2018's Weirdest Film and the Psychological Toll of Modern Capitalism
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After an incredible year in film, the one movie I've been thinking about the most is Boots Riley's, "Sorry To Bother You." In this video, I dive into ways capitalism effects identity in the film.
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Works Cited:
Carl Jung: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Volume 9, part I of The Collected Works, Princeton University Press, 1990, p. 123
Jean-Paul Sarte, Being and Nothingness.
Boots Riley on How His Hit Movie “Sorry to Bother You” Slams Capitalism & Offers Solutions. • Boots Riley on How His...
The Cost of Code Switching | Chandra Arthur | TEDxOrlando. • The Cost of Code Switc... - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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My apologies to Chandra Arthur whose name I mispronounced in this video. It's pronounced like "Chondra." Sorry!
You kind of sound like the white voice lol
So its a bunch of communist propaganda?
I didn't even see the movie but from your video I know that this is the story of a man who tries to be happy doing the wrong things, I didn't get the sense at all that this movie tried to say that capitalism is bad.
This movie tried to say that if you force yourself to change to obtain something and if you lie, and if you don't know what you really want in life, you end up like the guy in the movie.
But maybe if I disliked capitalism, maybe I would, the godamn bias man :P
Also, sorry is pronounced as "sorry," not "sorey" xD
@Kapiche' guilt
"There is no Capitalism here, what are you talking about? This isn't a workplace, it's a bean bag room and i'm not your boss, i'm your friend who tells you what to do."
You know whats so crazy....before watching the video i started reading the comments. When i saw this one i instantly thought of Google. Then when i watched the video that's the company they showed. You blind people with luxury benefits and they'll sell their soul even if they know its wrong and Google and so many other companies use this method. Capitalism has this world all fucked up. Ponzi Schemes and pyramid schemes aint shit!!!!
Look at us we're a relatable hip company with a twitter account that says relatable hip things and posts memes. Give us your money.
@@nickreyes6718 How do you do fellow kids
@@cheyennegibbs5394 If the system tells you to sell your soul, that's what you'll do.
This point made in the video was really interesting to me as I often adopt this same attitude with some of the employees I manage in my position as a part-time supervisor. It made me stop and second-guess myself as I began to think "oh shit, have I been furthering this toxic ideology without even realizing it?", but I think the key distinction in my situation is that I am very low level management and therefore only make slightly more money than the relatively few people I manage. My position is not one that is very hard to attain, virtually anyone that has worked for the company in entry-level labor positions for even as little as a month or two can move up to become a part-time supervisor so it's almost practically an entry level job in-and-of-itself. In fact it is often hard to get people to fill the position as the extra work and responsibility is often deemed not worth the relatively minor pay increase. Part-time supervisors even end up having to do labor on top of their managerial/supervisors duties more often than not in order to deal with being short-staffed, so the position is not even attractive in the sense that it means you would no longer have to do hard labor, but that's getting a little off topic I suppose. Overall I am still essentially a tool being exploited for the disproportionate benefit of the higher-ups of the corporation.
These deliberations about the nature of my own situation got me thinking about how toxic this ideology even is at the end of the day. Like, if the CEO of the company is pushing this attitude and perhaps forcing higher managers to push the same facade then it is clearly harmful but it feels like this attitude being adopted by mid and lower level managerial staff is likely more benign. Personally, I know that I adopt a more friendly attitude with my employees because I want to make their experience at work more pleasant and most of the people I have managed at some point are nice enough people and so it just feels natural to be friendly with them. Additionally, it feels more effective and easy to have people in a position where they want to help me (because I've been nice to them and helped them) when I might need them to do a little extra work or do some work they don't want to do as opposed to having to use my position as their supervisor to force them to do something of that nature.
I guess you could argue that this sort of hip friendly capitalism could be a policy that's enforced all the way from the top levels of management and then trickles down to lower level management, but you could also argue that some people may just want to be friendly to make the work environment feel more comfortable and enjoyable. Besides, unless you're at the tippy-top of the corporate hierarchy there's little an individual can do to fix a potentially problematic wage gap between say a floor manager and a cubicle worker, so if that hypothetical floor manager was a nice person I don't know if I'd immediately assume that they're only being nice to me to subliminally subdue and take advantage of me. Then again my personal work situation is kind of the opposite where a lot of the managers are dicks and I have to go out of my way to try and be nice, and I suppose I've also had the luxury of being able to voice my own thoughts about policy and my overall negative opinions of my employer pretty freely so maybe in a different work environment more like say Google's this sort of friendliness could be more disingenuous and sinister.
Anyway, I haven't even seen the movie but at the end of the day I suppose how genuine or disingenuous and sinister a friendly attitude of a manager is just depends on the individual work environment and who within a company's hierarchy is pushing for this atmosphere of comfort and friendless.
I thought for sure when you mentioned the psychological 'wound' you were gonna link it to the physical wound on Cassius' forehead, which was continuously bleeding the entire time he was involved in betraying his friends and only started to heal when he turned around and started trying to take down the company.
This movie had so much meaningful content though, it'd be really tough to make a video that fully explored all of it.
Also Cassius totally looks like Jimi Hendrix with the headband on
Cassius Green - cash is green?
That's right!
I’ll bet Detroit’s name is because it’s one of, if not the, poorest cities in America with a lot of ‘black culture’ (the stereotype, that is).
So subtle....
It could also mean "Slave To Money", as Cassius was Mohammed Ali's birth named which he later dropped claiming it was his slave name.
and Mr *Bleep was in the corporate world so long he lost his eye-dentity...
I remember watching this movie at three in the morning and basically losing my mind because I thought somehow I’d been drugged.
Yo that happened to me too I went into the plot blind and was like wtf is this rollercoaster nightmare I fell into!!
same just finished it bro
@@retro1reactive I watched it at 1am
same but I was actually high on weed, it was amazing, I have to say.
@@Jozkyy same but at 3am
I just realized the boss woman's name is "debauchery".
wait till you find out cash is green
They literally call it out in the film though. I think it's Cassius who says "wait, isn't it pronounced debauchery?"
Or am I misremembering?
Subtle.
They said it in the movie. Did you also not notice the protagonist's name is "Cash is green?"
@@CJWproductions No, not quite. It's Cassius' friend who calls it out, I forget the character's name. "That sounds like 'debauchery'." "It's not!"
I was hoping you would talk about Sorry to Bother You being a modern day Greek epic (or being loosely based off of one). Like the story follows a guy with a golden voice who tricks the gods and ascends beyond the golden gates into paradise. Then there’s the sage advice of the one-eyed man, possibly being dragged into hades, and a legion of minotaurs, idk. This movie was a total trip to experience, especially being from Oakland, and any analysis is much appreciated.
Go watch its companion movie O Lucky Man!
this is wicked mate! I want to watch it again with this perspective now
But that is kind of exactly the kind of frame the film wants you to reject from looking at itself.
ourabouras I’m in Berkeley and work at one of the movie theaters that showed the film. Twas certainly a trip! And Boots Riley himself has popped in a couple of times recently!
im from berkeley but man i agree movie was insane to watch
"Don't worry about the horse people"
Excuse me WHAT.
Bro that fucked up the whole movie don’t waste your time
Tyrone Harris hell naw it took the movie from great to incredible
Don't ever watch film reviews of movies you have never seen. It only robs you of the experience, nothing else...
Recon 1257 I don’t think it ruins the movie, like I have seen the movie 3 times and I still get the same, or arguably more enjoyment from it. Spoilers only really ruin movies that aren’t well written
@@user-pp5oh9ee1k i wouldnt say ONLY, but, commonly. I think some things are heavily benefited by timing but that doesn't make it lesser if the build up is well crafted
I can't believe this doesn't touch on the actual ending, you've completely missed the point of the movie if you think that does not need to be addressed. Cash becoming an Equisapien after thinking his life is returning to normal is commenting on the final layer of self deception that Cash is playing on himself. Yes, at the end of the film Cash downsizes his luxury, goes back to the garage and takes up a job among his old colleagues in the now unionized position but he isn't living in a morally righteous way because he's still held on to some of the material possession he gained which shows a lack of true repentance.
This is hammered home so bluntly that again I am left wondering how you could fail to comment on this. Immediately after he shows off the furnished garage he becomes an Equisapien which is a commentary on him attempting to keep the material gains of his former position while escaping the consequences, which the film is conclusively saying he cannot. The film is saying that the union is not the solution to the capitalist system, that it's only palliative of the problems that lull workers into a false sense of security. It's only after Cash transforms into an Equisapien that he finally engages in direct action by storming Lift's mansion, presumably killing him. You can see this either as specific to Cash as the ending of a morality tale (IE you have to face the evils you have wrought) or you can read it as more broad, that it's only when capitalism completely dehumanizes workers that revolution will be possible which is a fairly pessimistic view if you are someone who believes that capitalism must be overthrown.
Yep
I was really on board with Just Write's analysis right up until he's saying that Cassius has learned to live authentically and that's the real solution and I'm like, "Yeah, but... he's about to turn into a horse person. We're not going to talk about that? Oh, no, we're not. Okay."
The fundamental difference between social democracy and communism, is that communists believe that kapitalism is never gonna give up, no matter how close socialdemocracy comes to kapitalism, and there has to be a last violent revolution for human race. all the subsequent revolutions aren´t violent any more, but the next one will be. socialdemocrats believe that the last violent revolution has already long been (french revol., middle-class-against-aristocrats-style), all subsequent ones are non-violent. in the soviet union, after winning the civil war (also against the USA-armies, that tried to kill the revolution, and help the aristocrats!!!), the communists had the arguements on their side, they have had to apply violence (civil war), and felt approved, so seized the power, but on the other side, the socialdemocrats were not given the time they would have needed, to proove their point. if you ask me, the communists cannot even imagine, how right they are, the social democrats are doomed...
+Druuseph exactly right. this video ending the way it did felt so abrupt to me. I really wish he touched on what you bring up here, which is the most important part of all. hopefully your comment becomes upvoted enough that most people who watched this, will see it.
Boot Riley spoke at ASU and said him turning into an equisapien was actually supposed to represent the fight can always continue. Even though he has been transformed into this grotesque thing he does not stop the struggle.
On the motivation part, there was something you missed that I thought was pretty significant. When Cash is in the car with Salvador, Detroit, and Squeeze they pass by a group of football players. Cash says he doesn't want to be like them because they don't go anywhere and just work in a furniture store and play football. Salvador responds with, "Yeah, but they're all friends." Cash says he doesn't want to remain stagnant, he wants to move up. It shows two dynamics because for Sal, his friends are more important than a job or capital. For Cash, moving up the ladder was more important.
I feel like that kind of moral statement is used as a way to make us okay with being poor because “friends and family is what matters”. I know that’s not the case most of the time, but in recent years the psychological warfare corporations play makes me question everything. Like, the whole “money doesn’t buy happiness” argument is great if you want to teach people to just be happy being worker bees and not push for a bigger share of the capital. Idk, I’ve always heard middle class people who don’t _have_ to worry about money say that. The “but friends” arguement reminds me of it.
@@himesilva Money not buying happiness is something pushed on the lower classes from above. It's all too easy to claim that money doesn't buy happiness, and that you don't need wealth to be happy when all of your basic needs are met, and you aren't forced to sell your future physical and mental health to get enough merely to assist in those basic needs. Capitilism's greatest crime is forcing people to participate in its systems under threat of death or loss of freedom, while at the same time claiming that you don't need the things they offer to continue your existence.
This movie is so underrated. Definitely the best satire film I’ve ever seen.
This movie is one of the most critically acclaimed of the entire year, who the hell is underrating it?
@@TMWriting The box office?
It’s a good one, but is it better than Ace in the Hole or Dr. Strangelove?
@@JustWrite While it's regrettable this movie's failure is easy to explain offhand. People are so tired of getting shit on for purely partisan reasons, everywhere on the political spectrum, that even if the odd QUALITY partisan film comes out it's doomed to box office failure. I didn't even hear about this thing til you brought it up but even if I did see advertisement for myself I'd likely have written it off as shallow Oscar bait which pretends to have a valuable message but really just echoes the capitalistic, pseudo-progressive lifestyles and opinions of upper class, mostly white Hollywood. This video was truly a surprise.
its not underrated but i understand what he is saying. more people should be talking and raving about this film in his opinion. it seems like many people i know dont know of the movie or didnt think it was really great
Wait, so you're telling me that Steven Yeun starred in both Burning and Sorry to Bother You in 2018? Two movies about class conflict and modern capitalism in two different cultures? Damn, this dude is seriously going places. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad he died on TWD, he is too good for what that show has become.
And now he’s nominate for an Oscar!!
WALKERS
And NOW He Played Jupe In “Nope”!
Hes A Frickin Star For Sure
"If you get shown a problem, but have no idea how to control it, then you just decide to get used to the problem." -Squeeze
All I could think as I watched this movie was 'I wish we had more films like this.' It's so clever, smart, and relentless.
Yeah it's awesome. These kinds of originals are only possible when average people get access to film making. I hope we'll see lot's of movies in the future that aren't made purely for the purpose of getting maximum profit, but actually from innovative ambitious individuals who like to experiment with story-telling.
edit:
On second thought, i'll drop the facade. Overthrow capitalism to get better movies. Rehashes are only so common within the global liberal economy because it's what's economically stable to do. Ever wonder why every fucking movie trailer is the exact same trailer? It's because these companies drive analytics to see what sells, and when they know what sells best, they do it over and over and over and over and over again. Capitalism kills creativity.
@@crucified1969 Love the edit. Preach comrade!
so well thought out
It took 17 minutes for this video to bring up the horse people. That's kinda funny actually.
I think he wanted to avoid that plotline because it really is fumbles the movie at the end.
Dakota Rodriguez your sentence really is fumbles at the end.
The movie is so full of things to analyze that you can treat a subplot as utterly bonkers as "horse people" like an afterthought lmao
@@dkoder9468 No, it doesn't
As a note, the "Mister" characters is referred to as Mr. ______ (Mr. Blank) by Boots Riley
That's interesting when I first watched it I thought they were bleeping Cassius and Mr. saying the N word because in that space they were operating as 'white' ppl but that makes more sense
I god damn LOVED Sorry to Bother You.
I’ve been following his career for about two decades as a rapper and I’m so excited he’s finally gotten into film.
The Coup made me a better person
Me too! I keep telling all my friends and family they should see the movie so we can keep Boots eating and making revolutionary art with the understanding that revolutionary art divorced from a movement is meaningless (sorry banksy).
"five million ways to kill a C.E.O." has new meaning now that you mention it...
This film had me out the theater cheering and happy, so happy in fact I got an interview and a job their
There
Code-switching is also a professional term. Elementary school teachers use it to talk about how bilingual children think/talk/learn
Great video. I think the psychological distress resultant from code switching might be more precisely understood through Fanon as opposed to Jung. "Black Skin, White Mask" literally outlines the paradox of attempting to use whiteness as a black person to achieve individuality. Basically, in Fanon's conception a black person needs to fight against a conception of self that he has no control over (his/her racial identity/blackness) by attempting to use an identity that was conceived as antithetical to his or her own (whiteness). Despite one's best efforts, this strategy is doomed to failure as it demands an aspiration towards an identity that desires your own colonization, and results in disconnects within one's own family and community. I think you outline how all of that takes place throughout accurately. Just feel that there's another psychological thinker that better maps on to the movies' themes.
Evan Auguste I hate the notion of racial pride and of a racial community.
@@aboxintheblack9530 Don't go to France then.
Captain1nsaneo Thanks for the tip
@@aboxintheblack9530 I hate trolls, and yet here you are...
WildWestSamurai I wasn’t only trolling.
I saw this movie a year ago and I STILL think about it; one thing I thought was an interesting take was how capitalism has adapted to turn memes into a commodity, after the video of Cassius getting hit in the head goes viral. We don't really see this as weird because we're already used to seeing it happen, but if you were to say "companies co-opt memes and turn grassroots internet content into more products for them to sell to you" to someone from like, 2007, they'd probably think you sound insane. Maybe not as insane as horse-human hybrids, but still. It makes me wonder just how batshit the capitalism machine will contort and evolve itself over the next decade and if we'll still consider it normal. Hell, we're at the point now where people online adopt a persona and create a product around it.
Omari's character is the whole movie.
Let me explain.
Omari was the face of the Power Callers. From the first instant we see him waiting at the golden elevator, shiny suit, pimp hat, fancy mustache/beard, eye patch this man is the definition of fly and original. When we're introduced to him he's so nice we dont even get to find out his name. But he's the one that personally called up Cash upstairs to the PC's.
"You were the best decision I've ever made."
He was the one that bonded Cash together with the CEO. He reveals his true voice to cash, explaining to him that after [his meeting with Armie Hammer,] Everything will change. And it did.
Now as we know, Armie's Plan is to send Cash down the ranks, stir up a horse revolution, and be the company's eyes and ears during the controlled revolt.
And isn't that exactly what Omari's character did?
He hand chose Cash up the ranks knowing that he'd eventually revolt himself, and afterwards, Omari's character suddenly dipped. Specifically when Cash had succeeded in blocking the PC's from entering the building. Omari's job in starting a revolution is done. Scratch that HE WALKED OVER THE FALLEN OFFICERS WITH A SMIRK ON HIS FACE.
And speaking of face?
The group actively trying to take down the corporation know as WorryFree was know as Left Eye.
Guess what eye Omari's eye patch is on?
And this brings up an even bigger question. Who sent Omari down to start a revolution. And would that mean we're all inside a even larger world of labor that WorryFree was trying to create?
this is genius!
Hegelian Dialectic. . .
Brilliant bro
boots needs to hire you to help write the sorry to bother you sequel.
You really COPIED n PASTED a comment from July 2018 from the Let Me Explain video. 😭😭😭
It kind of reminds me of "Thank You For Smoking", in which a character is rewarded for lying, only for the truth to kill him.
Having worked in a low rung call center contractor for ten years, I FELT this movie.
I’d say the last few seconds of the film put a damper on the conclusion you mentioned. Yes, we must individually make the choice to not conform and to keep our own identity, but capitalism will still get us and change us.
The employees NEED to feel like they are doing something greater than themselves because they actually WANT to do something greater than themselves...otherwise they'd look for a different type of field of work to work in, something that reflects a different need entirely.
I agree, I was watching another video essay related to this topic discussing how in the past religion is what gave ppl self fulfillment and sense of purpose and now through capitalism most ppl seek to work to finding 'meaning' in our lives and this is why the whole narrative of 'doing what you love' is overly pushed in media to give us that "false sense of security" when we operate within these capitalist systems
“Sorry to bother you” is just one of them movies i watched with my mouth open and nearly shit myself when the switch happens near the end, absolutely breathtaking movie
This film is very relatable because I’m a Hispanic who has to code Switch all the time and it really sucks!
I've met more Hispanics who actively code switch than any other race (yes including Blacks). Meanwhile I've met people who quit jobs where they would've been forced to do so, and have seen plenty people cuss out random strangers (including cops) because of the code switching expectation. You don't need to meet expectation if you don't want to; a truly intelligent and talented person - something we all are in our own ways - carves their own place in society not the other way round.
Take that comment as you will. : )
i wont downplay that non-white Americans definitely have a larger gap to jump to take on the "professional persona" but it's really not about him being black. its about all individuals who sacrifice their identity.
Dalton Bedore Not knocking what you’re saying, but this notion goes double for people of color. They specifically referred to Cassius’s other voice as his “white voice” and that’s a thing that is very common with black people. A lot of the things this movie talks about just adds that extra bit of race to it. Like the whole scene where Cassius raps for the crowd. They coerce him to rap for them when he really didn’t want to, when he was trying to rap normally, they didn’t like it at all, and when he literally starts shouting “nigga shit” is when they actually started to listen to him.
Aww bless. *eye roll*
@@Nassit-Gnuoy Where does this happen in real life, mate?
...wait, Black Panther *AND* Infinity War came out this year?!
The olympics also happened this year
...wait, really?!
@@Disthron Yes I am serious. This year was fucking long
America was discovered _this year_ , can you believe it?
dont forget the world cup
The best modern retelling of Pinocchio, ever.
Interestingly enough, the horse people costumes reminded me a lot of the costumes Jim Henson made for the first Ninja Turtles movie, which also had a Pinocchio allegory with kids coming into the Foot Clan, being tempted with games and freedom, and inadvertently becoming ninjas in the process.
"This movie is a poignant critique of how capitalism strips us of our dignity.... now a few words from our sponsor"
You criticize society, yet you live in it
It’s almost as if he has to make money doing what he loves because capitalism doesn’t pay unless you do uncreative slave labour. Wow how hypocritical of him to make money!
Fascinating critique. Almost as if living in a system that is designed to exploit maximum labour for minimum wages means you have to play by its rules to literally feed yourself. Getting by in a system doesn't mean you endorse it.
"We thrive in what is"
@Indigo Rodent it's TH-cam, you make money through ads. You can't expect the majority of viewers to support your Patreon
I met Boots Riley at the Socialism 2018 conference in Chicago. He’s an avowed socialist. And Marxism isn’t merely a critique of the material and economic injustices under capitalism it’s also a condemnation of the dehumanization and alienation of the individual from their work and society in the oppressive all encompassing capitalist system.
JJoe nah man. Information about 20th century socialism is as credible as “iraq has wmds” or “marijuana and jazz music will drive you criminally insane”
Without the ideological pressure of the cold war, and without worrying about losing your job for not being sufficiently anti-communist, modern academics have been able to do honest scholarship, without the CIA or all the Nazis they hired during Operation Paperclip cooking the books
Less people died to build up socialism last century than capitalism has killed in the 18 years of this century
In fact more people died because of the dissolution of the USSR than during the purges and probably the famines
@outlines corporatism is capitalism
Funny that a guy who took advantage of a capitalist system to make a piece of art (that would be censored under a socialist system) to earn big profits and get on top of the system has any criticisms for it. If we were in a socialist system where government controlled everything he wouldn't have any money, wouldn't be able to practice his art and even if he could if the government didn't like it they would put him to death.
Kinda feel like this guy is one of the last people that should be preaching socialism. Hell why introduce socialism he has the freedom right now to cut us a check for all his money that he made from this movie.
@@dogeyes7261 Do you have links to the research on this? I have some people I'd love to show it to
@@smokedpaprika6630 I bet The feudal lord who owned the pitchforks that the peasants killed him with probably thought it was pretty ironic . utilizing tools created under capitalism does not bar you from criticizing capitalism. Socialism isn't when the government does stuff you are clearly politically illiterate. socialism is when the workers own the means of production
i really hate the "we are a family" brand of management.
also, i don't think "living authentically" works when you're over 30...bills, sick parents...they don't resolve with just moral posturing.
good movie, better analysis!
I had a boss who said "i don't think of you as an employee, i think of you as a friend". All i could think was "you had better think of me as an employee!"
Not gonna lie as a 36 year old black man i learned when i was maybe 12 the power of the white boy voice...shit has gotten me out of alot of shit and extract information out of people
I remember walking out of this movie, and completely understanding the message, and appreciating it but God it was surreal...
It's also a great companion piece to Blindspotting btw.
Both of those movies are my favorites of this year! 🙌🏽
The wound on Cassiu's head has a very significant symbolism: when he is betraying his class, the wound is bleeding. Since it's bleeding, it's not healed. A wound that hasn't yet healed has a "scab", which is also code for traitor. Only after he joins the cause, the wound heals and he is no linger a "scab". This might be also why "Mr." (*bleep*) has an eyepatch, because he has assumed the role of a perpetual scab with a permanent literal scab.
I personally wouldn't call the impulses "human nature". They're taught and implemented through such a system
And the flaw in human nature is to accept that system and adapt to it. Bending one self into ridiculous shapes to justify doing shitty things.
K-Riddle93 as an abuse survivor myself, i can say that the wedded mindset most people have to capitalism is very similar in nature to how abuse victims justify the abuse they endure to themselves. you don't realize it's happening because it's all you know, and you're forced into believing that any problem you're faced with as a direct result of the abuse is actually your fault, and you have to please your abuser in order for it to stop. except, your abuser isn't looking for you to better yourself. they're looking to control you. any time you do something to please them, it takes away energy you could have used to better yourself, to bolster yourself, because they will never notice that you're trying to please them. they'll only ever see flaws. they'll only ever see mistakes. they'll only ever see a justification for why you deserve to be abused and why they deserve to be the abuser, but they don't see themselves as an abuser, but as a miracle worker. they genuinely think they're helping you at best, or are knowingly abusing you to make themselves better off at worst. it's an exercise in power dynamics; the powerless seek to please those in power in hopes that they will one day have control over their lives like their oppressor does, while those in power seek to maintain control over others' lives in order that they are never truly happy with themselves, and thus never have the self-confidence to rise up and break the cycle. it's not a perfect analogy by any means, but it's been my experience.
@@nicktellurium4893 That's too deep man, I was not expecting that on a comments board.
@@KevinReijnders93 that's not a flaw in human nature, that is a symptom of abuse and powerlessness.
@@nicktellurium4893 absolute, good damn!
Good video, but kind of impressive how much you avoid the Horse twist (especially at the very end).
really well constructed essay that highlights a lot of the points around capitalism and persona quite well. enjoyed it a lot. but i think the conclusion could have been teased out a little more: the film does more than simply state that collective individual action is the answer, it demonstrates why: when cassius tries to alert the public to the horsepeople, everyone just sort of shrugs. trying to fix horsepeople is like trying to fix “Capitalism,” as a huge broad abstract. (and note how like most truly great works of art or observation, the horsepeople problem is precisely the same problem cassius and his coworkers face at the start of the film, just scaled directly up.) it’s beyond action, it’s beyond one’s ability to consider and care. it is worrying about the sun exploding. fretting about horsepeople-sized issues is its own kind of psychological drain, and profoundly affecting to one’s mental health. see: 2018. and, let’s be honest, probably 2019 too. /therefore/, the film says, the truer, more effective course of action is individual, to improve lives a handful at a time.
it even shows you how demonstrations at worry free headquarters are useless but at the telemarketing company it does something
Well said. I largely agree with this reading of the film (and as an outlook of life, I'm finding it the only way to stay sane). I'm curious to see what you think the significance of Cassius (now an eque-sapian) and the other horse homies rising up against Steve Lift and Worry Free at the very end is in relation to that reading.
Vlog Kings Music Reviews Unboxing Paraphernalia thanks. the danger in my reading is that it is outside the text of the film. or at least, i have not watched it enough times to spot the justification. but the way i see it: the film is allegory by way of scale. the whole point of the film’s construction is that the equisapien problem IS the telemarketer problem, that worryfree IS what we are already living in. in these kinds of scalar analyses, there is meaning in the constants and there is meaning in the movement. at the most exaggerated scale, the people suffering under the system are literally superhuman, because hardship is strengthening and extraordinary hardship is appropriately larger. and when you look at the culmination of the collectivist protest the tide turns only when the least of society (and therefore the strongest in society and the actual embodiment of what you’d fight for) are included. cassius becomes a horseperson in the end in part because he has finally experienced enough and learned enough through extreme trial that he has become a (somewhat grotesque) superhero.
I absolutely love this channel and this commentary. People don't understand what code-switching is, but it is something that we (black people) have all had to do. I appreciate you discussing it.
And I signed up for Skillshare today using your code. You had me at Roxane Gay. Thanks for that!
HB Racial pride is terrible.
@@aboxintheblack9530 Context is important:
Racial pride when said race has been an imperialist asshole screwing over other peoples for centuries: ALWAYS BAD. Build an identity not revolving around being an ass.
Racial pride when you've been on the receiving end of imperialist assholery for centuries: NOT NECCESSARILY BAD
In the latter case, it's something which can be used to promote equality and empathy, alongside helping people of that race struggling with mental health issues a bit.
Illusionist Kyouko It’s bad regardless of context, because it leads to stagnation and segregation.
Illusionist Kyouko White racial pride is increasing due to the double standard encouraged by people like you.
I died at that temptation line when I first heard it
Hey, loved the video! "Sorry to Bother You" was a fantastic film and I definitely enjoyed watching it several times. I agreed with many of your thoughts on the film and its themes, although I did have something I disagreed with. In Part 2, you mentioned how the movie function as a critique not only of capitalism but also of "human nature", citing specifically the "extremely masculine" impulses of protecting one's family and ensuring one's mark is left on the world. While this is true - Mr. [REDACTED] and Cassius's actions throughout the movie do drive home that a pursuit for wealth and comfort can be a very egotistic and self-centered pursuit - I think you could have explored how gender played a role in this. After all, Western concepts of men being breadwinners and virile champions in and out of bed aren't "human nature"; we aren't born into this life with these impulses, but are socialized to think so. There's also something to be said about Detroit and the Left Eye soda girl, and how their gender play a role in how they interact with the same systems Cassius interacts with. Anyway, your video was thoughtful and informative, keep up the good work!
This movie was SUCH a wild ride. I went to watch it on a date because we both thought it looked like fun satire, but then the horse scene gave us such whiplash that my date actually had to leave the room for a few minutes. Certainly won’t forget it anytime soon (though tbh we both loved it).
Love the video!
When this movie came out I loved it but at first didn't realize it was written and directed by Boots Riley.. When i found that out I was like "whoaaa" cause I used to listen to his group The Coup years and years ago. Great group and great movie.
Great video! I think the movie also heavily reflects Du Bois' theory of double consciousness.
I made that connection, too.
This feels like the best telltale game ever made, where all the choices you’ve ever made feel small, but then a whole new world is formed based on everything you’ve ever chosen to save.
Sorry, his name is "Cash is Green?"
Adam Taggart yes. "Cassius Green"
Awesome pun, yes
They should have called him John Everyman, because he's so relatable that as a viewer I can imagine myself as him.Does anybody else do that with movies?*facepalm*
@@lovethesuit You're definitely missing the point and genre of the film. lol
@@RashidMBey Yeah, 7 words 2 months ago didn't quite capture the nuance.
lol.
Your video essays are so well executed and thought-provoking that it always inspires me to make me want to write video essays some day down the road.
Damn. A 20 minute video essay and I still feel like I can go into this film and be thoroughly surprised. Why did I never hear if this movie? Guess I have to buy it on DVD now
It's been 6 months. Have you watched it yet? If so, what did you think of it?
@@travisumbel6877 she didn’t watch it & is now a horseman
lol this comment hasnt aged well
Great vid! Articulates what I'd been wanting to say so perfectly! I do feel like you could've gone into the third act a lot more as I thought it was a fantastic commentary on egotism and the quite literal monsters we have to face
I really want to see that now. I’m not communist or anti-capitalist, but that movie looks really interesting. And besides, critiques on systems can always be valuable.
Exactly, the theoretically perfect system is theoretically impossible. No matter what system we put in place it'll have flaws that need to be accounted for.
@@glitchygear9453 Hey, I just replied to you in a different thread. I don't think our views are necessarily very far apart, in light of what you've written here.
I'm a huge proponent of market economies, but it is important to see where free market activity crosses over into criminal behavior. Enforcing monopolies, fixing prices etc.
@@christopherjensen6686 We *used to* keep things like effective Monopoly, Oligarchies, and the like as illegal as possible. That changed due to a mix of bad decisions by both the Democrats and Republicans.
@@glitchygear9453 It is possible, but it won't be put in place by humans!
i really loved the shot of the old TV splitting open and a new one growing out of it. this movie had a lot of weird quirky moments like that that really sold me on it.
I'm constantly haunted by what happens when he "gets the word out" about the horse people. It's too real.
Thanks for this great video essay. You definitely hit a lot of the film's subtleties. You may have missed an opportunity to discuss Detroit's hypocrisies. She code switches to a British accent during her art show. Also, I wonder if her use of Angela's speech from The Last Dragon is commentary on how women are utilized and tokenized in a Capitalist society. Anyway, thanks again. I fully enjoyed this.
It's crazy how you excluded the part where he still became a horse at the end lol
@Niŋin turdl已 Why would you watch an analysis of a movie you haven't seen yet. Entirely your fault
Yeah. I feel like that part subverted the interpretation that the video creator was going for. Cassius choses to try to force the existing system into a more moral framework, and appears to succeed. But then reality drops in that in this system where Steve Lift is still rich and powerful and just can build another company, you are always at risk of becoming a horse.
I thought it was funny that a video critiquing capitalism ended with a skillshare advertisement. Still a great video!
I was amused that your switch to the ad at the end felt like code switching as well. Different circumstances, you are making the content you want, but it was kinda hilarious
*Capitalist:* That's hot! That's hot!
Communist: No shit sherlock, you asked for a fire...
Capitalist proceeds to package communist fire as marketable product, selling your own indignation back to you and co-opting your beliefs into serving the borg... I mean economy.
@@Argonnosi Hahahaa, golden. Right down to the burning their own hands while handling said fire. But not caring because profits.
Because not even everyone on the planet getting baked alive could possibly take a back seat to PROFIT, now could it?
@@000Dragon50000 Kind of like how so many for profit movies convince you that the people that make them aren't capitalists. It may actually be why Marx proposed spontaneous, violent uprisings. Anything slower and the market will find a way to turn it into its own profit oriented part of the economy. Everything is capitalism, if you can sell it.
*i wAnt FORNITE n mArK ASS browNie*
I enjoyed this film on a superificial basis when I saw it recently, it was filmed beautifully, the effects were impressive and it was obvious there was true care and love behind every scene. But I still left feeling kind of hollow, like this film was shouting its thesis at me as loud as it could, but I just couldn't hear it. The anti-capitalism sentiment was clear, definitely the loudest theme in the cacophony, but I wasn't quite able to connect everything together - it felt too scatter-shot to really understand. I appreciated this video for bridging that gap for me and finally connecting some of those dots, blunt as they were.
I felt the same way. Awesome video.
Comes off as shallow Oscar Bait despite Just Write's clear love of it. Meaning, something which pretends to have a message but in truth only echoes the capitalistic, pseudo-progressive opinions and lifestyles of Hollywood. Most black folks I've met in S Florida would beat the shit out of you if you suggested they try to "act white", now some people DO these things (largely Hispanics it seems) but to my experience they're few and far between - usually they're the selfish ones who beg and plead for riches, not anyone I'd actually hang out with or hire as an employee.
sounds like you understood it but just dont want to.
listen to your gut.
@@glitchygear9453 The film has horsepeople flopping their horsedongs about. As leftist as it is that definitely doesn't sound like oscar bait at all.
Your videos are so insightful. I'd love it if you made a video on how to analyze film, or tips for doing so
Good Work as always mate! Happy New Year.
You kinda ignored the horse people I wanted more talk about that
How dare anyone critique capitalism?! It's perfect in every way, utterly beyond reproach!!
Dorian sapiens i don’t get why all these poor people hate it, my yacht they built is fantastic
@@dogeyes7261 Clearly they just can't see the Big Picture.
Yeah, you should be forced to disassemble your yacht at gunpoint so that everyone can have one quintillionth of a yacht, it's only fair!
Dorian sapiens Communalism is still awful.
@@JohnnyKronaz Bro, you totally kicked that strawman's ass!
i love videos like this cause they always makes me want to go back and rewatch the movie.
inb4: i got that it was a critique of capitalism the first time. but in the same way that Cassius' physical wound wasn't addressed, I want to go back and see what else there is to the satire.
Ahhhh thank you for this! There aren’t too many ppl talkin about this video and I highly appreciate this analysis!
A lot of people wanted to talk about the code-switching and horsey ending but there was so much more!
The psychological effects of money Cassius experiences is very interesting and there are other nuances in the film that needed to be spoken about!
I did a Spoiler review of this on my channel, but yours definitely blew mine out lol.
Btw, I didn’t not catch Mr. Blank’s eyepatch’s association with the left-eye group until you said that🤯
This breakdown is honestly so moving. I appreciate your thorough analysis. I haven't watched this movie but I'm definitely going to now!
You completely ignored the ending in your analysis..
This was one of my favourite films of 2018, I'm so happy you did a video on it! You did a fantastic job articulating the themes and satirical commentary on modern capitalism- how its influence has been ingrained into our psyches, its intersections with race and what we can actually do as a society to combat against its most toxic effects and consequences.
Damn this has to be one of your best videos. I just now noticed that Diana's last name is Debauchery. Hahaha, can't wait for Boots Riley's next film and your next video.
yeah , you could say that capitalism takes advantage of human nature failures. OR, you could say that capitalistic ideology is in every act we do and value we have, capitalistic ideology affects every act we do and value we take for granted
@B. Greene go live in the woods then dumbass.
@@cptromero5595 oh how original and clever.
@@japo8757 【JaPo】 awe Did I hurt your deluded preception on how you think reality should be? Clowns.
@@cptromero5595 You didn't hurt me, you just wrote a nonsensical and unoriginal comment.
Also, you commented that because it hurt your deluded perception of what reality should be.
And that's a fact, you right wingers love those.
I'm pretty sure you're the clown here
How do you do research for you videos? It’s very thought out and thorough.
Never knew that "code-switching" was an actual phrase... I now realize I do it all the time...
You make brilliant videos!
You convey the information in an exceptionally clear manner!
I sincerely thank you for sharing. Well done
The word person comes from persona and means the same thing. We identify with our role in society rather than who we really are, we are always wearing a mask. Everyone should listen to the great Alan Watts, I learned this concept from him.
Edit: th-cam.com/video/MLohHXVFho4/w-d-xo.html
You don't play a role in society because that does not exist. There are no roles in society. Individuals are free to carve their own path and the collective of those people is what makes a society. People don't play a role, they play themselves. If they are collectivist in their philosophy, then they will play that hypothetical role rather than be themselves and pursue their happiness as they would if they were honest. Society presupposes individuals. Society doesn't exist and then you are placed in it. You exist and then society forms. If you are moving into a new society then that society changes to include you.
What I've said here is only relevant to what we would call a free society (or mostly free). Obviously if you want to survive in a communist society for example you'd have to either play the role you are assigned or leave, but that is not what I'm referring to.
You can go even deeper; persona is believed to be a loanword of Etruscan into Latin, which originally meant "mask"
@@Vapouriste personas were also masks worn by actors in Greek and Roman dramas
th-cam.com/video/MLohHXVFho4/w-d-xo.html
This was my favorite movie to come out this year and I’ve been really bummed no one’s has talked about it. Thank you for doing such a thoughtful analysis, hopefully it will get more people to watch the film.
Loved the video, you brought up a lot of interesting stuff that I didn’t notice when I first watched the movie!
Code switching is also when you stop cussing when your grandmother comes into the room. It happens all the time to all people.
It's so interesting to see people in the comments proving the point of the film with there criticisim without realizing it. How they are willing to accept the hierarchy that crushes them if the small chance that one day they'll do the crushing, but to justify themselves as good people hide behind cold war era talking points. You'll never own the boat on your throat under the current system, if you ever do the system will make damn sure you aren't you any more.
So better to surrender yourself identity and become a member of the collective, in an ideology that has never once in its existence ever crushed the week and powerless under its heal or abused its absurd amount of power and authority over everyone and everything in their life.
Im sorry, the movie is good yes, but this idea that there is a better system then capitalism is a fucking lie perpetuated by people who want to strip your freedoms, your rights, and your identity. "Join the collective!" Is the death cry of the individual. Enjoy being a sheeple, or in this movies strange universe, a man horse.
@@JerkyMurky gonna have to stop you right there firstly the states you speak of are state capitalists. The workers did not control the means of pordoction therefore they where not socalist the means of pordoction instead being owned by non democratic states this isn't just some meme this is about actual definitions being used and avoiding unintentional straw maning if our definition of capitalism was Hitler style fascism it would be far harder to defend your position as a capitalist the Paris commune or native American tribes where ownership was not practiced are fairer comparisons
2ndly the death toll of capitalism has been calculated as being twice as high as the death tolls of these so called socalist states guerrillaontologies.com/2014/05/attempting-the-impossible-calculating-capitalisms-death-toll/ and that's on the low end.
3rdly individuality is best served when the individual is free to spend his time as we wishes with being concerned about paying for rent or food. These things force the working class into a false decision, be exploited or die. We see dying as a none option in the current culture that "having a gun pointed to your head" is the most common metaphor for being forced to do something. If anything death by deseas cold or lack of food are far worst ultimatums. In capitalism a third of your time must be spent in the uniforms someone else chooses, saying the things someone else chooses, looking the way someone else chooses, acting the way someone else chooses, doing the things someone else chooses to have you do. You may change employers, but that employer holds the same power over you then the last one you can perhaps have an employer who doesn't want to control these more minore things, but you're always just one phone call away from having this liberties taken from you and outside of the leftist tatic of forming a labor union and going on strike you have no means of retaliation, you can't vote out the CEO of your company and CEO can go out of his way to make forming a union very costly for his employees.
Jerky Murky capitalism and neoliberalism is dying before our very eyes only time will tell what happens next people are starting to realize that a ultra consumerists culture based on disgusting hedonistic lifestyles is not how humans are suppose to live
Highlighting both the pitfalls capitalism and the human condition was such a genius move on the part behind Sorry to Bother You. Rather than just pointing fingers at "others", a mirror was held out in front of us. (Great editing btw!)
Besides you showing clips with Black Panther (one of the most over-hyped superhero movies ever if not the most) while talking about the best superhero movies ever, a VERY solid review. I am OBSESSED with movie review channels, and my dude, I found my next channel to binge
there’s a typo in the description, “effects” should be “affects” :P
10:28 I just realized how quietly hilarious that line is.
This way a great video and I feel both inspired and enlightened, thank you!
The movie synopsis really reminds me of O'Lucky Man. It's one of Malcolm McDowell's earlier roles. I'd actually be really interested to see this channel do an analysis of it.
Finally! A video essay about this film
My first viewing had me like "WTF did I just watch?" The second viewing I was like "wooooooow...this movie was pretty deep."
Amazing breakdown. I haven't actually seen Sorry to Bother you yet, but I feel like this will help me enjoy it better when I finally do. 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
What a good review. Keep them coming!
Holy hell, I've had manual windshield wipers 😂 good times... good times...
I was with you until that last sentence.
No. Collective movements are not the answer. That's not the end goal of becoming an individual. You're just moving from one conforming behavior to another if you do that.
Holy shit the cognitive dissonance in that last paragraph is mind boggling.
Thank you so much for this video. I thought I understood what code-switching was but after seeing this you've made it much more clear. That said, though I appreciate this film on principal alone, I feel like the hard left turn at the end with the introduction of the horse-people went so on-the-nose that it lost me. I think specifically having Cassius turn into a horse-man undermined a lot of what came before. I'd love to see a deep-dive into the coding around that choice and understand better where I might me missing something. Regardless, it's an extraordinarily important movie and I can't wait to see what he does next.
Dude i absolutely love all your videos . The only drawback is that YOU DONT MAKE ENOUGH. Bravo 👏🏾
On the reverse end of Code-Switching, it’s so cringy when you have white people changing when speaking with black people. Then go back to their normal white person voice. This lady at my old job used to do it a lot and everyone could see it which made it even worse.
its cuz white people don't actually code switch unless we're bilingual. there's no pressure on us to do so. our dialect of english is the default in society, so black people learn it in depth from watching our media, and are constantly told that using AAVE is grammatically incorrect and not a dialect in its own right with its own rules. in white circles, it's reduced to "slang" as if it's just a bunch of random words peppered into english and not its own version of english. black people codeswitch from AAVE to "standard" american all the time so that they seem whiter (and therefore more human), but when it goes the other way it seems uncomfortable because from a white's perspective, that white person is debasing themselves, while from a black perspective, they're misusing an established dialect that they have not been raised on. it's why white people talking in AAVE is appropriation (because we don't need to do it unless we actively want to), while black people talking like white people is a matter of material survival (because they may not get hired, or find a place to live, or access basic services if they don't).
Yeah I see what you mean. At the end of the day I’m just saying it’s cringy to hear white people speak like that. I use slang don’t get me wrong but I don’t change my way of speaking if that makes sense.
I'm white and I used to live in a black neighborhood and now I do that, it's kinda weird and gross. I also used to live in Switzerland and spoke Swiss German, somehow, not weird or gross. Assimilation vs. appropriation?
I don't know.
I'm gonna keep living and hopefully keep learning.
This happened to me working at quicken loans...
I was going through a different office to another kitchenette. Shift was starting and I was following these 3 or 4 ladies who worked in that office.
Office manager greeting everyone individually, “ good morning! Good morning! Good morning! Wassup bro. Good morning! Good morning!”
I was like dang, he felt he had to come down to my level just to greet me. Like I couldn’t understand good morning.
jondough7777777 your boss probably walked away like “nailed it”
I can’t believe someone finally covered this on TH-cam oh my god it’s so amazing
Nomiddlename Davis check out peter coffins video about it
I think this is your best video yet. Great watch!
Hayden. This video essay is amazing
*H O R S E*
❤️
No lie, l was watching this whole video waiting to see what you said about horses. That to me was the most memorable part of this movie
I feel like no one has said this about the film but: when Detroit is mad at Cass for “selling out” he tells her that she is no much better as she just wants to sell to some rich dudes (critique about modern art) and when her first art show is held she is using her own type of ‘white voice’ which is ‘British Voice’ to sell to the rich and seem exotic but also classy (british) and that is why he stays for a bit as a WTF (you can tell he is out of it from the coca cola can) but, in a sense he is also critiquing D because she is very outspoken but is happy with the big apartment and the ‘british voice’ that works for her
I haven't seen this movie, but from this video it sounds like a new version of 1991's "Livin' Large"
Now im gonma watch this movie. Another great video thank you!
Beto Benavides how’d you like the ending lmao