As someone who has been to Burning Man several times, starting in 2010, I’m not sure THE MAN WILL BURN as a series on HBO and HBO Max should exist. (More on that later.) So for this review and any future reviews I may write about this docuseries, I will solely base my rating (🤩 or 😊 or 🤮) on my opinion of the quality of each episode. That will include the content covered, those that are interviewed, the quality of the interviews themselves, and other production-related things I might normally touch upon – e.g., cinematography, music, etc. Let’s talk about THE MAN WILL BURN.
E1 – THE GREAT UNKNOWN
Before we can really talk about Burning Man today, a series like this needs to talk about its history and its founders, and THE MAN WILL BURN does exactly that. Unfortunately, Burning Man’s most famous founder, Larry Harvey, died in 2018 at age 70, so we only get to see him in archival footage and interviews. I really enjoyed the interviews with the co-founders and the current CEO, Marian Goodell. Being a “burner” myself and spending a lot of time around people who have been going for many years, I hear Marian’s name come up in conversation from time to time. I know A LOT of folks think she should be replaced with someone fresh. I will say I do not envy her position at all, and from the footage it seems like she’s making mostly the best decisions based on the information she has at the time.
This series was shot during Covid, so for someone like me, who knows what the outcome of the first couple of episodes is, it all feels a bit like old news. I appreciate that the show gives a mix of old and new school and even goes so far as to include interviews with someone who is part of the community but has never been to the burn herself. The one person who I wish had been left out of this entire thing is Kimbal Musk, Elon’s less famous brother. Amongst the community, it’s no secret that the Musks have given a lot of money to keep Burning Man, a non-profit, afloat and moving. That being said, it feels like his position on the Board of Directors was purchased with their family influence. Perhaps this is more of a critique of Goodell and the organization (called the BORG or BMORG by participants), but I found his presence constantly off-putting and a reminder that Burning Man wants to be all-inclusive but can often feel like an event for the wealthy and privileged.
My favorite thing about E1 was the archival footage and shots inside the event itself. The Black Rock Desert, a few hours outside of Reno, Nevada, where the event takes place, is beautiful when it’s empty. And when it’s filled with happy people and art making up a temporary city, it’s something very unique that is hard to put into words to someone who has never experienced it themselves. The last time I went to the event was in 2022, and while I’m not sure I’ll ever go again, seeing those videos gave me the itch.
E2 WELCOME TO THE SHIT SHOW
If you talk to just about anyone who went to Black Rock City in 2021 for the “no burn,” they’ll tell you it was their favorite year. I wasn’t there. As a matter of fact, I was on a beach in Mexico with my Covid pod, and shortly thereafter I spent the last month of my mother’s life with her. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world, but there will always be a little part of me jealous about the year Burning Man happened, but didn’t.
E2 draws parallels between what was going on with the organization and the event in 2021 and what happened in 1996 as utter chaos broke out. Burning Man started in 1986 with a small group of friends on Baker Beach in San Francisco. It grew to include more people and eventually moved to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, where it grew even more. At the time, it was still very much on the fringes of society and attended almost primarily by artists, hippies, anarchists, and their friends. It was a place without rules or laws, which can be great when you’re just with a group of trusted friends. But when you gather up a few thousand folks, mass chaos can break out, and 1996 was that year.
Cut to 2021, the second year that the official Burning Man event was canceled because of COVID. At that point, a lot of people were sick and tired of being cooped up indoors and kept away from their social circles. E2 is all about these two events and what transpired and who wanted the event to happen and who didn’t. Kimbal Musk, unfortunately, features heavily again. And, as you might imagine, he gives a lot of very “Musk” responses to the ongoing pandemic.
E2 brings in some additional participants, including a retired African American veteran from the East Coast who wants to attend his first burn. I wish the camera crew had captured more people like this. Every time he or his family is on-screen, it’s a delight. Burning Man is often accused of being homogenous (aka non-diverse), but there is an ever-growing group of non-white participants. The event draws crowds from all over the world, including Latin America, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and even parts of Africa.
As a participant, I didn’t know the full history of the 1996 event. I’d heard it was bad and had heard that major changes came shortly thereafter, but seeing video of it and hearing first-hand accounts really brought it into perspective. I know there are burners out there who wish the event could go back to how it was in the 1990s, but seeing this, I’m glad it can’t ever go back to being a complete free-for-all among thousands.
Earlier, I mentioned I wasn’t sure if this show should exist at all, something I feel strongly in my bones. The first year I was invited to Burning Man was 1997. I was living in Astoria, Queens, and working and going to school in Manhattan when a co-worker invited me. My first thought was, “You want us to go to the desert and camp? Like without toilets?” Young college-age me could not comprehend this. I hate to admit it, but I probably laughed in her face. Once I moved to Los Angeles, I started meeting several folks who went in the early 2000s. It intrigued me more, but I didn’t really start thinking seriously about it until 2008 or 2009. Then on a fated backpacking trip through South America, my friends and I decided 2010 was our year.
2010 was the first year it sold out from my recollection, but it was still easy to get a ticket. By the time we had committed to going, the regular tickets were gone, but we easily got resales from folks who were willing to let them go for less than they bought them for. And even a sold-out event that year with about 51,000 participants was still not mainstream, but it was the beginning of “the influencer” period. Tech bros, rich politicians, and celebrities were already semi-secretly a part of Black Rock City’s annual event. But as social media grew, so did the sharing of photos and videos of the event until the event grew to almost 80,000 participants in 2019. It was then that I realized maybe it was better off when not as many people knew about it.
Burning Man operates under the guidance of 10 Principles, written by Larry Harvey in 2004. #1 is RADICAL INCLUSION. With that in mind, everyone should go or be able to go. Harvey himself hoped to grow the event to over 1 million participants. But #2 is DECOMMODIFICATION, which means when you’re at the event, nothing is sold or bought (with the exception of ice because water = survival). It also means that Burning Man has no corporate sponsors, which brings me back to that knot in my stomach. Is HBO (and Warner Brothers) sort of sponsoring Burning Man with this docuseries? Were the participants, including Goodell and other Board members, paid to participate? Was archival footage sold to the producers? I don’t have these answers, but it’s a feeling I can’t get past.
While it is here, though, I do recommend watching it. If it inspires a few people to take their first journey to Burning Man as participants, that will be wonderful. “Participant” is a key word here that I’ve used on purpose over and over. One of the 10 Principles is PARTICIPATION. No one at Burning Man should be a bystander. Everyone in Black Rock City comes to GIVE (another principle) something of themselves. It could be something tangible like artwork. It could be musical performances or volunteer hours. It could be food or drink to give away. But whatever it is, if you come to our not-so-little temporary city the last week of August, don’t come just to watch and take.
THE MAN WILL BURN airs Thursdays on HBO and HBO Max.
