Sorry Bother to You centers an African American in an existential crisis, wondering if he’s just forever stuck in autopilot or if he will ever make a difference in the world. It is based on the balance between the pulls of money and luxury and moral conscience, whether or not he should do something for money even if it doesn’t align his moral values. I think life often presents moral choices such as his everyday maybe not to that extent but finding a balance is part of everyday life. His identity is different than mine as I have yet to get to the point where I may have to make that decision of either doing something against my morals or not making a living.
The film gives the groups that otherwise would’ve been pushed to the margins a voice. For example, the film particularly shines a light on how art can be a platform for someone to make change. Detroit used art to show the injustices of slavery and how we support that each day in our cell phones as well as in the form of graffiti on billboards to protest capitalism.
Director Boots Riley based this film on the current state U.S. is in. He particularly hits on capitalism in the U.S. with mainstream companies such as Amazon. Worryfree is comparable to Amazon and Google as it is a very demanding job for its workers. Earlier in this course, we discussed how Google is now letting people sleep in the parking lot; this is one step closer to Worryfree where they house their employees. Riley expressed that we’re kind of in a state of denial in capitalism where people are like “no this isn’t capitalism.” This film shines a light on this denial and serves as a wake up call to American society. In doing this, it gives a platform for the marginalized who don’t earn a sufficient living yet work 12+ hours a day, showing that they have a voice via demonstration or art, like Detroit.
