Sorry to Bother You (2018) Director Bootsy Riley 6B
Cassius Green (LaKeith Stanfield) is a broke bordering on desperate young man who, for want of other opportunities, casts his lot with a telemarketing company. At first he is more embarrassed than elated about what the job entails, but, in a short time, he decides to make the best of a bad situation and does what he needs to do to get ahead. This includes selling out by adopting a "white sales" voice over the phone that bears little resemblance to his normal black Oakland accent and manipulating people, including his friends and colleagues, in ways that he never dreamed himself capable of doing. For his girlfriend, a young artist with a social conscience, his new direction is a red flag signalling moral duplicity. On his way to the top of the telemarketer food chain, he is introduced to a wacky entrepreneur (Armie Hammer) who has some alarming ideas of his own, one's that will make him a lot of money and revolutionize the labour market. You can tell this movie has a lot on its mind. I don't know whether to call it a comedy masquerading as a social satire or a social satire disguised as a comedy. White and black requirements for success, getting ahead in a Darwinian economy, capitalism's less enticing consequences, social apathy, marketing techniques, and television's degeneracy, all come in for a sharp look. The humour ranges from scaldingly perceptive to uneven, but the sheer audacity of director Boots Riley's approach is worthy of praise. A lot of people will find this movie "weird." I wouldn't disagree, but Sorry to Bother You is at least attempting something well off the beaten path while presenting its social commentary.
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