Hacker Cinema
Sorry We Missed You
2019 · Film · 101 min
Directed by Ken Loach
Hoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a hard-up delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family end up trapped in the vicious circle of modern-day labour exploitation.
4 positivefrom 4 commenters
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4 comments on Hacker News
I can wholeheartedly recommend that film (and Ken Loach's filmns in general). The following review excerpt [1] is telling and heartbreaking:
The stakes of the film are simultaneously huge and small. The Turners don’t need much. Some stability; a steady income, of course; more time would be a dream. Really, though, the most precious thing they have is each other. But there’s no time for that because then there’d be no money.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/movies/sorry-we-missed-you-review.html
Sorry we missed you does a superb job of showing the cycle of poverty and how it affects families. The accuracy of the film stems from interviews while director Ken Loach was filming I, Daniel Blake in Newcastle.
I wasn't aware that people working in Uber/Lyft advocate for not being employees? Do you have a source for that?
Are people engaging in gig work because it has several advantages over "every other available option"? What other options do people who drive for Lyft/Uber as a day job have? And what are the advantages Uber/Lyft & working as a contractor offer?
Maybe zoning effects should be part of a discussion on the cost of living in California, exploitation of immigrants is deplorable and awareness should be raised and actions taken, but does that make Uber/Lyft exploiting workers a non-issue?
I'm not from the US and am not aware of the specifics in California, but being from a country which has faced severe economic crises I've seen people "choosing" a shitty option despite every other shitty option.
I can't say I understand where you're going with most of what you're saying, or how informed you are of gig workers situation.
I saw a pretty good movie by Ken Loach: _Sorry We Missed You_, that thought was really spot on on the issues of gig work:
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry_We_Missed_You
He is no Adam Curtis and HN readers probably dislike him^1, but Ken Loach's most recent film (2019) is about delivery services and the "gig economy". It is called "Sorry We Missed You".
1. His last film in 2016 won the Palm d'Or at Cannes if that means anything.