‘Nope’, Jordan Peele Did Not Disappoint

They’re iconic because they don’t just tell a story. No, Jordan Peele’s films start conversations.

There will be some viewers who finish this film frustrated by the fact that they are leaving with more questions about this movie than answers. I, however, was thrilled that it was a slow burn…not the storyline, but the concept of the film stuck with me 30 minutes, an hour, even two hours after I watched it. 

My favorite thing about Jordan Peele, and what I believe separates his movies from others, is that I have just as fun thinking and theorizing about his films as I do watching them. That’s the appeal, that’s what makes his movies incredible. They’re iconic because they don’t just tell a story. No, Jordan Peele’s films start conversations.

Nope, starts out with a quote from none other than the Bible, Nahum 3:6 to be exact: “I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” 

The entire film we watch different characters process and attempt to capture (catch on film) this spectacle that has shown up in this small desert town in California. They tag the spectacle as the “viewer” and, in classic alien film fashion, it makes you ask the question, Are the humans viewing the creature or has the creature been viewing them the entire time? 

With the name like the Viewer, it makes it a bit hard to use this movie to escape reality. Do I deal with aliens on the daily? No. But I view things on the daily. I participate in the game of discovering or creating the next big thing. Posting an article or a photo on Instagram with the desire of it popping off. Wondering am I ever going to “make it” like the influencers and celebrities that grace my timeline. It’s all about the views and it’s all about the money. But when we chase this, it will eventually kill us. Pushing us further and further in an attempt to get our fix. A fix that only can be satisfied by “success”. 

We live in a day and age where unfortunately everyone is trying to do the impossible: be the best, become rich, and write our name in history however that may be. You see this in every character in the movie Nope. But something that separates the leads, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Hayward (Keke Palmer), from the rest is that they understood that seeing each other for who they really were is more important than fame, fortune, and the impossible. Their bond as siblings stood out more than the aliens, the intensity, and the action in this film.

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