History YMMV / BoBurnham

** When Bo's [[MindRape left and right brains are separated]] in "Left Brain, Right Brain", there is a collage of eerie sound effects, flashing lights, and Bo at his knees in great pain.

** In "Ironic," he says, "I can't grow a beard; that one's not ironic, that one's just sad." In light of the release of his special ''Inside'', which shows Bo having done just that, mentions of the quote and how (delightfully) poorly it ended up aging among fans were inevitable.

** Post-''Inside'', either "Welcome to the Internet", which went considerably viral, or "All Eyes on Me", which was the individual frontrunner when the special was being submitted for award consideration.

* GrowingTheBeard:
** Started around the time of ''Words Words Words.'' He's openly expressed embarrassment and dislike of much of his work prior to that period, which was more based around shock value for the sake of shock value rather than making a satirical point. This was paired with Bo's politics getting increasingly progressive as he aged, with that being reflected in his work and the punching-down being lessened with every special (such as the TakeThat at privileged people on "Straight White Man" from ''Make Happy'').
** Others point to ''Inside'' as another dramatic inflection point in his work's critical reception, with the special receiving near-universal acclaim for its thoughtful reflections on mental health in the era of COVID-19 and increased social unrest. (Also helping matters: he literally grew a beard.)
* HarsherInHindsight:

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In "That Funny Feeling", Bo seems to cite ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes him horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. So one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.

* FridgeBrilliance: "White Woman's Instagram" has bells ringing during the line "Three little words, a couple of doves, and a ring on the finger from the person that she loves". The three little words could be interpreted as "Live Laugh Love"... [[spoiler:but the breakdown with her talking about her mom and the fact that it sounds like ''church'' bells is her saying "I love you" or "Yes, I do" and marrying the boyfriend]], AND also calls out how a scenario that complex can't entirely be contained within the confines of a single Instagram post.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** In "That Funny Feeling", Bo seems to cite ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes him horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. So one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.
** Is the bridge in "White Woman's Instagram" intended to highlight the humanity and emotional vulnerability of its subject, or is it supposed to suggest a cynical performance of grief for attention? The audience reaction overwhelmingly favors the former interpretation, but in a special mainly about narcissism and the corrosive effect of social media, the latter does seem plausible.
*** Considering the first line of the bridge mentions that the picture posted is her favourite of her and her mother (with this fact being noted before describing the caption, meaning this fact isn't being revealed to her followers), as well as the fact that the tone of the regular lyrics shift to slightly more sympathetic after the bridge ("a ring on her finger from the person that she loves"), the former interpretation is far more likely, and is likely the intended interpretation, but the latter still has merit.
*** Is the mother actually dead in the song? The Instagram user makes a long post honoring her mother but ends it by telling her mom to say hi to dad, implying that both parents have died or both are alive and well. Is the tragedy that both her parents have died? Or is the user recovering from serious mental health issues or making big and scary life changes that requires emotional support from her mom.
----> Her favorite photo of her mom\\
The caption says, "I can't believe it\\
It's been a decade since you've been gone\\
Mama, I miss you, I miss sitting with you in the front yard\\
Still figuring out how to keep living without ya\\
It's got a little better but it's still hard\\
Mama, I got a job I love and my own apartment\\
Mama, I got a boyfriend and I'm crazy about him\\
Your little girl didn't do too bad\\
Mama, I love you, give a hug and kiss to dad"
* {{Anvilicious}}: The core theme of ''Inside'' is about mental health and Internet culture.
** Bo's stance on social media and mental health is the two can never really coexist in a healthy way because some people are using social media to compensate for personal feelings of inadequacy and to deal with depression, not realising the internet is feeding these self-esteem issues and insecurities in the first place.
** He also criticizes how people use the internet to bully and harass others through anonymity, also pointing out how irresponsible parents are for letting their kids use the internet as a babysitting tool despite the ramifications of letting children its darker aspects.
** He also points out that companies don't really care about social change as they happily exploit the working class and support these causes for monetary gain while presenting themselves as [[BreadAndCircuses colour blind, politically correct, and woke]].
** Burnham also criticises the people on the internet who try to "fix" greater social issues in "How The World Works". Burnham points out these issues were a lot simpler and easier to understand at one point but quarantine has forced him to learn the greater injustices and complexities, as he's completely powerless to do anything about it but makes jokes about it. His guest speaker and co-singer "Socko" ultimately tells him that he shouldn't take these issues personally, a better response is to listen to the people with personal experiences with these issues than be selfish by making these issues about you. Either help the cause or step aside.
** Burnham's personal arc in ''Inside'' is him confronting the darkest point in his life and confronting existential dread in the midst of great social change. With the special confronting the possibility that he may have adjusted too well to the isolation and how he's now afraid of being in the spotlight again because of the possibility of his depression and anxiety returning. Being in isolation forced Burnham to confront his past mistakes and question his position in a changing world.
* AwardSnub: Many fans were upset that, despite winning three Emmy Awards, ''Inside'' lost out on its nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), which went to the filmed version of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''.

* SignatureSong: "My Whole Family..." was the song that propelled Bo to his first bit of stardom, although "Oh Bo" is seemingly this as of late, considering the unanimous approval and participation it gets at live performances.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The core theme of ''Inside'' is about mental health and internet culture.
** Bo Burnham's stance on social media and mental health is the two can never really coexist in a healthy way because some people are using social media to compensate for personal feelings of inadequacy and to deal with depression, not realising the internet is feeding these self-esteem issues and insecurities in the first place.
** Burnham also critises how people use the internet to bully and harass others through anonymity, also pointing out how irresponsible parents are for letting their kids use the internet as a babysitting tool despite the ramifications of letting children see darker aspects of the internet. He also points out that companies don't really care about social change as they happily exploit the working class and support these causes for monetary gain while presenting themselves as [[BreadAndCircuses colour blind, politically correct, and woke]].

* AwardSnub: Many fans were upset that, despite winning three Emmy Awards, ''Inside'' lost out on its nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), which went to the filmed version of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. One of the primary lines of complaint was that the special (and all other nominated specials) had to go up against a production filmed in 2016 that had already had its praises thoroughly sung.

*** Is the mother actually dead in the song? The Instagram user makes a long post honoring her mother but ends it by telling her mom to say hi to dad. Either implying the tragedy is that both her parents have died or the real tragedy is that she's so insecure and has so many self-esteem issues that she feels the need to compensate for these mental health issues by being overly affectionate with her family.

** Bo Burnham's stance on social media and mental health is the two can never really coexist in a healthy way because some people are using social media to compensate for personal feelings of inadequecy and to deal with depression, not realising the internet is feeding these self-esteem issues and insecurities in the first place.
** Burnham also critises how people use the internet to bully and harrass others through anonymity, also pointing out how irresponsible parents are for letting their kids use the internet as a babysitting tool despite the rammifications of letting childen see darker aspects of the internet. He also points out that companies don't really care about social change as they happily exploit the working class and support these causes for monetary gain while presenting themselves as [[BreadAndCircuses colour blind, politically correct, and woke]].
** Burnham also criticises the people on the internet who try to "fix" greater social issues in "How The World Works". Burnham points out these issues were a lot simpler and easier to understand at one point but quarantine has forced him to learn the greater injustices and complexities, as he's completely powerless to do anything about it, other than make jokes. His guest speaker and co-singer "Socko" ultimately tells him that he's being selfish by trying to make these issues about him and tells him that the best Burnham can really do is listen to the people who have gone through these experiences and either help or step aside as they try to make a difference.

** Burnham also critises how people use the internet to bully and harrass others through anonymity, also pointing out how irresponsible parents are for letting their kids use the internet as a babysitting tool despite the rammifications of letting childen see darker aspects of the internet.

** Burnham's personal arc in ''Inside'' is him confronting the darkest point in his life and confronting existential dread in the midst of great social change. With the special confronting the possibility that he may have adjusted too well to the isolation and how he's now afraid of being in the spotlight again because of the possibility of his depression and anxiety returning. Being in isolation forced Burnham to confront his past mistakes and his position in a changing world.

*** Is the mother actually dead in the song? The Instagram user makes a long post honoring her mother but ends it by telling her mom to say hi to dad. Either implying that both her parents have died or that she's so insecure and has so many self-esteem issues that she uses her parents to glorify herself and compensate for these mental health issues.

*** Is the mother actually dead in the song? The Instagram user makes a long post honoring her mother but ends it by telling her mom to say hi to dad. Either implying that both her parents have died or that she's so insecure and has so many self-esteem issues that she makes a misleading post for attention.

* AwardSnub: Many fans were upset that, despite winning three Emmy Awards, ''Inside'' lost out on its nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), which went to the film version of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. One of the primary lines of complaint was that the special (and all other nominated specials) had to go up against a 2020 filming of a 2015 production that had already had its praises thoroughly sung.

*** Considering the first line of the bridge mentions that the picture posted is her favourite of her and her mother (with this fact being noted before describing the caption, meaning this fact isn't being revealed to her followers), as well as the fact that the tone of the regular lyrics shift to slightly more sympathetic after the bridge ("a ring on her finger from the person that she loves", the former is far more likely, and is likely the intended interpretation, but the latter still has merit.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In "That Funny Feeling", Bo seems to cite ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes him horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. So one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In "That Funny Feeling", Bo seems to cite Deadpool as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes him horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. So one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.

** Others point to ''Inside'' as another dramatic inflection point in his work's critical reception, with the special receiving near-universal acclaim for its thoughtful reflections on mental health in the era of COVID-19 and increased social unrest. (Also helping matters: He literally grew a beard.)

** From "New Math" - "What's domain, domain range? / A kid with too much in his pants". In math, domain is expressed by ''x'', while range is expressed by ''y''--[[DontExplainTheJoke the joke here being]] that said person is "XXY", which is the chromosomal makeup for an intersex.

* CriticalResearchFailure: A very odd YMMV case/case of [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Alternative Interpretation]]. In "That Funny Feeling", Bo quotes Deadpool as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes him horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. However, one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.

* CriticalResearchFailure: A very odd YMMV case/case of [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Alternative Interpretation]]. In "That Funny Feeling", Bo quotes Deadpool as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes his horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. However, one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.

* CriticalResearchFailure: A very odd YMMV case/case of [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Alternative Interpretation]]. In "That Funny Feeling", Bo quotes ComicBook/Deadpool as an example of fake self-awareness for the sake of novelty, and an indication of how hopeless humanity is re: true self-awareness. However, anyone who's read a recent Deadpool comic knows the character being aware that he's a fictional character ''actually makes his horrendously depressed'', feeling compelled to ignore his problems and destroy his own life for the sake of entertaining his audience (since that is literally his only purpose); under that lens, Wade Wilson is actually a character Bo would actually like. However, one could ALSO read this line as Bo being aware of this characterization, and playing off public perception of the character, making commentary on the fact that, despite the character actually having some profound writing, people latch on to the memes and random comedy without looking deeper or questioning why they like it.