I haven't written about the "How to With John Wilson" documentary series before now, because I haven't watched the show consistently. It was a show that took me a few tries to get on the same wavelength with, because it's so utterly unique. There are three seasons of six episodes each, where our host, writer, and cinematographer, John Wilson, gives advice on a particular topic of the day, like "How to Put up Scaffolding" or "How to Be Spontaneous."
This is really just a jumping off point for Wilson's long, rambling, existential monologues as he explores his native New York, capturing all the little oddities and idiosyncrasies of life in the city. His spoken observations are ironically contrasted with the images his camera captures, and he's prone to going off on these amazing tangents, and meeting interesting characters from all walks of life. In one episode he ends up in a convention of "Avatar" enthusiasts. In one episode he checks in on self-cleaning public bathrooms. Many episodes are deeply introspective and involve exploring Wilson's own life and search for self-improvement. Sometimes he touches on fairly deep and heady material, as Wilson struggles with how to approach modern society and his place in it. The show is also known for wild turns, like the time "How to Appreciate Wine" turned into a meditation on how to fit in with groups, and we eventually learned that John Wilson participated in a contentious college a capella competition that ended in beef with a notorious NXIVM cult leader. However, Wilson's adventures always start with the mundane and ordinary little frustrations of living in a city crammed with so many other human beings.
"John Wilson" feels like watching a series of video diaries, made by a very endearing, very anxious man who doesn't get in front of the camera if he can help it. Wilson has a great knack for catching weird moments of modern life on film that are unquestionably authentic. Clever editing might smooth out some of the bumpy transitions, but I take Wilson at his word that many of the lucky chance encounters he has are real. He's incredibly relatable and reassuringly ordinary in every interaction, and thus able to express the experience of living in New York in a way that I don't think anyone else ever has. Wilson also has a love of nerdy minutiae that is reflected in the show. There's an entire, wondrous episode just devoted to scaffolding, the omnipresent, building-obscuring structures that every New-Yorker is well-practiced in navigating themselves around. And Wilson is able to construct an insightful, funny half hour on the topic that both despairs of how scaffolding has gotten so out of hand in the city, and celebrates how New Yorkers have found ways to deal with it, work around it, and maybe even embrace it.
Many episodes take Wilson out of New York, and send him on long trips to interview people across the country and attend events, like a convention on the Mandela effect in Idaho, or a vacuum cleaner enthusiast convention in Pennsylvania. He always winds up back home, however, and we get to know his spartan apartment, his cat, and his ancient landlady, who he always addresses as "Mama." The style of the show is very DIY and no frills, which just adds to its charm. The opening titles are done in Wilson's messy scribbles, and he provides the voice over narration for every single episode. It's a little disappointing to learn that Wilson isn't a one-man filmmaker, doesn't shoot all the footage in the show himself, and has help on his scripts. However, his vision and his voice never feel compromised for a second.
"John Wilson" makes for an excellent time capsule of 2020s New York, especially one episode from the first season - "How to Cook the Perfect Risotto," that starts with John Wilson's attempts at cooking and ends with the city shutting down as the COVID lockdowns start taking effect. This collision with current events is truly surreal, and seen through Wilson's eyes it feels especially anxious and bleak. It's a turn that he clearly didn't script, but dutifully filmed and preserved as part of his life. And I'm very, very grateful that he was able to share it with us, and that HBO somehow funded three seasons of this strange, profound, ineffable and truly singular piece of television.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment