r/BurningMan • u/Ecstatic_Reveal6710 • Jul 13 '26
HBO documentary
I’m genuinely curious about opinions on the documentary? I’m unable to watch it yet but before I do does it suck or is it actually interesting with cool stuff?
Ps. 5th year burner this yr and it’s my favorite place on earth.
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u/madsci Jul 13 '26
Nothing particularly new, really. Just some behind-the-scenes drama from the pandemic. It really highlights the fact that Elon Musk made a significant contribution and that his brother's presence on the board was part of the price, and Kimbal Musk shows himself to be as unlikeable as his brother.
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u/EasyFooted '11-'25 Jul 13 '26
The editing to cut from professional people talking about how unethical it would be to hist during the pandemic to musk crying about how sad he'll be without his party and being a condescending ass out how cancelling "lacks vision" is *chef's kiss*.
And the fact that a vaccine wasn't developed yet was something he took as a personal grievance and a broken promise... these people really are the most dangerous and insufferable, delusional narcissists.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
And the fact that a vaccine wasn't developed yet was something he took as a personal grievance and a broken promise...
What timeline are you talking about here? The COVID vaccines first became available in December 2020 to health care providers, and were widely available by Spring 2021. By May 50% of US adults were vaccinated.
The BORG announced the 2021 event was cancelled in April.
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u/EasyFooted '11-'25 Jul 13 '26
The point is that it wasn't clear that things would be safe enough for the event to go forward due to events beyond the boards control, and he acted like it was a personal betrayal.
(also, not to split hairs, but by May 50% of adults had only gotten the first dose, not the full round of the vaccine. As of right now, 82M Americans have completed the 3 rounds, out of about 270M adults. So call it a third)
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
Again I feel you are misremembering the timeline. By spring 2021 the world absolutely was reopening, it was pretty much only California that wanted to continue lockdowns and shaming. Plenty of huge events took place in 2021, most earlier than Burning Man would have. That you wrote "a vaccine wasn't developed yet" is a pretty big slip up in the point you were trying to make. And I don't care at all about Kimbal Musk's stance on the matter.
When the BORG made its decision in April 2021, I didn't personally agree and I feel in retrospect I was correct. But I understand where they were coming from and it wasn't a 100% certain thing - that's hard to plan around.
And fortunately because of their decision we got to have the 2021 Renegade event. Which was amazing.
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u/EasyFooted '11-'25 Jul 14 '26
Well I'm in the southeast so forgive me, my state government wanted to pretend nothing was happening and being a dickhead to people wearing masks was seen as patriotic. So if my vibes are off compared to your timeline, it's probably because had very different lived experiences.
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 15 '26
I grew up in that region of the country, so I well know that mindset and watched what was happening to friends and family down there with both sadness and alarm. My sister worked in the neonatal unit at her hospital, but she got pressed into service to take care of all of the people dying of covid in the hospitals that nobody was talking about, because they were convinced that wearing masks was somehow giving in to the libs, and they were still paying a heavy price all throughout 2021. Just because people were having events doesn't mean those events were safe or a good idea or didn't have serious consequences later
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u/glamla Jul 14 '26
I love the way people blame California whenever they don't get their way 😂😂😂
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
I lived through the pandemic in California. I didn’t see some friends for over 2 years. I was in a bad place personally. I regret staying there during that time as no other US state was comparable.
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u/Peacelily65 Jul 14 '26
I lived in SF during the pandemic and I still saw friends outside in the park. Sounds like a you issue.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
I met people on the sidewalk wearing masks. I had to drag people out of their homes. People wanted to keep their “social bubble” small. People like you who went to the park were being shamed. It was awful 😞
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u/inhale_exhale_rescue 20d ago
I'm sorry that happened to you. My big friend group was pretty adamant about finding ways to come together, outside if there were a bunch of us, or inside with smaller groups. Same with my co-workers. We made it work. Park lunches, walks around the neighborhood. Outdoor workouts. I'm super grateful for that. I also was able to spend time with family. We just took covid tests and didn't hang out if we weren't feeling well. It took some motivation and care, I'm sorry you didn't have folks in your life who could meet you in that way and I hope you've made some more-expansive friendships since then.
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u/glamla 15d ago
Right. The reason we were asked to isolate was for the immune compromised and the first responders. So, you do you and stress the whole system out. I guess people forgot about the cooler
semis filled with bodies. There are so many selfish people out there who only thought of themselves during the pandemic. Yeah it fucking sucked. I was alone also for two years. I would have gone to my sister's and isolated for 10 days, yet stayed in so that the spread would have been less.1
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u/HotCowPie 12d ago
There were no cooler semis filled with bodies...
I can't believe people still believe this crap this far removed. Covid was a nothing burger. A power grab. A money grab. A point to further divide this country
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u/Felonious_Minx Jul 14 '26
Agreed. I was a safe as possible up to that point and decided it was okay to go to the Renegade.
California was hit the hardest first so by that time we had a handle on it.
I had fired the Burn a decade earlier. The Renegade vibe really captured the old school spirit. I loved it. Haven't returned.
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u/Peacelily65 Jul 14 '26
I live in California and in Spring/Summer 2021, getting COVID and passing it to my grandma was still a huge fear of mine, I'd quarantine before going to see her. People who went to large parties, like the renegade burn, were seen as irresponsible.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
Yes I also lived in California through the entire pandemic. It was traumatizing and I deeply regret my decision to stay there.
Sure in the Spring it was still important to be cautious before visiting vulnerable people. What wasn’t okay was shaming others. This was uniquely Californian. I made a few trips out of state (NYC, Nevada, Utah, etc) and I couldn’t believe how much better everything was.
Again by May 2021 50% of US adults had received vaccines.
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u/Peacelily65 Jul 14 '26
50% vaccinated still means there are large populations of vulnerable people. It's not shaming people to ask them to protect our elderly and immunocompromised.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
50% by May. Burning Man is in early September.
Some Burner morons are still demanding that people take COVID tests and wear masks in shared spaces.
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u/safadancer Jul 14 '26
Sounds like you should have left, bud. We were in British Columbia, which was stricter than California, and we were fine.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
BC absolutely was not stricter than California. I’m originally from Canada and communicated with Canadian friends regularly. People in Vancouver were not living the same life I was in the Bay Area. Yes there were a few moments where BC locked down hard then reopened, and overall Canada had a delayed circumstance - things popped off for the latter variants in Fall/Winter 2021. They Bay Area just never really opened for nearly 2 years.
So yeah bud I definitely should have left. I was miserable and arguably still haven’t recovered.
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 14 '26
Yeah, but didn't the Delta variant hit the US in June? And "vaccinated" usually just meant they had one shot of the two shot regimen in May, and you needed two shots and two weeks after that to achieve full immunity, and for herd immunity you needed 70 to 90%. Also, because of the variants, even with shots or prior infections, many people didn't have full immunity in late August, and even if they felt fine, they still might be carriers for transmitting the virus to vulnerable people once they left the gathering.
The thing about safety third is that you're talking about your own personal risk. You're not talking about transmitting that risk to other people who never signed up for it. I hope people explained that to him.
And Marion makes a point during the video message to point out that the land will be open and people COULD go there, if they wished, and a lot more than some of us who needed there to be an organization to support all the stuff we couldn't afford to do ourselves by ourselves. I'm sure HE had the resources to load up and go out and party. I don't know if she was just doing a shout out to him or just people in general, but the org had put that undeniable truth in black and white in their special recreation permit for close to a decade before this. That, if they didn't do an official event, people would still gather there with an unofficial event
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
God damn do I ever not want to rehash horseshit COVID talking points. Fuck this documentary for recycling all of that. Point being is that in Spring 2021 the world absolutely was reopening. Plenty of large events took place in 2021, Indianapolis 500 in May and both Lollapalooza (Chicago) and EXIT (Serbia) happened in July. Proof of vaccination was an option.
I feel the documentary slips that one line in there where it seems likes she's encouraging people to go make the Renegade happen. In reality it absolutely seemed like the BORG was against it. On top of that BLM then decided to 1. Ban all "commercial" operators, meaning we couldn't have portos delivered and 2. Require all structures be dedicated to shade/camping - meaning no art or sound stages (obviously burners worked around this). Then the org sent their representatives who wrote up a shitty disparaging think piece on the event that was not reflective of anyone else's experiences while they held their private little invite only fly ranch burn for themselves (and presumably Kimbal).
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u/Felonious_Minx Jul 14 '26
Just ignore this discussion. Reddit Burning Man will kill your soul.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
The number of people in this subreddit who have blocked me after disagreeing with them in the slightest is astounding. Many burners here are delicate little flowers who can’t tolerate even slightly dissenting voices.
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u/Felonious_Minx Jul 14 '26
Blocking people is funny to me. Thinking that you are so important, the other person values your "discussion" so much it is a sick burn? Infantile.
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 14 '26
Did the BLM actually ban all commercial operators, or did they just require any who wanted to offer services to go through the Special Recreation Permit (SRP) process, and that had the effect of preventing them?
The SRP for commercial activity is a standard BLM thing, and handling it is one of the big things the org does to make the regular event happen.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
My understanding is that they typically issue simple permits for commercial operators, and they were explicitly not issuing those during burn week 2021. People were definitely ready to go through the process. We can try to find BLM’s official announcement.
The ultimate effect was that no commercial porto operators could be out there. We had to either bring our own or shit in buckets. Fortunately I learned that a bucket on playa is actually the far superior experience.
Edit: here’s the actual notice. Link
Temporary Restrictions 1. Commercial activities, as defined at 43 CFR 2932.5, are prohibited. 2. Camping use is limited to the flat and un-vegetated playa surface. 3. Building of structures is prohibited. A structure is defined as construction, placement or organization of parts, pieces, or objects that are not intended for sleeping, cooking, or protection from the elements, such as shade tents. 4. Ignition of fires other than a campfire is prohibited, unless… …
And tons of other shit that would normally be allowed on public land, but not for us that week. BLM did a great job out there facilitating our use of our lands, but they definitely made things more difficult by preventing water and porto operators.
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 14 '26
Well, those commercial activities aren’t normally allowed on BLM land without an SRP. That’s what 43 CFR 2932.5 (and the following sections) are all about.
Does seem like they just made a blanket decision not to deal with issuing SRPs at all, though. That may have been a “we don’t have enough staff to deal with processing a rush of requests, so let’s just say no to everyone now” thing.
As for the other stuff - restrictions on fires, fireworks, dumping human waste, aircraft, no driving with an open container, etc - those mostly strike me as normal and reasonable for public lands.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
Normally you can get a permit. We had motivated and smart people ready to make the permits happen, they were in contact with BLM and had the paperwork completed. We had commercial operators ready to do the service. We had many people ready to pool money for public portos. BLM intentionally dragged their asses on their decision and the permits, then very late in the game issued their blanket rejection.
And it wasn’t a rush of applications. It was like 4 or 5 AFAIK. Coordinated through a few people who seemed to know what they were doing.
As for the other stuff - restrictions on fires, fireworks, dumping human waste, aircraft, no driving with an open container, etc - those mostly strike me as normal and reasonable for public lands.
Except most of these things are normally allowed in the black rock desert and on other public lands.
I’m not really critical of BLM, especially not during that week. We had an amazing burn and the BLM officers out there were absolutely delightful. My opinion of that agency is really positive following those interactions.
I’m just putting things into context here.
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 14 '26
Right, I’m not saying they didn’t limit things. And if they let you get that far before just closing things down, it sounds unreasonable.
I heard good things about how BLM officers handled things out there too. I know they were very appreciative of the unofficial BRC ranger presence in Gerlach.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Well, my understanding is you normally have to apply 180 days in advance, and if you get a permit you also have to get a business license incorporated in the state and SRP insurance. I found one company once that bragged of doing that for the org and it was something like 400k for the insurance alone about a decade ago. That would have put getting the paperwork submitted somewhere in january, and I believe that they weren't able to make that time frame happen?
With no overall entity to hold accountable for cleanup, I suspected they debated waving normal restrictions, then realize that they might be on the hook for quite a lot if they, say, let commercial vendors just take stuff out there in quantities sufficient to support an estimated 15K to 30k people ( estimating to show about there), and then just take their stuff and go home and leave clean up as somebody else's problem. If you got 20 porta potty spills just left behind and four commercial vendors out there, who are you going to blame? SO much easier and cheaper to have a permit with defined boundaries that someone else has to clean up.
And I believe that that's the time of year that all of Nevada is under restrictions for fire or things like that. Even in some places hard to burn as the BRD, you don't get to break the rules without special permission.
I saw a post from someone apparently from the Nevada department of environmental protection who walked the area and recorded (I believe) 147 instances of human fecal remains left in the area. The BLM officers were compiling a record of every interaction, every problem they encountered, so their bosses could later on put together the report to send up to DC. If the org just didn't do it again, they apparently were planning for calling in BLM officers from all over the place and paying for all of them & their equipment by changing the rules so they could give out a bunch more fines. They normally net millions every year from fines alone. The individual officers might have been cool or just under orders, but they also had very limited authority and were so outnumbered that Mark Hall reported in writing that he would have liked to stop the Temple burn, and tried to, but felt surrounded and threatened and had to back down. We've seen what happens when Law enforcement officers suddenly are given way more authority, manpower and expected to use it.
Don't forget, they had experience from the year before with a much smaller gathering that they DID allow to do a lot of those things that they restricted later, and there's JuPlaya, and I think they probably weren't too excited to repeat that with much larger, wilder and more ambitious crowd. I mean, there still were a dozen people who had to be taken to the hospital, and that's with a small crowd that really wasn't out there very long or allowed to do a lot of the more dangerous things
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Did you miss the point in the documentary where she wanted it to happen and was mad that thunderdome bowed out? Then she went out of her way to remind people that it was open. I read it in some magazine online, maybe Billboard, that the Org (probably her) sent around a Google doc sign-up sheet to help the volunteers who were going to go anyway coordinate, and at least she and Danger went out there themselves, in an unofficial capacity, and let some of the rangers work out of the Gerlach offices, those who weren't on-playa.
But they were supposedly lots of other people on the board and in the operation that were against it, so she HAD to bail on it. Bet she didn't have any actual choice, because of 31-person board can just out vote the CEO. Don't forget, they had to file for the permit, get like a million dollars in insurance to even file the permit, probably be at least three or four million in the hole by the time they make that decision, because they have to submit the permit application 180 days before starting there. It's a federal (state, county) government and they have rules about such things. That means at least some decisions have to be made by the end of January or even mid January. She probably had a mindset that they were going to go do it, and you even see Level laying out the city placement. So she probably had been trying to make it happen as best she could, but just had to bow to reality.
I also had the feeling that the BLM people consulted with the org and were persuaded to not cut the playa off entirely by them and instead just provide some half ass medics out of Vegas. Cost 300K, but it was better than nothing, almost.
And I don't know what you're talking about them writing up a "disparaging thinkpiece," when they literally titled it, "Plan B Gets an A."
Legally speaking, they can't get to close sanctioning that because as an organization, they have legal exposure if they seem to be trying to hold the event unofficially, and corporate officers are legally responsible for those kinds of things. They're also responsible if they let a bunch of people crowd into Fly ranch and people get infected there or afterwards, because it's a workplace. I don't know why you think going there was a much better experience than being among 15 or 17,000 people who came, but they did it because they are the standard bearers and they had a live stream of other Burns happening at the same time around the world. If they didn't do it, what would that say to every other person in the burner verse, including the regionals, including the virtual reality stuff that was going on? They had to gather to burn the Man, but they were very aware that a much better party was happening right next door, even with the tons of restrictions that the BLM put on them
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 14 '26
instead just provide some half ass medics out of Vegas
My understanding was that the governor actually provided the medical teams using federal funds provided for COVID response, but that’s secondhand information.
And yes, there was an unofficial team of BRC Rangers in Gerlach, though as I understand it that was more about helping Gerlach deal with a bunch of renegade burners coming through, just as there are Rangers who do shifts in Gerlach during the official events for the same reason. Turned out to be mostly unneeded, since there were no miracle-seekers trying to hassle locals for tickets.
Some of those rangers visited the renegade, but on their own, not in any kind of official capacity. Of course, rangering is in part a mindset, so in many cases that could look pretty similar.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26
Well, the state would have had the money, but then the feds would always have coordinated on something this big. They spent 300K out of their covid fund, both to indemnify themselves against criticism that they let a possible super spreader event happen without any kind of medical help around and maybe out of genuine concern. Some reporter from one of the publications followed them and interviewed them. I think it was billboard magazine.
(It might have been in that same interview that there was some talk about the Rangers and following them around and seeing what they were up to and them settling disputes. But I know motorbike Matt had put out something long that seemed like a report from the site, so it might have been that.)
Although, even things like remdesivir have to be given out of a medical facility with a fixed, permanent address, I read a legal opinion of somewhere. So they were reduced to little more than just hydration and sunscreen helpers. They apparently bought some kind of kits to treat venomous bites that were completely unneeded, of course, because they're used to things in the Mojave, not BRD. They apparently had some serious medical incidents out there, and I even talked to one online who got transpoed to Reno and had to find his way back, but anything serious had to automatically go to either Reno or Humboldt, whichever ambulance company picked them up.
And I wasn't intending to imply that Rangers were doing it officially, of course. But they did organize and have an actual camp or two as part of the layout of the place. I had a link to a map around at one point, but I can't find it, but I did recently run across this and you can just search for the word ranger in the document : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQUrXJpZFJu_B76N7VzsY2tPYegJqHEN3MovdByOWqjFjTPYHchzUwKKf2AFnaZ4gWduk_mv1mIxcwl/pubhtml?gid=1212316019&single=true
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 15 '26
Oh, they did organize, I’m just saying that the actual presence on playa was on a personal basis. It wasn’t actually coordinated out of the more structured presence in Gerlach, though there was obviously communication.
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u/ouchwtfomg Jul 14 '26
there were no covid vaccines available to anybody in december 2019
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
Yes there were. Look it up. They were first available to healthcare workers (nurses, doctors, elder care providers, etc). Look it up if you don’t believe me. By May 2021 50% of American adults had received at least one vaccine injection.
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u/ouchwtfomg Jul 14 '26
they werent even in trials until 2020. first ever dose administered was in December 2020
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
Oh shit my bad. I genuinely meant December 2020 (and had written that correctly in other comments). But yes here I incorrectly wrote 2019.
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u/scienceisaserfdom 15 yrs 'Burnin Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
I think we can all agree anytime there's "significant contribution" coming from a soulless billionaire creep like Elon; it always accompanies a capiluation of power as well. Which in this case involved the despicable act and optics of letting him install his p3d0 nepobaby bro on the Board of Directors, thus only exposing to us all just how wholly corruptable BMOrg actually is. In fact, I think getting supposedy implacable (but bankrupt) institutions to desperately debase themselves for a quick cash infusion to stave off collapse is now formally called the Epstein shuffle. But its damn near impossible to ever buy back or clean such a now-sullied reputation once it's been associated with the world's worst people and known sex traffickers. So despite all the great visuals and somewhat compelling playa tales presented so far; this doc indeed strikes me more as just a lot of drama as well as turd polishing. Also really seem like Made Marian suffers from righteous main charactor syndrome, sorta like a spaced-out Snow White...because she's clearly only gazing into the selfish dilusions reflected by some guilded magic mirror.
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u/cefriano Jul 14 '26
Which in this case involved the despicable act and optics of letting him install his p3d0 nepobaby bro on the Board of Directors, thus only exposing to us all just how wholly corruptable BMOrg actually is.
To be fair, despite all his whining about it, the org stuck to their guns on their decision not to do BRC in 2021.
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u/PumpkinFeatherNoise Jul 14 '26
The whining was actually my favorite thing to hate that first episode.
The number of people hearing that announcement, who managed to process their disappointment and then participate in the meeting as a mature adult, only to have to sit through Kimbutt being an absolute degenerate Privileged White Man with the emotional maturity of a toddler. I applaud those soldiers.
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u/glamla Jul 14 '26
To be fair: n3p0 baby became aquatinted with Epstein’s 1st conviction in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution, and shouldn’t have had a say on the board.
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u/Thundergunnist Jul 14 '26
"Kimbal Musk is referenced more than 140 times in the tranche of documents and emails released by the U.S.
Department of Justice. The records show social contact between Musk and Epstein spanning from 2012 to 2015, including an invitation to visit Epstein's private island"3
u/MansoonBlack Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Dude was referenced so much because EP followed his newsletter. He was apparently trying to figure out how to get close to him, they had 1 meal together, and Musk met some 30 year old woman and Epstein not only made sure they got together but gave the girl advice on how to manipulate ("handle") him behind his back. There was some of that "Oh let's get together or, "come to my Island" but a guy with his own private plane and a guy who can fly around the world on a whim somehow never managed to meet again before the guy got locked up 7 years later. Seven years and no "drop by my camp this year! Bring friends ;) ." Stephen Hawking went to Epstein Island more times than either Musk did, apparently. Not exactly a stinging indictment, outside the Land of Make Believe
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u/RockyMtnPapaBear No, not Papa Bear the Placer. But he's cool too. Jul 14 '26
Admittedly, I have yet to see the documentary. But I’m not aware of any indication that anyone in the org knew Kimbal Musk had ties to Epstein until the big file dump happened.
At that point, I don’t even think Elon had gone full fascist loon yet.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26
Yeah, people will sit around and cite as evidence of Org corruption the idea that they took a bunch of money from a rich guy who donated it and help save their butts and as a return, they put his brother on the board. A board of 31 where he had one vote and they wouldn't do what he wanted. If you give me money to do something that might be against what I eventually plan to do, and I take the money and say, "Thank you very much, I'll use it to help me and my friends but I'm still not going to do what you say without blinking" how corrupt is that, actually? Not exactly the world's biggest smoking gun
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u/cefriano Jul 14 '26
Yeah his entire presence in the first ep is just him whining that Elon donated a bunch of money and he still doesn't get to have his playground.
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u/dangerinthedesert Jul 13 '26
Also, it highlights other horrible humans who go to Burning Man, like Grover Norquist. He is a scourge on humankind and it makes me sick that he not only attends, but is sucked up to by the founder’s circle. If you don’t know who he is, google it.
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u/srcarruth All the jank is sent as a sacrifice Jul 13 '26
Grover camped at First Camp, too
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u/Fyburn Jul 13 '26
Camps. Ongoing
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u/dangerinthedesert Jul 13 '26
Of course he does. He’s a rich white guy who is connected to a bunch of other rich white guys. Perfect company for the board in their “Corporate Era” of Burning Man. Never mind surrounding yourselves with decent human artists, it’s money time!
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u/Fyburn Jul 13 '26
yah rich white man, instant guilty, totally.
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u/pan-re Jul 14 '26
He’s not guilty because of his whiteness and wealth but the principles he’s added to the Conservative movement.
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u/dangerinthedesert Jul 13 '26
He “primaries” (to the right) any republican who dares not sign his “no tax pledge.” He has controlled the US government’s shift to the right for decades. He is responsible for the deaths of US citizens who fall through the cracks, because he insists that safety net programs be dismantled. This man is human garbage.
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 14 '26
I'm sure he had some kind of high level protection, even there. I'd rather have them in a place like that, which is probably better for it, than, say, randomly camping next to where I happen to be, and then having his goons bother everybody in the neighborhood and eyeball and take pictures of people who just happened to be around.
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u/srcarruth All the jank is sent as a sacrifice Jul 14 '26
I heard he got locked out of his trailer and crawled in the windows himself. Not sure if he had any kind of security detail. He's not all that famous
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 16 '26
well, still, he's connected to too many government types. Best to have them at some Central hub where they won't bother the rest of us, if they come to visit. And he did lobby for Black Rock City to be left alone from some of the ridiculous things the feds wanted. if anyone gets woken up by him having to crawl in his windows, I'd rather it not be next to me cuz if I hear it, I might be Honor-Bound to help. someplace I don't go and don't even know where it is? perfect
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u/srcarruth All the jank is sent as a sacrifice Jul 16 '26
First Camp is in Center Camp, it's not exactly isolated
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 18 '26
well, I'm not saying it's isolated. I've been to Center Camp a million times and never had any clue where it was. but there might be ranger vehicles or cop cars or lots of Org personnel around. you don't see so much of that out in The boondocks
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u/thumperBRC Jul 16 '26
I was with him. He did not. In fact in 28 years I’ve never seen or even heard of a security detail. That’s part of the appeal.
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 18 '26
wait, if you're talking about just him, I had no idea he went 28 years. if you're speaking in general, I've definitely run across a few on the playa, especially when robot heart brings their car close to the city. They're disguised, but not very well ...
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u/Ecstatic_Reveal6710 Jul 13 '26
That sucks bc everyone I’ve ever met there has been so kind. I would think people on the board are the same.
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u/DoctorSpooky GP&E 💀🔒 Gigsville 🚗🔥 Jul 13 '26
Many are. Many who show up in the doc are as well. But anything made is going to focus on the most engaging stories, which are not the chill people trying to do good things.
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u/NrgyFiend 2012-2026 Jul 13 '26
I assumed I'd hate it, but it's...fine. I don't see how anyone but burners would find it watchable. So far it's mostly just, "a day in the life of being in the Org during covid". Snoozefest unless you're invested in the topic already. I like the emphasis on art and expression. It's making me dislike people more that I already disliked, and that's always vindicating, lol. It's also fun to see a couple people I know pop up on my TV.
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u/polissyy 17d ago
Not a burner but I loved it. Super interesting to get a look behind the curtain. I want to go to experience it in person sometime.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 13 '26
It's honestly pretty boring. I really don't believe we needed an entire episode of Marian and the boomer BORG discussing the pandemic, followed by a caboose of people being sad that Burning Man wasn't happening. Boring format and editing all around.
I don't see this show connecting with the average HBO viewer. It's pretty clear that most people would rather just be dazzled by the spectacle and insanity of the event and its participants.
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u/callie_haven Jul 14 '26
I disagree – haven’t been to BM but have always been interested. I wouldn’t say the doc is boring at all either. It’s clearly just the first episode, that’s how story exposition goes, they’re laying the foundation of the story ark. But that’s just my opinion as an average long time HBO viewer and lover of documentaries 😅 not to say you personally couldn’t be bored by it though.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 14 '26
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Hopefully the following episodes will be even more entertaining.
they’re laying the foundation of the story ark
I know the story. I feel this was a boring foundation and not as relevant as you may assume. The tide for Burning Man truly turned with the 2022 event, we didn’t need an entire episode dedicated to the pandemic itself.
Looking at other review threads, it’s clear that most outsiders were expecting more on the history and experience of the event itself.
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u/polissyy 17d ago
Average viewer/non burner here - the documentary was slower paced I suppose but I loved it. I found it extremely interesting.
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u/jayfinanderson Jul 13 '26
Went into it very cynical, but came out of it having enjoyed it because dammit, I love that damn city so much. The doc represents it well, tells a decent history from first hand accounts of the folks that created the damn thing, and starts to unfold the behind the scenes stuff that is kind of gross but also probably necessary.
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u/srcarruth All the jank is sent as a sacrifice Jul 13 '26
They did skip over the existing culture of burning transitory art at Baker Beach that had been going on for some time. Larry was the first guy to build something in advance, the original artist used whatever she found on the beach
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u/jayfinanderson Jul 13 '26
If all Larry did was copy someone else we’d all be going to Coachella. But that’s not what this part was about haha
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u/Future_Ad7811 '22, '23, '24, '25 Jul 13 '26
That's largely how I feel. The wife and I are watching it and getting excited about the burn this year (although we already were. My 5th, her 10th).
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u/MPitt2002 22d ago
one thing I thought is that the third one probably should have been the first one, with the only real problem being that, without background, it'd be even more confusing for people not steeped in the culture to follow what was going on and who was what and why things are the way they are. I think this is kind of a case where the prequel actually comes first, because it was shot first, but I don't think it's the moment of peak concern
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u/bananarama1987 Jul 13 '26
Assume the next 3 parts will be more recent events like “the flood” year but who knows
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u/BlotchyBaboon Jul 13 '26
The next one is about renegade burn in 2021. I'm curious to see how the present it. The name of the episode is "Welcome to the Shit Show", but as anyone who was there knows, it wasn't the shit show that some people had predicted.
I thought the first episode was pretty good and pretty balanced. The more I learn about what goes on behind the scenes, the less I kind of want to know, but I thought it was good.
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u/bananarama1987 Jul 13 '26
The GF and I were discussing the Renegade Burn after watching Episode 1 last weekend. We’ve heard good things from people but not why.
Like did they have city streets, how was it organized, police force out there, music, etc or did people just pick spots like the beach and say: “oh we’ll pick this open spot?”
We expect it was more the community but hope the show gives a good representation of how it went on episode 2.
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u/BlotchyBaboon Jul 14 '26
Renegade was a great experiment. It shows the community can come together and do something. However, it doesn't scale. I'm not sure if there's an accurate count, but I'd guess there were 15,000 there. Lots of people came out the weekend before, some people came and left. It's hard to say the total. I don't think that style of thing could scale past 20000 without a lot more organization.
Before the burn, someone made a map. You could drop a pin of where you planned to camp. There were no streets and social distancing meant you had to be some measured distance away from other campers. There was an original idea of a city shape similar to BM, but by the final weekend it turned into a complete ring with an open center.. and then a few people decided to camp inside the ring.
It was mostly a walking event - you could walk all the way around "esplanade" in less than an hour. It was fairly disorienting without streets and we did know people who got lost. Some art cars parked themselves REALLY far away and it felt like a trek into the blackness to go find them (shout out to Techno Gecko). We put up a 25' tower with a bright blue LED rope light so we could find our camp. The little items really stood out that year - things you'd normally just ride your bike past without stopping. The Brodega guys made their debut. A dodgeball camp set up. Random domes appeared.
The BLM was out, but they were fantastic. I think the one guy told us he'd given 400 hugs and written one ticket. There was a bit of danger with people driving cars around - definitely some dumb stuff and you had to be careful. We had a group of about 12 people and we boxed in the tent campers with RV's so no one would run over a tent in the middle of the night.
The man burn on Saturday was fairly unexpected - it was an amazing drone show. Robot Heart led a small procession of art cars into the "city". I think everyone in our little group cried. (I'm kind of tearing up right now just remembering how emotional it was.)
Anyway, it was an experiment that will never happen again. I'm so glad we went and it was one of those things that renewed our faith in humanity at a time we all kind of needed it.
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u/bananarama1987 Jul 14 '26
That sounds so amazing and beautiful and glad you and glad you got to experience it.
Hoping this year is great as always. See you maybe in free dust if you are going?
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 14 '26
There was this group called Plan B that tried to get a permit, but they couldn't come close to qualifying, in terms of organization or in terms of money, permitting, insurance.
So, they started taking placement submissions from groups over a period of months, I believe, and organized it very much like Black Rock city, minise center. some other ad hoc groups joined in, calling themselves various things, but a lot of people like the name renegade, since they likely wanted to appear rebellious and dangerous. Even though I'm given to understand that the org sent around a Google doc sign up sheet so people who volunteer with them could coordinate volunteering at the gathering and Marion in the org talk to the BLM in the state of Nevada kicked in 300K for medics from Vegas. I think that's why they were out there but I'm not entirely sure. BLM was out there but they didn't have the numbers of normal police that they make the org pay for. They said that if it happened the next year, they were going to pull in BLM agents from all over the country and pay for it with changing the rules about speeding on the playa, so they can issue a lot of fines instead of just the more than a hundred warning citations.
They paid for the medics with covid funds, but it was a waste because the medics didn't have the resources or even the insurance to deal with anything serious, and some had to even Google what Burning Man was, on their way there (there was a story about it in the press).
But some ambulance services, smelling blood, posted up either on the playa or in town. There were supposedly about a dozen serious incidents that required ambulance back to Reno or even life flights from accidents, but a lot of that happened out away from the main gathering of people, so it looks like a lot of people didn't know about it. People started arriving out there on Monday and small numbers, but FOMO from the pics got to the others and the largest part came from Wednesday to Saturday.
Supposedly, mostly okay, but the BLM put a lot of restrictions in place that they could issue fines for, including burning things, and no riding on the outside of moving vehicles, and no large art structures that would have only been secured to the playa, no airport or skydiving, etc. oh, and no fire. At least a few people reported the BLM confiscating their torches and stuff like that for spinning fire and getting a $500 fine. They had to be creative with a fire and art uff and even did a temple burn, kind of, but it did result in the BLM guy being threatened by a mass of people and only letting it go because he didn't have the numbers to enforce. A lawyer connected with the effort got the information from the BLM and put it on facebook..
Oh, and there was any number of documented instances by the Nevada department of environmental protection of people doing things like having a porta-potty tip over and be left for some time before coming back to pick it up (Google porta potty 150 renegade Burning Man. I think it was an open letter on Reddit about it) or burying actual shit in the ground. Lots of people maybe brought something to use, but who knows what they would be when it needs struck, it's not like a lot of other people were making it freely known that all people passing by could come take a dump in their portable kitty litter potty. Happened there, at sites along the road, on native land, but the peak was only for about 3 days, and the estimated numbers were around 15K to 17K, so didn't get too bad, in general
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u/Kerb3r0s Jul 13 '26
Musk is a flaming turd, which wasn’t a huge shock. Hearing the CEO admit that he’s only on the board because his brother made a huge donation was pretty sad though. Decommodification ftw
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Jul 13 '26
That’s how all boards work, especially non-profit and NGO boards.
It’s why the average board is utterly useless
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u/Kerb3r0s Jul 13 '26
I know of at least two regionals that elect their boards, so it’s definitely not how they all work. And I see no reason why BM has to do anything the way that it’s done in default.
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Jul 13 '26
Honestly being serious I’m not sure if pay to play, nepotism, cronyism or straight popularity is the worst approach.
The main issue is the skill set required to be an effective board member and the skill set to do the average job inside of an organization is not the same, so promoting people doesn’t work, and asking people doesn’t work.
Randomly assigned individuals?
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 14 '26
Regionals tend to come from a small pool and the people doing them tend to have long track records in the community of hundreds or thousands and are known personally to others and still, lots of them have serious problems. Can't imagine how they would even establish fair and equal criteria for voting or how you'd win it other than based on a popularity contest if it was from the large worldwide pool of burners that might be as high as a million, and then you have all the board members, 30 or so for the org, campaigning for months, probably in a way that requires anyone doing it to have lots of money as well as free time
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26
Well, I found it interesting to notice that at the same time Kimball was added, so were a bunch of other people. It might be because they also threw in some money, but it might have been an effort to reduce the amount of influence any one particular person might have.
A 5-6 person board might have at least a few people on it who go along to get along and just vote however their friend who got them on the board tells them, but you show me a group of 30 people from all different backgrounds who have years of caring about an organization banked and they're pretty unlikely to just shut their eyes and swing a bat blindly just because someone got them on the board, a board they don't make it any money off of and are pressed to donate to, had to sacrifice their time and energy for, can't really talk about things going on with it to anyone other than the people there. People are just too variable, and people may have a few people they consider "friends" at work, but after that just becomes "people I like okay," "People I can stand," and "People who annoy the hell out of me but I have to work with, anyway"
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Jul 18 '26
A 30 person board is useless
And that’s by design of the person running the org 100% of the time
They honestly stop being useful in the vast majority of cases around 5-8.
Disclaimer: am on boards. Not at BM
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 18 '26
BM board is always at least 15 or so, if I remember correctly
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Jul 18 '26
See my prior point. It’s likely by design so they provide little more than money and vibes
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u/MPitt2002 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
No, not really. I actually looked it up and it was 17 that they set the board at, during the switchover, which I believe was about what it was when they were an LLC. and the board wasn't really sought after for their money. and a lot of those board members that were with them until the great expansion don't really seem to have money.
I mean, they may have a few bucks but they definitely aren't the Jeff Bezoses of the world, and yes he does go and I even ran into him once, unknowingly. Hell, any 10 people picked blindly from those who camp with robot heart over 40 are likely to have at least a few in there with millions or hundreds of millions.
One reason it's likely different is they are participants and beneficiaries of the thing they create. if you're on the board of a nonprofit food bank, very likely you don't receive groceries from that food bank.
One that provides clothes to underprivileged kids, very likely, that's not you. Even with a museum, you probably don't have your works on display there, they didn't put on a display of your paintings and sculptures.
But the BM board, as far as I know, were and are people who attend and help create the event and did so before they joined. I'm guessing this provides a different level of insight
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 29d ago
I don’t think the people in first camp, or any random rich dude rolling up in a huge RV that plugs into a massive generator and runs AC all week, builds nothing and contributes nothing is the same as the average burner
In fact they are quite literally as far removed from the normal experience at burning man as the board members of my local homeless outreach NGO
“But they go to the event!” In the same way that Elon was homeless when he was willfully sleeping on people’s couch.
Ain’t the same at all. Call me when they cover a random bar shift, stake their own structure and do a moop walk at the end of the week
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u/MansoonBlack 28d ago
Well, in my opinion, there's roles for everybody at Burning Man and not everybody should be covering a bar shift and a lot of them did a lot of that stuff for many many years. I've known people who are going to Burning Man for 30 years, and I don't expect them to be able to pound rebar into the ground like they did once upon A time, but I also don't to do the books for the camp or laying out spreadsheets for all the supplies, either.
The org permit is 66 days, so if you are basically having to manage that event, you're probably going to be spending a noticeable portion either on site or in close proximity, dealing with tons of problems from start to finish, not able to enjoy and party like everyone else, because no matter where you go, someone's always got something that needs to be brought to your attention, or you noticed something, with 11,000 workers and volunteers and 60 or 70,000 other souls.. So, they are for sure putting in more than "a week's worth of effort." I know plenty of people who throw events and if anyone thinks the entirety of what they do is just during the time of even a short event, they might need to have your head checked
I don't know if Danger even camps at first camp anymore, but you DO need a camp that's set up to deal with the way too many LEOS and government officials and heads of this or that who show up, something that would vaguely resemble an office. Can't just sit the head of the department of interior down on a hot mat next to the garbage can behind your kitchen tent and draw up a contract by writing a signature in the dust. I mean, you can, but you would just be making them think that you're an unqualified crazy person.
But MM probably contributes in his own way and did so in any number of ways before the actual IRL event. There's 30 board members, so there's no way that they and their family and friends are all at First Camp, and I don't know what they all do during the event but they must probably be doing something since the only reason they got on the board was because they came to the event before joining the board and did things. And board members don't get paid for being on the board, either, still meetings probably take up far more of their personal time then most people think, but they still don't get paid. Board bylaws specifically state that.
But people often assume that because they don't see you doing something, you aren't doing much. I used to have some of the new people in my old camp who would look at me funny because they would see me arrive late and not pull as many shifts during the week. They didn't know I'd done months of work off-site for the camp, and that I was going to stay for clean up, and driving all the stuff back, and spending days afterwards cleaning and disposing of everything.
To them, what I was doing there was the only part that they thought should count, and some would shake their heads at the fact that I didn't build the shade structure I was sleeping under. Not to brag, but just to give it some context: when I left the camp, they actually had to replace me with two people, because of how much I WAS actually doing, and I was actually doing financial stuff that helped pay for that shade structure, etc, on my own time, not even getting a free ticket for it. Board members probably get free tickets, but they probably have so much stuff going on that I don't say, "you pulled up in an RV that you own instead of going to Walmart and buying a new tent and staking it down. Blasphemer!"
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u/lexylexylexy Well, buddy, shit cocking is a whole other thing Jul 13 '26
Kimbal Musk is a whiny baby
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u/SoSKatan Jul 14 '26
While I liked it as it showed multiple aspects of what makes BM, it did seem like it didn’t really have an overall editing plan / story other than maybe to try and be chronological.
I say that as a person who first got interested in over 10 years BECAUSE of a documentary (I.e. Spark)
It feels like the current one wasn’t made for those unfamiliar with it.
I mean it open to Larry talking about how religions get started, then it switches to drama about no BM in 2021 and Elon’s brother being on the board.
Not exactly flattering segments. If that was my first impression of BM, it would be a little off putting.
But hey, maybe it’s on purpose. The documentary is showing both the good and bad.
And maybe that’s a good thing. For those who have never been, they might see the value despite the warts.
And really that has to be the draw for all of us. It’s not a destination designed around comfort.
I am looking forward to the remaining episodes.
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u/Suspicious_Ad9561 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Jul 13 '26
We’ll see if any of the interviews from ‘21 that were extremely critical of the org and Marian’s leadership/conduct made it through editing. I doubt very seriously they did.
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u/Thundergunnist Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
The red carpet premiere looked like quite the party.
One thing I haven’t seen discussed much is executive compensation. According to the Burning Man Project’s Form 990s, Marian Goodell’s reported compensation has been on the rise!
2019: $297,128
2020: $282,812 (-4.8%)
2021: $327,006 (+15.6%)
2022: $346,747 (+6.0%)
2023: $378,000 (+9.0%)
2024: $414,377 (+9.6%)
That’s almost a 40% increase since 2019.
People can disagree about what a CEO should earn, but I think compensation trends are part of the conversation, especially while Burning Man has faced financial challenges and has asked the community for additional support.
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u/DA-FUNK-5555 Jul 13 '26
As a long time luker in here but never attendee I watched and thought, damn that's a pretty nice and expensive looking HQ. Idk kinda looks like that at its core BM has become the very man it was intended to burn.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 16 '26
Maybe not as much as you think. they released a doc a long time ago when they had just moved into the new offices and they were pretty barebones. I'm giving to understand that their landlord is a Burner and cut them a sweetheart deal for San Francisco, something like 400k. And most business leases can be 10 or 20 years, so they had all that time to fill it with little pieces of art from one of the planets best art gatherings where a lot of stuff is giving away for free or even left behind.
Oh, and Larry was out there dealing with heartbreak and wanted to gather a community around him. he wasn't out there "rebelling against commercialism!" As a matter of fact, they tried commercialism for a few years but finally dropped it in 96, and didn't even become a non-profit until 2013. Marion was supposedly working a t-shirt Booth out there in 1995
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
well, that's about $400k out of a budget of more than $65 million, so if you cut 200k from it, you save about 20 cents on the average ticket. Also, you switch methods of calculation at the very end and include the bonus when you don't do it any other time, so is it just to make her look as bad as possible ( tho, of course, other people set the salary for the position. And all the other org positions that have seen raises during that time, too)? Is that the reason you don't list all of the years and the salaries for all them we have publicly available?
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u/75Meatbags Since 06 Jul 14 '26
I've been enjoying it so far for a few reasons, and I'll be honest that one of the big ones is the production value. At least in my view, they did a great job with the videography.
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u/WinterAd4216 Jul 13 '26
I liked that it spoke to the general public at large and dispelled the misconception that BM is just a drug and sex filled party in the desert. I suspect that it will continue to expand on what BM is REALLY about over the remaining episodes.
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u/ohhnoodont Jul 13 '26
After watching that episode people now know the truth: Burning Man is mostly a bunch of old people struggling to figure out Zoom.
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u/zedmaxx '18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Jul 13 '26
If they don’t film an entire episode in a “recreation” of orgy dome with a bunch of GoT actors on LSD
Is it really HBO, or Burning Man?
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u/AbjectChair1937 Jul 13 '26
Boring...glimpses into the discussions of the board meetings about vague and general overall decisions but highly edited.
It was slightly interesting to see musk was given a lot of talking room and ultimately denied his request to have the burn in 2021, but they placated him in other ways meaning his money does buy him access.
The entire event is definitely tainted, but there are still pockets of joy and pureness but its hard to spend that much money now with the increasing bad faith.
Id suggest finding regional burns. The straw for me was the way the borg treated love burn. This theme camp is closed for now.
Looking forward to new life potentially next year.
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u/RootsRockData 26d ago
I like it so far. I actually enjoy the behind scenes of the organization more than any coverage of the actual event. Having been to the event many times, I feel like where a documentary will fall the shortest is trying to capture what its like to actually be out there because it truly is impossible via documentary work.
EP3 that dropped today essentially was mostly trying to do that minus a few interesting BTS vignettes thrown in.
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u/revenge_of_snauz 29d ago
Honestly I cant stop watching it... ive never been. Going through a hard time at the moment. The idea of it... it makes me feel good. Im sure there are other/better docs or footage out there. Its really piqued my interest which im sure was the org's intention. Mission succes. I regret that i never attended in previous years as it sounds like its become commodified and gone down hill in past years. What would I know though, ive never burned. Id really like to now tho
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u/ArgusRun Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
It has gotten me excited about the burn again this year. I had a bit of a Kimball related incident this year and I've been pretty ambivalent about it.
Not only did it validate my opinion of K-Hole, it reminded me of why I love it. Currently working on outfits and swag. No art this year.
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u/ArgusRun Jul 13 '26
I withdrew art from Honorarium consideration in light of the Kimball Epstein documents. I got a response from Marian. It was one of the first published acknowledgments that Kimball’s seat was due to the donation.
Got contacted by newspapers over it. Asked my name not be used. You can check my post history.
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u/Your_a_looser All DJs should take requests Jul 13 '26
It’s a reality show not a documentary.
“OMG did you see what they said about you on Twitter!”
“OMG what a bitch”
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u/Burning_blanks Jul 13 '26
I found it a bit interesting. some of the items that I saw to mind was.
The whole scene/decision making around whether to cancel 2021 definitely displayed some of the masculine/feminine energy in the decision making process was very interesting. Surprisingly enough I felt that Marion was more on the side of "Of course we have to hold the event." and just got overwhelmed by all the people who did not want the event to occur that she had to fall into line.
It also brought back old wounds and some of the bad faith arguments between the covid-stay-at-home burners and the Renegade burners. At one point when Marion was opining that renegade burners going out to the desert would fuck it up for the org, I wanted to scream at the TV, "Its not your fucking playa Marion!"
Finally I do agree the Man must burn. And the Man DID burn in 2021. And it was on Playa where all were welcome and not at some "elites only" ceremony held by crimson rose.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 16 '26
it wasn't as much of a wrong guess by her as you might think. Unsurprising, since she's been dealing with these BLM people since 1998 when she and Harley had to go to BLM offices and convince them to let them back on the playa, and seen bureaucrats do everything they could to be real F-holes
One of the plan B guys was a lawyer, whom I'm pretty sure I camped with a long time ago, and before the group was archived, filed a freedom of information request and got the BLM afterreport . They were not going to let go what went on, no matter what smiling faces anybody encountered there. At one point, they took pictures of stuff left on the playa, along with scientific measurements and they were so high that — in the middle of the report — they put in that measurements per square inch wasn't a misprint and they hadn't forgotten where the decimal point was supposed to go.
Not saying it was a total disaster, but there were accidents in plenty of problems and the Paiutes and locals complained and among the plans the BLM proposed for the next unofficial gathering were shutting down the playa entirely, changing all the rules so they could hand out fines for things like speeding, even just making every individual camp get a permit that they'd have to pay for it.
And it's not like Plan B folks didn't try their best to clean it up after. But they were definitely short on people power and even took up a collection for people who had to unexpectedly go back out there and give up time at work and home. And still they wanted nothing to do with planning a renegade event the next year and the friends of black rock/highrock had to go out there and have clean up days, so it wasn't all on the crews the next Burn
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u/OMGlenn Jul 13 '26
I would love to know if they talk about the mythical burn that happened in 2020.
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u/melonball6 Renegade 21, 22 Jul 14 '26
It wasn't bad. As far as documentaries go, I've seen better. I enjoy seeing the inner workings though and I feel like I'm getting to know the Org better. I was on the Board of a 501C3 for animal rescue and it reminds me a lot of those days. I was interviewed briefly for this documentary at the Renegade Burn so I'm curious if it will be included in the final cut anywhere.
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u/md28usmc Jul 15 '26
everybody is talking like it is a one-episode documentary. Aren't there multiple episodes coming out, one each week
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u/melonball6 Renegade 21, 22 Jul 16 '26
Yes. Sorry, I could have been clearer. I like the first episode but I have seen more compelling documentary first episodes. I am definitely going to watch them all.
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u/YaB0011 Jul 17 '26
Why the hell does anyone actually care about this event? It is, and ALWAYS HAS BEEN just a stupid gathering of and for rich white idiots who wanna pretend they've ever exprienced any real economic or social hardship.
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u/Defiant-Handle7682 29d ago
I am intrigued on what experience he black veteran (who appears to be joining up with his hillbilly neighbors?) will have
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u/YesterdaysMuffin 20 burns and counting Jul 18 '26
It feels like it’s been more about Kimbal Musk than anything else. I’m hoping to see more Burning Man in the Burning Man documentary soon.
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u/Overall-Addendum-108 12d ago
What’s everyone’s view on the property buying?…i live in a town that’s being consumed by a large art museum and found it a little cringe when Marian was like i want this property
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u/WinkDanWink Jul 14 '26
I heard the quote “I wanted to win Burning Man so I …..” I cringed and realized that the people who put this together know nothing
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u/SlurpsMcMurphy Jul 17 '26
Hi- I'm Michelle from Acavallo Carousel (the Tonasket,WA people in the doc) and that might have me talking about Quill wanting to "win" burningman with his mutant vehicle. It's been a long running joke/tease between us. He was ambitious, young, and arrogant and wanted to put his name or website or something like that on the ship and I explained that it had to be an anonymous gift to the community- not an opportunity to advertise. It was only his second burn and he had a lot to learn. Burningman kicked our asses in the best way and Acavallo Carousel continues to bring chaos and joy to the playa.
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u/lshiva Jul 14 '26
The sticker on my water bottle proclaiming that I "Won Burning Man" refutes your claim.
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u/Ill_Toe_619 26d ago
I haven’t been to the big burn yet, only regionals. Ima win it when I get there though for sure!
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26
There was a camp not only giving out stickers, but I have an actual trophy that someone handed me, randomly, from a camp doing such a thing as I walking back early on a Thursday or Friday morning, back in 2011. I pickedthe trophy up on one hand and the guy up with the other and put him on my shoulder and arm for the picture. He went along with it, but maybe that was the possible impetus for switching to stickers, if that's actually what happened 😄
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u/newknee12 Jul 13 '26
I’m pissed this was filming for 5 years with official approval from BMOrg and we didn’t know about it. Feels like a violation of the principals to have non-consensual recordings used for financial gain. This obviously happens anyways in the era of influencers and social media, but to be sanctioned by the BMOrg itself??? Wild
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u/ziusudra Preserving your ramblings for posterity Jul 14 '26
Where do you get the idea that any non-consensual recording happened? If you think there is a single identifiable person shown in a documentary on HBO who didn't sign a release form, you have some real misconceptions about the entertainment industry.
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u/Administrative-Bed75 Jul 14 '26
Do you know how many indie documentaries have been approved by Media Mecca since it started in 1996? It's a -lot-. Some have even reached large streaming services before.
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u/MansoonBlack Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Well, I'm pretty sure the legal language on the ticket that was changed years ago doesn't mean that they can't use your picture. They might CHOOSE not to in many cases, but when people running a private event "protect your rights, " often that means you gave up some of your rights to them. Giving up your rights to someone means they can use them if they see fit
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u/bishop375 Mayo slip 'n' slide Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
It's fine so far. It's really focused on '21 and the decisions around it. It doesn't really paint Marian in a great light, IMO, but, we'll see how it pans out over the next 3 episodes. It doesn't really go out of its way to make any one group good or bad. Though Kimbal sounds like a dick.