Sorry To Bother You, I Am Calling to Disrupt the Dominant Gaze

Jade Diones
FILM 120: Introduction to Media Theory
Professor Irene Gustafson
March 7, 2022
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We all have our own biases to contend with. These biases shape and form our perspective
on the world around us, and these biases can be translated into media, either intentionally or
unintentionally. In Boots Riley’s 2018 film, Sorry to Bother You, power relations and biases play
a key role in the character dynamics. Cassius Green finds himself subject to prejudice in the
workplace, which influences him to adopt a “white voice,” or rather a persona which appeals to
the dominant white and classist gaze which operates within capitalism. Apparatus theory is
exemplified in Sorry to Bother You during the scene where Green is forced to perform a rap at
Steve Lift’s party, in which the white gaze is intentionally constructed in order to convey how
black people are unable to succeed in a white, capitalist society unless they engage in actions
which actively feed into white-oriented racial stereotypes.
Green is visibly uncomfortable at Lift’s extravagant party, as he is now suddenly in a
space dominated by violence, wealth, whiteness, and sex; a space which he couldn’t picture
himself ever being involved in as a Black man of lower-class status. Riley uses this space as an
opportunity to critique the dominant white gaze in capitalism, and how ignorant it proves to be.
In Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema,” Mulvey identifies the three
manners in which gaze is constructed within cinema: “that of the camera as it records the
pro-filmic event, that of the audience as it watches the final product, and that of the characters at
each other within the screen illusion”1 Riley applies these three constructs in the aforementioned
party scene to critique the power dynamics between the predominantly white attendees and
Green.
The first method which Mulvey calls upon is how the camera captures the character
subjected to the gaze. This is exemplified by the use of cinematography, predominantly the use
of camera angles to reinforce the power dynamic. The scene begins with Lift inviting Green to
sit down and share “about some of that Oakland gangster shit man.”2 As Green takes a seat on
the floor in front of the majority white crowd surrounding Lift; Green is shown from a
high-angle medium close-up shot, whilst Lift is depicted from a low-angle wide shot. The
composition of these two shots juxtapose each other: Green is looked down upon and alone in
the frame, Lift is accompanied by a crowd of people who look up to him. When the frame

1
Mulvey, Feminist Film Theory: A Reader, 68.
2
Riley, Sorry to Bother You, 01:08:34.
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repositions as Lift encourages everyone to chant at Green to rap, we see how Green is sat in the
center of the floor while he is pressured by these figures of higher-power who, quite literally,
tower above him. The gaze exemplified by the way the camera looks at these two opposing
characters demonstrates how cinema has the ability to address us as the viewer at the level of
shot and framing, also known as apparatus theory.3 Through cinematography, Riley is able to
position both the character and the viewer through the white gaze. The use of low camera angles
when shooting Lift’s character implies how Green is below Lift in status, and he is the figure he
must look up to if he wants to continue earning money like he is now.
The accompanying camera angles as Green raps in front of the predominantly white
attendees contrasts the angles during his initial discussion with Lift; as Green is now standing
above the crowd of attendees with a light illuminating him. These angles are still intentionally
used by the camera to prioritize the white gaze. In this situation, “the camera becomes… an
ideology of representation that revolves around the perception of the subject.”4 In a way, the only
way for black people to receive validation in a white-dominated industry is to act white (shown
through the use of “white voice” in this film) or to make a racial mockery of themselves, which
is what Green does in this situation. Green is put onstage, not because to act as his authentic self,
but to act out a racial stereotype.
The manner in which I, as the audience, looked at this scene is the second way gaze is
constructed according to Mulvey. Since the viewing experience is not universal and is dependent
on one’s own experiences and values, my gaze does not speak on behalf of all audiences but is
still heavily valued when constructing theory as “the look and gaze cannot be exempted from…
technological, ideological, and political conditions.”5 As a person of color who has been heavily
involved in academic ethos, I found myself connecting aspects of this scene to history as well as
personal experiences. I noticed how the white gaze is notably prioritized in this scene as Lift
immediately code switches once he takes notice of Green’s presence; he starts using
African-American Vernacular English as a mistaken method of attempting to impress Green.
Since Lift has not engaged with Black people outside of those who use a white voice or those
whom he has exploited for labor, his use of African-American Vernacular English towards Green
is both unwarranted and offensive. I found this to be a commonality when white people often

3
Elsaesser and Hagener, Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses, 100.
4
Mulvey, Feminist Film Theory: A Reader, 68.
5
Elsaesser and Hagener, 113
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address people of color in conversations, they attempt to speak in a way which tends to mock
how the ethnic group they are addressing talk. Even if they might have “good” intentions,
choosing to speak in this manner reinforces harmful racial stereotypes as they imply that the
person that they are speaking to is “foreign,” or must be addressed in a different manner from
white peers.
Another way in which my past knowledge constructed the gaze associated with the film
was my past study of African-American dance. Partaking in minstrel shows was the only way for
black entertainers to break into the industry, so they were subject to performing as mockery or
hyperstylized depictions of themselves in order to appeal to a white audience.6 Since Green bores
the crowd with his sincere attempt at rapping, he resorts to repetitively hurling out a racial slur
without any cohesion. Green being pressured into acting as a harmful racial stereotype echoes
how black entertainers are often forced to perform racially-degrading acts for the enjoyment of
white audiences. These stereotypical acts are touched upon by Elsaesser and Hagener, as the gaze
reinforced in media, like film, can extend into our culture: “Popular culture… has often resorted
to this strategy of performing (negative) stereotypes in order to make them empowering, whether
known as ‘pastiche,’ ‘parody,’ ‘signifying,’ or ‘hiding in plain sight.’” 7 Since the crowd is
predominantly white, they most likely have not encountered or interacted with black peers on a
deeper level than what they have seen in the media, so they only act on the basis of negative
surface-level depictions of black people: inquiring about gang violence, pressuring Green to rap,
not validating Green’s rap until he starts using racial slurs.
The last gaze Mulvey associates with cinema is how the characters in the film look at one
another. The distinguished gazes we have previously mentioned

are subordinated to, if not negated and replaced by the looks of the characters. A classical
film acknowledges neither the presence of the camera during the shooting, nor the
presence of the audience in the auditorium; instead, both are overridden by the rules of
continuity.8

For continuity purposes, the gaze of the camera and audience are translated into the diegetic
looks among the characters. The pleasure the white attendees receive from watching Green is

6
Amin, Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches, 40.
7
Elsaesser and Hagener, 114.
8
Elsaesser and Hagener, 105.
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known as scopophilia, referring to a term used by Freud to describe a “pleasure in looking.”

Freud associated this term “with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling
and curious gaze.”9 Green is objectified for his otherness, with Lift even commenting that Green
is “different” from the “boring cunts (who) are at every single one of my (Lift’s) parties.”10 The
white gaze proves to be controlling as it pressures Green into acting to receive validation instead
of acting for himself and his morals.
The white gaze is reinforced by the characters on screen, as the crowd sees Green as
nothing more than a one-dimensional racial stereotype. This is most evident during the shots of
the crowd during Green’s rap. When Green hesitantly begins rapping, struggling to create
rhymes and stumbling over his words, the following shot of the crowd depicts a bored audience
glancing at one another in doubt of his abilities. Green feels pressured by the lack of crowd
response, which is when he begins loudly repeating a racial slur to a very basic rhythm.11 When
the crowd begins repeating after him, even going as far to add the hard -er to the end of the slur,
he looks back for a moment in disbelief, then continues. The audience is now cheering, bouncing
to the rhythm with their hands in the air. From his invitation into Lift’s conversation until the
moment when he chose to act as a mockery of his race, Green was yet to impress the white
audience. It wasn’t until Green made the conscious decision to subject himself to the ignorance
of the white gaze that he was praised.
The filmic representation of this very scene exemplifies how the filmmaker is able to
convey a subject matter through an intentional display of bias. Since “‘gaze’ encompasses both
the historical and structural dimensions of visual (power) relations,”12 shooting a scene with a
specific “gaze” in mind guides the viewer to see the film through the intended perspective of the
filmmaker. Riley’s use of the apparatus in constructing this scene allowed him to disrupt the
dominant white gaze by criticizing the ignorance of white figures in power. Riley, a black
filmmaker, intentionally constructs a white gaze to exemplify how black people cannot
authentically be themselves in order to appeal to white figures in power, instead they must
subject themselves to code switching or mockery. Green is exploited for entertainment and
amusement, which mirrors real injustices like minstrel shows in American history and comments

9
Mulvey, 60.
10
Riley, 01:08:55.
11
Riley, 01:10:08.
12
Elsaesser and Hagener, 114
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on the political issues surrounding black exploitation in the workforce. The scenario of Green
being forced to rap seems outlandish and shocking, but is crucial in critiquing the power
dynamics and racial tension in both the diegetic world of this film and in our very own society.
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Bibliography

Amin, Takiyah Nur, “The African Origins of an American Art Form” in Jazz Dance: A History
of the Roots and Branches (Florida: University Press of Florida, 2014), 40.

Elsaesser, Thomas and Maltem Hagener, “Cinema as Eye- Look and Gaze” in Film Theory: An
Introduction Through the Senses (New York: Routledge, 2015), 94-123.

Mulvey, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema” from Feminist Film Theory: A
Reader, ed. Sue Thornham (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 58-69.

Riley, Boots. Sorry to Bother You. 2018.