Metamodernity and Because the Internet (Introduction)
Originally created and published here, this post will comprise of the introductory section to my first extended study and writing which explored the transmedia world, Because the Internet by Childish Gambino, using a metamodern cultural studies lens. Each section of this study will be published in different sections, and they will be linked with each other.
Full text of the original academic paper can be found here.
The Library (Intro)
Because the Internet, Donald Glover created a transmedia world and narrative delving into identity and existential crisis incited by racism and internet-era dangers. Because the Internet is a created world, with a metamodern sense of simultaneous danger and safety related to contemporary identity and existence. The dangers of the web, in its deconstruction of social precedents, preservation of evidence of mistakes, and assault on privacy and identity, coexist with the web’s capacity for connection and the tools it presents, the very tools that Glover employed to create Because the Internet. Exploring his own multi-hyphenate identity, revealing his vulnerabilities and existential crisis, Glover places faith in audiences to interact with and help his exploration. The sincerity of this outreach is the metamodern response to the cynicism of the web’s dangers.Glover provides audiences the world of Because the Internet, equips them with “Roscoe’s Wetsuit,” and through transmedia, invites them to explore contemporary issues. Having explored and opened up his own identity, reconstructing a metamodern sense of self, Glover examines his existential crisis, his vulnerability and sincerity therein motivating audience interaction, self-application, and connection, the individualized approach to a universal movement. 
Describing Because the Internet as a world encapsulates the variety of transmedia art pieces that comprise its entirety, the time period in which it developed/released, and the audience exploration it encouraged. The album portion itself, Because the Internet, recorded in a “library turned studio,” was released on December 10, 2013, with songs separated into acts and scenes that correlated with the narrative provided in the script (Glover; T). This accompanying screenplay was released on becausetheinter.net before the album, and included prompts for songs to be played with silent film clips depicting portions of the script. The image displayed here shows the layout and look of this script.
In the lead-up to the release of the album and screenplay, Glover released a short film, Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, that played on a loop online. On Twitter and Instagram, he engaged fans and posted photos of himself and his crew, notably Jhene Aiko, as well as a series of hotel room notes that gained notoriety as public response pondered Glover’s seemingly suicidal tendencies (The Breakfast Club 2013). His website childishgambino.com became “a trove of hidden pages and exclusive content, including password-protected music videos, a meme generator, and behind-the-scenes footage,” as well as internet content that related to the world (Moore). He partnered with Tumblr IRL to create The Boy’s bedroom and perform in that space, Rap Genius and Reddit for Q&A’s with fans, and Airbnb to host invite-only get-togethers with fans to perform the album (Opam; Ortiz; Forever Childish). Desiring to connect with as many fans in real life as possible, he also hosted public listening parties in parks in major cities across North America (MTV; Mok). Ticket sales to the accompanying Deep Web Tour were spread through a link that invited audience members to join a chat room with Abella Anderson and “ask her about ‘tickets’” (Ortiz). (the "director's cut" played on loop online)
(the "internet version" was much shorter)
The Deep Web Tour was accompanied by the Deep Web App, to be used/experienced simultaneously in metamodern fashion. The show began with a DJ set by Stefan Ponce, and behind him, the stage would be a screen on which users of the Deep Web App could draw or type messages in a chat. Glover would take the stage, the background a digital graphic screen that would usually depict The Boy’s house, while throughout the show, screens would come down in different layers, projecting images upon the stage, such as that of a moon-shaped representation of audio of The Boy’s mother giving him advice, or a poll tied to the Deep Web App asking audience members how the performance of “III. Urn” was making them feel (Poll options: Lost, Some type of way, [Wide Eyed Emoij], and “Roscoe’s Wetsuit”) (“Childish Gambino Live at The Deep Web Tour San Diego 3/3/14;" Dionne). 
While on tour, Glover released weekly blogs full of text, video, and graphics encapsulating the tour experience, and even a trailer for a Because the Internet video game (“Because The Internet - The Game”). Glover also made public appearances in character, engaging in performance art by visually representing himself as The Boy, while radio hosts would jokingly wonder, “I don’t know if he’s here under his actor name or rapper name today” (The Breakfast Club 2013). Glover wore the same clothing throughout his transmedia world, keying in audiences on this shared, spread existence by visually assuming the identity of The Boy, whilst responding to questions directed at Childish Gambino or Donald Glover. By employing intertextual transmedia in these ways, Glover created a metamodern conception of simultaneous identities as one. Furthermore, by using and acknowledging the power of the web to unveil its dangers, Glover conveys the web’s sense of danger that coexists with connection-fostered-safety. The video game, which was never released, provided audiences with unique material concerning The Boy’s mother. The Boy and Rick Ross are shown at her grave, and there is flashback to The Boy and his mother in a car getting into an accident, seemingly the cause of her death. The Boy’s mother provides him with a blue orb, used in the game as a power-up, reflecting similar ideas of wisdom as the mother’s presence during the Deep Web Tour shows, as she imparts wisdom on Glover while he performs ("Childish Gambino Live at The Deep Web Tour San Diego 3/3/14"). In junction with the disconnect between The Boy and his father, The Boy’s struggle to receive guidance reflects society’s lack of blueprint or precedent for the internet, leaving them vulnerable.The infographic representation of this material has a nicely presented layout of the components of Because the Internet, check it out by clicking here.“This is the way information works now, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad” -Glover
Metamodernism is a feeling in art predicated on a coexistence of modernist and postmodernist principles, resulting in “informed naivety,” “pragmatic idealism,” and simultaneous sincerity and irony (Vermeulen & van den Akker). Metamodern art is oftentimes a response to crisis, and can grapple with recent events and issues, applying itself to the world in real time (Abramson “Ten Basic Principles of Metamodernism”). Modern criticism, although it never faced the internet’s existence in its heyday, might “[lament the] fragmentation” caused by the web, as technology and social media distort perceptions of reality (Barry 81). Postmodern criticism would instead celebrate the individual’s ability to construct any desired identity on the web, and is “likely to emphasize how meaning degenerates as it moves across the vast expanse of space between selves and groups of selves” (Abramson “Ten Basic Principles of Metamodernism”). Furthermore, in reference to Because the Internet, postmodernism would embrace the use of both “high and low culture” mediums, such as adult film star Abella Anderson’s inclusion in the experimental film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons (Barry 88). Postmodernism emphasizes distances and alienation between parties, yet “the Internet, by comparison, is a strange mix of distance and closeness, detachment and immediacy — our sense of ourselves and strangers’ varying senses of us… thus, metamodernism” (Abramson “Metamodernism: The Basics”). Glover, the metamodernist, notes the simultaneous existence of modernism and postmodernism’s seemingly diametrically opposed notions. Moreover, metamodernism itself does not uphold the notion that these two are the only suppositions of the web’s affect, as variations on user involvement lead to different capacities for danger or safety, and the metamodernist acknowledges the multiplicity of approach (Abramson “Ten Basic Principles of Metamodernism”). In amalgamating concerns of racial bias and internet-era dangers with existentialism’s emphasis of individual agency, in using intertextual and interdisciplinary transmedia to craft his world, Glover embodies the metamodern sentiment, placing an impetus on audiences both to interact with the art and to apply significance to their own lives.Metamodernists have claimed Glover as one of their own, amongst the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Reggie Watts, Wes Anderson, Lana Del Rey, and James Franco in a wave of popular metamodern artistry (Abramson “What is Metamodernism?”). While there has been previous study of Because the Internet as a metamodern work, most notably in Jesse Damiani’s web-essay “Childish Gambino and the Metamodern Ennui,” he ultimately fails to adequately address the proliferation of transmedia forms that make up the world, instead focusing primarily on the lyrical content and music videos. Whilst Damiani states that Glover “engenders discussion” through his art, he missteps in the notion that this exploration is shoved into “the same, infinite space where we do virtually everything else, [the internet],” failing to consider Glover’s live shows or pre-release gatherings in parks and houses across North America as recognition and outreach into the real world (“Part IV”). Metamodernist Seth Abramson’s identification of Glover as a metamodern artist unfortunately does not delve into an investigation of Glover’s work in detailed fashion (“What is Metamodernism?”). Thus, an examination of metamodern concepts as they apply to the transmedia world Because the Internet is sorely needed.Glover’s metamodern sensibilities are a response to crisis, both the individual existential crisis faced, as well as the collective grappling with the internet’s influence. Statements made in interviews along the lines of “we are more connected than ever but I have never felt so alone” echo this metamodern sense of the internet’s effect, and reflects the social desire “to be with each other, but also elsewhere - connected to all the different places they want to be,” pursuable through the power of the web (Breakfast Club 2013; Turkle). The sincere belief in love apparent in songs such as “I. Pink Toes” and “I. Flight of the Navigator,” as well as the script’s description of The Boy and Naomi’s love (“It’s a connection. The less alone. This is all we look for on earth”), coexists with the heartbreak evident in The Boy’s multiple ex-girlfriends, as well as his failures to connect with others (Glover 65). This is inextricably tied to Glover’s personal life, as he discusses the crisis he faced, when he was with “a girl [he] thought [he] was going to marry [before they] broke up,” and his ensuing suicide attempt (Pastuk). This solidifies the influence of metamodernism in the Because the Internet world, as “metamodernism is used by individuals and societies as a generative response to tragedy,” since metamodern art “gives one a reason to hope and the ability to stave off despair” through its optimism and sincerity in dealing with harsh cruelties (Abramson “Ten Basic Principles of Metamodernism”). Contextually considering the suicide attempt that preceded Glover’s creation of Because the Internet, his created world exemplifies his feelings of universality in individualized thoughts, evidenced in his reaction to onlookers’ concern over his seemingly suicidal Instagram notes: “Everybody feels that way. Everybody has suicidal thoughts. Everybody is on the verge of suicide every day. You could die at any moment!” (Moore). This conception of a line between life and death, if this line even exists, is quite thin. This danger is accentuated by the internet, as mistakes are made permanent: “because the internet, mistakes are forever / but if we fuck up on this journey, at least we’re together” (“III. Life: The Biggest Troll”). Thus, the vulnerability created by the web on the individual meets the safety of connection between humans, creating a simultaneous sense of togetherness and solitude, safety and fear, individual identity and collective presence. Because the Internet is a spotlight on the existential dilemma faced by society in the internet age, as well as the internet’s propensity and utilization to overcome said dilemma, thus being a metamodern representation of life’s simultaneous significance and meaninglessness.Roscoe’s Wetsuit
“Roscoe’s Wetsuit,” itself a phrase of simultaneous significance and meaninglessness, a mystery box of a phrase/hashtag/concept, appears throughout Glover’s Because the Internet world. It becomes a singular representation of this metamodern conception of identity, safety, and the web, contingent on its transmedia use both by Glover in his authorial role, as well as the proliferation and exploration of the phrase by his audience. The phrase first appeared on Glover’s twitter feed, and he would intermittently retweet accounts that had also tweeted the phrase (@DonaldGlover). “Roscoe’s” hints at identity, since it is a name, while also referring to the popular California-based restaurant chain, Roscoe’s Fried Chicken & Waffles, notably connected to African-American culture (Snoop Dogg being a notable celebrity endorser of the chain) (Roscoe’s Official). Thus, while the vague nature of the phrase makes it widely applicable, Glover, in an act of metamodernism, simultaneously hones in on African-American identity. “Wetsuit” refers to the act of surfing the web, related to the surfing near the beginning of the script, its protective properties, as well as the use of clothing as an expression of identity. The “Wetsuit” is a choice, a construction of identity when surfing the web. Glover’s pervasive use of this mystery box encouraged audience investigation and spreadability, realizing his desire for audience exploration of the world he created, evidenced in the plethora of chat rooms, forums, and articles dedicated to investigating the phrase’s significance (@Genius). Transmedia implementation of mystery boxes is predicated on the notion, that, in world-building, “mystery… is the catalyst for imagination,” and fans explored the meaning of Roscoe’s Wetsuit (Rose 4). In this, Glover captures transmedia’s capacity for engaging audience participation through his mystery box, and illustrates the metamodern conception of identity simultaneously overlapping with other facets of identity. Finally, the connotation of the wetsuit as a protective equipment emphasizes Glover’s spotlight on constructed identity as means of more safely surfing the web. 