:03:33,997 In his next special, "Make Happy", there are three great 70 00:03:33,997 --> 00:03:37,227 examples of this as well- "Lower Your Expectations" 71 00:03:37,227 --> 00:03:39,297 "Pandering", and "Kill Yourself". 72 00:03:39,297 --> 00:03:40,897 There are other songs and other examples 73 00:03:40,897 --> 00:03:43,147 but for brevity’s sake I’m sticking to six. 74 00:03:43,147 --> 00:03:45,929 (because, as we all know, I am known for my brevity) 75 00:03:45,929 --> 00:03:49,279 For all of these songs, you start with one surface-level 76 00:03:49,279 --> 00:03:52,579 joke, whether it’s parody or a cliched joke 77 00:03:52,579 --> 00:03:56,259 or a shock value joke or... whatever. 78 00:03:56,259 --> 00:03:59,511 Art is Dead is the most serious of all of these examples 79 00:04:02,121 --> 00:04:05,211 but it does still take that surface premise- art is dead now, 80 00:04:05,211 --> 00:04:08,112 modern performers are shallow and immature 81 00:04:31,617 --> 00:04:35,421 and adds an unexpected layer of self-deprecation and self-loathing 82 00:04:41,278 --> 00:04:44,138 entertainers are entitled, whining monsters, 83 00:04:44,138 --> 00:04:46,475 and Burnham is one of them. 84 00:05:22,745 --> 00:05:25,186 "Sad" takes hacky shock sadness jokes, 85 00:05:27,194 --> 00:05:29,644 some of which are, admittedly, kind of funny, 86 00:05:38,359 --> 00:05:40,715 and subverts them in the last verse, 87 00:05:57,206 --> 00:06:00,756 implicating both Burnham as a performer for exploiting tragedy 88 00:06:00,756 --> 00:06:03,235 for cheap laughs AND his audience, who 89 00:06:03,235 --> 00:06:05,382 has been laughing along the entire time. 90 00:06:57,871 --> 00:06:59,961 I’ll get to "Repeat Stuff" in a minute. 91 00:06:59,961 --> 00:07:02,618 "Lower Your Expectations" has elements of 92 00:07:02,618 --> 00:07:05,388 “men are like this, women are like this!” 93 00:07:05,388 --> 00:07:08,010 battle of the sexes gender essentialism, 94 00:07:16,662 --> 00:07:20,332 but it’s more an exploration of the unrealistic expectations 95 00:07:20,332 --> 00:07:23,802 put on any gender, including how these expectations 96 00:07:23,802 --> 00:07:27,802 can be contradictory - societal expectations of men to be both 97 00:07:27,802 --> 00:07:30,536 gentle feminists and chivalrous tough guys, 98 00:07:39,659 --> 00:07:41,697 women to be both model-level attractive 99 00:07:41,697 --> 00:07:43,998 and down-to-earth and humble. 100 00:07:53,147 --> 00:07:56,717 It’s a critique of culture, of impossible heteronormative 101 00:07:56,717 --> 00:07:59,023 standards of what LOVE is, 102 00:08:08,836 --> 00:08:12,089 and it’s not putting people down for not meeting these expectations 103 00:08:12,089 --> 00:08:15,309 It also ends with Burnham making fun of himself for even 104 00:08:15,309 --> 00:08:18,309 pretending to know about life and love at his age. 105 00:08:25,601 --> 00:08:26,761 "Pandering" 106 00:08:29,356 --> 00:08:31,819 is a parody of modern country music, 107 00:08:31,819 --> 00:08:35,039 but rather than making fun of poor people or southern people 108 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:37,117 or people who live in rural areas, 109 00:08:37,117 --> 00:08:40,117 Burnham focuses on how rich musicians, well, 110 00:08:40,117 --> 00:08:42,707 PANDER to a working-class demographic that they 111 00:08:42,707 --> 00:08:44,562 have nothing in common with. 112 00:09:22,905 --> 00:09:26,315 As someone, who gre up around a lot of working-class southern people 113 00:09:26,315 --> 00:09:29,235 I appreciate the avoidance of easy-hit jokes. 114 00:09:29,235 --> 00:09:31,125 At times those jokes are there there 115 00:09:45,799 --> 00:09:49,401 but hopefully they are more at the expense of this persona 116 00:09:49,401 --> 00:09:51,211 of a wealthy musician, 117 00:09:51,211 --> 00:09:53,801 or maybe at the expense of country-songs like this one 118 00:10:17,780 --> 00:10:20,260 which always rubbed me the wrong way, 119 00:10:25,300 --> 00:10:29,300 "Pandering" is about a respect for art regardless of its origin 120 00:10:29,300 --> 00:10:33,959 I think country music gets a bad rep, you know, why 121 00:10:33,959 --> 00:10:37,320 it that when Bruce Springsteen sings about a fucking turnpike 122 00:10:37,330 --> 00:10:41,700 - it is art, and when someone sings about a horse - it' dumb. 123 00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:42,410 Apparently, I dunno... 124 00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:45,320 I think some of the greatest songwriters of all time are country-artists 125 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:47,210 Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, you know, 126 00:10:47,210 --> 00:10:50,660 they've been writing honestly. That is art! And I wold never bash that. 127 00:10:50,660 --> 00:10:54,480 The problem is: with a lot of modern country music 128 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,970 what is called "stadium country music", it's sort of Keith Urban 129 00:10:58,970 --> 00:11:00,780 brand of country music 130 00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:10,100 is that it is not honest 131 00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:12,883 - And it's what we do, anyway. it's what you're doing 132 00:11:12,883 --> 00:11:14,913 you create, we create, these guys are creating 133 00:11:14,913 --> 00:11:16,203 and I get to do it with music 134 00:11:16,203 --> 00:11:19,554 And a respect for human beings, regardless of how much money they have. 135 00:11:19,554 --> 00:11:23,440 And it makes of both the impulse to write-off a genre or a region 136 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,440 as "redneck trash" and the people who play into these stereotypes 137 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,574 as outsiders and manipulate their audience, the same way 138 00:11:29,574 --> 00:11:32,457 pop-star Burnham in "Repeat stuff" does to teenage girls. 139 00:11:44,826 --> 00:11:48,344 How a lot of country music has a creepy, vaguely rape-y vibe to it 140 00:11:53,699 --> 00:11:56,939 And how the songs are formulaic and exploitative 141 00:11:56,939 --> 00:11:58,969 and have no real respect for their audience 142 00:12:00,872 --> 00:12:03,742 One of my favorite parts of the song isn't a particularly 143 00:12:03,742 --> 00:12:05,542 clever rhyme of reference 144 00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:11,734 It's just Burnham saying "I don't like dirt!" 145 00:12:12,742 --> 00:12:14,702 It's worth noting too that while Burnham is playing 146 00:12:14,702 --> 00:12:17,562 a character here, he still talks in the first-person 147 00:12:24,815 --> 00:12:28,450 There's also a similar joke about dumb Alabama rednecks elsewhere 148 00:12:28,450 --> 00:12:30,170 in the special - here it is in full. 149 00:12:30,170 --> 00:12:33,167 We just played in Alabama, they ust liked the lights, I didn't even need 150 00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:34,417 to do jokes! 151 00:12:35,747 --> 00:12:39,977 "Motherfucker's got moving candles!". No... Not quite 152 00:12:41,255 --> 00:12:44,625 Alabama was actually nice. You're elitist pricks. 153 00:12:45,718 --> 00:12:46,928 Is that fun? 154 00:12:47,271 --> 00:12:49,789 And here's a clip from Burnham's guest appereance 155 00:12:49,789 --> 00:12:52,236 on "Parks and Rec" in 2014. 156 00:12:57,568 --> 00:13:00,708 Where he plays a sort of "Repeat Stuff", "Pandering" 157 00:13:00,708 --> 00:13:05,618 hybrid country-youtube star, who uses vague allusions to his mother 158 00:13:05,618 --> 00:13:07,558 and the troops to get views. 159 00:13:07,558 --> 00:13:11,558 - His latest song, "Beutiful, like my mom (support the troops)" has like 160 00:13:11,558 --> 00:13:13,680 2 million hits on Youtube! 161 00:13:26,430 --> 00:13:27,930 - Bunch of dirty hecks! 162 00:13:27,158 --> 00:13:30,398 Next is "Kill Yourself". 163 00:13:43,514 --> 00:13:46,144 In my political correctness video I criticized 164 00:13:46,144 --> 00:13:49,694 George Miller for making "kill yourself" song and used a clip of Burnham 165 00:13:49,694 --> 00:13:52,324 regretting his own Helen Keller jokes because of how those could've 166 00:13:52,324 --> 00:13:54,143 been used to bully a deaf person. 167 00:13:54,143 --> 00:13:57,743 For "Kill Yourself", which speaks on inspirational pop songs and how 168 00:13:57,743 --> 00:14:01,313 you shouldn't turn to pop-music or pop-artists to sustain you emotionally. 169 00:14:01,313 --> 00:14:04,630 They're only there to use you for your money. After all, 170 00:14:04,630 --> 00:14:07,143 it's about how you are sold overly simplified narratives 171 00:14:07,143 --> 00:14:09,876 and simple solutions for complex problems 172 00:14:09,876 --> 00:14:12,276 that you should seek actual professional help for. 173 00:14:12,276 --> 00:14:15,996 - ... that life's toughest problems don't have simple answers. 174 00:14:16,504 --> 00:14:19,274 You shouldn't just be "Brave", you shouln't just "Roar" 175 00:14:19,274 --> 00:14:20,734 you shouldn't "kill yourself" 176 00:14:20,734 --> 00:14:23,154 Burham goes pretty far out of his way to state that he 177 00:14:23,154 --> 00:14:24,864 understands depression. 178 00:14:24,864 --> 00:14:28,169 But I understand that it's a sensetive subject and you're probably just 179 00:14:28,169 --> 00:14:30,390 hearing me say that... 180 00:14:30,390 --> 00:14:32,809 Briefly hints that he has struggled with mental health issues himself 181 00:14:32,809 --> 00:14:35,196 I've dealth with... I don't want to be insnensitive 182 00:14:35,196 --> 00:14:38,226 Says that if you're depressed, you should seek a therapist 183 00:15:02,162 --> 00:15:06,320 And then jokes that if you can only find meanng for your life in 184 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,512 Katy Perry songs, then, well, never mind. You should definitely just kill yourself. 185 00:15:22,297 --> 00:15:25,397 Part of makes me this song less able to be weaponized 186 00:15:25,397 --> 00:15:29,397 to bully some kid, or less likely to encourage an actual suicidal person 187 00:15:29,397 --> 00:15:33,124 are the ways he couches the jokes in empathy and the ridiculous 188 00:15:33,124 --> 00:15:35,471 and over-the-top suicide methods that he suggests. 189 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,441 The only parts of "Kill yourself", that I would criticize, actually, 190 00:15:46,441 --> 00:15:49,505 are the extremely hack jokes about AIDS 191 00:15:51,589 --> 00:15:53,169 and Oprah being fat 192 00:15:55,326 --> 00:15:59,616 which in 2016, almost seem like Burnham was being intentionally unfunny. 193 00:15:59,616 --> 00:16:03,237 Overall, though, the juxtaposition between an empathetic 194 00:16:03,237 --> 00:16:07,417 and supportive Burnham and the one suggesting suicide methods works. 195 00:16:10,483 --> 00:16:13,273 - I feel like you pulled back. 196 00:16:14,923 --> 00:16:18,263 Maybe it's on account of the fact, that I'm telling you to kill yourself, 197 00:16:18,263 --> 00:16:19,543 but for a moment 198 00:16:20,528 --> 00:16:23,428 Especially, because he pushes the edge of the "Kill yourself" line 199 00:16:23,428 --> 00:16:26,590 then softens it, then pushes, then softens again. 200 00:16:26,590 --> 00:16:29,225 I definitely feel like, if he had written this as a teenager 201 00:16:29,225 --> 00:16:32,689 it would've been less empathetic. And without that sharp juxtaposition 202 00:16:32,689 --> 00:16:36,124 between the empathy and the suicide joke, it would've been less funny 203 00:16:36,124 --> 00:16:37,894 and less effective overall. 204 00:16:37,894 --> 00:16:41,699 I do find his work and his songs funny. But even if they weren't funny 205 00:16:41,699 --> 00:16:44,809 to me, even if, objectively, you don't get the laughs out of them 206 00:16:44,809 --> 00:16:48,449 that I do, I wanted to break down what he's doing with his body of work, 207 00:16:48,449 --> 00:16:52,390 and the way that he handles these jokes - Not just smugly rampaging through 208 00:16:52,390 --> 00:16:54,405 our culture and striking down easy targets 209 00:16:54,405 --> 00:16:57,835 but navigating satire with empathy for young people. 210 00:16:57,835 --> 00:17:00,958 and downtrodden people and people with mental health issues. 211 00:17:00,958 --> 00:17:04,958 And over and over taking aim at himself just as much as everyone else 212 00:17:04,958 --> 00:17:06,529 if nor moreso. 213 00:17:06,529 --> 00:17:09,479 - How does he do it? How does he pretend to do it? 214 00:17:09,479 --> 00:17:13,479 How does he remain contrived? I'm not honest for a second up here! 215 00:17:13,479 --> 00:17:15,539 Art is a lie! Nothing is real! 216 00:17:15,539 --> 00:17:19,539 A comic can be funny and have ocassional moments of insight 217 00:17:19,539 --> 00:17:22,939 when they're indiscriminately shotgunning everything, as many comics do. 218 00:17:22,939 --> 00:17:24,649 And don't you dare criticize them! 219 00:17:24,649 --> 00:17:27,559 - This could be a little offensive, but, you know, my motto is: 220 00:17:27,559 --> 00:17:29,659 if you can laugh at one group of people, you gotta be able to laugh at 221 00:17:29,659 --> 00:17:31,199 them all. Ya know? 222 00:17:31,199 --> 00:17:34,819 This song is gonna seem terribly offensive, but, eh, remember: it's satire 223 00:17:34,819 --> 00:17:37,659 and please, don't kick the shit out of me. 224 00:17:37,659 --> 00:17:38,759 Jeez... 225 00:17:42,301 --> 00:17:46,301 In 2009, when he was 18, Burnham was protested against 226 00:17:46,301 --> 00:17:48,811 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. 227 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:51,602 An article from the Columbia Daily Tribune states: 228 00:17:52,243 --> 00:17:55,713 About 15 protesters, including members of the Gay-Straight Alliance, 229 00:17:55,713 --> 00:17:57,753 Black Students Association, 230 00:17:57,753 --> 00:18:01,170 International Club and the Cultural Diversity Organization 231 00:18:01,170 --> 00:18:04,237 held signs and rallied outside Champ Auditorium, 232 00:18:04,237 --> 00:18:05,937 where the concert took place. 233 00:18:05,937 --> 00:18:09,389 The article then mentions Bo being uncomfortable while interacting 234 00:18:09,389 --> 00:18:13,389 with a disabled fan, after his act that repeatedly mocked disabled people 235 00:18:13,389 --> 00:18:16,891 (though the fan was clearly fine with offensive humor, 236 00:18:16,891 --> 00:18:20,491 and it's possible that the author was reading some into the situation). 237 00:18:20,491 --> 00:18:25,310 In a 2009 Boston Herald interview, which I paid 4 dollars to access, because 238 00:18:25,310 --> 00:18:27,339 even the archived version was behind a paywall, 239 00:18:27,339 --> 00:18:30,819 Burnham said: "It's so ironic, because gay bashers were the ones 240 00:18:30,819 --> 00:18:34,929 labeling me in high-school", and "I try and write satire that's 241 00:18:34,929 --> 00:18:37,759 well-intentioned, but those Intentions have to be hidden. 242 00:18:37,759 --> 00:18:40,987 It can't be completely clear. and that's what makes it comedy" 243 00:18:40,987 --> 00:18:45,317 But then, 7 years later, in a 2016 CBS interview 244 00:18:45,317 --> 00:18:47,203 on political correctness he said: 245 00:18:47,203 --> 00:18:50,983 "Well, I just think, like, comics are cry-babies and like, give me a break. 246 00:18:50,983 --> 00:18:53,755 You get up there and you talk for an hour and then they have 247 00:18:53,755 --> 00:18:55,215 and impulse to be heard too? 248 00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:58,950 If it's rock n' roll, then who cares what they think about it? 249 00:18:58,950 --> 00:19:01,720 And truly, like, political corectness with young people 250 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,840 for me, it's an over-correction. For a serious problem, like bigotry 251 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,438 and racism, but no comedians are being thrown in jail 252 00:19:08,438 --> 00:19:11,580 They're getting, like, lit up on twitter maybe a few times, they go through 253 00:19:11,580 --> 00:19:15,580 you know, and that's wrong and maybe bad sometimes. 254 00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:19,768 But again, this is from people, who have had their opinions heard relentlessly 255 00:19:19,768 --> 00:19:23,348 Hours every night, all the time, and then a blogger gets up 256 00:19:23,348 --> 00:19:26,214 and expresses their opinion in a blog, and it's like: what?! 257 00:19:26,214 --> 00:19:29,840 How do you not understand that the audience has the same impulse that you do?" 258 00:19:30,646 --> 00:19:33,176 Don't kill yourself! 259 00:19:33,970 --> 00:19:37,271 I don't like explaining jokes, but the joke where I tell everyone to kill 260 00:19:37,271 --> 00:19:40,831 themselves might deserve an explaination. DO NOT! 261 00:19:42,467 --> 00:19:46,137 And if you're offended, do not write a blog. I apologize immediately! 262 00:19:46,137 --> 00:19:47,707 "Sorry!" - right away! 263 00:19:47,707 --> 00:19:51,357 You know, my mother is a hospice nurse so it's hard for me to look at, you know 264 00:19:51,593 --> 00:19:54,970 a couple college kids with signs outside a comedy show and think that 265 00:19:55,417 --> 00:19:58,797 I'm... you know, up against anything, structually. 266 00:19:58,830 --> 00:20:02,200 It's rare, and more rewarding to find someone who started out that way, 267 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,780 then grew up and uses his platform and his art to tackle what 268 00:20:05,780 --> 00:20:08,460 upsets him and disturbs him in a wider culture. 269 00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:12,931 Crafting clever or shocking juxtapositions and ripping open contradictions. 270 00:20:12,931 --> 00:20:16,771 Over and over trying to call attenton to wide-spread exploitation 271 00:20:16,771 --> 00:20:19,299 that we accept and ignore. 272 00:20:19,299 --> 00:20:22,699 In a 2013 interview with Vulture he said:"I don't think it's very 273 00:20:22,699 --> 00:20:26,479 cynical to be critical of the media. Being critical of what pop-stars 274 00:20:26,479 --> 00:20:31,575 and celebrities say seems obvious to me. I hope it's level-headed. I find pop-culture 275 00:20:31,575 --> 00:20:35,265 and celebrity to be very cynical. When I'm being critical about it 276 00:20:35,265 --> 00:20:38,935 I hope I'm not being too cynical about it. Realistic, I think. 277 00:20:38,935 --> 00:20:42,935 Or, hopefully, just showing what people swallow without thinking about it 278 00:20:42,935 --> 00:20:46,315 just because they have real jobs. Where I have this silly job, where 279 00:20:46,315 --> 00:20:48,350 I think about it all the time. 280 00:20:48,350 --> 00:20:50,385 It's not like Burnham is afraid to offend anyone either. 281 00:20:54,638 --> 00:20:58,868 Or that his stage persona is strictly sensitive and gentle, and thoughtful 282 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:04,500 If I fuck a kid, I'm a pedophile, but if a kid fucks me - I'm a pedophile, again?! 283 00:21:04,890 --> 00:21:05,825 Twice in a week? 284 00:21:05,825 --> 00:21:09,730 Part of the persona, even as he's gotten older, has been using 285 00:21:09,730 --> 00:21:11,603 offensive humor to push the people in his audience away. 286 00:21:11,971 --> 00:21:13,781 Bo Burnham: Macaroni and... Audience: Cheese! 287 00:21:13,801 --> 00:21:17,801 Our favorite chips, salt and v... Wow! 288 00:21:17,928 --> 00:21:19,680 Who said it?! 289 00:21:19,361 --> 00:21:22,421 And while I wouldn't consider it the strongest aspect of his work, 290 00:21:22,421 --> 00:21:26,171 it does make the moments of empathy seem sincere, rather than compulsory. 291 00:21:26,184 --> 00:21:29,544 OK, now for the actual subject of the video! Sort of! 292 00:21:29,544 --> 00:21:32,881 I'm gonna talk about the song first, then I'll get to the music video. 293 00:21:32,881 --> 00:21:36,387 This interview was uploaded to Youtube on May 3rd 2013. 294 00:21:36,452 --> 00:21:39,903 His special "what" dropped on December 13th of 2013 295 00:21:39,903 --> 00:21:43,903 on Youtube and Netflix. As did the seperate perfomance of the show 296 00:21:43,903 --> 00:21:47,903 that's on the album. Which, as an additional track, included 297 00:21:47,903 --> 00:21:49,713 the studio version of Repeat Stuff. 298 00:21:49,713 --> 00:21:53,375 That being the exact same version later used in the music video. 299 00:21:53,530 --> 00:21:58,240 The full music video for "Repeat Stuff" dropped on September 24th 2014. 300 00:21:58,327 --> 00:22:01,617 These are the earliest versions of the song I can find on Youtube. 301 00:22:01,784 --> 00:22:05,504 Both from a performance at a Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia 302 00:22:05,504 --> 00:22:10,994 on December 4th 2010. Meaning, here he's 24, here he's 23, here he's 22, 303 00:22:10,994 --> 00:22:12,974 and here he's 20 years old. 304 00:22:12,974 --> 00:22:16,024 He might've started writing the song when he was 19 or even younger. 305 00:22:16,024 --> 00:22:19,764 I'm not sure. I mention all that both to show that this was an evolution over 306 00:22:19,764 --> 00:22:23,454 a period of at least 4 years to get to the final music video 307 00:22:23,454 --> 00:22:26,324 and that Burnham was very, very young when he first started it. 308 00:22:26,374 --> 00:22:30,374 There are only a handful of uploads of older versions of "Repeat Stuff" 309 00:22:30,374 --> 00:22:34,153 on Youtube. The first few are shorter than the final version 310 00:22:34,153 --> 00:22:35,353 "This song is a work in progress." 311 00:22:35,353 --> 00:22:37,733 And Burnham draws attention to the song being unfinished. 312 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,000 - How do you get out of a song you haven't finished? 313 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,870 Sound-man, hit the third track for me please, hit the third track 314 00:22:54,946 --> 00:22:57,511 He also says "my producer", instead of "my agent". 315 00:23:02,056 --> 00:23:04,246 These segments here were eventually cut. 316 00:23:24,534 --> 00:23:27,664 And the "girl with no arms" bit was more aggressive and less funny. 317 00:23:32,116 --> 00:23:35,550 There were other minor changes over time, before the finished version 318 00:23:35,550 --> 00:23:38,718 came out on "what". Apart from a Jason Derulo joke, 319 00:23:45,457 --> 00:23:46,477 - Jason Derulo... 320 00:23:46,477 --> 00:23:49,547 the only real difference in the song, between a "what" version 321 00:23:49,547 --> 00:23:52,867 and a studio version used in the music video, is Burnham pretending 322 00:23:52,867 --> 00:23:54,747 to perform oral sex on Satan. 323 00:23:54,917 --> 00:23:57,437 - Oh, Satan, you taste so good! 324 00:23:57,437 --> 00:23:58,877 and making weird noises... 325 00:24:05,058 --> 00:24:08,667 versus in-the-studio version, where layered distorted voice clips are used. 326 00:24:08,859 --> 00:24:11,819 "I am a servant of dakrness" Repeat stuff, repeat stuff... 327 00:24:13,107 --> 00:24:16,627 The effect is similar, though. The "what" version even has visual 328 00:24:16,627 --> 00:24:19,709 elements that are repurposed for the music video. Gentle blue and magenta 329 00:24:19,709 --> 00:24:23,239 lights are used for most of the song. With sudden red light blasting 330 00:24:23,239 --> 00:24:26,989 accompanied by nazi salute as an over-the-top gag highlighting the evil 331 00:24:26,989 --> 00:24:30,669 and exploitative nature of these performers. The "what" version allows 332 00:24:30,669 --> 00:24:34,669 for further audience implication. The nazi salute comes partially as a joke 333 00:24:34,669 --> 00:24:38,959 at their expense. Just as he's gotten them to enthusiastically sing along 334 00:24:39,216 --> 00:24:43,216 - Repeat stuff, repeat stuff, everybody! 335 00:24:44,197 --> 00:24:46,997 - Come on, louder, I can't hear you! 336 00:24:50,434 --> 00:24:54,044 His voice is a little different as well. In the "what" version the juxtaposition 337 00:24:54,044 --> 00:24:56,927 between his faux-carefree pop star voice and his evil voice 338 00:24:56,927 --> 00:25:00,527 is more played-up and both are more cartoonish. One - sillier 339 00:25:01,708 --> 00:25:06,498 Repeat stuff, repeat stuff, repeat stuff... 340 00:25:06,851 --> 00:25:09,130 and one - more menacing. 341 00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:13,871 Fuck em! Who needs em! 342 00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:18,420 All of the songs, I've mentioned here, are in some way about exploitation. 343 00:25:18,420 --> 00:25:21,320 "Repeat Stuff" included, but it has a larger scope 344 00:25:21,329 --> 00:25:25,129 The surface-level joke here is very clear and easily accessible. 345 00:25:25,224 --> 00:25:29,224 Pop-stars pump out repetitive, simplistic hits, and are part of a machine 346 00:25:29,224 --> 00:25:32,634 that traps young girls in a cycle of self-loathing and turning to them 347 00:25:32,634 --> 00:25:35,094 for love and comfort, in exchange for money. 348 00:26:02,585 --> 00:26:07,195 The video adds other aspects in addition to this - axes of exploitation on display 349 00:26:07,195 --> 00:26:12,608 in the music video are on the basis of race, gender, age, ability and income 350 00:26:12,608 --> 00:26:16,268 An audience member is only valuable as far as they can consume his product 351 00:26:16,268 --> 00:26:19,870 or be used by him to sell his product to consumers. Take this bit- 352 00:26:37,981 --> 00:26:41,491 For the record, little girls who don’t have arms CAN use itunes, 353 00:26:41,491 --> 00:26:43,931 being disabled doesn’t preclude you from enjoying pop music 354 00:26:43,931 --> 00:26:45,411 and being just as exploited- 355 00:26:45,411 --> 00:26:48,785 While Burnham clearly meant it as a dig at sociopathic capitalism 356 00:26:48,785 --> 00:26:50,525 I have known enough disabled people that enjoy music 357 00:26:50,525 --> 00:26:52,001 that I figured I’d mention it. 358 00:26:52,001 --> 00:26:55,154 The actors in the video who are black or mixed race are shown literally dancing 359 00:26:55,154 --> 00:26:59,154 at Burnham’s command for Burnham’s amusement, and him using “swag” 360 00:26:59,892 --> 00:27:05,032 is both a funny juxtaposition of slang vs his satanic monster character AND 361 00:27:05,032 --> 00:27:08,512 an example of how white pop stars appropriate black vernacular. 362 00:27:08,512 --> 00:27:14,102 The change bit is weird- I guess, like, a visual gag, it’s more silly than anything 363 00:27:14,102 --> 00:27:17,277 but maybe also an implication of pennies paid for the work 364 00:27:17,277 --> 00:27:21,277 black artists put in, and as a further gag he says “what the fuck” 365 00:27:21,277 --> 00:27:23,907 here not even understanding them or what is happening. 366 00:27:23,907 --> 00:27:27,213 Burnham is also playing multiple characters and incorporating multiple 367 00:27:27,213 --> 00:27:31,213 layered personas in this video. There’s the persona that little girls fall 368 00:27:31,213 --> 00:27:34,473 in love with- the Bieber-esque Bo, there’s the behind-the-scenes cult leader 369 00:27:34,473 --> 00:27:38,023 Satanic monster behind that persona, and there are a surprising number 370 00:27:38,023 --> 00:27:41,551 of incorporations of Burnham himself or his original persona 371 00:27:41,551 --> 00:27:42,651 separate from the video. 372 00:27:42,651 --> 00:27:46,651 The Bieber parody is that surface-level joke and most of the non-satanic 373 00:27:46,651 --> 00:27:48,841 lyrics are from this point of view. 374 00:27:48,841 --> 00:27:51,711 “Repeat Stuff” sounds similar to Bieber's song “Baby” 375 00:27:59,837 --> 00:28:03,587 and the video is in part a parody of his “Confident” music video. 376 00:28:03,587 --> 00:28:07,587 There’s a little bit of insidiousness to the character though it doesn’t start overt 377 00:28:07,587 --> 00:28:11,117 for example, he’s androgynous in a way that lowers the guards of female 378 00:28:11,117 --> 00:28:14,607 fans and as a cover to mask how sexually exploitative he is. 379 00:28:14,607 --> 00:28:17,397 There are jokes about an agent performing oral sex on him 380 00:28:17,397 --> 00:28:21,133 but it’s not homophobic. Rather, it’s a web of sexual predation on all 381 00:28:21,133 --> 00:28:25,973 sorts of people, - men around him, women in his video, a young girl, whatever. 382 00:28:26,335 --> 00:28:31,195 Where the video gets wild and visually interesting is when Satanic Cult 383 00:28:31,195 --> 00:28:35,195 Leader Burnham comes in. He is Satan in human form. 384 00:28:35,195 --> 00:28:39,765 His music is a plague and his purpose is virgin sacrifice. 385 00:28:39,765 --> 00:28:43,765 As far as people his own age, he’s surrounded by a cult of sycophants 386 00:28:43,765 --> 00:28:46,575 engaged in bizarre, child-like behavior. 387 00:28:46,575 --> 00:28:49,975 It’s a funny juxtaposition to have a bunch of people in their late teens 388 00:28:49,975 --> 00:28:52,991 and early twenties playing with toys- especially because the only actual 389 00:28:52,991 --> 00:28:56,991 fans shown are very young- it reminds me of tobacco ads that target children, 390 00:28:56,991 --> 00:29:00,561 or a corporate idea of what kids would like or want. 391 00:29:00,561 --> 00:29:04,261 The cult all also literally drink kool-aid together, emphasized 392 00:29:04,261 --> 00:29:07,645 by this group suicide pantomime that I always found pretty funny. 393 00:29:07,645 --> 00:29:12,018 There are multiple overt references to the illuminati. I don’t know if they’re related 394 00:29:12,018 --> 00:29:15,478 or if it’s some other weird reference, but this guy’s hand signal reminded 395 00:29:15,478 --> 00:29:19,343 me of Jay-Z’s roc-a-fella records diamond hand sign that paranoid conspiracy 396 00:29:19,343 --> 00:29:22,653 theorists have insisted is related to the illuminati or satan or whatever. 397 00:29:22,653 --> 00:29:26,241 The video also has a bunch of one-frame text inserts, being 398 00:29:26,241 --> 00:29:30,605 subliminal messages are a cliched aspect of brainwashing conspiracy theories. 399 00:29:30,605 --> 00:29:35,018 Some of the messages are silly jokes, but many of them involve encouraging 400 00:29:35,018 --> 00:29:38,723 the pursuit of money and fame, tying back into the key themes 401 00:29:38,723 --> 00:29:41,794 of the video and of Burnham’s typical message. 402 00:29:41,794 --> 00:29:45,364 There are a few satanic symbols and references throughout the video, 403 00:29:45,364 --> 00:29:47,474 some overt and some more subtle. 404 00:29:47,474 --> 00:29:51,094 Did you notice that the cross he wears and puts in his mouth is upside-down? 405 00:29:51,094 --> 00:29:53,754 Even more extreme are the comparisons to Hitler. 406 00:29:53,754 --> 00:29:57,354 There are the illuminati nazi armbands, the hitler speech in the background 407 00:29:57,354 --> 00:30:01,054 the actual nazi salutes- it’s played for shock laughs and to catch 408 00:30:01,054 --> 00:30:03,874 the audience off guard in the "what" version but is more a piece 409 00:30:03,874 --> 00:30:06,544 woven into a wider tapestry of evil in the music video. 410 00:30:06,544 --> 00:30:10,100 The color symbolism that carried over from the what. version, 411 00:30:10,100 --> 00:30:13,421 while simple, is really effective, and it builds out a solid and 412 00:30:13,421 --> 00:30:15,281 consistent color palette for the video. 413 00:30:15,281 --> 00:30:19,931 I really like the look of the video and the costume design and the visual motifs. 414 00:30:19,931 --> 00:30:23,931 Whether intentional or not, the opening shot reminds me of Halloween and Bo’s 415 00:30:23,931 --> 00:30:28,021 outfit and a jumpsuit worn by Michael Meyers are a similar shade of navy. 416 00:30:28,301 --> 00:30:31,232 My favorite cut in the entire video is this one. 417 00:30:31,232 --> 00:30:34,051 All of these songs I have talked about have juxtapositions played 418 00:30:34,051 --> 00:30:38,821 for comedy, but the one here is genuinely sad and creepy. 419 00:30:38,821 --> 00:30:42,821 You have Bo moving and dancing and being silly, leaned back on the car 420 00:30:42,821 --> 00:30:45,431 with casual body language, then you cut to him just looming 421 00:30:45,431 --> 00:30:49,133 over a girl’s corpse, staring directly at the camera. 422 00:30:49,133 --> 00:30:52,551 It’s made even more effective by a later shot with the same setup 423 00:30:52,551 --> 00:30:55,558 but of Bo dancing, incorporating both the violence 424 00:30:55,558 --> 00:30:57,988 and the manufactured carefree silliness. 425 00:30:57,988 --> 00:31:01,988 Burnham is very tall- google says 6’5”- and normally he plays up being 426 00:31:01,988 --> 00:31:05,988 skinny and lanky in an effeminate way with dancing or slapstick 427 00:31:05,988 --> 00:31:08,638 (in a 2013 interview with NPR he said 428 00:31:08,638 --> 00:31:12,306 "The comedy club environment, unless you're very careful about it, it's kind of 429 00:31:12,306 --> 00:31:17,676 creates a very tough, very, I think, masculine comedian 430 00:31:17,676 --> 00:31:21,676 that can be very combatant on it, you know, twelve PM Satruday show 431 00:31:21,676 --> 00:31:24,529 and the crowd's getting a little rowdy. As opposed to I think I was able 432 00:31:24,529 --> 00:31:29,899 to make this sort of weird, slightly androgynous theatrical comedy 433 00:31:29,899 --> 00:31:33,399 that would've been squashed had I brought it around the clubs. 434 00:31:33,399 --> 00:31:37,399 This shot is the only time I’ve seen his height used deliberately to look 435 00:31:37,399 --> 00:31:40,863 hulking and intimidating. He works as the video’s villain not 436 00:31:40,863 --> 00:31:44,023 in spite of his lanky physicality but because of it and I could see 437 00:31:44,023 --> 00:31:46,746 the aesthetic and the character working in a more traditional 438 00:31:46,746 --> 00:31:48,656 narrative horror short or feature film. 439 00:31:48,656 --> 00:31:51,396 There are also some small weird shots and jokes that I liked. 440 00:31:51,396 --> 00:31:53,526 Why does this person’s hoodie just say “hoodie”? 441 00:31:53,526 --> 00:31:57,166 These posters on the girl’s wall are references to two of Burnham’s 442 00:31:57,166 --> 00:32:00,354 old music videos- "words words words" from september 2010 443 00:32:00,354 --> 00:32:03,147 and "oh bo" from october 2010. 444 00:32:03,147 --> 00:32:05,057 This shot is so funny. 445 00:32:05,057 --> 00:32:08,217 What are they even doing? What are you all doing? 446 00:32:08,217 --> 00:32:12,743 I tried to see if 1213 has any meaning but only found weird angel stuff. 447 00:32:12,743 --> 00:32:17,333 In the vocal montage you can very quietly hear him insulting his audience. 448 00:32:28,133 --> 00:32:31,513 His face on magazine is so dour and serious. 449 00:32:31,513 --> 00:32:34,133 I know they probably had to reverse this in editing, 450 00:32:34,133 --> 00:32:36,433 but why is this guy walking backwards? 451 00:32:36,433 --> 00:32:39,623 Artemis looking into the camera before this cut is so brilliant. 452 00:32:39,623 --> 00:32:40,893 It's such a great touch. 453 00:32:40,974 --> 00:32:46,416 And, well, during the course of making this video, I also discovered my own mystery 454 00:32:46,416 --> 00:32:50,036 one that I did not expect. 455 00:32:50,036 --> 00:32:54,036 So, if you did what I suggested and watched the youtube upload 456 00:32:54,036 --> 00:32:58,036 of Repeat Stuff, did you notice that something was off 457 00:32:58,036 --> 00:33:00,780 when I used this clip at the beginning of this video? 458 00:33:00,780 --> 00:33:04,510 t’s from an alternate version of the "Repeat Stuff" music video. 459 00:33:04,510 --> 00:33:07,760 There’s a discrepancy. Could it be a conspiracy??? 460 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:08,648 The illuminati?! 461 00:33:08,648 --> 00:33:12,718 So I don't know much about the technical specifics or the industry standard specifics 462 00:33:12,718 --> 00:33:15,617 of this overall, but I've seen a lot of times where someone 463 00:33:15,617 --> 00:33:18,585 who worked on a music video will have an upload of that video 464 00:33:18,585 --> 00:33:21,448 on their personal vimeo account as part of their portfolio 465 00:33:21,448 --> 00:33:23,898 separate from the popular and official youtube upload. 466 00:33:23,898 --> 00:33:27,898 Vimeo is a more professional website and compresses videos significantly 467 00:33:27,898 --> 00:33:32,598 less than Youtube does, so, when I am looking for versions of music videos 468 00:33:32,598 --> 00:33:36,268 or short films to use in essays, I will check both youtube and vimeo 469 00:33:36,268 --> 00:33:38,928 for uploads and try to use whichever one looks better. 470 00:33:38,928 --> 00:33:42,328 At some point I watched the vimeo upload of "Repeat Stuff" 471 00:33:42,337 --> 00:33:45,217 on the channel of Rami Hachache, the music video's director. 472 00:33:45,217 --> 00:33:48,462 Since I had seen the youtube version a million times in the past year 473 00:33:48,462 --> 00:33:51,706 and since I’m a neurotic, obsessive, I IMMEDIATELY 474 00:33:51,706 --> 00:33:53,966 noticed a difference between the two uploads. 475 00:33:53,966 --> 00:33:57,736 It's a clip I had never seen before and the color balance is completely off 476 00:33:57,736 --> 00:34:01,756 so it stands out a lot and I feel like I would have caught it just on that even if 477 00:34:01,756 --> 00:34:05,756 I wasn’t as familiar with the other cut. It's at around 1:21 in both 478 00:34:05,756 --> 00:34:09,376 versions. I rewatched a couple times and I think I kind of caught 479 00:34:09,376 --> 00:34:12,814 that the clips before it were different as well. So being a 480 00:34:12,814 --> 00:34:16,096 very normal person who definitely does not have too much time on my hands, 481 00:34:16,096 --> 00:34:19,906 I grabbed both versions at 1080 and I synced them up and layered 482 00:34:19,906 --> 00:34:23,906 one on top of the other in the timeline with the top one at around half opacity 483 00:34:23,906 --> 00:34:27,386 I sat there and I watched the whole video. This starts at around 1:12 484 00:34:27,386 --> 00:34:31,066 if you are watching the full videos. Even all of the subliminal text bits 485 00:34:31,066 --> 00:34:34,386 match up. The only discrepancy was the one I had noticed. 486 00:34:34,386 --> 00:34:36,046 And a few clips preceding it. 487 00:34:36,046 --> 00:34:38,976 I really like in the vimeo version the way his body language 488 00:34:38,976 --> 00:34:42,376 makes a nice transition from from him looking down with his arms out 489 00:34:42,376 --> 00:34:46,156 and how it adds movement and connectivity between two cuts 490 00:34:46,156 --> 00:34:48,066 where before it was pretty arbitrary. 491 00:34:48,066 --> 00:34:50,977 And I got really curious. Why is this here? 492 00:34:50,977 --> 00:34:54,627 I feel like it's a better transition, but the color is off and that makes 493 00:34:54,627 --> 00:34:57,707 it look unfinished, even though the timing of the cut is great! 494 00:34:57,707 --> 00:35:00,777 Here's a comparison of me doing around two minutes of rough 495 00:35:00,777 --> 00:35:02,978 color correction work in premiere to show the difference and 496 00:35:02,978 --> 00:35:04,240 how easy it would be to fix. 497 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:09,100 Why wasn’t it fixed? Especially if the rest of the video looks and sounds exactly the same. 498 00:35:09,100 --> 00:35:12,790 Apart from the end of the Youtube version, having a Burnham ad tacked on 499 00:35:12,790 --> 00:35:16,250 The Vimeo version also has a nice, professional-looking thumbnail 500 00:35:16,250 --> 00:35:18,060 that the youtube version doesn’t. 501 00:35:18,060 --> 00:35:23,520 So, here came the real challenge. I wondered, was the director's version 502 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,290 uploaded prior to the youtube version, hence the unfinished shot? 503 00:35:27,290 --> 00:35:30,740 Or was it uploaded after, since they would, of course, want to premiere it 504 00:35:30,740 --> 00:35:34,474 on Burnham's youtube channel for maximum views and impact? 505 00:35:34,474 --> 00:35:38,984 Youtube has a date clearly visible: "Published on Sep 24, 2014" 506 00:35:38,984 --> 00:35:44,044 but on vimeo it just said "4 years ago". 4 years ago under the video, 507 00:35:44,044 --> 00:35:47,424 4 years ago on a bunch of comments. "4 years ago" doesn't help me! 508 00:35:47,424 --> 00:35:50,504 So then I keep looking and googling around 509 00:35:50,504 --> 00:35:55,569 and I find this this random blog post on some blog called "spiral of hope" 510 00:35:55,569 --> 00:35:59,249 on how in order to see the date a video was uploaded to vimeo 511 00:35:59,249 --> 00:36:02,943 you have to download the video’s XML file. So using their template 512 00:36:02,954 --> 00:36:05,554 and changing the URL to match the video's ID 513 00:36:05,554 --> 00:36:09,168 I download the XML file of the "Repeat Stuff" upload, and 514 00:36:09,168 --> 00:36:14,869 there it is- "2014-09-24". It went up the same day. 515 00:36:14,869 --> 00:36:19,279 I learned nothing, basically, but like the virtual woman segment of "fake friends 2" 516 00:36:19,279 --> 00:36:21,359 I found it weird and interesting. 517 00:36:21,359 --> 00:36:24,429 I really enjoy strange inconsequential deep dive mysteries. 518 00:36:24,429 --> 00:36:27,418 I wanted to be a detective when I was a little kid and I enjoy 519 00:36:27,418 --> 00:36:29,938 looking into stuff that nobody else cares to look into. 520 00:36:29,938 --> 00:36:32,118 I might try to reach out to and interview Hachache 521 00:36:32,118 --> 00:36:34,003 after I publish this video. 522 00:36:34,003 --> 00:36:37,003 I'd rather get my own ideas and interpretations out there before I talk to him 523 00:36:37,003 --> 00:36:40,193 and if I do interview him I will definitely bring up this tiny discrepancy 524 00:36:40,193 --> 00:36:41,803 that I found really interesting. 525 00:36:41,803 --> 00:36:45,523 Pop stars and boy bands can be a safe and non-threatening 526 00:36:45,523 --> 00:36:49,193 place for young people to have crushes. I'm not demonizing young people 527 00:36:49,193 --> 00:36:52,815 for being fans of pop stars or demonizing musicians for making music 528 00:36:52,815 --> 00:36:57,435 pop or not. But, while Nazi iconography is a little extreme 529 00:36:57,435 --> 00:37:01,155 for any satirical music video, I do feel that all of the Illuminati 530 00:37:01,155 --> 00:37:04,149 Satan stuff - meant as cultural shorthand for evil 531 00:37:04,149 --> 00:37:07,449 - is apt in describing the tangible negative effects these 532 00:37:07,449 --> 00:37:10,789 these relationships can have on young people- being tricked into thinking 533 00:37:10,789 --> 00:37:13,418 spending their parents’ money on more merch and more 534 00:37:13,418 --> 00:37:15,818 music will help fulfill them or make them happy. 535 00:37:15,818 --> 00:37:19,298 The first “demon eyes” shot is this one 536 00:37:24,076 --> 00:37:27,536 - on an explicitly sexual line and played as a joke, 537 00:37:27,536 --> 00:37:30,696 But the most shocking and upsetting aspects of the "Repeat Stuff" 538 00:37:30,696 --> 00:37:35,246 music video are how predatory Burnham is in moments, where it isn't played up for laughs 539 00:37:35,246 --> 00:37:39,526 Him looming over a corpse is one and others are the creepy shots of him 540 00:37:39,526 --> 00:37:42,936 outside of a teenage girl's room where it’s almost implied that 541 00:37:42,936 --> 00:37:44,928 he’s masturbating to her photograph. 542 00:37:44,928 --> 00:37:48,808 The little girl has Egghead, his real-life book of poems, by her bed. 543 00:37:48,808 --> 00:37:52,159 Bunrham's persona with regard to sex is usually portrayed 544 00:37:52,159 --> 00:37:55,619 as him being non-threatening and inept and immature. 545 00:37:59,609 --> 00:38:04,149 I talked about his physicality being used differently to express physical violence 546 00:38:04,149 --> 00:38:06,944 The same can be said about him being sexually predatory. 547 00:38:06,944 --> 00:38:10,394 The beginning of the song praises the girl Bo is speaking to for giving 548 00:38:10,394 --> 00:38:11,534 her heart to him. 549 00:38:14,020 --> 00:38:17,070 but by the end we see that it’s not given, it’s taken. 550 00:38:17,070 --> 00:38:20,700 She reaches out to touch him with this stunned look of reverence 551 00:38:20,700 --> 00:38:24,281 in her eyes and he murders her and eats her heart, 552 00:38:24,281 --> 00:38:27,123 surrounded by ephemera of his own real-life career. 553 00:38:27,123 --> 00:38:30,683 In the Vulture interview, Burnham said, “...with “Repeat Stuff,” 554 00:38:30,683 --> 00:38:34,053 so much of the pop songs have absolutely no artistic function 555 00:38:34,053 --> 00:38:37,243 and only function to sell something to little girls. 556 00:38:37,243 --> 00:38:40,833 That particular genre in my opinion targets very precarious things 557 00:38:40,833 --> 00:38:44,833 about little girls: their own insecurity and self-esteem issues. 558 00:38:45,623 --> 00:38:47,337 This poem is called "Ashley". 559 00:38:47,356 --> 00:38:50,476 Little Ashley hung magazine spreads on her wall, after picking the 560 00:38:50,476 --> 00:38:51,906 magazines out in the mall. 561 00:38:51,906 --> 00:38:55,524 Models and actresses, singers and more, with cleavage and makeup 562 00:38:55,524 --> 00:38:56,874 and glamour galore! 563 00:38:56,874 --> 00:38:58,464 All of her heroes were finally nearer. 564 00:38:58,464 --> 00:39:01,504 Her whole room looked perfect - except for the mirror. 565 00:39:01,504 --> 00:39:05,504 "That to me is a little bit predatory and a little bit evil. 566 00:39:05,504 --> 00:39:08,887 I’m fine with things not being original. I want hardcore 567 00:39:08,887 --> 00:39:12,087 content to be the product of someone’s beliefs and for them to 568 00:39:12,087 --> 00:39:14,327 make something that connects with people as opposed to 569 00:39:14,327 --> 00:39:17,029 making something that is meant to sort of trick people and just 570 00:39:17,029 --> 00:39:20,669 sell them something, to have your way with them and then leave them.” 571 00:39:20,669 --> 00:39:24,759 Burnham’s treatment of sexual assault language in this interview and in the imagery 572 00:39:24,759 --> 00:39:28,759 in his video may seem flippant, but I can see what he’s going for 573 00:39:28,759 --> 00:39:35,129 not only with stars fostering trust and love in fans to in return harvest fame 574 00:39:35,129 --> 00:39:39,669 and money from, but also real-world consequences for young fans 575 00:39:39,669 --> 00:39:44,099 who DO meet their idols or famous crushes and let their guard down or see 576 00:39:44,099 --> 00:39:48,099 his person they’re a fan of with rose-colored glasses who end up, 577 00:39:48,099 --> 00:39:52,859 at the best, used and hurt and with a new “don’t meet your heroes” mindset, 578 00:39:52,859 --> 00:39:56,675 and at worst assaulted- this applies to feminist comedians who 579 00:39:56,675 --> 00:40:01,475 took advantage of fans or colleagues as well as rock and pop stars who have 580 00:40:01,475 --> 00:40:05,525 historically had a habit of statutory raping teenage groupies. 581 00:40:05,525 --> 00:40:08,525 - I can do whatever I want, all right? If I want to shoot a paintball gun 582 00:40:08,525 --> 00:40:10,445 at my dad, I'm gonna do it! 583 00:40:10,765 --> 00:40:14,045 So. Why didn’t Burnahm come up with a fake name 584 00:40:14,045 --> 00:40:16,445 or character name for the video? 585 00:40:16,445 --> 00:40:18,845 Jon Lajoie’s pop parody 586 00:40:31,558 --> 00:40:34,108 uses his name as a flashy background 587 00:40:34,108 --> 00:40:37,428 but he plays characters totally unrelated to his own youtube 588 00:40:37,428 --> 00:40:41,748 music career sans one cameo, and in “Pandering”, a music style parody 589 00:40:41,748 --> 00:40:43,028 of a different genre, 590 00:40:43,278 --> 00:40:45,048 - You know, like THAT genre? 591 00:40:45,542 --> 00:40:48,475 Burnham is clearly playing someone separate from himself. 592 00:40:48,478 --> 00:40:51,764 But here a deliberate choice was made for the evil pop 593 00:40:51,764 --> 00:40:55,214 Satan to be Burnham. In the "what." version he's happily serving 594 00:40:55,214 --> 00:40:59,214 Satan as an accomplice, but in the music video he IS Satan. 595 00:40:59,214 --> 00:41:01,675 It's next-level self-deprecation. 596 00:41:01,675 --> 00:41:05,165 This is beyond brand recognition or an easy go-to. 597 00:41:05,165 --> 00:41:07,455 This is self-implication. 598 00:41:07,455 --> 00:41:10,345 This shot of him- in a white T-shirt at a piano- 599 00:41:10,345 --> 00:41:12,665 is a quintessential Burnham image. 600 00:41:12,665 --> 00:41:16,485 He wears the same shirt when he smothers the girl to death with her own pillow. 601 00:41:16,485 --> 00:41:20,025 How many of Burnham's fans, especially when he was a YouTube star, 602 00:41:20,037 --> 00:41:21,587 were teenage girls? 603 00:41:22,919 --> 00:41:25,559 Here’s a clip from the track “Out of the Abyss” 604 00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:29,309 from the album performance of "what." that I used in the intro 605 00:41:29,309 --> 00:41:32,009 of the first episode of "Fake Friends". 606 00:41:32,162 --> 00:41:35,592 - I'm giving you attention, girl that's wooing. Are you happy now? 607 00:41:35,999 --> 00:41:38,671 - You love me? That's very nice. You love the idea of me, you don't know me 608 00:41:38,671 --> 00:41:41,711 but that's ok. It's called a "Parasocial relationship" 609 00:41:41,711 --> 00:41:43,691 - it goes one way, and is ultimately destructive. 610 00:41:43,691 --> 00:41:45,911 But please, keep buying all my shit forever. 611 00:41:47,746 --> 00:41:52,916 That's how it works! Capitalism! I'm trapped! It's terrible! 612 00:41:52,916 --> 00:41:55,786 I'm a horrible person! All right. 613 00:41:55,786 --> 00:42:01,503 right after this aside, Burnham segues into the album performance of "Repeat Stuff" 614 00:42:01,503 --> 00:42:03,893 How many audience members screamed at him that 615 00:42:03,893 --> 00:42:07,513 they loved him despite his rebuking them when they did? 616 00:42:15,357 --> 00:42:19,357 My experience even with an audience a fraction of the size of Burnham's 617 00:42:19,357 --> 00:42:22,302 is that people like you a lot more more when they perceive you as 618 00:42:22,302 --> 00:42:25,018 being honest, even if what you're being honest about is how your 619 00:42:25,018 --> 00:42:26,898 audience sometimes scares you. 620 00:42:26,898 --> 00:42:29,838 Or, in his case, if you feel like you're exploiting them. 621 00:42:29,838 --> 00:42:32,699 It's the quality of “heart” that Horton and Wohl talked about. 622 00:42:32,699 --> 00:42:36,009 So even as I insist that my audience doesn't know me 623 00:42:36,009 --> 00:42:38,869 and should be inherently suspicions of the idea of emotional 624 00:42:38,869 --> 00:42:42,109 intimacy with someone they're a fan of, I get messages from strangers telling 625 00:42:42,109 --> 00:42:45,769 me I'm a good person or asking me for help with very personal life 626 00:42:45,769 --> 00:42:48,769 problems that I'm not remotely qualified to help with. 627 00:42:48,769 --> 00:42:52,499 Many people told me my last big video made them cry and changed how they 628 00:42:52,499 --> 00:42:54,045 interact with media online. 629 00:42:54,045 --> 00:42:57,175 That's great! That's awesome! That's what I wanted! 630 00:42:57,175 --> 00:42:59,793 to reach people emotionally and intellectually. 631 00:42:59,793 --> 00:43:03,483 but having that kind of power makes me feel strange and uneasy. 632 00:43:03,483 --> 00:43:06,903 When thousands of people trust you and care about your 633 00:43:06,903 --> 00:43:10,132 opinions and what you think they should do in their day-to-day lives, 634 00:43:10,132 --> 00:43:12,897 It's a responsibility I wasn't really prepared for. 635 00:43:12,897 --> 00:43:16,397 you have to take conscious effort not to end up playing into it for 636 00:43:16,397 --> 00:43:19,337 your wallet or your ego. Not that I'm in any danger 637 00:43:19,337 --> 00:43:22,377 of turning into a rapey Satan monster and not that 638 00:43:22,377 --> 00:43:24,837 Burnham 100% saw himself as one either. It's just that the more 639 00:43:24,837 --> 00:43:27,347 I grow my fan base the more I can relate to Burnham's 640 00:43:27,347 --> 00:43:29,757 anxieties and the more I appreciate his work. 641 00:43:29,757 --> 00:43:33,297 The "Repeat Stuff" music video has over 100,000 views on Vimeo 642 00:43:33,297 --> 00:43:35,357 and over 10,000,000 on YouTube. 643 00:43:35,357 --> 00:43:38,217 I really appreciate how accessible it is and how clear 644 00:43:38,217 --> 00:43:41,717 the message it has is while remaining uncompromising in its dark tone. 645 00:43:41,717 --> 00:43:44,897 Hopefully, it didn't just preach to the choir or fuel those making 646 00:43:44,897 --> 00:43:48,307 fun of teenage girls for loving pop stars, because if you spend any 647 00:43:48,307 --> 00:43:50,647 time looking at it there's so much more to it! 648 00:43:50,647 --> 00:43:54,587 I've received dismissive comments on the first Fake Friends from people who 649 00:43:54,587 --> 00:43:57,601 found Burnham annoying but that seems to have decreased 650 00:43:57,601 --> 00:44:02,065 as I showed less of his song clips and more of his self-loathing anti-fame rhetoric. 651 00:44:02,065 --> 00:44:05,855 Like I said before, I don't care if you like him or find him funny or not 652 00:44:05,855 --> 00:44:09,335 I just wanted to share my appreciation for what he's doing on a technical 653 00:44:09,335 --> 00:44:11,795 level as well as an ideological one. 654 00:44:15,231 --> 00:44:18,001 Most of the Vimeo vs YouTube video discrepancy segment 655 00:44:18,001 --> 00:44:21,192 was repurposed from a patreon post I made while researching. 656 00:44:21,192 --> 00:44:23,932 Thanks to Michael Brown for other research help and a couple other 657 00:44:23,932 --> 00:44:25,492 unnamed folks for help as well. 658 00:44:25,492 --> 00:44:28,382 The genius page for "Repeat Stuff" helped my research some, 659 00:44:28,382 --> 00:44:31,658 especially with the Bieber parody aspect, and it links this music video 660 00:44:31,658 --> 00:44:33,738 by Axis of Awesome 661 00:44:35,350 --> 00:44:37,960 - link in the description - that explores the 662 00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:41,320 “sung with the same four chords” aspect of Burnham's parody. 663 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,770 I don't know much about the mechanics of music and I 664 00:44:43,770 --> 00:44:46,773 wanted to focus on writing and filmmaking but that’s 665 00:44:46,773 --> 00:44:49,983 worth watching for some further elaboration on how derivative 666 00:44:49,983 --> 00:44:51,743 a lot of these songs are in their construction. 667 00:44:51,743 --> 00:44:55,743 If you enjoyed this video and want to check out more of my work, 668 00:44:55,743 --> 00:44:58,727 I'd recommend the first two "Fake Friends episodes and my essay 669 00:44:58,727 --> 00:45:00,937 on political correctness and empathy. 670 00:45:00,937 --> 00:45:03,807 Long time viewers might have noticed that I was able to spend 671 00:45:03,807 --> 00:45:07,581 more time on motion graphics, visual effects, redoing voiceover, 672 00:45:07,581 --> 00:45:10,731 and the like for this video, and that I finished it relatively 673 00:45:10,731 --> 00:45:12,801 quickly for a video of its length. 674 00:45:12,801 --> 00:45:16,499 That's a direct result of my patreon support growing significantly after 675 00:45:16,499 --> 00:45:17,789 "Fake friends 2". 676 00:45:17,261 --> 00:45:21,000 If you want to support my work, I have my patreon for ongoing donations 677 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,280 and a Ko-fi for one-time donations. Thanks!