--- title: Sorry to Bother Director Boots Riley Talks to Trevor Noah description: Boots Riley, the director and writer of 'Sorry to Bother You' says "people aren't used to thinking and laughing at the same time." canonical: https://time.com/5344233/sorry-to-bother-you-on-trevor-noah/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-20T15:51:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:57.810Z og:title: Trevor Noah Interviews Sorry to Bother You's Boots Riley og:description: "People are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already" og:url: https://time.com/5344233/sorry-to-bother-you-on-trevor-noah/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt839695efdf624fc0/698935d486f68e3d696e9b0a/boots-riley-trevor-noah-sorry-to-bother-you.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trevor Noah Interviews Sorry to Bother You's Boots Riley twitter:description: "People are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt839695efdf624fc0/698935d486f68e3d696e9b0a/boots-riley-trevor-noah-sorry-to-bother-you.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Sorry to Bother You's_ Boots Riley on Hollywood: 'People Aren't Used to Thinking and Laughing at the Same Time'  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 20, 2018 3:51 PM UTC  SANTA MONICA, CA - JUNE 16: Director Boots Riley attends the 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards at Barker Hangar on June 16, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV) SANTA MONICA, CA - JUNE 16: Director Boots Riley attends the 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards at Barker Hangar on June 16, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV)Emma McIntyre—Getty Images for MTV  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 20, 2018 3:51 PM UTC _The Daily Show_‘s [Trevor Noah](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217611/trevor-noah/) revealed on Thursday night’s show that he hasn’t left the movies “not knowing what I thought about the world” since _The Matrix_ — that is, until he saw this summer’s dystopian hallucinatory fever dream of a film, [_Sorry to Bother You._](http://time.com/5331075/review-sorry-to-bother-you-lakeith-stanfield/) In an interview with the movie’s writer-director, [Boots Riley](http://time.com/5341385/boots-riley-sorry-to-bother-you-interview/), Noah asked Riley why he thought that the film — which addresses racism, code-switching, and capitalism — has been a hit with audiences. “It’s a funny movie and people aren’t used to thinking and laughing at the same time, the way the movies are right now,” Riley offered as a possible explanation. “I think people are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already.” Riley later shared that the film was inspired by his real-life experiences as a telemarketer and elaborated on the “mythical idea of the white voice,” a voice where “there are no problems, where you got your bills paid, you never get fired, you just get laid off — that is almost the opposite of the racist black tropes.” Watch the full interview below. 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