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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2019)
Page 12 April 3, 2019 Peele Delivers Again on Scary C ontinueD from p age 6 ination of Americans is focused on keeping our “stuff,” hanging onto what is ours, against grasp- ing “others” like the poor who are too lazy to work and achieve what we believe anyone can, or immi- grants who want to come and take our jobs, asserting bogus claims for asylum. We feel entitled to our “best life.” Like the Wilsons in the film, we are to some degree swept up in the competition for it--and, as with Gabe (Winston Duke’s character), our life inside of privi- lege may infuse us with an empty idea of power and rob us of much ability to decode and respond appropriately to danger. But the “others” are Americans too. We very typically locate our “shadow” in the other. We com- fort ourselves that the bad peo- ple are locked in cages for their crimes, which helps us avoid looking at the ways that those of us on the outside—above ground- -are connected to what put them there or ways in which certain populations receive more or less punishment for the same crimes. Locating danger and wrong in others like those who are incar- cerated or have felony records (or who live in “shithole countries” or come from some other disfavored group) helps us to avoid looking at the ways the rest of us are dan- gerous or perpetrating wrongs. We locate the dangerous and bad ones underground, as it were, like the red-clad doppelgangers in the film--our “shadow” is out of sight and out of mind. And yet, in ways we resist seeing, THEY are US. Every once in a while, some- one who started life in a position of deprivation, as a marginalized person, breaks out, as Addie did in childhood. And quite often--per- haps most of the time--they simply set about to get what is rightfully theirs, sparing little to no effec- tive concern for others left behind who are not so privileged. In some sense, people with that experience, have more information about the connections between the privi- leged and the marginalized--but often the attainment of privilege eliminates any will to wrestle with the meaning of those connections. Like Addie, who escaped at the expense of Red (the “real” Addie), those whose discomfort is con- nected to our comfort are out of sight and out of mind. Like racism, these are things we very much do NOT want to think about. And Peele is exceeding- ly smart to leave the connections more opaque this time around. As Jesus often said, Peele seeks to be heard only by those with “ears to hear.” And he has crafted a film that is constructed to maximize the number who will actually hear. Darleen Ortega is a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals and the first woman of color to serve in that capacity. Her movie review column Opinionated Judge ap- pears regularly in The Portland Observer. Find her movie blog at opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com. 90th Birthday Party Family and friends celebrated the 90th birthday of Portland resident Lois Graze Jackson (right) with an elegant birthday party on March 16 at the Colwood Event Center. In attendance was Lois’ only living sibling, 101-year-old Dorothy “Dear” Williams (left) of Beaumont, Texas. Lois’ daughters Brenda Polk of Portland and Janet Jackson and Renee Brown, both of Chicago, hosted the party. As part of the entertainment, both ladies recited poetry from memory, wowing the crowd.
