“It was fucking brutal.”
So says comedian Bo Burnham, discussing his most embarrassing eighth grade moment.
“I got pantsed on a whale-watching trip,” says Burnham. “It’s certainly a memory.”
It seems as if Burnham has carried this 15-year-old awkwardness into his debut film as a writer/director, Eighth Grade, which follows a teenager named Kayla during the final week of her eighth-grade year.
Burnham chatted with Spectrum Culture about his storytelling methods, the role technology plays in today’s society, the #MeToo movement in the context of his film, how Richard Linklater played a role in the film’s humanistic approach and more.
Obviously, this film could’ve been extremely autobiographical. What caused you to steer away from your own eighth grade experiences circa the early 2000s versus a modern-day narrative following a young girl? How did you find a balance between your experiences and Kayla’s experiences?
Part of it was really about trying to put myself now in [the film]. I was trying to figure out how I felt in this current moment. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like an eighth grader – unsure, confused and out of my depth. We had instant messenger and stuff growing up but, man, I’m struggling so hard with the internet right now. Imagine if I had this shit at that age, you know?
Technology is pretty prevalent in the film, for sure.
I’m not trying to make a judgement on what technology is doing, just trying to describe how it’s feeling. And it feels a little nerve-wracking. But at the same time, I think it’s deepening experiences [for young people]. It’s widening the understanding of their experiences.
There’s plenty more in the film that was hard to relate to, despite its relevancy. I mean, we had fire drills in middle school, but school shooting drills? That scene really came out of left field for me.
Columbine was when I was in fifth grade, so it was around but there’s obviously something very new happening now. But that’s a real thing. Those happen. You can look it up online. They’re even more ridiculous than I have it in the movie. I actually took out the fact that there are usually loud gunshot noises and guns aimed at students’ heads. They use fake blood and all that shit, it’s crazy.
There’s another important scene, where Kayla is pressured sexually by a high-schooler in the backseat of a car. Nothing much happens in the end, but it’s still an important scene in the midst of the #MeToo movement.
I hope it will clarify things for young men watching it. It’s more important for them to see that scene and maybe recognize some of their own actions within it, and reassess themselves. I was trying to portray a type of situation that, when described after fact, might not sound like a big deal. Like, “Oh, what, he went in the backseat and tried to touch your arm and you said no? Nothing happened.” And I have so many people tell me they’re glad that scene didn’t go in a different direction, but it doesn’t need to go there to be significant and traumatic. I think we are starting to change that conversation in the culture, which is good. To dignify situations that, on paper, may not seem criminal or reprehensible, but can still be traumatizing. We just tried to be honest with it because it’s definitely something that happens very often.
Let’s talk about Elsie Fisher. She’s amazing in this film.
She really is.
What did you see in her during the casting process, and what was the on-set experience like?
She was the one person who just … understood. Every other kid who came in to audition was like a confident kid pretending to be shy, while she was a shy kid pretending to be confident – which is what the actual role is. She understands that being shy is not about not speaking, it’s about wanting to speak all the time. She was able to infuse a very blank character with activity and drive and motion. Working with her was incredible. I worked with her as I would an adult actor. I didn’t have to manipulate her. We were able to talk as if we were equals, and we did.
Another great performance comes from Josh Hamilton, who was a delight to see as I’m a huge Kicking and Screaming fan.
Oh, yeah, me too.
What was working with him like?
I was just always such a big fan of his, and I wanted somebody warm and accessible and true and grounded. It was interesting to see a seasoned, trained, theatrical actor like him work with such a raw talent like Elsie – it was fun to see them exist in the same frame and in the same world. I think they both learned from each other and adapted to one another.
The film has a one-week structure, following Kayla during the final week of her eighth-grade year. It reminded me a lot of some of Linklater’s time-framed work, like Dazed and Confused or Before Sunset. Was that a conscious decision?
Not directly, but I love Linklater’s work. He was definitely an influence in approaching everything from a humanistic place and trying to make things feel real and lived-in. He’s the master of that.
Would you ever consider revisiting the character of Kayla, perhaps in senior year or in college, similar to Linklater’s Boyhood or Before trilogy?
Yeah, I could. I wouldn’t mind that. But I’d want to let her live her life a little bit. I think she’s just trying to live in the moment. I mean, she’s a kid. She likes to work, but she also likes to draw and do other things. I just hope she does whatever she can and wants to do. But I also want her to just be a kid and do whatever the fuck she wants.
What would you say you learned most from her?
Just how to be present. How to get out of your own head and get on with it. I mean, she had to carry an entire film and she did it so naturally. She taught me to be in the moment, how to have fun and just do it.
What can we learn from Elsie’s generation as a whole?
We just need to listen, keep our ears open and not try to fix them. I think the impulse is to always try and fix them and worry about them, but they’re authoring their own lives and their futures. I just like to listen, so me telling you what we should be learning from them is going against that. Listen to what they have to say. They’ll tell you what to learn.
The post Bo Burnham Talks Eighth Grade, Technology and More appeared first on Spectrum Culture.