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Sorry to Bother You, but Boots from The Coup wrote and directed a movie about black people, white voices, and capitalism.

Who are the Coup?

The Coup is one of my favorite rap groups. They've been around since the early 90s, they're highly political, and the lead vocalist has referred to himself as a communist. The Coup is perhaps most famous for the unreleased cover art for their fourth album, Party Music, which depicted the band destroying the World Trade Center. And then the World Trade Center was actually destroyed. Worst single instance of terrorism to ever take place on US soil. Perhaps you heard of it. So yeah, that cover art had to be changed. I'm pretty sure the FBI talked to them as well. The original cover art was never released, but had a national tragedy not taken place, it would have been pretty appropriate for a band so strongly opposed to capitalism. Think Marxist Public Enemy, or a rap Rage Against the Machine.



I, on the other hand, am not opposed to capitalism. I can be critical of various aspects of capitalism, but I still believe it's the best economic system. I do find it absurd that people still think communism can work, but bless their hearts for caring about equality.

I'm not going to go into a big post about communism vs capitalism, but it is worth mentioning the band's politics. And while I might often disagree with what the band has to say, I'm usually a fan of how they say it. The lead vocalist is great at storytelling and painting pictures with his lyrics, but I don't think they've ever been a very well-known group, so I was surprised to see "written and directed by Boots Riley" during a trailer for a new film called Sorry to Bother You.

If The Coup was Queen, this would be their Bohemian Rhapsody. Or would that be Bohemian Rapsody? I'll see myself out.

What's this movie about?

The film is a science fiction comedy about a black telemarketer who uses a white man's voice to succeed in business. It stars Lakeith Stanfield as the protagonist, and David Cross as his white voice. It also stars Omari Hardwick and Danny Glover as two other black telemarketers, along with Patton Oswalt and Steve Buscemi as their respective white voices. The always great Terry Crews is also in it.

The trailer looks interesting, but it didn't make me laugh. At the same time, the film definitely has a unique look to it, and the cast has a lot of talent, so it might be good. It also has a pretty good title for a movie about telemarketing.

I don't expect the movie to promote communism, but I do expect it to be critical of capitalism, perhaps in ways that I would agree with or that would appeal to a more mainstream audience. I'm also hoping it's funny, but it's just hard to get the humor across in a trailer.

 
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BANGS

Banned
The film is a science fiction comedy about a black telemarketer who uses a white man's voice to succeed in business.
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Don't get triggered good people.

Movie seems flavorful though, will watch.

I'm not that familiar with the coup, could you post your favorites?
 
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ZehDon

Gold Member
Watching the trailer, I was actually more interested in the movie before he rolled out his "white voice". Looks slick, but the trailer makes the gags all variations of "white people say things your used to black people saying". Not sure that can carry a movie. Anyway, I'll wait for the word of mouth.
 

Ke0

Member
Looks pretty good. I've often heard black people in professional settings have to uh I think its called "switching code" or something to get ahead in corporate/professional world in the US. Not sure that's a thing over here, since most people regardless of race in order to get ahead need to use RP English if you're trying to do anything in a professional setting.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Saw this trailer in front of an indie earlier in the year, and yeah it looks like it has potential.
 
Looks pretty good. I've often heard black people in professional settings have to uh I think its called "switching code" or something to get ahead in corporate/professional world in the US.
Yeah, its a thing. Every once in awhile I let some "black" slip out in front of my coworkers, its funny. Can't do it too often though. I usually will pull new black employees who don't know the trick to the side and hip em to the game. The ones who can't catch on usually get the attitude label affixed and don't last long. I've been told the I'm one of "the good ones" a few times. Yay, Texas! (I'm sure it's not exclusive to Texas)
 
It looks good. Between this and BlacKkKlansman we're gonna have an interesting year with race relations films.

At first I thought that movie was going to be about Daryl Davis. While I'm kind of sad that it isn't, it still looks like it could be pretty good. For those who never heard of the man:



I'm not that familiar with the coup, could you post your favorites?

Sure. Aside from the two I posted already, these are some favorites:

Cars & Shoes / Wear Clean Draws / 5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO / My Favorite Mutiny
 
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