ONLINE FIRST
published on October 10, 2024
Gl¨®ria Nogueira
https://doi.org/10.5840/filmphil202410228
Inside/Outside
The Potential Ethics of Internet Aestheticism in Burnham and Kierkegaard
In this article, I explore the ways in which the humor and narrative arc of Bo Burnham¡¯s comedy special Inside (2021) reflects the existential attitude of today¡¯s chronically-online youth, which I describe as dominated by online aestheticism. First, a Kierkegaardian reading will be offered of Bo¡¯s character as he struggles between pursuing an aesthetic or ethical life-view, watching his own eventual downfall into despair from within. The impact of the film upon its audience, who watches the film from without, will be analyzed both in light of Kierkegaard¡¯s philosophy and Mark Fisher¡¯s cultural criticism. Finally, I discuss whether Inside, in its aestheticism, engenders or thwarts ethical development in its audience and how a tragic, rather than comical, understanding of the special points to an optimistic answer.