Sorry to Bother You

Movie Review: Sorry to Bother You
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Movie Review: Sorry to Bother You
Introduction
The labour sector is a sensitive economic area across the globe. Employers want to maximize production from their employees while paying the least wages. Similarly, workers want to get the most as pay wage for the least unit of the skills and knowledge they invest in the employer's work. This makes two sides want to maximize revenue from their services and goods. This scenario plays out well in the film Sorry to Bother You. It is an American comedy film produced in 2018. It was written and directed by Boots Riley and stars Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius Green, nicknamed Cash. Others are Terra Thompson as Detroit, Cash's girlfriend; Steven Yeun as Squeeze, the union organizer and Armie Hammer as Steve Lift, the head of WorryFree.
The film exposes the dynamics in the labour sector, with producers going out of their way to own employees and manipulate them to make more money. At the same time, the employees are investing every effort to fight for better working conditions and sustainable pay from their employers. These dynamics are brought out through the interaction of various characters in the film. This article analyzes this film focusing on the existing labour relations and resistance. It evaluates this using two primary theories; the coming of post-industrial society and the rise of the creative society. This analysis draws upon two specific theoretical frameworks like Michel Foucault's power and strategy and intersectionality.
Summary Explanation
Sorry to Bother You tells the story of Cash, hired as a telemarketer at RegalView. Cash is an African American who hails from a poor family. The film only introduces the audience to his uncle, who rented Cash a garage space to live in, and Detroit's girlfriend. Living in the garage and having areas of at least four months, as the uncle reveals when asking for rent, shows that Cash hails from a poor background. Another indicator of Cash's poor state is the old car gifted to him by his uncle. As the film begins, Cash is in an interview for a telemarketer job. He lies in his credentials but luckily secures the job. He excels in his work, rising into the rank of a power caller.
Before Cash's promotion, the film introduces Detroit, his girlfriend; Squeeze, the union organizer; and Sergio, Cash's friend. They all work in the same company. Squeeze rallies the other employees to back an industrial action plan to pressure RegalView to provide better working conditions, including better pay. Cash, Sergio and Detroit, among other workers, agree to this. However, during the strike, Cash is promoted to the position of a power caller and offered good pay. The audience does not see the figure, but the facial expressions show that Cash was satisfied by the proposed pay. By accepting the offer, Cash betrays his friend, but he needs the money to settle his debts and live a better life, which leads to his girlfriend breaking up with him. He passed his colleagues protesting daily on his way to the office and was hit one day with a soda can by one of the protesters. Ironically, a sponsor rewarded the protester for throwing the can at Cash.
In his rank as a power caller, Cash meets Lift from WorryFree, who wants to employ him. He lures Cash into inhaling a white substance which Cash thought was cocaine. Lift then tells Cash of a plan to make all employees a hybrid of humans and horses called Equisapiens to increase their power to become more productive (Riley, 2018). The idea was inhuman to cash that he did not accept the deal and vowed to expose them to save other workers from the same. He succeeds, returns to his girlfriend, and makes up with his friends. Unluckily, Cash turns into a hybrid but takes advantage of the might in his new state to revenge against Lift and WorryFree.
Sorry to Bother You tells the story of work relations and resistance from the perspective of employers like RegalView and WorryFree, and that of the employees. Employers always try to be creative to beat their competitors while pressuring the employers to give maximum production at work (Florida, 2002). In this film, creativity is manifested negatively. Towards the film's end, Cash learns of a plan to turn workers into hybrids called equisapiens illegally. These hybrids would work longer hours without getting exhausted, thus increasing productivity. This is a creative way of beating competitors, but WorryFree negatively develops it. This step shows a bad and toxic employer-worker relationship. The company is taking its employees hostage and turning them into monsters without their consent.
Unlike WorryFree, RegalView applies creativity positively. Richard Florida (2002) asserts that creativity and not knowledge are key to economic growth. RegalView hires candidates with the potential and not those with the education knowledge to handle a subject task. An example is the hiring of Cash. The recruiting manager knows Cash is lying but is impressed by his creative lie. He manufactures awards and makes a good image of his portfolio despite never having prior experience. The company also uses creativity when encouraging workers to work smart so they can be promoted to the position of power callers. In this case, knowledge and academic qualification are not necessary, but an employee's outstanding performance regardless of their education level.
From the employees' perspective, the film shows a solitary resistance workers union that advocates for fairness for all. Squeeze organizes the strike and urges all the employees to stick together despite potential threats of disciplinary actions. However, Cash betrays them despite reassuring his group that he would stand with them. This betrayal did not take long before they realized it was a positive step that would boost their efforts to champion favorable working conditions. Cash was the whistleblower in the scheme to turn employees into equisapiens by WorryFree. He also discovered that RegalView sold cheap labour in terms of enslaved people, besides selling military firearms illegally (Riley, 2018).
The film narrates labour relations and resistance using various cinematic and literary techniques, including camera movements, shots, lighting and characterization. The notable camera movement used in the film is the pans and zoom functions. Pans are situations where the camera moves from one side to another, maintaining a uniform focal length with the object, while zoom involves a change in focal length often to bring closer or send further the object in focus. An example of a pan in the film is the scene at the call centre where Cash is introduced to the job. The camera pans to the left as the chief caller leaves Cash's desk. The pan shows the audience the next destination of the chief caller, who goes to other employees (Riley, 2018; 00:10:04). Although this pan does not tell the relationship, it alludes to the fact that the chief caller visits various desks to reinforce the message of sticking to the script and working diligently to be promoted.
The dominant camera shots are the closeup and the medium closeup. These shots reveal the facial expressions of the characters. Evidently, workers are not happy, as seen in these shots. They seldom smile, indicating a toxic working environment. On the other hand, these camera shots reveal the happy faces of the employers and their representatives. For example, Lift from WorryFree smiles endlessly as he meets with Cash. This shows that employers are happy and satisfied with the progress of their firms and companies.
Another thing that enhanced the story is the character names. The major characters' names drive the roles they play in the film. Cash's primary problem was money. As the film begins, the...