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.