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BAPs centers the African American culture, specifically that of women. This lens is not super common now, let alone in 1997 when this film came out. Being a girl, I was able to relate to the characters, inspired by Nisi’s ambition and drive to just be herself. However, due to my identity, I don’t feel as big of a force to codeswitch as Nisi had. For example, upon their arrival to Beverly Hills, she pulled out her “etiquette booklet” and prepared Mickey by saying “if they ask ‘how are you?’ smile sweetly, ‘we’re very well thank you, and yourself?’” This film accurately put the theory of codeswitching into practice just as Boots Riley also did in Sorry to Bother You. 

The two main characters are flamboyant, free and independent, not caring about the world or how they are perceived. They are themselves in a society that wants them to fit a different standard. In the time period, women were surfacing as pop artists such as Lil’ Kim were redefining fashion with the concept of Camp. Scarlett Newman wrote in her Teen Vogue article about Camp that Lil’ Kim’s clothes were “rooted in exploring overt sex appeal and opulence through over-the-top fashion.” Nisi and Mickey join her in this art of self-expression and “outrageous aestheticism”(Susan Sontag) that is Camp. This film disrupts the patriarchy stereotype that women can’t go off and chase their dreams and earn money for themselves. It also disrupts the norm society kind of portrays that white people are only to associate  with white people and the same with each socio-economic class as Mickey and Nisi become close friends with a rich, white male.

The beginning of the film shows socio-economic discrepancies. On one hand there is Mr. Blakemore living lavishly in Beverly Hills while there are Nisi and Mickey in Georgia full of ambition but living pay check to pay check. The film maker emphasizes fashion and self-expression as an opportunity for them to express themselves which brought them joy. 

Overall, I praise the filmmaker in this piece as it was probably thought of as progressive for it’s time. Nisi taught me to chase my dreams, that no man needs to tell me what I can / can’t do and to be proud of who I am.

The author of M/S chapter 8 argues that social context in which one is viewing media can influence one’s interpretation.s She uses the example of an older person not being able to understand some standup jokes due to not knowing the referenced pop stars. In that sense, I agree with the author. Who I am with would affect my interpretation of the plot or comedic aspect of a movie. For example, watching an explicit movie would be different when viewing with friends in a theater than at home with parents. While jokes in said movie would be funny with peers, they could be awkward in the presence of one’s parents. Conversely, watching a movie in a classroom would also lead to different interpretation. This is because movies are carefully chosen to align with curriculum and are meant to be viewed with a certain lens. This would alter the details you look out for and the conclusions you reached than if you were to view at home.

There’s no straight yes or no answer to being an effective storyteller. On a small scale, I think it’d be possible to accurately represent a group not embraced by the storyteller. But more generally, it would be difficult the accurately represent an identity one does not identify as. To accurately represent a group, the storyteller should show the joy and love on the good days but the pain and perseverance on the bad days. The latter, however, is often not represented. For example, Marlon Riggs explored this in the film Color Adjustment. While the introduction of African Americans to television was exciting, much criticism came with it. White producers were ignoring the racial hostility, leading the creation of two black Americas:  one “which confronted racial issues head on. And then there was the black America that you saw the rest of the evening on prime time television, where racial hostility was virtually absent, where harmony dictated the neighborhood, where there were no signs of any kinds of struggles with segregation”(Color Adjustment).This is a direct effect of the producer not being of the identity represented in the film. They turn a blind eye to the actualities of African American struggle, especially in the mid 20^thcentury. Open TV provides a platform for those often misrepresented, such as African American in Color Adjustment,as it allows for indie producers to produce raw, truthful content.

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.

In her book, Lippie Green explores language subordination in institutions as well as in society. We live in a society where standard language ideology (SLI) – defined as “ a bias toward an abstracted, idealized, homogeneous spoke language which is imposed and maintained by dominant bloc institutions” (Language Subordination, 67) – exists. Boots Riley put this theory to practice in his film Sorry to Bother You. The protagonist is forced to switch his voice in order to step up in ranks. This conformity reinforces the association between whites and success, money, and power. Having the minorities assimilate to the language of the majority rather than embracing cultural diversity is an issue that I believe has digressed as time progressed. I believe that this assimilation, sometimes involuntary, creates a cycle of confusion for kids in schools and a sense of shame for those who chose not to conform – a sense of shame that could’ve been pride had their language not been told to be “wrong.”

         Sorry to Bother You is a prime example as to how personal can be/ is political. Boots Riley took his personal (his race, his hometown, etc.) to make a political statement. In an Open TV interview, director of Brujos, Ricardo Gamboa discusses the connection between art and activism. Gamboa uses the concept of personal as political in using his art to give voices to those not recognized, such as queer, in mainstream media. Personal experience motivates engagement and social change. For example, working with kids and as an aftercare “teacher” the gun violence movement struck me. Using this emotion, I attended the March For Our Lives in join the movement of speaking truth to the power systems.

Imagination is affected by every aspect of our life – from race, economic class, gender, creed, etc.. Who we are whether it be gay, black, straight, Muslim, rich, or poor, our experiences affect the way we think and therefore affect the way that we imagine. This relationship between imagination and experience is broadened to explore the correlation between imagination and politics in Bell Hooks’ Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice.

            In Hooks’ piece, she explores how the socio-economic class of many is assumed to drive one’s imagination. It is perceived that those of lower class cannot imagine or have an aesthetic taste. Hooks, however, disputes this claim in saying “the lack of material privilege need not be synonymous with poverty of spirit or imagination” (150).  She strengthens her claim by expressing the fact that everyone makes do with their circumstances and finds way to uniquely express themselves. However, the stereotype of lack of imagination is reinforced with the introduction of public housing such as the projects, that of which all present uniformity and suppresses the opportunity for creativity.

While class and other factors, like Hooks argues, does not necessarily limit imagination, it does affect our imagination. This leads to the idea that politics is tied to imagination because imagination allows us to think about how we want out government to be run and the life we want to create. This goes vice versa in that politics also allows to reimagine the type of world we want to live in.

After watching Lizzo’s performance, it made me think about the parts of my identity and how it relates to how I interact with society. This is what I thought of:

• Girl 
  • While it’s not necessarily something that crosses my mind on a daily, being a girl does affect everyday life. From how others look at you to how I was raised to “protect” myself, being a girl is part of identity in which affected every female differently.
• Girl In STEM
  • As a time progresses the stereotype has gotten better; however when i say I want to pursue biochemistry, i get those “and you’re a girl? wow! good luck” While it’s not necessarily derogatory, I question why that has to be a thought, why can’t that be “normal”
• passion for justice (concentrated in socio-economic justice)
  • The question of “what can i do to make the world a better place” passes my head 
• Lantinx
  • My mom was born and raised in Honduras; however, my dad is from Pennselyvania. This resulted in my childhood being very Americanized household, not being taught the language or culture of my mom and grandparents. This is something I struggle with in my Identity wheel, can I even identitfy as hispanic? I can pass as white and sometimes I do just because of the discomfort I receive when saying I don’t speak spanish but am Hispanic. 
• socio-economic level (disidentifcation) 
  • All of growing up, whether it be high school, extracurriculars and especially now, I feel as if it is taboo to talk about class and money. It’s not talked about but if you don’t post about your trips to Italy or Japan, you don’t fit in. However, I am fortunate that it is something I can “pass.” It is something I feel affects me everyday; however, I don’t want people to respond “aw poor you” when just trying to hold conversations related to the topic.