"How to with John Wilson" is many things. Most clearly, it's a love letter to New York City-- its environment, its energy, its blemishes (I'm sorry but you couldn't pay me enough money to live right next to a Subway station like that one guy does). It's also awkward, hilarious, absurd, nasally, and visually stunning. But it doesn't too take much digging to realize it's a love letter to humanity as well. The range of characters featured on this show is just insane, and yes, despite being a docu-comedy series, some of these people truly feel like characters. But they're not, and that's the beauty of this show.
Ironically, even in the final season's most meta moments in which we begin to question just how much of the show has been real and whether or not HBO cares about our eponymous documentarian, "How to with John Wilson" is still dripping with sincerity. We see John's continual struggle with his insecurities: the desire to be seen as spectacular, or even to just be seen at all. It's moments like these-- moments with grieving Vacuum Collectors bound by a strange yet earnest love for cleaning equipment-- that pull viewers in and allow them to take solace in the fact that their own problems in life are universal. Fragile, scared, borderline cultists (though ones that are never unsympathetic) in Arizona grasping at straws in pursuit of living forever, humble competitive pumpkin growers in suburban New York-- the people on John Wilson's show are not just effortlessly entertaining given their quirks, they're also all just so relatable given their problems, grievances, and even mannerisms.
It's genuinely unbelievable how talented John Wilson is at crafting laugh-out-loud-funny yet simultaneously emotional and poetic stories from what is essentially just random footage of things he sees around New York City. This is a beautiful documentary series that captures the human condition in one of the most meditative (though often cathartic) ways imaginable.
People are so much more unique than we give them credit for and seeing people be honest versions of themselves has been such a pleasure these last few years. I love this show so much.
Ironically, even in the final season's most meta moments in which we begin to question just how much of the show has been real and whether or not HBO cares about our eponymous documentarian, "How to with John Wilson" is still dripping with sincerity. We see John's continual struggle with his insecurities: the desire to be seen as spectacular, or even to just be seen at all. It's moments like these-- moments with grieving Vacuum Collectors bound by a strange yet earnest love for cleaning equipment-- that pull viewers in and allow them to take solace in the fact that their own problems in life are universal. Fragile, scared, borderline cultists (though ones that are never unsympathetic) in Arizona grasping at straws in pursuit of living forever, humble competitive pumpkin growers in suburban New York-- the people on John Wilson's show are not just effortlessly entertaining given their quirks, they're also all just so relatable given their problems, grievances, and even mannerisms.
It's genuinely unbelievable how talented John Wilson is at crafting laugh-out-loud-funny yet simultaneously emotional and poetic stories from what is essentially just random footage of things he sees around New York City. This is a beautiful documentary series that captures the human condition in one of the most meditative (though often cathartic) ways imaginable.
People are so much more unique than we give them credit for and seeing people be honest versions of themselves has been such a pleasure these last few years. I love this show so much.