Critical Film Analysis - Sorry to Bother You

Running head: CRITICAL FILM ANALYSIS
CRITICAL FILM ANALYSIS
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Introduction
Films have always been a source of entertainment to people. In recent years however,
film directors and the writers have started to put more focus on the complex issues of the modern
society and have tried to incorporate those in a way that it forces the audiences to reason about it.
One such film that compels the viewers to contemplate about such societal problems is “Sorry to
Bother You”. The vision of this paper is to critically analyse the concepts of such narratives that
are represented in the film. The main theme of the movie seem to be based on capitalism and
moral panic. Thus, the paper goes on to summarize these concepts in the paper and discusses the
consequences of capitalism and moral panic in the society.
Brief overview of the film
The film “Sorry to Bother You” is an American film that was released in 2018. It is a
dark comedy that was written as well as directed by Boots Riley that was his directorial debut.
The film stars Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson in lead roles. The film is about the story of
a black telemarketer who develops a white accent in order to be successful at his job (Archer,
2018). The young black man is trapped in a corporate conspiracy and has to choose between his
job and joining his friends who are activists that organize labour. The movie had received
appreciation for its concept, cast, screenplay and direction. The plot follows the story of a young
black man named Cassius Green nicknamed “Cash”, who lives with his girlfriend in Detroit. He
attains a job of a telemarketer for the company named RegalView (Sculos, 2019). As he is a
black man, he struggle to communicate with the customers due to his accent. Langston who has
been working for the company for years now teaches him the accent of the white people which
ultimate helps Cash and he excels at his job. Squeeze, his coworkers form a union and then

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recruits Cash. As Cash participates in the protest, he thinks that he would be fired by the
company however, the exact opposite thing happens to him. He is promoted to an elite position
called the Power Caller. He is given a luxurious suite where he finds out that the company is
secretly involved in the selling of arms as well as slave labour. Cash now finds himself in an
uncomfortable situation. He can afford new cars and apartments in spite of being uncomfortable
with the job. He works for long hours and stops participating in the union protests. As a result,
his relation with Detroit becomes sour. The film then goes on to discuss about the ways in which
Cash finds himself in trouble. He snorts substance thinking it to be cocaine and then finds a
hybrid of half-horse and half-human who begs to him for help. Lift explains to him that
WoryFree has plans to create stronger and obedient workers and transform them into
“equisapiens’. This kind of transformation occurs when a person snorts a powder that modifies
the genes of the person. Cash now fears that he snorted the same powder however, Lift gives him
the assurance that it was simply cocaine. Cash then goes on to refuse a $100 million offer to
become an equisapien for over a time period of five years and he acts as a fake revolutionary
figure to make his employees act accordingly (Torchin, 2019). Later in the film, it is shown that
Cash had recorded the plea of the equisapien and he goes on to show the video in television
shows to spread the video, however, the plan backfires. The people hail the equisapiens as a
groundbreaking scientific advancement and the company WorryFree breaks records in reaching
an all time high in their stocks. Cash now gets security code from the video and uses it break into
Lift’s house. He goes onto protest and the police knock him out. However, the equisapiens help
cash by freeing him from the clutches of the police. Cash and Detroit reconcile however, cash
grows horse nostrils and then gets fully transformed. He goes on to lead the mob of the
equisapiens and lastly, breaks down Lift’ door.

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The central narrative of the film is based on the theme of capitalism. The film provides an
analysis of the radical class in capitalism. The film also shows the problem of superiority of the
white race over the black race. It raises an issue of how the back people are always trodden down
upon to meet the needs of the white supremacy (Bonds & Inwood, 2016). The incident where
Cash has to learn the white accent inn order to become successful shows the way the black
people are treated in the country. The title of the film has a double meaning. It refers to the
phrase used by the telemarketers as well as the general usage of the word where a person would
not want to hear something that someone else is trying to say that gives an anti-capitalist
message (Csillag & Szelényi, 2015). The other side would be where the people view things in the
world differently. Therefore, in a nutshell, the main theme of the movie is capitalism and moral
panic.
Capitalism
The movie deals with the issue of capitalism. It has pointed out the horrors of capitalism
with the story of the young black man. Capitalism refers to the system where the country’s trade
is handled by the private organisations for their own profit rather than the state (Merkel, 2014).
In the movie, it is shown that Cash accepts the job of a telemarketer to bring himself out of
poverty and involves himself in illegal business to become rich and lead a luxurious life. He even
betrays his friends and adopts a fake white accent in order to succeed in the company. The fame
that he gains by going viral in the video ultimately backfires and puts him in a lot more trouble.
Greed and money puts him in trouble all through the movie.

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Moral Panic
The second concept in the movie deals with moral panic. Here Cash is shown to go after
money to lead a luxurious life without even considering the consequences that would have in his
morality. He becomes a threat to the societal values by becoming a fake revolutionary figure in
order to keep his employees in line (Goode, 2017). He even goes on to deal with illegal business
of slave labour and dealings with arms for money. He betrays his friends but ultimately realizes
the consequences of his actions and tries to become a better person (Wasserman, 2014).
Conclusion
Thus, in conclusion it can be said that the movie “Sorry to Bother You” deals with the
issues of capitalism and moral panic that are extremely relevant with today’s happenings in the
society. In recent years, there has been a raise in capitalism and it threatens the very existence of
the world. The severe consequences of capitalism are that it makes the rich richer and makes the
poor poorer. Moral panic has been on the rise too and it can be said that these two themes have
been beautifully brought out in the film.

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References
Archer, I. D. (2018). WHITE NOISE. Film Comment, 54(4), 30-34.
Bonds, A., & Inwood, J. (2016). Beyond white privilege: Geographies of white supremacy and
settler colonialism. Progress in Human Geography, 40(6), 715-733.
Csillag, T., & Szelényi, I. (2015). Drifting from liberal democracy: Traditionalist/neo-
conservative ideology of managed illiberal democratic capitalism in post-communist
Europe. East European Journal of Society and Politics, 1(1), 18-48.
Goode, E. (2017). Moral Panic. The Encyclopedia of Juvenile Delinquency and Justice, 1-3.
Merkel, W. (2014). Is capitalism compatible with democracy?. Zeitschrift für vergleichende
Politikwissenschaft, 8(2), 109-128.
Sculos, B. W. (2019). Sorry to Bother You with Twelve Theses on Boots Riley’s" Sorry to
Bother You": Lessons for the Left. Class, Race and Corporate Power, 7(1), 4.
Torchin, L. (2019). Alienated Labor's Hybrid Subjects: Sorry to Bother You and the Tradition of
the Economic Rights Film. Film Quarterly, 72(4), 29-37.
Wasserman, H. M. (2014). Moral panic and body cameras. Wash. UL Rev., 92, 831.