In honor of our (sadly) semester, I figured it would fit to talk a little bit about the end of Sorry to Bother You, specifically the final strike scene.
The thing that really hasn't sat with me is that the ending felt a little...anti-climactic, in a way. It definitely lived up to some serious expectations that I set partway through the movie, but the scene with them winning the strike just doesn't sit quite right. I mean, they stopped the power callers from going in one day. Congratulations? You stopped the corporate powerhouses of RegalView and increased your salary? Things go back to normal except everyone is happy now? Doesn't it feel like there should be a bit more of a satisfying ending?
We never actually see what changes near the end with all of the RegalView employees. Sure, they create a union, but doesn't that just mean they'll go back to their old jobs telemarketing for the same company, while the higher-ups just continue to run the slave trade? The fact that they win the strike is made into a huge deal (combined with the "freedom" of the equi-sapiens, but that's a different topic entirely), but it doesn't feel like much changed.
My best guess as to why I'm getting this feeling is because it's not supposed to be a satisfying ending. Everything just kind of goes back to the way it was before, even though it was very blatantly a terrible situation everywhere, as seen through the eyes of movie viewers. The RegalView employees definitely tried to make a change, but the rest of the movie makes it seem so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Heck, their strike just becomes a normal part of Oakland life after a while. The whole joke of Cassius getting hit in the head with a soda can is set around the strike, yet that ends up getting more attention than the strike itself.
On top of that, the employees are still in essentially the same position that they were before. They went from low-profile telemarketers, then to striking, and then back into telemarketing. They're still under the watchful eye of the higher employees. And the major business never actually seemed to stop, except for the day they failed to break the strike. And even when they give in to the union's demands, what's the cost? WorryFree's stocks already skyrocketed, meaning the worker's pay is just a tiny chunk off of the insane profits they made. If anything, the big businesses just got more powerful after they gave into the employee's demands.
What I'm basically getting at is that capitalism sucks and the working class has no actual power in the movie. But hey, that's just in Sorry to Bother You. There's no way that could happen in real life, right??????
On a brighter topic, I'm sorry to see this class go. I'm gonna miss all of the books and discussions, they were all really interesting and eye-opening in ways that I never really thought about when just reading books. It's been a fun semester!
The thing that really hasn't sat with me is that the ending felt a little...anti-climactic, in a way. It definitely lived up to some serious expectations that I set partway through the movie, but the scene with them winning the strike just doesn't sit quite right. I mean, they stopped the power callers from going in one day. Congratulations? You stopped the corporate powerhouses of RegalView and increased your salary? Things go back to normal except everyone is happy now? Doesn't it feel like there should be a bit more of a satisfying ending?
We never actually see what changes near the end with all of the RegalView employees. Sure, they create a union, but doesn't that just mean they'll go back to their old jobs telemarketing for the same company, while the higher-ups just continue to run the slave trade? The fact that they win the strike is made into a huge deal (combined with the "freedom" of the equi-sapiens, but that's a different topic entirely), but it doesn't feel like much changed.
My best guess as to why I'm getting this feeling is because it's not supposed to be a satisfying ending. Everything just kind of goes back to the way it was before, even though it was very blatantly a terrible situation everywhere, as seen through the eyes of movie viewers. The RegalView employees definitely tried to make a change, but the rest of the movie makes it seem so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Heck, their strike just becomes a normal part of Oakland life after a while. The whole joke of Cassius getting hit in the head with a soda can is set around the strike, yet that ends up getting more attention than the strike itself.
On top of that, the employees are still in essentially the same position that they were before. They went from low-profile telemarketers, then to striking, and then back into telemarketing. They're still under the watchful eye of the higher employees. And the major business never actually seemed to stop, except for the day they failed to break the strike. And even when they give in to the union's demands, what's the cost? WorryFree's stocks already skyrocketed, meaning the worker's pay is just a tiny chunk off of the insane profits they made. If anything, the big businesses just got more powerful after they gave into the employee's demands.
What I'm basically getting at is that capitalism sucks and the working class has no actual power in the movie. But hey, that's just in Sorry to Bother You. There's no way that could happen in real life, right??????
On a brighter topic, I'm sorry to see this class go. I'm gonna miss all of the books and discussions, they were all really interesting and eye-opening in ways that I never really thought about when just reading books. It's been a fun semester!
I think the unsatisfying ending kind of proves the point of this somewhat existentialist, twisted film. If the viewer is frustrated that the ending didn't "tie everything up", then they should really look around and see if everything seems "tied up" in their world. "Sorry To Bother You" challenges the viewer to analyze what is wrong in their society, but doesn't give much guidance in terms of solving the problem. Is there a way?
ReplyDeleteWhile I definitely agree, I think the plot twist at the end definitely throws things off. It turns a mildly unsatisfactory ending into one way, way, more unsatisfactory. We've spent the entire movie rooting for Cash - rooting for his life to get better, but then once it does, we're rooting for him to get the hell out of the immoral, all around creepy situation he's put himself in. To see everything almost be back to normal - he's back with Detroit and they're cute and happy - and then sike he's a horse, really sucks. It adds a layer of betrayal and outrage to the already kinda lame ending, and I think that's the point - we're supposed to be mad.
ReplyDeleteSorry to Bother You definitely had an ending that didn't resolve the conflict that was introduced at the beginning of the story. If anything, it got worse because Cassius got transformed into an equisapien. Many of the telemarketers are slightly better off but otherwise nothing is changed. However, if we look at the film's strong anti-establishment and anti-capitalist messages, it seems to make sense. Some people benefit from social/political movements, but others go nowhere and some even lose things in spite of the movements, while big business and the establishment remain solidly on top, as in the film.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I was a bit confused as to how the horse-men were able to save everybody and I was also mad that they were all going to go back to work as tele-marketers. One thing that would have helped is seeing Cash and the other horse-men actually destroying that white man (forgot his name) and getting the antidote.
ReplyDelete