Introduction
Societies are expected to function fluidly, empower citizens, and address challenges disorienting their goals. The social contract model compels governments to provide for individuals who are committed to its progress through the continuous payment of taxes. Past scholars have presented powerful theories that challenge these foundations and describe how social inequality has remained pervasive in the American society. Artifacts of popular culture help analysts identify social issues and propose evidence-based approaches to address them. This paper seeks to analyze the nature of inequalities and how they affect societies through the lens of the film Sorry to Bother You of 2018. Through the lens of the film Sorry to Bother You, the viewer realizes that progressive policies are needed to address modern-slavery in different workplaces since it remains a social issue many Americans continue to face.
Selected Artifact: Short Description
In the movie Sorry to Bother You, the viewer is introduced to the life and experiences of Cassius Green. Despite being compelled to work is rigid and unfavorable conditions, Green eventually finds unexpected success in his career. He soon climbs the ladder and eventually starts to earn competitive salaries. This achievement finds it t crossroads since he not sure whether to stand with his coworkers or ignore them. The audience is encouraged to think whether people could triumph in their respective societies without getting rid of their dignity or freedom (Sorry to Bother You). The film goes further to expose the tactics different companies apply that resonate with the notions of modern-day slavery in the American workplace.
The Role of Mass Media on Social Values and Goals
Mass media has emerged as a new reality capable of reshaping public opinion and guiding people to analyze and understand most of the issues they face. Movies constitute mass media and help communicate the intended messages to the audience and encouraging them to focus on the best ways to achieve their potential. The selected film examines a problem that many scholars and researchers have not covered succinctly. Within the past three decades, social movements and initiatives aimed at empowering underserved populations have helped deliver significant results. Specifically, more people are finding it easier to get high-quality education and subsequently eventually get opportunities to work in competitive environments (Sculos 3). Others have managed to achieve meaningful social mobilities irrespective of their racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds.
Unfortunately, the selected film presented a new approach to the challenges and issues many workers encounter in their workplaces. For instance, Sorry to Bother You shows conclusively that many workplaces in the United States do not have access to some of the required resources. The available jobs tend to be exhausting in nature and make it impossible for most of the workers to achieve their goals (Sorry to Bother You). The individuals tend to get less competitive salaries despite the fact that they offer their services to some of the leading corporations in the world, including Amazon. The movie sheds more light on the nature of this slavery and how more people from minority backgrounds find it hard to realize their maximum potential.
The selected film succeeds in expanding the roles of mass media outlets and how they impact the experiences of many people. Specifically, the movie indicates that most of the available media houses promote a unique news cycle that fails to support the needs of these workers. Specifically, most of the news reporters paint a positive picture of different companies and identify them as providers of competitive working environments and remunerations. However, the selected film tries to reveal that only a small fraction of the affected individuals achieve their goals or get managerial positions (Sorry to Bother You). Sculos rely on the same understanding to indicate that more people from minority groups would take longer to get promotions or competitive working environments (3). Mass media outlets have, therefore, helped paint such a picture without unearthing the unique challenges and issues affecting most of the employees in the country.
Past scholars have helped present numerous insights regarding the issue of modern slavery in the workplace. For instance, Caruana et al. observe that “modern slavery has largely been overlooked due prevailing norms and approaches in each sub-discipline” (275). Some mass media outlets have only been engaging in actions and approaches that help maintain the status quo. For example, television stations could only be focusing on the positive sides of various working environments. Such an approach would ignore the realities on the ground and fail to explore the challenges many workers were experiencing in their respective companies. Mass media had also been observed to promote some companies while ignoring others. The model of capitalism could also be to blame since conflicts of interests where involved in the process, thereby influencing the nature of information available to members of the public.
Some investigations in the past have presented additional information about the challenges many workers encounter in their respective working environments. Over the years, social rights activists have been keen to support policies and guidelines intended to promote equality at the workplace and help more people achieve their potential. Some companies have managed to provide competitive salaries and opportunities to workers irrespective of their backgrounds. However, some hidden malpractices exist that dictate the overall experiences and outcomes of many employees. For instance, Roscigno observed that women of color had higher chances of experiencing sexual discrimination or harassment in modern working environments (3). Some individuals also reported different forms of abuse and poor support based on their gender and age (Roscigno 5). It is also evident that “poor supervisory relations bolster the likelihood of discriminatory and harassing encounters on the job” (Roscigno 14). The observations Cassius Green makes in the selected film resonate with such ideas whereby those below him continue to encounter diverse challenges.
From the nature of these issues, it emerges that a lie continues to be promoted in the American society that has the potential to affect the experiences of many people who are unable to voice their grievances. As observed in the film, Green realizes with shock that his career success has resulted in a competitive salary he had not been used to be. His example reveals that only a small percentage of workers from minority groups will be able to record greater achievements in their working environments. When they do so, they leave behind hundreds of employees in their companies who lack the required resources, support, and even empowerment (Sculos 4). These challenges eventually make it impossible for them to record significant social mobility.
The studied problem affecting the American society could be linked to different forms of discrimination experienced in the country. For instance, only a small percentage of women have managed to break the glass ceiling in their respective companies. This reality exists since most of the companies have unique leadership models that fail to meet the demands of underserved populations. They would provide lower salaries to women and people of color. They would lack proper working conditions and support mechanisms to take them closer to their social and economic goals. In their study Ayub et al. revealed that most of the conditions promoted in different companies made it impossible for women to break the glass ceiling (126). Additionally, the social attributes and characteristics helped them define their personal characteristics, thereby being unable to engage in activities that could help them achieve bigger career goals. Such observations show conclusively that unique gaps exist in the workplace that makes it hard for more people to achieve their objectives and better salaries in their workplaces.
The other undeniable observation is that most of the people who get lucky to climb tier career ladders encounter unique challenges. As observed in the film, they find themselves questing whether to support the established status quo or engage in additional fights aimed at empowering the poorly paid workers. This challenge should become the new foundation for proposing and implementing additional policies that could help address most of the organizational malpractices that amount to modern-day slavery. This knowledge is also capable of supporting additional studies to unearth the nature of this predicament and present new concepts to trigger a paradigm shift. The government should also consider the nature of this problem and present better guidelines to promote equality for all (Caruana et al. 261). Unless such measures are implemented, the recorded slavery will continue to affect more people, make it hard for women to break the glass ceiling, and disorient their respective approaches to social mobility.
The media could be blamed for being manipulative and failing to report facts and challenges more workers continue to encounter in their workplaces. As observed in the selected film, the media has been engaging in a news cycle that emerges as cynical. For example, media houses and the Internet popularize Amazon as a leading corporation associated with good working conditions and support for all workers. However, this film challenges this portray by explaining how their wok centers are associated with slavery tactics and poor working environments. Most of the individuals find it hard to get the much needed support since the ultimate aim is to maximize profits. Such a capitalistic approach has affected the experiences and goals of many workers who are unable to voice their grievances (Sculos 5). An integrated strategy that seeks to analyze and condemn most of these malpractices would be appropriate. The involvement of all key stakeholders and government agencies can help unearth most of the malpractices and hold companies accountable for ay malpractice related to discrimination and slavery.
Conclusion
The above discussion has revealed that many working environments promote slavery tactics that affect the experiences of many workers. These individuals find it hard to record the much needed social mobility. As observed in the film through the experiences of Cassius Green, more people would not abandon their dignities even after succeeding in their careers when they are aware of the plight of their colleagues. The insights evident in this discussion triggers a new debate aimed at unearthing the true intensity of this problem and how it affects more workers in the country today. The government and other agencies should, therefore, collaborate and promote progressive strategies that would help get rid of modern-day slavery in the American workplace today.
Works Cited
Sculos, Bryant W. “Sorry to Bother You with Twelve Theses on Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You”: Lessons from the Left.” Class, Race and Corporate Power, vol. 7, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-8.
Caruana, Robert, et al. “Modern Slavery in Business: The Sad and Sorry State of a Non-Field.” Business & Society, vol. 60, no. 2, 2021, pp. 251-287.
Ayub, Marriam, et al. “Glass Ceiling or Personal Barriers: A Study of Underrepresentation of Women in Senior Management.” Global Social Sciences Review, vol. 4, no. 4, 2019, pp. 126-134.
Roscigno, Vincent J. “Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and the Impact of Workplace Power.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-21.
Riley Boots, director. Sorry to Bother You. Significant Productions, 2018.