Boots Riley on 'I'm a Virgo' series: 'I don't make stuff to inspire people'

Jarrell’s Jerome in “I’m a Virgo”. Amazon Studios

Boots Riley is sharing his approach to the creation of his anti-genre mystery limited series – an anti-capitalist satire – which will take place at Prime Video Friday, I am a Virgo . Sorry for bothering you Directors, writers and musicians, and the ongoing Writers’ Strike – Foot Protagonist, played by Jharrel Jerome, at the age of .

In Riley’s Creation Jerome), a giant growing up in Oakland, met a group of teenage activists, and the director said his creativity used the absurd to point out the obvious in real life.

“I was drawn to the great contradiction,” Riley told wired magazine recent interview. “I think about what would be a good lyric. There’s this setup, and hopefully it’s good and says something in itself. But the next line that comes up might feel ironic, right? Like Like the contradictions you didn’t expect. Surprising. It points to something. …The contradictions of capitalism—how it works—will reverberate in almost everything we do.

Riley digs deeper, explaining his concept of using the absurd as a lens through which he sees reality. At I am a Virgo series. “I don’t know where the idea came from in the first place, but when you see 13 a foot-tall black man named Cutie walks down the street and the last thing you think about is how he feels about himself,” Riley continued of the concept. “It all depends on what you want to believe and what you plan. It leads to a lot of things, but especially race. In this case, the headline that came out later was, I’m a Virgo , and speaking of which — No one cared. His zodiac sign was the last thing people cared about.”

In his view, the series’ finale was a way for viewers to find clarity by looking at life through a different lens. For the director, I am a Virgo Tricks the audience into starting to think outside the box. “When you watch TV, people tell you you’re nothing. The people you know are nothing. What matters are these stories and characters on TV. A connection to something greater than you,” he said. “When I do get involved in radical politics, it’s because, oh, I can be a part of making history . People want something more important to them. They want connection, which is exactly what Cutie and Flora (Olivia Washington’s purpose in playing Cutie’s lover.”

These thoughts reflect Riley’s own upbringing and activism (his father protested the Vietnam War, and the director spent most of his life time spent on community organizing).

“I don’t make stuff to inspire people,” Riley explains how his art mimics his life. “I think most of us feel like we know what’s wrong. But most of the time the question is, can it change? Is there anything you can do? But actually, even with this approach, my art And it can only go so far. If there’s no organization to actually engage them in events, engage them in the arts or connect with staff to organize, then it’s just sitting there.”

Riley Also involved in large-scale labor strikes across industries, including the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood. “The message that AMPTP (Alliance of Film and Television Producers) is trying to get across is that you don’t have a say in how we do things. I think they underestimate our willingness to fight because I’ve heard from people I know in the studio The thing is, they think, oh, the writers are going to be tired now ,”He said.

Speaking about releasing the collection on Amazon, he added, “I’m trying to get in front of as many people as possible. People who don’t agree with things. … What we’re going to do is organize a labor movement, a mass, radical, radical labor movement that starts in these places. So yeah, I need to reach out to as many people as possible people. That means one of these big companies.”

In his comment, THR