AES 051 Helping Myself Before Everyone (A Reflection on Bo Burnham's Works)

Recently, I watched Bo Burnham’s magnificent works. “Eighth Grade”, a movie that tells the story of a girl who wants to be a cool girl and be accepted by her peers. “Inside” is a stand-up comedy special, which, to me, is really special and different compared to other stand-up comedy acts.

In the “Eighth Grade” movie, the main character realizes in the end that it’s okay not to be a cool kid and she should accept herself like her father did all this time, while still trying to do better every day in her life.

While “Inside” literally tells the story of Bo Burnham inside his house during the COVID pandemic, it also figuratively tells what is inside his mind. Bo is considered one of the most gifted artists, but unfortunately has severe panic attacks and decided to quit performing live comedies to improve himself mentally. After he thought he had already gotten better mentally, he wanted to come back, but then COVID prevented it.

Both works have similarities, which is wanting to achieve greatness, so we try to convince people around us. However, we often forget that to achieve something great that can change the world, first we need to make sure we change ourselves to be better.

Lately, I got overwhelmed and insecure that I can’t change the world or have an impact on my surroundings. But then I realized, after watching both of Bo’s works, why I don’t just change myself first. If I become a better person, I can probably be a good example for my students and people around me.
 
Perhaps that is also what the people need to do. Instead of forcing people to change and blaming them, why don't we change ourselves first? If everyone can change themselves without being forced by others, in the end, the world will change naturally.

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." - Rumi

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