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- [00:00]
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This message comes from Capital One Commercial Bank. Access comprehensive solutions from a top commercial bank that prioritizes your needs today and goals for tomorrow. Learn more@Capital1.com Commercial Member FDIC.
- [00:20]
Aisha Harris
In I Love Boosters, Keke Palmer is the ringleader of a shoplifting crew that squares off with an unethical fashion CEO played by Demi Moore. Now that alone should be enough of a selling point. But then there's this. It's the long awaited follow up from Boots Riley, the bizarro visionary behind a great social satire of our times. Sorry to bother your and true to Riley's form, if you think you know how Boosters is going to play out, you don't even know the half of it. It might be his most offbeat and delightfully unhinged project yet. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about I Love Boosters on Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr.
- [00:59]
Sponsor Announcer
This message comes from NPR sponsor Talking Pictures, a podcast from TCM and HBO Max. Hear host Ben Mankiewicz in conversation with actors and filmmakers who create stories that stay with the audience long after the credits roll. Padden Oswalt, Rosie Perez, Tony Goldwyn, Sally Field and more talk about the movies that made them. Talking Pictures isn't just about film, it's about the powerful role movies play in people's lives. Watch Talking Pictures on HBO Max or listen you get your podcasts. This Message is from AT&T with your summer essential the iPhone 17 Pro its center stage front camera auto adjusts the frame to fit everyone into group selfies. Right now at, at and t ask how you can get iPhone 17 Pro on them with eligible iPhone Trade in any condition requires trade in of iPhone 15 or higher excluding iPhones 16e and 17e requires eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to change. Visit att.com iPhone for details.
- [02:04]
Joanna Strober
This message comes from Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause. CEO Joanna Strober shares the mission behind working with women in midlife.
- [02:14]
Aisha Harris
It's not just about hormones. It's not just about weight loss medications. We are very much a holistic care platform and our job is to figure out whatever medications are appropriate for you
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Joanna Strober
and offer you those medications. Midi Health committed to helping women in midlife with perimenopause and menopause care, accessible via telehealth visits at. Join MIDI.com joining me today is entertainment
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Aisha Harris
host, culture commentator and co host of High Key, Ryan Mitchell. Hey Ryan.
- [02:45]
Ryan Mitchell
Hi, I'm back.
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Aisha Harris
Yes, you are welcome. Also with us is freelance music and culture journalist Brianna Cruz. Hey, Rhianna.
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Brianna Cruz
Hi. I'm so stoked to be here, so
- [02:58]
Aisha Harris
stoked to have have you here. So I love Boosters stars Keke Palmer as Corvette, a down on her luck, Bay Area woman with a passion for fashion. Barely scraping by while squatting in an abandoned fast food joint, she and her bestie specialize in boosting that's stealing designer retail off the racks and reselling it for way less. Her crew includes Sade, played by Naomi Aki, and Mariah, played by Taylor Paige. Now their primary target is Metro Designer, an upscale clothing chain run by the ruthless CEO Christy Smith. She's played by Demi Moore. Christy obviously is not happy about these repeat offenses and vows to track them down and stop them once and for all. For their part, the crew's showdown with Christy leads them to uncover some high level corruption in abhorrent business practices and forces them to think beyond their individual plights. Isla Boosters is written and directed by Boots Riley and is inspired by a 2006 banger from his band, the Coup. Seriously, go check out that song and also that entire album that it's on. It's great. And now I Love Boosters is in theaters. Ryan, I'm gonna start with you. I don't know what your feelings were about Boosters before this movie, but having seen it now, do you love them?
- [04:12]
Ryan Mitchell
I am so pro Booster. Honestly, anything that makes you look good and if you want to just take it. No, I'm just joking. I would not. I think, you know, Boots Riley is just such an incredible director. He has such a point of view that just makes me excited to go back to, like, the theater. You know, I never want to watch it on a couch. I actually only want to watch it in a theater because of the world that he just decides to paint. And I love Boosters. I kind of went into it not really knowing a lot about it. I was like, I wonder if the title is as literal as it's giving. And it was. But that was probably the only literal thing that was happening in that film because it's just wild. I don't think anyone couldn't think that Boots Riley could push his sort of, like, level of work that he does, but he really does push it forward into a beautiful way.
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Aisha Harris
Yes, yes. Rihanna. I'm so curious to hear what you think about I love Boosters.
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Brianna Cruz
Oh, I absolutely loved it. Granted, I was already a big fan of Sorry to Bother your. That's been one of my favorite films of the last decade. I talk about it and think about it often. So I had high expectations for Boosters and I feel like the movie matched them for me. I think I love Boosters is a more mature movie from Boots Riley. I think it's a little bit more clear headed than Sorry to Bother your was. And more importantly, I feel like Boots Riley continues to have an incredible handle on tone in whatever he does. And Boosters has this wacky like anything goes Looney Tunes energy to it with like the visual jokes, the colors, even like there's some scenes where he like speeds up what's happening for like comedic effect. It gives the movie like a little lightness to it. So even when it dives into like the heavier Boots Riley esque topics like anti capitalist class solidarity and things like that, it does it so easily and effortlessly. And yeah, has a vision to me that feels hopeful without going into Hope core, which I can find a little cheesy. I teared up at the end. I thought it was kind of great.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah, yeah, I'm on board with both of you. I so enjoyed this movie and I can't say enough, like, if you've seen Sorry to Bother your, you know that movie goes into very strange, unexpected places by the end of it. And I love that you point out that this feels hopeful because I rewatched Sorry to Bother your for the first time in like years. And what I love about that movie is that it is full of the fire and the passion and the anger while also being whimsical and fun. But it does end on sort of like a bittersweet tone in a way. It's not fully happy, but here it is. Surprisingly, even though I feel as though between when Sorry to Bother your came out and now things have gotten probably worse when you think about the way labor laws and the amount of strikes and work stoppages that have happened in the time since show that we are not necessarily getting better, especially post Pandemic. But there is such a camaraderie here that I think sort of speaks to the value of having movies like this and having someone like Boots Riley who can make something that is both didactic but also very, very easy to consume. I do want to shout out here Natasha Breyer, who is the cinematographer, as well as Christopher Glass, who's the production designer. And of course we can't talk about this fashion movie without talking about the costumes. Shirley Kurata, incredible. Like you can tell that Boots is working with an even bigger budget and he has more materials and resources here. And there's a very big Sort of staged chase scene set piece in, like, the latter half of this movie. And yet it all feels so tactical and real. And he's using a lot of practical effects and miniatures and things like that. And I just. I love seeing that. Right. Like, it's just fun to see those things and see them brought to life here.
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Ryan Mitchell
It did not get lost on me, the fact that we have two really big fashion films that are out right now. I mean, the Devil Wears Prada.
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Aisha Harris
The sequel.
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Ryan Mitchell
The sequel, yes. Too.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah. Yeah.
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Ryan Mitchell
My big issue and something that I sort of felt left on the, like, cutting room floor of, like, Devil Wears Prada was. It was like it was going to a line of, like, trying to combat and talk about all these, like, heavy issues that are happening, whether it's like, downsizing, you know, the industry impacts due to big tech, and all of these sort of, like, really big things that I don't know if it actually did very well. But I think it's so interesting that we have these two films out right now in the centering fashion in a really beautiful way. But the one really actually pushes it. One actually allows you the space to think about what is going on. Whereas not to compare, but the other film is sort of like a little bit of more of a surface level, feel good film. And I think Boots Riley does a great job of, like, this is a feel good film. But we're also going to, like, make sure you have an understanding of what we're talking about in these really heavy topics.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah, yeah.
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Brianna Cruz
It is interesting to me how he's dealing in the nuances of class struggle and presenting maybe different ways or solutions for people to get out of it without being mean about it. You know, like, I think this isn't a mean movie. Well, it's a mean movie, but not to the main character.
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Aisha Harris
Demi Moore's character is a mean woman.
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Brianna Cruz
Yeah. Well, I was gonna say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a mean movie to the white people in it. And I think that's great. I think the nuance in which he's able to contain empathy for these characters is really special, especially considering the idea that some of these characters are wrapped in things that are beyond them, they're victim to the system. But Boots looks at them with, again, like, hopeful eyes, and I think that's really great.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah. I mean, to that point, he is also someone who is working within a capitalist system and acknowledges that. Right. Like, I'm a Virgo. His TV show from a few years ago. Again, go see that. We did an episode on it when it came out. It's so good. Also very Weird stars Jarell jerome as a 13 foot tall black man living in Oakland who's been sheltered all of his life and finally gets out in the world and learns about a lot of the things that are in this movie. And like all of those things. But like that was released through Amazon and you acknowledge when that show came out, like, look, I'm going to use sort of these tools that I have to try. And even though it's through Amazon, which has been reported on as having a lot of labor injustices and practices, he's going to use the tools he has and use that money and put his work out there. And so I think he understands that tension that exists from being an artist. And he knows the best way to get his work out there is you have to work with it. I think that that comes through in this movie too. Whenever I think of this movie. And then I am a Virgo. And also, sorry to bother your. There's a commonality here, right? There's like, there's the protagonist who is either sort of apathetic or uninformed, mostly out of circumstance because they are sheltered or they are very impoverished or whatever. And that's Keke Palmer's character here. That's Lakeith Stanfield's character in Sorry to Bother your. And then you have an agitator who sort of sparks their change. And here you've got two actually Aza Gonzalez, who's playing a colleague at one of the Metro designer retail stores who's like, she's pushing for a union, just like so many characters in these movies.
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Brianna Cruz
The exposition character, she's very exposition coded. But I wasn't mad at it. I thought it was done the best it could have been.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah. And then you have Poppy Liu who's playing Jian Hu who is a factory worker in like the sweatshops of the Metro designer franchise. And so I just think like, that tension there is really interesting and I'm curious, actually, let's talk about the exposition here because I will say it did get a little naughty and confusing to me when we started. I won't say how it happens, but he gets very, very deep into like Communist Marxist lore and I think it works. But I can also see it being somewhat of a confusing barrier because it all flies by sometimes very, very fast. And the rules keep changing, if that makes sense.
- [12:53]
Ryan Mitchell
The rules most definitely keep changing. I think that was my one little note that I had about this film. He's just thr throwing a lot of things at the wall and seeing what sticks. And yes, I think he has a clear vision. But sometimes I was like, wait, there are a lot of holes sort of like, in this story. And I was like, oh, is this one? Is this movie going to be about this designer that is, of course, like, stealing designs and stealing from the community and all these things, which it was, but it just also switched to this, like, wonky, crazy world. And sometimes it can be a little hard to follow. There is no moment that I could ever pull out my phone and just quickly look at the. Like, I would miss an entire, like, section of a film that is like, wait, what just happened? And now I'm lost. I think that's really interesting. Maybe Boots Riley is like, you know, making sure he is retraining the mind of a viewer of being like, you have to watch every single moment of this film. Yeah, it's by design. And I love that. And I always just. I always leave something that I'm watching being like, who is this audience? Who is his intended audience? Like, who does he want to talk to? And actually make sure they're understanding his message.
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Brianna Cruz
See, I think what Boots Riley is trying to do here with the exposition is kind of part of this larger fairy tale atmosphere that fills the movie. I really do see the movie as existing in this alternate universe. And the movie kind of plays into that with some of the visual jokes. Like, I'm thinking of a really good one with Robin Thede that made me crack up.
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Aisha Harris
That is hilarious.
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Ryan Mitchell
Oh, my God. I screamed.
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Aisha Harris
And pointed. Social commentary, too, about shopping while black.
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Brianna Cruz
Right, right. I was losing it in the theater. But I think some of the heaviness of the exposition and some of the heaviness of the mechanics with which he's explaining, I don't know, it all kind of contributed to this idea that the movie is existing in an alternate universe to me. And I think sometimes that could feel like a cop out where the movie doesn't abide by earthly mechanics. And so really, anything goes. But watching it again, that contributed to the hopeful energy that I felt where I was. Like, this couldn't exist here. And when they're getting really deep into, like, you know, Isa Gonzalez recounting Marxist praxis, like, there's part of me that's like, ma', am, this would be awesome if current society allowed these type of dialogues to happen in the middle of a regular conversation. Which is why it landed for me. I was kind of swimming in it at times, but I think that's a
- [15:39]
Aisha Harris
feature, not a Bug, I totally understand that. And I think while the execution at times was dizzying, almost to a distraction for me, where I was like, I'm trying to take notes, but I can't. It's too hard. I'm missing something. But at the end, the vision is clear, the message is clear. And so, like, you may have to take a lot of circuitous paths to get there, but you know what he's trying to say by the end. And I think that's what's important. And also, it's part of the fun, even the little details of storytelling, because Keke Palmer's character, Corbett, is. She's not just facing all of this stuff, but then she's also facing this, like, existential crisis of what am I doing with myself? And I don't feel fulfilled. And I love the way he visualizes this as a literal ball of anxiety. All of these things are happening. But where you're also able to connect with these characters as characters, there is a relationship between these three women. And then once Papi Liu's character comes in, there's also. We have to say. Lakeith Stanfield.
- [16:44]
Brianna Cruz
I was gonna say we haven't brought up Pinky Ring Guy yet.
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Aisha Harris
Pinky Ring Guy, who, again, another kind of circuitous path. But, like, what do I feel like? Were we connected to these characters in meaningful ways?
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Brianna Cruz
Really, the only moment where I didn't connect with these characters is when I kind of wanted them to go a step further. And that maybe is in line with my personal politics more than the movies. But like Christy's assistant, for example, she is clearly brimming with anger, but. But doesn't go past the threshold. And maybe part of that is her whiteness in the movie. And I think Boots is saying something about race implicitly throughout the film, but there's moments where I thought that he was holding back a little bit on what these characters could actually do.
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Aisha Harris
Yeah, I can definitely see that. I mean, when I think about his first two filmmaking projects that we've already mentioned, I'm a Virgo and Sorry to Bother your, they are focusing a lot on the racial aspect. I mean, Sorry to Bother your is about, you know, lakeith Stanfield's character having to put on a quote, unquote, white guy voice. Right. As a telemarketer here, I can totally see that. I think had he gone a step further, I'm not sure the movie would have been able to handle.
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Ryan Mitchell
Handle anything else.
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Aisha Harris
There's already so much going on that was enough for me to just be able to see It. And while Christy Smith, the Demi Moore character, while she doesn't, from what I recall, she doesn't actively say anything that could be like a quote unquote dog whistle in terms of racism. It's like, it's just kind of implied because she is stealing from the hood. She's stealing from the community, the locals and selling their designs at a markup price.
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Brianna Cruz
And I think, doesn't she call them urban bitches?
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Ryan Mitchell
Shouts to say she most have called them urban bitches.
- [18:41]
Aisha Harris
She does, actually. I forgot. Never mind.
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Brianna Cruz
Low class urban, urban bitches. Low class urban bitches. With all due respect to urban bitches,
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Aisha Harris
the way that Demi Moore says calls them the B word is just chef's. Like, it's. She's doing a great job here. Like, I love it. But like, you've also got. There's little, little details here too with other characters who come up later, quote, unquote stereotypes, who are literally stereotypes. You see little news segments where it's like crying black mother, upstanding community, like, they're there. But I can also understand the desire for more boots.
- [19:21]
Ryan Mitchell
Riley has a lot of ideas. Has a lot of ideas.
- [19:25]
Brianna Cruz
Totally.
- [19:26]
Ryan Mitchell
And I think it's great that he has those ideas. And I think he's able to really like consol. Well, actually, I don't know if he's really good at consolidating. It's like that one quote, it's like before you leave the house, take one thing off. He never takes that one thing off. He never takes that one thing off.
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Brianna Cruz
For sure.
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Ryan Mitchell
I do imagine, and I would love to imagine a world where if he that one thing off, what would the actually ending of the product look like? Because yeah, I don't even really know if Lakeith Stanfield's character was necessarily needed in my opinion. Like, I was like. I just kept thinking, I was like, is Lakeith boots Riley's Daniel Kaluuya? Like, is he just like someone that he really connects with and just loves seeing him on screen and he just like finds a place for him to be in his projects and if that is, that's. I love that. I love that chemistry that they have. But I also was sort of like, I could have dealt without all of that. It kind of made me uncomfortable seeing his scene. A lot of times I make people want the clothes. I model mainly for Ross and TJ Maxx, but that's.
- [20:32]
Aisha Harris
Oh, see, I don't know. Those were for me, the funniest moments. I think his character is kind of like meant to be a distraction like, it's another way that she's trying to, like, not do the work that needs to be done. And I like the way that he functions as that, like, distraction in a way. I don't know, it feels kind of like feminist in a way. It's like, don't let these men take you away from your journey. Like, he may be cute, he may be able to do things that you may really want him to do, but I don't know, man, we gotta focus, focus at the task at hand. I love that idea of take one thing off, but at the same time, it's kind of like the, it's, it's the blessing and the curse. Right. I think it's partially why we love Boots Riley. And also it can be why, like, sometimes it can be hard to fully understand what he's trying to say, but the fact that he's even able to say it in the way that he is in this era is just astounding to me.
- [21:30]
Brianna Cruz
It's as anti capitalist as it can be in the studio system.
- [21:34]
Aisha Harris
Exactly.
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Ryan Mitchell
Absolutely.
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Aisha Harris
Well, that brings us to the end of our show. I think it's safe to say we're telling people, so go out and see this. Go to the movies, go to the theater. It is quite a ride. That's the end of our show. Ryan Mitchell, Rhianna Cruz, thanks so much for being here. This was so fun.
- [21:52]
Brianna Cruz
Thank you for having us. Happy to be here.
- [21:54]
Ryan Mitchell
Thank you.
- [21:55]
Aisha Harris
And just a reminder that signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour plus is a perfect way to support our show and public radio because you get to listen to all of our episodes sponsor free. Go find out more more and at plus.npr.org happyhour or visit the link in our show notes. This episode was produced by Liz Metzger and Mike Katsiff and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello. Kamin provides our theme music. And thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Aisha Harris and we'll see you all next time.
- [22:29]
Joanna Strober
This message comes from Midi health co founders Dr. Kathleen Jordan and CEO Joanna Strober discuss why they started a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause.
- [22:40]
Brianna Cruz
The symptoms and experiences that women have
- [22:43]
Aisha Harris
in midlife, I think were underappreciated or possibly even trivialized. The changes of perimenopause and menopause create
- [22:50]
Brianna Cruz
a broad spectrum of symptoms and can
- [22:53]
Aisha Harris
actually lead to long term health issues. But too few clinicians are trained in it.
- [22:57]
Joanna Strober
I also want to add often the
- [22:59]
Aisha Harris
type of care that women are needing is very iterative. It requires trying different medications, learning about their body, and learning how to take care of themselves. And so what we've tried to do
- [23:09]
Joanna Strober
at Midi Health is create a new
- [23:11]
Aisha Harris
type of care system that is responsive
- [23:14]
Joanna Strober
to women's needs and helps them take care of themselves and stay healthy instead
- [23:18]
Aisha Harris
of just treating disease.
- [23:20]
Joanna Strober
Midi Health committed to helping women in midlife with perimenopause and menopause care accessible via telehealth visits@joinmin.com this message comes from Capella University. That spark you feel? That's your drive for more. Capella University's flexpath Learning format lets you earn your degree at your pace without putting life on pause. Learn more@capella.edu.
- [23:46]
Sponsor Announcer
this message comes from Bombas. Upgrade your summer staples with soft socks, cushy sandals, and breezy basics. One purchase means one donated. With over 200 million donations and counting, go to bombus.com NPR and use code NPR for 20% off your first purchase.