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Virgo or Villain: Decoding Duality in the Latest Boots Riley Joint
Now that I am exploring the Blaxperimentation genre of film and television, I was excited to start watching the latest Boots Riley series on Amazon Prime, cleverly titled I’m a Virgo. Based on the title alone, I had some assumptions about what the series would say about spirituality and existentialism, which seems to be a popular topic now. Virgo, a mutable earth sign, is known for its perfectionism and focus on work and physical health. This astrological archetype is also related to the Hermit card in the tarot, the 9th card of the Major Arcana; it is pictured in the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck as a wisened old figure cloaked in darkness, except for a single light held to illuminate the path ahead.
Like the other 9’s in the deck, the Hermit can be linked to anxiety, guardedness, self-contentment, and security. With each 9, protecting and pursuing what is truly valuable is also necessary. In this sense, Virgo is also associated with solitude, service, and spiritual purity, the seeker who can discover the truth by traveling far away until they have the information they need to progress into a more fortunate future. This description plays out in the series, as the protagonist Cootie spends most of his early life cloistered away from the world, awaiting the perfect time to collect and share his knowledge.
