With Bo Burnham's new special "Make Happy" being released in June on Netflix and me being lucky enough to witness his greatness last October while seeing this show, I feel the need to bring up the fact that Bo Burnham has become a voice for me as well as seemingly a voice for the millennial generation through comedy. While he can be inappropriate and vulgar in some senses, many of his songs (his medium of comedy) have an underlying message that must be taken very seriously.
Take, for example, his song "Rant" from his first album/tour "Words, Words, Words." Here he describes his experience with religion. Going to Catholic school and church since a very young age, he begins by describing his view of Jesus and what the Bible was truly trying to describe. While actually not listening during the church, we learn about what he was truly praying for (like how there are terrible things in the world but his dog had surgery, so you know what needs to come first). The song ends up going into the Catholic views on gay marriage and through recent events. While the song is very catchy and funny, he was able to take the views of many millennials we see who are straying away from religion with easily relatable lyrics.
In addition, we can look into some of Bo's more recent work. In his most recent show, "Make Happy," we get some of his pieces of work such as "Lower Your Expectations" and "Straight White Man" that are relatable to this generation. "Lower Your Expectations" goes into the dating life of many young adults. While describing what men and women want in each other, he basically says that it's not happening. However, the song then goes into a more somber moment of saying that we all deserve love, no matter who we are and how much humans can "suck" because hey, at least love can make us better. "Straight White Man" sounds exactly what the title portrays. He is able to go into why it's so "rough" to be a straight, white man. While it clearly isn't, he uses it as a chance to go into current social issues with the church and the country such as gay, women and people of color's rights.
Bo Burnham may be viewed by some, mostly adults, as a silly comedian who just sings to get a few laughs. However, I and many other millennials see him as a voice of a generation. Bo has the ability to take things such as self confidence, current social issues and general issues of young adults and turn them around into entertainment. However, this entertainment doesn't come without a chance to take a step back, truly understand the lyrics and see what he is truly trying to say about this generation.
