Glover revealed the influence of existentialist thinkers on his work, carrying a book on Kierkegaard and Nietzsche at public listening parties in parks around the country, placing Kurt Vonnegut’s works on The Boy’s bookshelves amongst Hacking for Dummies and Barry White’s album Just Another Way to Say I Love You in his Tumblr IRL performance, and with lyrical references (Mok; Rys; Opam).

The title of his song “II. No Exit” refers to Sartre’s play No Exit, further connection with the established tradition of existentialist literature and art. The parallel between the names, Sartre’s French “Garcin” and Glover’s “The Boy,” links their desire for connection (Garcin-Estelle, The Boy and his romances) and reclusivity (“Hell is-other people!” and The Boy as a “brown recluse”) (Sartre 45). Inez, Estelle, and Garcin’s reliance on each other in No Exit for the formulation of their identities (as they hide/reveal themselves to each other) is reflected in Glover’s exploration of identity in the internet age. Furthermore, this serves as establishment of identity’s essential role in connection with others. In No Exit, there are no mirrors in the room, leading to Estelle’s worry that “when I can’t see myself I begin to wonder if I really and truly exist,” as well as Inez and Estelle’s exchange wherein Estelle uses Inez’ eyes to see herself, putting lipstick on with her help but lamenting the unreliability of Inez’ bias (Sartre 19). This in turn emphasizes notions of the formation of identity in connection with others, as well as the interplay between self and other in this process. This existential dilemma revolves around notions of identity and connection reliant upon this interplay. Traditionally, the existentialist “interpretation of structures as ‘probabilities’ rather than as ‘necessities’ preserved” past conceptions of existential freedom (Existentialism 116). However, Glover’s existential dilemma deviates from that of the thinkers before him, in that Glover grapples with both the struggle of African-American identity and the internet. 

This proximity between life and death is evidenced in violent events of the narrative. Early in the script, The Boy sees, “through his phone,” as he is filming an aggressive altercation, a man get shot outside of a club, and he sees the man go “back to his/the natural state,” which makes “The Boy [feel] something,” in contrast to the typical internet experience where “you really don’t have to feel much of anything unless you want to” (Glover 15-16). In the scene description, by issuing this statement on the effect of the internet and employing the second person, Glover emphasizes this moment as breaking barriers in metamodern fashion, reaching The Boy in a tangible, “felt,” way, simultaneously as he sees it through his phone screen. In the aftermath, The Boy feels a bullet hole in his coat, and the script shifts to his thoughts: “. . . i shouldn’t be (here)” bringing up existential dread, emphasized by unique syntax, such as the lower case, bold and italic typeface, and the parenthetical statement (17). The parenthetical provides a double utterance, and connects the sense of dislocation with the act of being, amplifying The Boy’s survivor’s guilt with a greater disbelief in self-purpose, meaning, or life, and prompts him to reach out to those around him in search of connection and understanding.

This exchange exemplifies the use of humor as defense mechanism against the serious matter of police brutality, as well as metamodern art’s response to critical issues in real time. In light of the exposure of events that capture police brutality, especially in concern with the African-American community, Glover’s work reflects the danger and therefore heightened existential question facing African-Americans. His relation of stories concerning police misconduct involving himself are a further representation of this indictment against current practices, as in interviews, he tells of the police officers who prevented him from getting his disabled parents into his own concert, as they threatened and emasculated him through indication of force, approaching him in a non-violent context with “hand on hip,” seemingly only due to his race (Breakfast Club 2014; Rosenberg Radio; Browne). Glover also comments on the web’s use of racial stereotypes in crass humor as an amplifier of racial prejudice, through lyrical reference to “#N[*****]BeLike,” and “ain’t nobody got time for that,” as well as The Boy’s chat-room racial instigation, typing “fuck u n[******]” on a video on “HOTNEWHIPHOP.COM” and receiving immediate confrontational feedback (“IV. Sweatpants;” “I. Crawl;” Glover 4).  The web acts as a pressure cooker for the external forces harming an individual, even as it provides the setting for movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and the means for sharing information that reveals institutional racism. 

If reading this, one feels the need for factual evidence of institutional racism or police brutality, please consult the following sources while conducting personal research: 

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/ 

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-blacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/ 

Similar to the pressures of racial identification, the age of the internet adds a layer to the existential dilemma faced by Glover and The Boy. According to psychologist Sherry Turkle, the internet provides the opportunity to “connect more and more. But in the process, we set ourselves up to be isolated,” a sentiment reflected by Glover’s statements in interviews: “we are more connected than ever, but I have never felt so alone” (Breakfast Club 2013). This metamodern sentiment of simultaneous connection and loneliness was echoed in the hotel notes Glover posted on Instagram, as he wrote of his feelings of being lost, then realized, “but I can’t be lonely though. Cause we’re all here. Stuck here” (Moore). This realization of interconnectivity amongst dislocation reveals a metamodern sense of being, finding solace and finality in the company and connection of experience with others. It is the combination of influences, of African-American identity and the internet, that shapes Glover’s existential dilemma, captured in the Because the Internet world by the symbolic use of the brown recluse spider.

Appearing lyrically and in the script, the “brown recluse” symbolizes The Boy’s introvert nature and web presence (“II. No Exit”). The symbolic duality of web both as the spider’s trap and the internet captures the sense of danger created by the internet. The web simultaneously ensnares and connects. In this metamodern sense, the interconnectivity offered by the web is also a trap. Brown recluse spiders appear throughout the script, with a presence in The Boy’s room, and he initially is “mad” that “he can hear the spider. Just sitting there. Getting louder,” and appearing in the script’s video clip for “Dial Up” (46). Later, as The Boy attempts to commit suicide, his final thoughts concern the spider: “Where’d it go? Why would it leave? What about it’s parents? Won’t they be sad? What a bout hi s frien ds? W hat ab o u    t all his s t  uf  f  h  o w   wa s h   esu p p ose d to ke e   p     all  h is s  …” (47).

Thus, the spider represents the center of Glover’s existential crisis, magnified by his African-American identity and the pressures of the web, and the dissipating syntax reflects the loss of self, the separation caused by succumbing to these pressures. The merging of Glover’s identity with the spider is revealed in the transition from use of pronoun “it” to “he.” The attempted suicide coincides with “II. No Exit,” and the narrative arc of the song from “3 AM, stare at the ceiling murder the feeling, / spider crawl in the corner, brown recluse” to “I’m in a good mood, so good I’mma kill that spider,” and devolving into “look at the recluse, look at the rec-” reveals the interior thought devolution into suicide. “3 AM” references an Eminem track by that name, playing off of the murderous sentiment conveyed in that song, and the seeming paradox of “good mood” and killing the spider, and thus the self, reveals a metamodern sense of acknowledging death’s proximity, whether or not life seems secure and/or pleasurable (“3 AM”). This is reflected in Glover’s statements in interviews that “I could kill myself like, right now, if I wanted to, it’s not that hard,” as well as the notes he posted to Instagram (The Breakfast Club 2013). Through the symbolism of the brown recluse, Glover captures a modern existential dilemma, faced especially by African-Americans under the accentuated racial prejudice fostered on the web. The Boy’s character acts as a universal applicator, Glover thus expands the scope of the modern existential crisis, spurring the metamodern response.