Video Essay exploring the themes of the NBC show Superstore including it's major push toward unionization. This is a reupload to try to keep in some of the stuff that I want to keep in.
As much as I have issues with season 6, this is the only show that addressed Covid that I've been able to rewatch since in part because I think it handled it as well as it could have and because it was one of the few settings where covid actually gave them interesting stories and jokes instead of the same 5 covid jokes every other show did on repeat I think the unionization story was ultimately doomed because of the amy/Jonah romance, and because they were trying too write her off the show by joining zephra without Making that decision ruin her likeability, which meant they couldn't show zephras evil nearly as well as they could cloud 9 when our only face there was Jeff I do think it was effective at showing how insidiously corporations can corrupt well meaning people and how even ostensibly pro union management can never be true allies to a union
I do also unfortunately think this depiction was kinda realistic. Most unionization efforts do fail, especially when companies get purchased and there is unfounded hope that the new company will be better combined with new blood who weren't part of the organizing process and don't want to rock the boat, and trying to make a good impression to your new owners to not be shut down in the transition
Though if zephra was a real tech company they'd have fired everyone and replaced them with contract workers or seasonal temps who by not technically being zephra employees don't have the power to unionize against them and so that zephra can use the temp agency as a scapegoat for any poor working conditions (eg how Google staffs all its server farms, or the entire business model of doordash/instacart/uber)
I just finished this and it was crazy watching it along side The Boondocks where Huey(a leftist) is constantly trying to start something only to get thrown back down by the system or others in his group that bail to the systems side Very much similar to what happens here in Superstore And kinda likewise by the end he’s kinda disappointed and is focused now more on helping those close to him then a full revolution And I kinda find it in a way sobering and disappointing that both these shows about collectives coming together kinda ended with nothing burger’s where everything is basically the same system wise just now with more personal growth Like amazing shows, but they both kinda say the same thing No matter how hard you try, the systems already won And honestly I’m not a fan of that kind of thinking, like it take away any agency from the view for change Like it maybe more realistic, but I kinda hoped when I started that both shows would have a more happy ending, then a meh ending in this sense
I mainly watched the show because of the unionization aspect. Didn't really care for Amy and Jonah, and the overall comedy was kind of meh, half the time to time.
