Liberation through the Absurd: The White Voice and Code-Switching as Afro-Surrealism in Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Abstract

This thesis looks at the 2018 movie Sorry to Bother You through the lense of Afrosurrealism. After some brief introduction to the main goals of Surrealism, and its sub-genre of Afrosurrealism are introduced, the thesis specifically examines one of the surreal tools of the movie: the white voice. Through the characters' utilization of the white voice, topics such as race as a socially fabricated phenomenon, racial performance, and code-switching are discussed. Afrosurrealism is concluded to be an excellent genre to discuss and highlight otherwise ignored and hidden black experiences.