Meet Your Conscience and Superego in "Sorry to Bother You"

Sorry To Bother You

Source: Boots Riley (Director), 2018

As children, we are taught, by parents and supportive adults which behaviors are expected to navigate our society successfully. One aspect of this learning includes adopting societal norms and a moral code that determines when interactions and situations are deemed “right” and “wrong.” As we age, the need for an external figure to inform us of what is right and wrong becomes obsolete; morality becomes intertwined in the very fabric of who we mature into. Consequently, an individual’s compass for right and wrong becomes internalized and even referred to as a “gut feeling,” indicative of its deep-rooted placement in one’s being. When opportunities arise, we are called to make decisions that reflect one’s true self. Even when situations are difficult, we hope that the decisions that are made allow us to sleep soundly at night.

However, what happens when one’s conscience becomes impaired in making decisions that honor one’s true self? Cassius Green (performed by LaKeith Stanfield) in the film Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley, illustrates the complications faced when one’s conscience is hijacked by external desires for money and success.

In The Ego and the Id (1923), Freud shared his famous tripartite model that included the id that represented one’s passions, the ego that described an individual’s reason, and the superego representing one’s morality. In Freud’s account, the conscience was not clearly distinct from the superego (Carveth, 2016). However, in current conceptualizations, the superego and conscience are separate aspects of an individual. On one hand, the conscience is formed in childhood and built on early attachments with caregivers, and “is fueled by attachment and love” (Carveth, 2016, p. 17). The conscience is manifested by the presence of “an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2018). On the other hand, the superego involves receiving an internal “judgment and punishment for real or imagined violations of internalized social norms, norms that may sometimes themselves be immoral” and “involves punishment fueled by aggression—mostly turned on the self” (Carveth, 2016, p. 17). As such, we can see that the conscience will provide a loving and supportive perspective of a situation, even at times when poor decisions are made; whereas, the superego will induce self‑critical judgment.

Cassius Green is introduced as a young man struggling financially, living with family, who has a strong desire to find employment that will help him feel successful. Upon gaining a position in telemarketing, he finds that he is unsuccessful in sales. Showing frustration, his coworker, Langston (performed by Danny Glover), provides him with a tip that changes the trajectory of his career. He suggests that he uses his “white voice” to speak with customers. After using this tactic, both Cassius’s sales and confidence increase significantly, and he “finally feels good at something,” Because of his superstar performance, he is promoted to become a “Powercaller,” one who sells a different set of goods, ones that are promised to earn him significantly greater pay. Cassius learns that being his authentic self must be suppressed to be successful in this environment, and the greater the inauthenticity he exhibits, the more successful he becomes. Additionally, with greater success, the less he is able to access his moral compass informing him of what is right and what is wrong for him.

All the while, within scenes at his home, his work cubicle, and promoted office, Cassius consults a picture of a man who stands next to a vehicle. This figure, who means a great deal to him, is unidentified and responds directly to Cassius’ chosen behaviors. For example, at times, he is found smiling when Cassius views the picture, he is observed frowning and displaying thumbs down when he makes decisions that are questionable, and as being ecstatic when he is proud of his behaviors. This man serves as an externalized image for Cassius, which he consults to determine the rightness or wrongness of his behaviors. “Regrettably human beings have a tendency to distinguish those who count from those who don’t” (Carveth, 2010, p. 115). Upon becoming a Powercaller, Cassius is asked to build his success on the basis of exploiting others and making a conscious decision regarding whose well-being counts and whose does not. As he walked down the road of continued success, he was confronted by his friends and fiancée regarding his choices. Cassius struggled to sacrifice his newfound wealth and success; and, only once he was asked to relinquish his humanity to further his career was he able to grasp the gravity and depravity of his circumstance.

“Sometimes our concerns for others puts us in conflict with core elements of our true self” (Carveth, 2016, p. 26). For Cassius, it took a fantastical business proposition to become reacquainted with his true self and awaken him to be concerned with the welfare of others. Carveth (2010) noted that “in order to advance toward a more mature and responsible moral outlook we must” learn to be receptive and answer “to the humane and loving voice of conscience” (p. 108). So, who is the man in the picture? Might the consultation with this image represent Cassius’ conscience? If we were to examine “the two very different types of guilt each [the superego and the conscience] generates: persecutory guilt generated by superego and reparative guilt generated by conscience” (Carveth, 2016, p. 18), then we may rest in the conclusion that we were introduced to Cassius’ true self, false self, and conscience. As the man in the picture displayed his approval and disapproval, never did his role encourage Cassius to torment or punish himself for decisions he made. Rather, this individual in the picture provided an opinion regarding his behaviors and delighted in Cassius’ ability to make decisions that helped others while honoring his true self—and, in the process, repair his follies.

At times, making decisions that align with one’s true desires can be complicated. This is the case when one is made an offer and finds oneself at an intersection where one can do what is considered morally wrong and thereby gain money, success, and other desirables, or choose the road that requires the individual to do what is considered morally right. However, in the event that a regretted decision is made, do not fret. Call upon the services of your conscience to assist and guide you as to what is right with love, acceptance, and the ability to remedy. Give your superego a break from sharing a self‑critical view and hope that you can feel your moral compass inside point accurately to excitement and pride by doing what is felt to be right while being your true self in the process.

Excerpts from Black Film Through A Psychodynamic Lens, 2024.