Sorry To Bother You

Sorry To Bother You, But Watch This Film!

You will get a kick out of this comedic black sci fi film, I mean the main character’s name is Cassius Green (yes, like the money) who uses his “white voice” on telemarketing calls, which makes him successful. I mean if this doesn’t reflect a contemporary issue, I don’t know what else does. To make things even more interesting, this film surprises you with half-horse half-men that are being forced into slave labor. This was quite unexpected, but definitely added even more amusement while also highlighting other issues in our world today. I recommend this film not only because it is extremely entertaining and full of very unique surprises (my jaw dropped a few times), but more importantly because it touches on a lot of problems we see in our world today.

Cash who lives in his uncle's garage starts at the bottom of a telemarketing company, but quickly works his way up to being a power caller by using his “white voice.” Once he gets promoted to the top floor, beyond the gold elevator doors, the power callers are only allowed to use their “white voice” when speaking to each other (yikes). While Cash is busy being caught up in his new lavish lifestyle, full of money, power, and parties, his friends are protesting RegalView, the telemarketing company all of them work for including Cash. Finally, Cash gets a wake up call (see what I did there) when he discovers secrets far beyond what anyone, even the audience, would expect. He is offered 100 million dollars to become the so-called pack leader of a half man and half horse breed, which is part of a company called "WorryFree" (that RegalView is part of selling to its customers) and despite the catchy name, is slave labor. Cash finally sees why his friends, who he betrayed before, are revolting and demanding for worker's rights at the company he got promoted at. Despite the offer, which includes him becoming half horse, he tries to tell everyone about what worryfree is doing, yet he manages to become the laughing stock of the world…

The entirety of this film speaks to our contemporary world in many ways: The labor struggle, which is shown with the many protests when Cash is walking into work every single day. The protests get pretty intense and lead to some police brutality, which we have seen some of today with the BLM protests. The main labor struggle we see is how lower class citizens have no other choice but to sign themselves over to a lifetime of WorryFree without knowing the horrible consequences until it is too late. We see this and sadly choose to ignore this when we hear about the poor treatment of factory workers in other countries. Similarly, when cash tells everyone about WorryFree they blatantly ignore him. I mean if it isn’t affecting the privileged, why should they fight for change? It’s pretty sad how on point this film is to our real world. Can we also talk about how Cash has to use his “white voice” in order to be successful? That is pretty messed up, but yet again highlights the issue of making deals and trusting a certain race over the other.

This leads us to talk about another obvious issue: race relations in this film, which are extremely prominent, not only with the use of the “white voice,” but another scene where Cash is forced to perform a rap in front of a white audience. The CEO of WorryFree asks him to sit in the middle of everyone (a room full of white people) and begs him to perform a rap song. Although he says he has never rapped before they assume he must know how since he is black. Cash gets on stage and only becomes a hit when he starts repeating a racial slur over and over again (yikes again). I was pretty shocked after watching that scene, but realized it was important to include considering that is something that is often assumed and people don’t realize how messed up it is.

The political satire tied in with the visuals, made for some memorable costumes. Cash’s girlfriend, Detroit, wears her voice on her giant, yet glamorous, earrings. In each scene she has a new pair on to show her viewpoints on what is going on in the world. I found this to be a very clever move because the viewer can’t miss the earrings, but really has to think about the deeper meaning behind each pair. The first pair she has on say, “Murder murder murder/ kill kill kill,” which could possibly foreshadow what WorryFree is doing to their customers or an even deeper reading of the lower class’ struggle to survive. Another pair that stood out to me said, “You’re gonna have to fight/ your own damn war,” meaning you must take a stand for what you believe in and in this film relates to standing up/protesting for workers rights. Detroit has a powerful voice in the film and is a good example for how people should be in our world today- firm believers in doing what is right, fighting for freedom, and promoting freedom of speech (everyone should invest in some earrings like Detroit).

The plot is definitely an unexpected rollercoaster, that represents all sorts of problems with our society. This film will keep you on the very edge of your seat and have you asking yourself “What the heck just happened?!” I really enjoyed how every scene, character, and outfit had an ulterior motive and jab at our world today. Even if you just want some solid entertainment, I highly recommend watching this film! Side note: the ending is CRAZY!