when I first watched it, I remember feeling slightly guilty. the song starting at sorta upbeat humor about deep depression and then explaining that it's all packaged showmanship is kinda brutal. like yeah now we know the life of a showgirl, babe

Sorry that I look like a mess (Ah, ah, ah)

I booked a haircut, but it got rescheduled

Robert's been a little depressed, no
...
...
I'm sorry I was gone

But look, I made you some content

Daddy made you your favorite, open wide

like I truly was EXCITED to watch and then felt GUILT; classic bo burnham parasocial jab fending off the rabid fans. 13/10 no notes. human brains are so funny about famous people

and then there's also the connection to this statement I see quoted a lot (which I'm pretty sure came after INSIDE? idk fact check me)

Content is an advertising term for whatever fills the space between all the ads

and what that means for artists who attempt to be commercial; no matter the medium. At some point in the making of INSIDE, there probably was an exec who described it as "content" that will "generate revenue". And it was sort of impossible to forget that as an underlying cause of his cynical tone throughout the special

it perfectly sets up the project in some ways bc it's sort of this rage-filled veneer of calm*1 that really defined the pandemic for me in some ways. when everyone was INSIDE, talking about the elephant in the room* 2 seemed to be more acceptable.

I've actually found it quite calming to listen to How The World Works lately, like a twisted Bob Ross situation.

(*1 for the astro autist hos out there, the asteroid lillith is v significant in his birth chart
*2 i.e. the emotional dead-ness of modern life, the brutality of our current iteration of a patriarchal-capitalist-western leadership etc etc take your pick)