All Art Is Propaganda: Boots Riley’s ‘I’m A Virgo’ Reviewed

I’m A Virgo is a coming-of-age joyride about Cootie, a 13-foot-tall man, who escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world; he forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol named, The Hero. I’m A Virgo is director Boots Riley’s follow-up to his surreal satire Sorry To Bother You, and appears to inhabit the same afro-surrealistic alternate reality- Oakland.

I mowed through the 7-episode mini-series in a weekend and can say with satisfaction that I’m A Virgo is even weirder, more radical, and emotionally impactful than Sorry To Bother You. This the most compulsively watchable series I’ve encountered since Adi Shankar‘s The Guardians of Justice. Both series use pop-culture to critique society in a way you won’t see coming.

Casual audience members may view I’m A Virgo as a wacky comedy about a young man who literally can’t fit in because of his size. However, Cootie’s gigantism also acts as a metaphor for society’s subconscious fears of black males. Within the black community there’s something called “The Talk” and I don’t mean about the birds and the bees.

“The Talk” is when the parent of a black male gives their son instructions on what to do if they’re pulled over by the police. The goal is to deescalate the situation, so that everyone goes home in one piece. I’ve received “The Talk” and my twelve-year-old nephew has also been given the talk because he’s tall enough to look fourteen. I commend the series for highlighting this issue in a way that everyone can understand even if not everyone may have these concerns.

The brilliance of I’m a Virgo is its ability to use pop-culture as a weapon. We see analogies to our own world within an existential South Park/Simpsons parody and the lewd hamburger ads reminiscent of Carl’s Jr. As an indie comic fan, I was pleased to see Deadly Class and The Fearsome Dr. Fang on the shelves in the comic shop within the show. Even the antagonist of The Hero, played by Walton Goggins, is like a bizarre mash-up of a tech billionaire and Todd McFarlane.

To fully grasp what I’m A Virgo is doing, you need to understand the concept of Repressive desublimation. In very simplified terms, it’s when a politically subversive art movement stops being subversive and becomes the new status quo. You can see this when Hip Hop music stopped being the music of rebellion and started being used to sell Taco Bell. I believe that the answer to Repressive desublimation is to create pop-surrealism. If Repressive desublimation is when art looks “edgy” or subversive but really doesn’t change anything– then pop-surrealism is taking the appeal of consumer culture and spiking the punch with something radically new.

I’m a Virgo is a prime example of pop-surrealism in this regard. The show’s love of indie comics, unbridled creativity, and anti-capitalist perspective make I’m a Virgo essential viewing. Boots Riley has created his own alternate universe that’s unlike anything else in entertainment. I can’t wait to see where he takes us next!

I’m a Virgo is now streaming on Amazon Prime.