Boots Riley’s ‘I Love Boosters’ is the must-see film of the summer

by JR Valrey, The People’s Minister of Information

About time we get a new and unexplored story in US cinema that hasn’t been told before – one that has not been reimagined, remixed, reworked, interpolated or updated. 

Boot’s Riley’s sophomore film, “I Love Boosters,” is a surreal political comedy, worth paying to see, starring well known actress Keke Palmer, whose character is the head of a theft ring that targets high end clothes, like those sold by a filthy rich corporate fashion tycoon, played by actress Demi Moore. The film centers around humanizing the lives of boosters, people who steal clothes from corporate stores to resell at a discount on the streets; in contrast to US media’s normalization of humanizing corporate and government war criminals and environmental and ecological terrorists. 

“I Love Boosters” is a tale set in today’s time, depicting what class struggle looks like to many struggling to survive in the police surveillance state ghettos of the United States. “I Love Boosters” takes its name from the song by the legendary Oakland based rap group, The Coup.

Actor Lakeith Stansfield from the political thriller “Get Out,” who also starred in the classic “Sorry to Bother You,” plays a mystical sex monster in “I Love Boosters,” whose character gives the film a comedic and more mature dynamic, in contrast to how bright colors are used in the film, which is similar to their use in children’s cinema. 

In light of the Bay Area’s revolutionary history and Bay Area-based writer and director Ryan Coogler being validated with an Oscar for his most recent film, Boots Riley should be the most celebrated voice in Bay Area and Black cinema because the themes of his films, including “I Love Boosters,” always center around pointing out political contradictions in society from the perspective of regular everyday people, and confronting those contradictions with organizing. In other words, Riley’s cinematic work pushes that we can be active participants in changing society, just like the music he makes. 

The narratives of Riley’s films differ greatly from those of Coogler, whose work regularly includes themes of Black people knowingly working within the system which they know is committing genocide against the masses of Black people. For example, in his film “Black Panther,” Black Panther gives the vibranium aka vital minerals to the CIA; in “Black Panther II,” Black Panther saves the CIA agent’s life in battle; and in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Coogler humanizes the FBI operative who assassinated Illinois Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party, as well as Defense Captain Mark Clark. 

Whether Boots Riley is behind the camera as the writer and director of films “Sorry to Bother You” and “I Love Boosters” or in the booth rapping, he always has a politically provocative anti-system message that critically questions wealth and resource distribution within society. I’ll be the first to say it: Riley’s cinematic work so far is iconic, and it is what the world expects out of Oakland. “I Love Boosters” is the must-see film of the summer. 

JR Valrey is a veteran journalist who can be heard weekly on Wednesdays on 89.5FM KPOO or KPOO.com from noon to 3 p.m. His work can also be heard on www.blockreportradioworld.com. 

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