Society, Late Capitalism, & Social Scripts | An Analysis of SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

SPOILERS! Please watch the movie first! -- Directly support me and see this video without ads at nebula.tv/vide...
/ maggiemaefish
/ maggiemaefish
/ maggiemaefish
Zora Bikangaga's links:
/ zorabikangaga
Zora's short "No More White Women" -- vimeo.com/2671...
Dopetown 3000 (comedy hip hop podcast) -- wearecampfire.m...
Cody Ziglar's links:
/ yayforzig
"Be Civil" directed by Cody: • Be Civil!
Works Cited:
- Gillette "We Believe - The Best Men Can Be"
- Victoria's Secret Superbowl Commerical
- "Uncharted" Peleton Commercial
- Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sits down with Andrew Ross Sorkin - • Former Starbucks CEO H...
- Democracy Now interview w Boots Riley - • Boots Riley’s Dystopia...
- Oscars: Academy Conversations, interview w Boots Riley and the cast of Sorry To Bother You - • Academy Conversations:...
- CBS This Morning Boots Riley Interview - • Director Boots Riley o...
- Chandra Arthur "The Cost of Code Switching" • The Cost of Code Switc...
- Hammer Museum, Boots Riley Q&A - • Contenders Q&A with Bo...
- Sorry To Bother You on McSweenys - store.mcsweene...
- Sundance Institute Press Release - www.sundance.o...
- The Brady Bunch, ABC, 1969
- bell hooks interview footage, CBS, October 24, 1995
- bell hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectatorship,”
from Movies and Mass Culture, p249, 1996, Rutgers; originally publisehd in: Black Looks: Race and Representation, Boston: South End Press, 1992
- 2019 Academy Awards, ABC
- “Do Artifacts Have Politics?” by Langdon Winner, in Daedalus, Vol. 109, No. 1, Winter 1980
- HOLC 1936 security map of Philadelphia showing redlining of lower income neighborhoods. via en.wikipedia.o...
- Photo of protesters on Realtors Assoc steps & photo of marching protesters, US HUD archived video - • Reflections on the Fai...
- "Facebook Vowed to End Discriminatory Housing Ads. Suit Says It Didn't" by Charles V. Bagli - www.nytimes.co...
- WHY ZUCKERBERG’S 14-YEAR APOLOGY TOUR HASN’T FIXED FACEBOOK by ZEYNEP TUFEKCI - www.wired.com/...
- Frontline: The Facebook Dilema, Pt 2 - www.pbs.org/vi...
- Silicon Valley Sweatshops - www.thenation....
- "Amazon warehouse workers skip bathroom breaks to keep their jobs, says report" by Shannon Liao- www.theverge.c...
- New Front in the Labor War Between Uber and Its Drivers by Samuel Moran - www.theregrevi...
- "In the Film Sorry to Bother You, We See How Luxuries Like RVs Become Necessities" by Charles Mudede - www.thestrange...
- "You mean a WOMAN can open it?" ad, 1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement
- Cop shot wife, from Al.com twitter - / 1099419319186919424
- Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - archive.org/de...
- Mike Pence MLK Tweet - vp...
- Air Traffic Controllers Union Sue Trump Over Government Shutdown | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC - • Air Traffic Controller...
- Tucker grills Ocasio-Cortez adviser over 'Green New Deal' - • Tucker grills Ocasio-C...
- 3 Act Structure from The Screenwriter’s Workbook, p78 by Syd Field, Bantam Dell 2006
- Screenplay by Syd Field, Dell Publishing Company, 1979
- Story by Robert McKee, Methuen, 1998
- Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, Michael Wiese Productions, 2013
- Captain Marvel, 2019, Marvel Studios/Disney, dir. Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
- Black Panther, 2018, Marvel Studios/Disney, dir. Ryan Coogler
- Blackkklansman, 2018, Blumhouse Productions/Focus Features, dir. Spike Lee
- Man of Steel, 2013, Warner Brothers/DC, dir. Zack Snyder
- Green Book, 2018, Participant Media/Universal Pictures, dir. Peter Farrelly
- “Sorry to Bother You Is Too Real (Not Surreal) for the Oscars” by Charles Mudede in The Stranger, Jan 22, 2019
- Fight Club, 1999, Fox 2000 Pictures/20th Century Fox, dir. David Fincher
- Avatar, 2009, Lightstorm/20th Century Fox, dir. James Cameron
- Transformers, 2007, Hasbro/DreamWorks Pictures, dir. Michael Bay

[@chescokun]

Yes! New Maggie Mae Fish video and commie propaganda! My favorites!

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Good day, comrade!

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

@@MaggieMaeFish Save Martha commarades!

[@minivergur]

Solidarity forever

[@damianstarks3338]

Yeah my favorite too !

[@damianstarks3338]

@@MaggieMaeFish keep this knowledge coming it is amazing !

[@Eziokilla9595]

This movie is a demonstrably more nuanced examination of racial and cultural relationships than Green Book and even Blackkklansman. The ultimate anti-Oscar film.

[@dildonius]

Which is why it deserved Best Picture the most, ironically...

[@sholem_bond]

the original "Uncle Tom's Cabin" novel by Harriet Beecher-Stowe from the 1800s might be a more nuanced examination of racial and cultural relationships than "Green Book."

[@obsidiancrow450]

What you dont like the green book? Im not being racist ovah heyah

[@burningmisery]

Green Book was so fkn boring and cringe. Ofc it got nominsted for Oscars. It's utter 💩

[@dreddiknight]

Whilst i agree, the thing about Black K is that it was made by Spike, and 20 or so years ago he already made the prequel to I'm Sorry, with Bamboozled, if you see what i mean...

[@hollandscottthomas]

Holy shit that CBS interview could be a missing scene from the film. And clearly none of them saw it or they would have some big questions about that wild third-act left turn.

[@gateauxq4604]

Wow I’m gonna watch all of that fantastic interview later. Thanks for posting Michael Freed! There was hopefully one good thing that came of that interview-at least a few white peepers who showed up to the movie thinking they were getting yet another vapid delight but were the galaxy brained so hard that they realized everything in STBY was fantastical yet solidly based in reality. Otherwise yeah it was dumb fluff for white people to validate themselves with while they were having their morning coffee. For every mood there’s an American ‘news’ show.

[@jasonblalock4429]

My jaw dropped at the one host saying "let me put on my white voice." Asshole, YOU *ARE* WHITE VOICE.

[@devforfun5618]

@@gateauxq4604 black movies should white voice the trailers to bait white people

[@j.munday7913]

@@devforfun5618 and maybe even make it out like a white person will be the inspiring hero of the story by benignly saving all the silly black people? I know a whole bunch of white people who'd come out for that.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@devforfun5618 Completely different genre but that kinda reminds me of how Spec Ops: The Line advertised itself as your average modern military shooter like CoD but then ended up being a deconstruction of the whole genre.

[@a_real_one2000]

This film is so layered it’s amazing. Dynamic of the “white voice” in the movie is used for sales. Even Detroit has to use a “posh white British women voice” just to promote her art. Everyone code switching. It’s just a matter of not getting lost in our presentation of self. PS blindspotting great movie.... green book done right😁

[@radiusone216]

Could "code switching" also include say a white person putting on a more "posh" voice on the phone/speaking to people perceived to be in authority? Like my family and I are white with what would be a noticeable working class accent from London but on the phone people in my family (and I've heard others do this too) change their voice to try and pronounce words more clearly and more like how a "posh" person would be thought to talk. Obviously I understand with race the differences might be more pronounced but "code switching" kind of sounded like what I've heard working class white people do too. The reason for doing it would be the same to appear to follow a script on how to talk to perceived authority to sound more ,"intelligent" or "likeable" even though presumably the general message would be the same whether someone spoke with their regular accent or "posh" voice

[@a_real_one2000]

@@radiusone216 it’s all code switching. You get it. I figure the police treats an individual from a more traditional working class area more harsh then a posh person attending boarding school. I know England really on another lvl on accent discrimination/stereotypes. As Black American it took me watching British tv series to learn that there was more the 2 accents cockney & posh.

[@miserylitmedia]

One could make the argument that, while Cash and others use their "white voices" to make potential customers feels comfortable buying stuff... Detroit is the only one who uses her "white voice" to make people who come to her performance art shows PROFOUNDLY F***ING UNCOMFORTABLE. Is it messed up? Yes! And maybe that's the point? Anyway, I thought it was hilarious. As an Oaklander, I appreciate this movie SO F***ING MUCH - thank you, Boots Riley! ^_^

[@clovesbian]

The CBS interview reminds me of what Hunger Games was turned into (the theme of revolution glossed over and the love triangle emphasized. Or even that song she sings made into a pop song; the meaning lost).

[@kialautnerlovelautne]

Exactly!!

[@TheLandBeyond_Productions]

Or the Capitol themed makeup line

[@juliettedemaso7588]

And the hyper fixation on the “flamboyance” of the clothes, hair and makeup at the capital; conveniently so people can fling the hunger games around whenever they see someone expressing themselves in a way that stands out. Crazy making stuff.

[@hedgehog3180]

Yeah I never finished the movies because in the second movie I could really feel this happening and I was like "wait what the love triangle wasn't even important in the books, in fact it was literally used for propaganda".

[@alim.9801]

​@@TheLandBeyond_Productions I still can't believe they did that 😭 AND THE SUBWAY PROMOTION OH MY GOD

[@dani__crocs]

This analysis is really good, made me want to watch the movie again. Plus, the blue lipstick and the blue earrings are just wow I mean omg

[@chillytoes1]

Yes, I would wear them st the airport, but lol, I'm arab 😱

[@marinaavant]

Ikr!!

[@dildonius]

@@chillytoes1 Ugh. Fuck this ridiculous society...

[@clearMonk13]

Is that me or that sounds kind a sexist? Do you really need commenting on Looks of the “girl comedian”???

[@danielthompson2561]

@@clearMonk13 overthinking it I think friend - nothing wrong with complimenting someone’s appearance, but it’s the way it’s done and the perspectives it enforces that make the problems. The sentiment itself is a good thing though, people should absolutely be willing to give compliments out, or what a miserable life this would be. I’m not great at this stuff, tbh. But I basically steer clear of compliments that fall into the stereotypical patriarchal perspectives, that in my view at least being compliments based on sexualisation or compliments based on covering up or respect of ones own boundaries etc (neither of which I’d ever do for the record!!!). In this case, the blue lipstick and earrings are clearly more speaking to freedom, self expression, and intentionally echoing the rebellious character in the film thereby standing with the films point on society. I can’t really see how complimenting it asserts a patriarchy at all. In fact, I think it is a very encouraging statement to compliment the choices someone is making to stand against the expectations of others - frankly, I wish more people did because I find it encouraging myself. They’re also just badass earrings… Also, best to stay attentive to sexism in a way that is aware of other societal struggles - it might not be a man commenting on a woman’s appearance, for instance - there are other dynamics at play!! Sorry for the rant - I noticed no-one else commented and I thought it’s probably because it takes a lot to unpack - hoping this finds you well, Daniel! I admire you asking questions in public places, not an easy thing to do…

[@DontTouchMyCroissant]

I looked up the director because I wanted to see more of his movies - but this is the only feature length film he directed! I hope there's more to come.

[@PrimateSoul]

He wrote a book and album at the same time he wrote the script before the film was made. The Coup

[@juliettedemaso7588]

Seriously.

[@Progressunlikely]

Update: look for "I am a Virgo"

[@bruh666]

"people of means" is some of the funniest shit I've heard this week

[@chazdomingo475]

That means the rest of us are people without means. I love when capitalists accidentally get woke.

[@Smogget]

The inclusion of the equesapiens was a solid illustration of it's theme, but damn was it a massive visual left turn.

[@MarsHottentot]

Y'know, when Cracked went down like a melted Dove bar left on a kitchen sink during a domestic dispute, I wasn't sure if I'd see any of you again. It's been really gratifying that many of you are doing some of the best work of your careers now - you especially. I'm gonna support at the prime moment (my less bill, more play check) because your content is good enough that I now feel guilty NOT helping out!

[@DragomirSangeorzan]

Check out Cody too: kzbin.info/door/vlj0IzjSnNoduQF0l3VGng

[@marafolse8347]

@@DragomirSangeorzan ah yes, the showdy

[@sorchara9119]

as an autistic person, this discussion on social scripts is fascinating.

[@Celest1al_bean]

Bro same

[@heckporter]

This is such a good video. I love your analysis videos. They’re always so thorough. This one especially. Calling out the white washing of MLK Jr. and his radical ideas and then paralleling that to the interviews and journalists turning Riley’s story into something wholly divorced from any deeper meaning was excellent. Also appreciate you uplifting black voices in your work and actually plugging them. This is one of your best videos yet in my opinion! Happily awaiting the next one!

[@WulfLovelace]

Watching this video has given me a really weird personal realization. I never really believed in television being white washed, because I grew up in a diverse home where we watched media from all kinds of sources. I watched a lot of foreign media, from Middle Eastern, to South East Asia, to Northern Asia, to the UK, etc. So I grew up in diversity and didn't realize others didn't.

[@partyonwayne4]

Maggie Mae and Lindsey Ellis are just two examples of intelligent critics who are transforming the way we look into forms of media we have. Great work

[@Sharpe1502]

Don’t forget Princess!

[@patrickking3124]

This comment aged well.

[@LayneBenofsky]

@@patrickking3124 nah. It's fine. Ellis was harassed off of the platform.

[@ugh_dad]

On that New York Times article, that title, not sure I've ever seen the term "infiltrated" when someone breaks out from nowhere. I don't know for sure, but googling "infiltrated hollywood" brings up Boots, and then a Mobster & Red Scare communist references, and other directors/actors are coming up with "makes a splash", "gets their break out hit", etc like they've earned their place rather than sneaking into it.

[@jblue1622]

Mmhmm this is all the different stances that journalists take, if you actually read their words you can see how they view the people or issues they write about, protesters can become anarchists, agitators, criminals, etc. depending on who writes about it

[@ugh_dad]

@@jblue1622 It is just kind of messed up, regarding a movie about race and class struggle, the now successful director is clearly being identified as an outsider sneakily got his success, they aren't even trying to hide it.

[@gateauxq4604]

One person’s terrorist is another person’s hero. (Sup, antifa🌹)

[@shitpostingstevebecauseall6279]

Oh my god, the CBS interview was so bad. It was literally like the movie was happening to Boots Riley.

[@Nakam459]

Even the colors matched worry free like WTF.

[@EmeraldMinnie]

The end of the movie seems to posit that cooperating with the system, organizing through unions to demand more from the system (as nonviolent resistance becomes recuperated) end up in the dehumanization (alienation) of the proletariat and that the only real action that may end up being meaningful is that taken after the credits roll. This film acts as both a call to action and a warning to capital.

[@DahVoozel]

I prefer "dinner facilitator" to waiter or server.

[@yltraviole]

"executive food transportation manager"

[@MysticMuttering]

I find that some folks take ridiculous job titles as something that whiny employees made them do, when I think it’s more likely that the bullshit titles are a management strategy to try and make us feel important

[@jblue1622]

Culinary Expert Operator

[@celinak5062]

@@MysticMuttering like boomer parents wanting their kids to get a participation trophy

[@gateauxq4604]

@Celina K when, entertainingly, Boomers (the real ones) were plied with participation trophies at every corner in life, which has led to the boomer culture where everyone else sucks because they aren’t living their best Boomer life just like they did...back when money scaled more realistically and shit was exceptionally affordable on a minimum wage job. ‘Participation trophies’ in the 50s-60s meant little because they didn’t earn them like every other generation around them. Participation trophies now are all hollow gestures meant to make kids feel like they’re important so they’re ready for life to crush them utterly.

[@dubtak4976]

Cody Ziglar talking about the white skin tone being standard for color balancing photographs reminded me of something my mom experienced in med school. Her dermatology textbooks all had photos of white skin to show what various skin problems looked like. But skin problems look VERY different on darker skin. So you have generations of doctors (mom went to med school in the 70s, and I'm pretty sure they haven't improved much despite her protests) learning to identify problems in WHITE skin, while misdiagnosing or even dismissing problems in BLACK/BROWN skin. It's my microcosm example of what systemic racism looks like.

[@AnthonySalazar]

Wow! Umm this is the first video I've seen from this channel...the attention to detail and analysis of this movie is not only spot on but also dives deeper into the micro aggressions in the movie and relates it to society and real life. The explanations and sources used are explained through great observation and are even cited in the description; clearly showing how educated the reviewer is when it comes to film and media. I'm impressed, a new subscriber, and am excited to see new upcoming videos

[@LexieDi]

Boots Riley is also a musician and Sorry To Bother You was an amazing album before it was a film! Please check it out!

[@jahipalmer8782]

Great video. My husband and I watched this movie together and he about feel off the couch when the first Equisapian appeared on the screen. Me, I just held my chest and said, "OH my god, yes..." Very effective movie with very effective imagery.

[@ddogvtae9142]

I was on the floor hootin and hollering at the stair case rap scene, it was so gooood. I instantly thought of the Donald glover bit "kanye concert in Austin"

[@porcelainrobot]

im neurodivergent and the social script aspect of this film really resonated with me bc I struggle to pick up on social ques bc of the way my brain is wired. the scripts make no sense, idk why we have to live this way but I cant help but put on the neurotypical mask and comply. shit sucks :/

[@J____L]

I commented this on the first upload so I'll say this on here too: Maggie Bae Fish

[@MaggieMaeFish]

:-D

[@eatatjoes1451]

Legit said "OMG Queen" when you first cut to your face. That lipstick + eyeliner combo is so strong.

[@adastra553]

+

[@youmaboi5279]

Right? Like, actually stunning. I was stunned.

[@tompratticus8890]

Are we joking?

[@mygvmtnamepublicallyavailable]

Also the badass message of solidarity “Tell Homeland Security, We Are The Bomb”

[@Reinshark]

The switch from “waiter/waitress” to “server” wasn’t the idea of a corporate bigwig meant to imply servitude-to “wait upon” someone implies just as much of a power dynamic. Rather, the move to “server” came about with the push toward gender-neutral terms in the workplace. This isn’t especially different from how we don’t use “stewardess” or “steward” on flights anymore, instead preferring the gender-neutral “airline attendant”.

[@larissabrglum3856]

Yup. "Police officer" instead of "policeman" or "policewoman," "mail carrier" instead of "mailman" or "mailwoman," "massage therapist" instead of "masseur" or "masseuse," the list goes on. I think the shift to using "server" is that simple.

[@zacharyb2723]

I worked in a place where the gender-neutral plural of waiter/waitress was 'waitrae' at least since 1995 or earlier.

[@scottcoz]

I was about to point out the very same thing. It would really help Maggie's videos if she didn't just make up so much stuff - it really undermines her larger points (which are mostly valid) when she makes a completely outrageous claim to try to support her conclusions

[@lookbovine]

@@scottcoz I agree. Her Cats video drove me nuts with instances of this!

[@rebeccareyes6171]

@@zacharyb2723 Late reply, but I remember a guy telling me in the late 1990s about working at a place that used "waitron" as gender neutral term. It's definitely not as new as people act like.

[@joshliam1967]

You know, whenever I'm feeling down I'll remember all you need to be happy is a Peloton treadmill and a room full of windows!

[@Eamonshort1]

Damn girl your make up game is always on point it's like just pushing the border of experimental but still perfectly accessible

[@badredfinn2982]

Of note, when you read MLK's bios, especially the Taylor Branch series, King was the son of a wealthy pastor who wanted for nothing in his life, who gave up personal remuneration and comfort for a greater cause. King was assassinated at a time he was uniting the race question with the class question, and supporting a black, working class strike in Memphis.

[@zippoboyshaneshank8954]

The false compliments scene actually mirrors a scene in the film HUMAN TRAFFIC, where two frenemies exchange pleasant awkward small talk, and the narrator asks " I wonder how that would have gone, if we had been more honest with eachother? ", and we are then shown the same scene, where the two characters are just brutally honest about their disdain for one another. It's very funny, and HUMAN TRAFFIC is a hilariously underrated British film,that more Americans need to see. It's about club kids in Wales, during the height of the Race Scene... It's brilliantly written, and superbly acted.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Interesting! I'll ad that to my list of movies to check out :)

[@TheSongwritingCat]

I wish this film had done better by its female characters. Also, I do think it fell back on the individual journey of our heroic protagonist a little too much as none of the collective action was effective until the very end when Cassius came back with his very special ideas that somehow no one else could think of.

[@davidtaylor142]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but Cash never actually had a special idea. He just was told about the equisapiens and then was later busted out by them. Cash makes almost exclusively bad decisions for the entire movie.

[@PrimateSoul]

Tessas character was the whole catalyst , wise, smart, tough and was actively fighting with Left Eye and took and quit the extra job. He had strong ethics and thats why she even connected with Steve’s when Cash strays from what’s important

[@freshlypouredlean167]

I know this comment is a year old but in the movie Squeeze says that they have regalview by the balls and that they’ll crack at any time. Took me multiple watches to catch

[@allison3870]

Girl I'm so glad I found your channel because wow. The automatic acknowledgement of your whiteness and how this movie deal with things you may not understand so cutting to clips of the actual actors who have gone through it?? The use of interviews to analyze the text? Absolutely gorgeous and makes me want to rewatch this movie all over again with all of these wonderful points in mind

[@ThePonderer]

I really need to sit down with this movie again. In theaters the party scene made me viscerally uncomfortable in a way no other movie tackling the issue of race ever had, and the pure whiplash of going from that moment to the Horse Twist emotionally jarred me so much it was hard to take the movie on its own terms or really analyze it all after that. I totally see the deep, layered, intelligent story that everyone else does, but the word to describe my own experience with it is honesty “unpleasant,” and I wonder if that would change now that I have some distance along with other in depth Takes on the narrative to look at.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

I think it's perfectly human and natural to view what happens in the movie as unpleasant! It asks a lot of the audience, but that's what I love about it.

[@elplebeuchiha1996]

Homie!!! I hated this movie. I mean, it’s phenomenal, but I keep telling people this isn’t a comedy, this is a horror film. So many moments in the film gave me flashbacks to unpleasant times. Moreover, it was terrifying because of a few key elements. 1.) Detroit uses a White Voice too. 2.) She degrades herself with her work as well. 3.) Worry Free’s stock rose after the reveal. 4.) At the end of the film, everything kind of returns to the status quo. Sweet Baby Jesus, did this movie give me the creeps. [+]

[@PforPanthera]

I thought it was a good film but once the horse people showed up I spent the rest of the movie internally screaming. I literally just watched this film and it's still just like aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

I was just thinking "I haven't heard from Maggie Mae Fish in a while, I wonder what she's working on?" It was this! And this was great!

[@SolariusSnow]

Ever since your video on Fight Club, I have enjoyed your perspectives and the perspectives you've introduced into film analysis. I hope your channel inspires more people to analyze films through these perspectives, and wish that your channel gets the viewership and subscribers that it deserves. Keep it up!

[@memoryalphamale]

Capitalists have successfully buried class consciousness in racism, sexism, and othering. Labor needs relearn its solidarity to empower itself. Keep on comrades. Abolish unjust hierarchies. Rewrite our social scripts. Thanks MMF. Thoughtful essay yet again:)

[@Cina-nae]

This film analysis was sooo good, and it came at the perfect time as I just finished a paper on Sorry To Bother You for my film class;! It's a shame that this film didn't get more recognition at the Oscars but it just goes to show how much the Oscars doesn't like it when films go "off the script" or have complex themes.

[@JuliaSpeaksWithWords]

This was my favorite film of 2018.

[@Furore2323]

I guess you could say that the morning show interviewers fell into... The Boots Trap *YYEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH*

[@christophermeade1532]

Brilliant work, Maggie. Very well done critique of “woke” advertising and social norms in the service of a great film. Hats off to you, Comrade Maggie!

[@MstrCorrin]

I have to say that I found the compliment argument amazing because it struck me as incredibly honest - like, they were expressing their in the moment feelings with the tone but skipping to the words that would normally be come to after some contemplation.

[@yeukaikambarami6038]

Terry Cruise talking in this is so crazy cause I'm watching this in 2020 and um.... he been bothering a lot of people but has not said sorry lol

[@jblue1622]

Thank you for not torturing us with Tuckcar’s cringey voice

[@juneguts]

I enjoyed this video quite a bit! And I appreciate more people talking about Sorry To Bother You. I will add that social capital is real and terrifying

[@PatrickHogan]

I say server because it’s gender neutral. Loved the video either way!

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Good point!

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

I'm unsure if Sorry to Bother You was ever released in Mexico (cheers from here) yet I won't be missing it, I've heard of it a month ago and now I'm convinced I must watch it. Thanks for sharing your ideas on it with the world, Maggie, your essays captivate my attention completely. Oh, and I loved your earrings *.* -a fan

[@natejones873]

This is such a great movie, and an equally fantastic video essay! Love your work MMF!

[@thekidkrow]

The most upsetting part of the constant condescension and disrespect Boots received in the press was the complete lack of appreciation that the man has been an outspoken and incredibly influential radical voice in hip-hop and underground music as a whole since the early 90's and his work as the organizing force behind the coup has been lauded and adored by even status quo fellating publications like Rolling Stone. Sorry to Bother you was a continuation of the activism, artistry, and full on communist agitprop his music and writing has been for years and to act like it was a project born from him lifting himself by his bootstraps is a fucking rejection of reality. Boots Riley and The Coup are one of the many voices in music and art that pulled me away from a really horrific and dangerous hole I was falling down and his work specifically lead to me rejecting the systems of capitalism that lead me down that path in the first place and cause me and my love ones constant pain and misery. I honestly believe that one day The Guillotine will be blasted outside the offices of oppressors the world over.

[@Topperisbae]

I believe she meant to say: “Save Martha” at the end there. What is this “bye” of which she speaks? ;3 Love the video! 💖

[@Bawinni]

im going to leave this going on mute because i had already watched the original but i dont want to "rob" you of the views it had. BTW, its a great video!

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Thank you!!!

[@Bawinni]

@@MaggieMaeFish you are welcome!

[@r4z713]

Love the way you tied everything back to the “you too” script

[@vantahawk2834]

Regading the manager at RegalView with the anarchy tattoo: My guess would have been that he in fact used to have some radical politics at one point, but gave them up completely to mold himself into this manager persona once he got the job. Idk, maybe that's just my read.

[@fafofafin]

Blackkklansman tricks you into a hopeful story only to hit you in the end. It by no means should be put in the same frame shot as Green Book.... just because Riley didn't like it doesn't mean it was Green Book. edit: typo

[@Shivwuffy]

I wish I could see this movie but it barely got a release date in Australia and only got a few theatres to play it. (None anywhere near where I live of course.) So I'm tempted to watch this till it gets streaming. Which Hopefully would be on netflix and not locked behind Foxtells 100+$ paywall.

[@DeeDee-zu2pv]

It's currently on hulu if you can access it

[@phaedrus4931]

A new Maggie Mae Fish video, awesome! So happy to see you post again. Okay, okay. I'll actually watch it now.

[@zacharyb2723]

Thank you for talking about the 'Messiah' 'chosen one' narrative in Hollywood movies - its been bothering me for so long - I'm sick of those movies.

[@jonslearning2119]

Just finished watching the movie on recommendation from a friend. This is definitely one of the better analysis that i've seen in the last hour or so of my life.

[@vodkatamarindo9387]

I feel like no one has said this about the film but: when Detroit is mad at Cass for “selling out” he tells her that she is no much better as she just wants to sell to some rich dudes (critique about modern art) and when her first art show is held she is using her own type of ‘white voice’ which is ‘British Voice’ to sell to the rich and seem exotic but also classy (british) and that is why he stays for a bit as a WTF (you can tell he is out of it from the coca cola can) but, in a sense he is also critiquing D because she is very outspoken but is happy with the big apartment and the ‘british voice’ that works for her

[@JoshuaOfGrandRapids]

People of (Unjustly Immense) Means

[@noejaun2540]

As a point resistance against corporate speak, i was taught about the use of the term server by a waiter specifically pointing out a wedding planner that he was "a server, not your servant".

[@evywthingseemsdiffagain921]

Also, since it got deleted, I’ll just recommend the channel Popular C/C once more(it’s neat)

[@MaggieMaeFish]

ah! thank you! i forgot to note that before I deleted the video, and i wanted to check out their work

[@evywthingseemsdiffagain921]

Maggie Mae Fish no problem

[@eliquate]

Zora’s point at the end was so true. Movies always reduce racism to the action of individuals, it’s systemic!

[@Honkadelic64]

way late to this party but!! Boots Riley was also in one of my favorite 90's hip hop groups, The Coup!

[@_kleine]

0:20 "The [social scripts] that we follow without even thinking about it" My autistic ass:

[@MrJonman247]

I feel weird going back to these older videos and not getting the 'save Martha' sign-off at the end

[@Dorian_sapiens]

*[claps in capitalism]*

[@DanielSolis]

Just came here after your ScreenJunkies appearance. Old fan from back in the Cracked chat show days. Glad to see you're making some amazing essays like this!

[@CarlossWorld]

Can I just say your voice is perfect for explaining anything

[@ArinThemb0]

Pretty much the best picture of 2018, not even accounting for the depth that you go into, multiple subtle touches flew over my head the first time. Thank you Maggie, keep it up you amazing blue lipped creator! We have nothing to lose but our hooves!

[@meatduck9346]

Considering she liked a tweet calling Bernie supporters misogynist, I don't think she's truly a leftist.

[@ArinThemb0]

No true Scotsman baby... In the end, who really cares

[@meatduck9346]

@@ArinThemb0 i think bernie supporters care lol

[@ArinThemb0]

@@meatduck9346 and I think the self cannibalisation of the left will leave it with no feet to shoot itself in

[@zekewalker1350]

posting from the future where Zig writes for She-Hulk Attorney At Law for the MCU. life moves so fast

[@chgunnproductions]

Really good essay but also I love your makeup and earrings EDIT: I subscribed :)

[@RumtumtuggerTB]

The level of appreciation I have for you wearing the appropriate earrings for this review is near infinite

[@RoryBecktar]

Sorry To Bother You is the first time I ever understood what a three act structure in a movie means and it now makes more sense that it’s because of the reconstruction that I could finally understand. I didn’t see the script until it was challenged.

[@hoodiegod6115]

The way you broke down this movie was dope

[@hopepunk6847]

Fantastic, splendid work you magnificent radical! Thank you for helping keep my belief in the collective us, and our ability to make that better tomorrow by being out there, and doing these wonders

[@hedgehog3180]

The thing Terry Crews said surprised me because it sounds exactly like my experience with autism, and being white I don't want to like co-opt or intrude so I hope I'm not stepping on any toes. But that's essentially the exact same way, down to the word choice, I've described my own experiences, that autistic and neurotypical people speak different languages but the expectation is always that the autistic person learn to speak the language of neurotypicism and not the other way around. There's no attempt to meet in the middle and try to be mindful in the differences in how you speak and perceive the world, rather autistic people have to not only learn to interpret neurotypical people and speak their language but when they fail to do so that's seen as a sign of their inferiority. It means that I often have to put in double the effort in every situation that involves communication because I first need to translate what the neurotypical person is saying and then I can respond, and if I speak in my own natural way I often end up making people angry and that always only hurts me. I guess the similarity is because power structures tend to function the same way regardless of the axis of oppression being discussed, like how there are many parallels between misogyny, racism and transphobia. The big difference here is that while it is possible for a black person to learn to speak a white sociolect, though it obviously shouldn't be required, an autistic person has fundamental obstacles to maintaining the neurotypical style of communication. Usually when autistics talk about this we call it masking and it's impossible to maintain a perfect mask at all times, firstly it's inherently exhausting because you have to do so much mental work and secondly no matter what you'll always encounter situations that you could never have prepared for beforehand and so the mask will slip. Like I'm one of those lucky enough to be fairly good at this and not have many social issues but I still constantly run into issues, both in regular social situations but also actually important ones like education where it can often feel like pulling teeth trying to get actual help from a teacher. The choice of talking about this in terms of language also makes a lot of sense to me since I speak three different languages, Danish, English and German, and I've noticed that they tend to have very different ways of talking about things. So the analogy works really well, and we are in the case of Sorry to Bother You talking about sociollects so it's in the right camp. Also I find this use of the term "Social Scripts" sorta funny because among autistics that's usually an explicitly acknowledged thing. Autistics usually talk a lot about the various scripts they have for certain situations to take the stress out of them by preparing beforehand and often on forums for autistics you'll see people sharing ideas and giving each other tips for scripts. There's rarely much talk about who dictates the scripts but I guess that's partly because of the underlying understanding that we're being forced into this by neurotypicals. So it's sorta funny seeing the term being used in a neurotypical sense.

[@GeronFletcher]

This movie has been stuck in by brain since I first saw it in theaters. It’s so damn good

[@taxibullheat]

Thank you for making this video and breaking down certain scenes, it helped me get a broader understanding of what the film was saying. The false politeness was such a great point, I did not understand it the first time. I have yet to watch the film a second time, which I will. That rap scene hurt. Also, I did not know about this but FUCK "people of means", it's false politeness.

[@Matthewcmiel]

Had to come back to watch this video again to upvote it again! Thanks for the re-upload!

[@samus598]

Sorry to Bother You is one of my favorite movies EVER. That big change of tone at the big party was the best moment in cinema history in my book.

[@eliquate]

This is one of you finest videos. Great work!

[@antonnorth7678]

I love this so much I've watched it twice already! You rock, keep it up!!

[@robertborland5083]

I enjoy the Flash Forward podcast, and one of the most remarkable things I have heard there is that the common idea that technology would lack human biases is wrong. Technology and technology manufacturers come from a social and historical matrix, and is loaded with the assumptions present in the culture, propagating those beliefs. Technology is not a revelation of who we should be but rather who we are.

[@gamert28]

This makes an amazing double feature with Carlos Lopez Estrada’s Blindspotting

[@meganmiller6433]

Amazing analysis of a fantastic movie. Also, those Magic Clap earrings😍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@AnarchistCatGrrl]

I really enjoyed this video. My friend bought me the DVD/Blu Ray version of this for my birthday. It is so good. I watched this right after seeing it with my friend!

[@TroutBoneless]

this is a wonderful analysis, keep up the great work! (came here cause i saw you in Off Hours and decided to see what you've been up to lately)

[@BradLancaster86]

once, i told my land lord "I love you" when she let me break my lease at the beginning of the pandemic, it was the best off script moment of my life thus far.

[@ridofchris]

I love your analysis, really thought and respectful.

[@aryak9564]

Hey, Maggie, where can I find the extended interviews you mentioned near the end of the video?

[@thiebault]

Papa Smurf has been satisfied.

[@SmartSmears]

I am both extremely satisfied that I held off on watching any videos on this film before seeing it and that I can finally say it's time to watch some videos.

[@romerobjuancarlos]

This was all kinds of awesome. STBY was one of my favorite films that year and the amount of layers Boots and co. managed to pack in was amazing. Truly a film that will be talked about and analyzed for a long long time and inspire others to do something that looks at the systems, tangible or intangible, that make up our "status quo"... One that "people of means" (god) would very much like to keep as it is.

[@alisonyoung5051]

Me, coming into this video having never seen the movie but thinking I have a good idea what it's about: :) Maggie: Equisapiens Me: Excuse me what?

[@larissabrglum3856]

You have Tessa Thompson earrings!

[@artleitch]

I think the section at 20:00 is even more salient with ChatGPT and other generative AI where the script is literally being written for us

[@kelliwhite9794]

Looks like I'm gonna have to watch this movie. I was debating on it but you definitely made me wanna see it.

[@noaht3087]

I love this movie and I love the band "The Coup"! I had no idea that Boots was behind both until I just heard an interview on NPR! ❤

[@a_real_one2000]

Great video The clip of Terry Crews was spot on. The presentation of the idea of white people are vast with multiple lens. But That’s not the cast for white folks looking/understanding black America