My whole thing was, I want it to be janky,” says Boots Riley, talking about the ramshackle imperfection of his show I’m A Virgo. “Everything is too smoothed out. You make it a little janky and jangling and people feel it more.” Among this year’s slick small-screen dramas, Riley’s I’m a Virgo sticks out like its main character: a 13ft-tall Black teenager. The premise alone is outlandish enough; what Riley and his team do with it, and how they do it, make I’m a Virgo one of the most bracingly original things on our screens this year or any other. And one of the most revolutionary: the show culminates in a full-on, top to bottom critique of capitalism
The Guardian praises some little oddity which critiques capitalism. Be still my beating heart….
Wait, doesn’t Boots need to start up a magazine deconstructing his Jankiness so that his peers can emulate his giant steps in his art, then sell it to an offshore company to shelter the gains from tax to complete his critique?
Does he need to be told how to Google “critique” to understand what we’re talking about?
With that hat, he does look like a proper janker.
Only vaguely on topic.
Last night I listened to a programme about Mina Simone. I knew of her of course and some of her civil rights “activism” and songs, but I had never really listened to her or her work, except what might be played on the wireless.
She was the most appalling racist. Really I was quite shocked by it. It was mentioned in passing by the presenter but once I twigged that fact, I heard it in everything.
She was a competent classical pianist, but didn’t make the grade to get into Juliet in NY and guess why she said that was, boys and girls ?
Shoplifting is quite janky, I suppose.
the show culminates in a full-on, top to bottom critique of capitalism – in a show streaming on Amazon. How did he get away with it?
A Jewish producer had a Diversity quota to hit?
Otto – Nina Simone hated YT and didn’t mind telling YT so, after they had paid the price of admission.
You should read the self justication of some none entity messing about with an adaptation of Agatha Christie in the Grauniad today…
It’s probably needless to say it’s a “person of colour”
Sounds absolutely fascinating.
Think I’ll wait until it comes out on Betamax, though.
@ Ottokring – regarding Nina Simone, IIRC, she actually was accepted and studied at Julliard. What she was turned down for (which she attributed to racism) was some sort of scholarship/fellowship/post, I don’t recall exactly what. It must have been that special racism, that deliberately accepted her at the finest music academy in the nation, just so that she could then be denied some other opportunity solely on account of her race.
llater,
llamas
Llamas
Julliard. Yes of course duh.
Thanks.
Does the Guardian writer even know what the word “critique” means?
“And one of the most revolutionary: the show culminates in a full-on, top to bottom critique of capitalism – in a show streaming on Amazon. How did he get away with it?”
There’s money in Che t-shirts and greed pig capitalists don’t care about selling them to posers.
How would it have been made without using capital?
@jgh – “How would it have been made without using capital?”
Capitalism is where you start a business with your own capital. Socialism (or anyt non-capitalist alternative) is where you do it with other people’s money. Both use capital.
Sam, now you’ve pointed out the hat, I can see he’s the bloke who hosts The Repair Shop. Given his natural proclivities he repairs absolutely nothing at all but has the pleasure of taking all the credit and bossing the whitey scum around…
“Capitalism is where you start a business with your own capital.”
No, no no no no no no no no no!
Capitalism is where you use capital to generate an income. FULL STOP. It is *IRRELEVANT* whose capital is used. I borrowed my capital from a bank.
@jgh – “Capitalism is where you use capital to generate an income.”
That renders the term meaningless, since even under systems which are seen as highly anti-capitalist, such as pure communism, capital is used to generate income.
“I borrowed my capital from a bank.”
I’ll just take a wild guess here and suggest that the terms of the loan did not say that there was no need to repay it if your business was unsuccessful. So it really was your capital at risk.