Sometimes, I wonder what movies were even made for. Were they made solely as a representation of reality, or for people’s pleasure, or a combination of both? Anyways, I was kind of wondering what kind of coke director Boots Riley was snorting when he crafted this “masterpiece” of his. I mean for petes sake, the fella was in charge of making music before tackling this feature length extravaganza.
“Sorry to Bother You” is a weird amalgamation of satirical commentary, comedy, and trippy as hell segments. In a way, you could consider it equal parts “generic Spike Lee film,” and equal parts “batshit crazy Kevin Smith flick.” Viewers, upon watching it, are probably going to have reactions that will end up like this:
“What the fuck is this?”
“What the fuck did I just watch?”
“WTF, did he just- what kind of fucked up shit is this???”
“How many fucking shrooms dis guy (the director) on lol?”
“Could someone please tell me in the name of the great lord Chin Chin, the mighty saviour of our dying, overpopulated planet, what the fuck have I just witnessed?”
And honestly, after that mindfuck of an ending, I can’t blame ya. Introducing most people to this flick, especially those not used to arthouse movies, is going to prove to be a challenge. I mean, the large number of negative imdb reviews is highly indicative of this very fact; not everyone is going to get this film. In fact, not everyone is going to like it. Weirdness isn’t something that’s embraced in media culture these days. It’s the reason why so many cinema goers hated the shit out of ‘Mother!’ and why tons of anime fans decided that ‘End of Evangelion’ was a load of pretentious bullcrap. And if you take it from me, its total bullocks. Part of art is supposed to be weird right from the get go. Just look at all those paintings famous artists have worked on in the past. No, I’m not talking about the “Mona Lisa,” I’m talking about paintings such as “The Scream,” and “The Gardens of Earthly Delights.” Weirdness is an integral component of art, even if it allows the mentally unhinged to vent out their feelings on some tapestry on 5th street. It should be embraced with open arms (well as long as they don’t dabble in anything too taboo), not shunned as if its that one creepy hobo on the streets. It allows for artists to foster the full extent of their creativity, taking advantage of it to visualize their inner thoughts and beliefs.
Anyways, the film tries to remind you at every interval that it’s a satirical piece on the American work culture and the true nature of capitalism. Worker’s well beings are sabotaged in favour of producing more productivity for the nation’s consumers to gobble up. Even consumerism takes centre stage here, as the low-quality goods being pumped out for the purpose of making a quick buck, basically resulting in individuals losing any sense of artistic merit or taste. This is further proven by a hit in-universe reality show that features participants getting socked in the face for laughs. It shows that viewers have lost their appreciation for art due to the nature of their capitalist society (which values profits over creativity) and have now gained a liking for shows whose humour derives from people getting brutally beaten and humiliated. Its not exactly subtle about this either, as all these elements are shoved in your face. The film also makes use of metaphors and motifs to allude to its plot and the messages its trying to convey. But, having me just sit here typing all of it out would just be a massive spoiler.
Considering our society is dangerously on the verge of having people “live to work” rather than “work to live,” it doesn’t seem too implausible. And whereas the film is a huge over exaggeration of American society and politics, there is an element of truth to it as well. If you spend enough time in certain badly conditioned workplaces, you’ll realize that employee discrimination is commonplace. University students sometimes have to work unpaid internships simply because they were promised it would get their foot in the door, and people volunteer mostly out of necessity rather than any desire to improve community relations and standards. Bachelor degree holders get employed in low paid positions, as they’re told repeatedly how underqualified they are as candidates. The organizations of RegalView and Worry Free both allude to the idea of low wages and sociopathic employers in the real world. In Worry Free, people are promised a job, along with some room and board, but are stuck in a neverending routine that persists until their eventual death. Ever heard on the news how people sometimes don’t retire until their lates 70s, because of how low their overall savings are? That’s how bad it is out there. Sure, the employees of Worry Free don’t have to pay utilities and receive free food in the end, but what’s the point of working your entire life if there’s no benefit to it? Its exploitation, man!
In fact, “Sorry to bother you” feels like an episode of Black Mirror. A foresight into what our futures hold for us if capitalism were to be heavily exploited by higher ups. It starts off with our main protagonist, Cassius Green (also known as “Cash is Green” for promotional purposes), as he’s being interviewed for a telemarketer position. Green here, only wants to make enough buck to pay rent to his uncle (played by the Terry Crews from the Old Spice commercials). In his newly acquired job, he’s shown the ropes but screws up royally on his first day. Luckily for him, another employee (played by famed celebrity Danny Glover) decides to give him a hint to boost his sales: use his white voice. Green takes his advice for granted and changes his voice to sound like Crane from ‘Kung Fu Panda’ (no I’m serious, his “white” voice is actually voiced not by Stanfield, but rather David Cross). He then manages to emerge successful in the business and even gets promoted to the position of “powercaller.” However, tensions arise as his fellow coworkers decide to stage a strike in lieu of the drastically low wages they’ve been given.
Considering Boots Riley does seem like a newcomer to the sphere of feature length movies (given his pedigree), it comes to no surprise that the film comes with its own set of faults. For one, the directing and the overall presentation is a bit sporadic at times. One moment there’ll be a screen transition that makes use of the dated iris in/iris out effect, while on other occasions the scene simply dissolves into the next one. Its not consistent, and I feel part of it is due to Riley’s experience as a film director. I mean, the guy was just working on soundtracks prior to this film. However, I also enjoy a lot of the neat little touches he added in here and there. For instance, whenever Green is shown trying to contact people via phone to sell a product, he is then shown being figuratively teleported into that person’s room, so audiences can see what his clients are doing on the other side (though his clients can’t see Green).
So yes, while this film isn’t for everyone, I do dare say that you give it a try. Its probably one of the few greats I’ve actually had the fortune of watching this year, alongside the extraordinarily eerie horror flick “Hereditary.” For most, its going to seem weird enough that it won’t be their cup of tea, but you can’t deny that its definitely going to have a lasting impact on those who’ve seen it. Whether you think its good or bad, its definitely a rather unique experience. Its weird, but weirdness is good for the film industry. Its why creativity isn’t dead, and why not every single story out there is crafted for commercial purposes.
Final verdict: 8/10.
Energized and Salty 