Carolina sociologist’s work informs new Hollywood movie

Alexandrea J. Ravenelle’s analysis on gig employees impressed key themes in “Good Fortune,” Aziz Ansari’s characteristic directorial debut, now out in theaters.

It was Alexandra J. Ravenelle’s success to be launched to actor and comic Aziz Ansari in 2021.

Ansari, finest identified for his roles in “Parks and Recreation” and “Master of None,” was doing analysis for a brand new movie on gig employees. (Think Uber, Taskrabbit and DoorDash).

Ansari had studied below New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg, who really useful that he join with Boston College sociologist Juliet Schor. Schor then related him with Ravenelle.

“Juliet, who has extensively researched the sharing economy, has been a fantastic cheerleader for my own work,” mentioned Ravenelle, an affiliate professor of sociology in UNC-Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“Juliet recommended that Aziz read my first book, Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy (2019), and apparently, from the email Juliet sent me at the time, he bought the book while they were on the phone,” Ravenelle mentioned.

Ravenelle and Ansari later related and continued to remain in contact over time. He learn the proof of her second ebook, Side Hustle Safety Net: How Vulnerable Workers Survive Precarious Times (2023). And Ansari and Klinenberg wrote a blurb for the ebook cowl: “You’ll tip your delivery driver more after reading this.”

Ansari’s new movie, “Good Fortune,” opened in theaters on Oct. 17. A well-meaning however inept angel named Gabriel (performed by Keanu Reeves) meddles within the lives of a struggling gig employee (performed by Ansari) and a rich enterprise capitalist (performed by Seth Rogen). The movie additionally stars Sandra Oh and Keke Palmer.

Ravenelle’s identify is the primary listed within the “thank you credits” on the finish of the movie. She was additionally invited to attend the premiere in New York and mentioned it was rewarding to see her analysis mirrored within the film.

“At one point, Aziz’s character is living in his car, and the car later gets towed,” she mentioned. “That happened to one of the gig workers I interviewed, who was asleep in his car. The police arrested him for having a suspended license (although he wasn’t driving) and impounded his car.”

When Ravenelle and her husband exited the theater after the film was over, he mentioned to her, “That was all of the themes of your book.”

The duo obtained invited to the after-party as properly. (“Academic parties are not like that!” Ravenelle joked). And she lastly did get to fulfill Ansari nose to nose.

Ravenelle research three classes of employees within the sharing financial system — gig employees, low-wage W2 earners and inventive freelancers or “1099 workers” (corresponding to writers, dancers and photographers).

She is presently engaged on a 3rd ebook, Trapped: Gig Work’s Hidden Grip on the American Worker, below contract with the University of California Press (2027).

“The new book will draw on another round of interviews with the workers we first interviewed in 2020. It is a really theoretically rich data set,” Ravenelle mentioned. “Trapped tells the story of how these vulnerable workers get trapped in gig work, how this short-term solution is actually becoming a long-term problem.”

Through the movie “Good Fortune,” Ravenelle mentioned it has been fascinating to expertise the intersection of sociological analysis and common media. Comedy is a window into understanding the world of the gig employee on the large display, she added.

“The film is validating and really shines a light on how hard it is for many of these workers,” Ravenelle mentioned. “Aziz has bought extra tickets to his film than I’ve bought copies of each of my books mixed.

“I would love it if book three became a Broadway play.”

By Kim Spurr, College of Arts and Sciences