#80: Nope, a film by Jordan Peele

Just tell me how to feel!

GREAT poster, courtesy of IMDb

The Bite Sized Review

It was my friend Emma’s birthday last weekend and she loves horses and horror movies. What better way to celebrate than to see Jordan Peele’s new movie Nope, which has horses and horror and so much more?!

My feelings about the movie came in three phases:

While watching

I went in very excited: Opening night of a new movie in a crowded theater with my friends. It was going to be a shared movie-going experience, which I love. I was thrown off and surprised by the early scenes, which are chilling and tragic. I cared for the characters and felt genuine fear and anxiety for them as the conflict mounted. There was an awesome “prep for the plan” montage and who doesn’t love a good montage? I was having fun trying to notice details and make connections as the final act drew to a close.

Immediately after

Then it ended and the credits rolled. I could tell the movie wanted me to feel a certain way, but I wasn’t feeling it. Something was off but I wasn’t sure what.

The days since

It has been hard to put down. I’ve read articles¹ and listened to podcasts and I realized the movie has a lot to say, but there are still a few things that continue to bother me.

If you haven’t seen it, please go so we can talk about it in more detail!

The Longer Spoiler-y Review

*SPOILERS*START*NOW*

For those who have seen it, here are some of the messages I got, either during the movie or that were pointed out by writers/reviewers²:

Our societal obsession with spectacle. There were a lot of parallels between Jupe and the Haywoods. Both parties intended to capitalize on the spectacle of the alien: Jupe in a theatrical way that he was used to and the Haywoods in Hollywood fashion by trying to get the “Oprah shot.”

Peele does a couple of interesting things to comment on this idea. First, by not showing us all the gory details of the Gordy rampage, he’s avoiding unnecessary spectacle. But then during the scene at the diner, a fight breaks out in the background. My eyes were drawn to the fight, distracted by the spectacle, instead of listening to the dialogue. Of course, the most obvious is the spectacle of the alien where to avoid being consumed you must avert your eyes.

We’re obsessed with spectacle. Tabloids, true crime stories, sensationalized news, and social media is all after one thing: Our eyeballs. It wants us to look. Then, like the alien, it consumes us.

Connected to the idea of spectacle is how we capitalize on personal trauma. Jupe looked back on what happened with Gordy in that day-dreamy way, almost as if he were the chosen one who tamed the beast. He displayed the artifacts of the rampage in an unsettling secret room and profited from them. In like manner, OJ had the 5-cent coin that killed his father pinned to the wall. An item with so little worth had cost him so much, and his ultimate goal seemed to be getting paid for his pain.

We want to go viral. What are people willing to do to go viral? Some capitalize on trauma and spectacle. Others go the route of deception by creating fake photos and videos. Our protagonists were aware of this and pursued authenticity, but viral is viral. The word connotes a disease for a reason.

Taming the untamable for money. There was a throwaway line about Siegfried and Roy, performers who also suffered a tragedy with a wild animal. Gordy went savage on the set of a sitcom, yet Jupe still attempts to train an alien that he doesn’t fully understand. He even wore a cowboy costume to give him clout as a wrangler of wild things.

The theme goes farther than things in nature, extending to things of our own creation. What are we trying to tame that is untamable? We’ve certainly unleashed technology into the world without understanding the full implications, all in the name of profit.

What’s really bothering me

With all these themes going at once, how am I supposed to feel about Em and OJ, the heroes? They ended up getting the “Oprah shot,” which will run in the news and tabloids and cause a spectacle of its own. Their experience will go viral. Many won’t believe them and will say the photo is fake. They will get interviewed and talk about how their dad was killed by debris dropped by the alien. Is this the outcome I am supposed to want for them? The movie wanted me to feel that they’d won, but did they?

OJ, the stoic horse trainer, was presented as the only one who understood and respected the power of the alien. He knew it was being territorial, like any predator. He figured out not to look at it. He saved his sister by drawing the alien to himself. But, just like Gordy, the creature is ultimately killed! The Gordy death, while inevitable, felt sad rather than triumphant, yet am I supposed to cheer and celebrate along with Em for vanquishing the monster? “Hooray for the humans who, rather than trying to tame the untamable, figured out how to kill it!” That doesn’t seem right.

Conclusion

I might be overthinking it. It’s possible Peele is implicating our heroes or not taking any sides at all. Victory always comes with a cost. I’ve become too accustomed to the easy-to-swallow superhero movie machine where good guys win and bad guys lose. Heck, even my favorite movie of the year tells me exactly what to feel and when to celebrate (“We’re all alive and back on the aircraft carrier and the victory song is playing - BE HAPPY AND CHEER NOW!”)

Nope goes down with more difficulty and more ambiguity and maybe that’s the goal. What is your take on the movie?

Thanks for reading, I sure appreciate you being here.

Kyle

1. The Film Crit Hulk wrote an excellent piece and has excellent comments from readers.

2. Matt of the PS You’re Wrong podcast wisely observed “it’s all about capitalism.” He and Shelby put out great work.