Page 6
April 3, 2019
Peele Delivers Again on Scary
o PinionAted
J udge
by
D arleen
o rtega
It’s impossible to engage too
far with the substance of Jordan
Peele’s second film, “Us,” without
spoilers--and the film is best seen
the first time without knowing
what is happening. So I will first
say a few things that may encour-
age you to see the film, if you ha-
ven’t, and let you know when you
may want to stop reading before
actually seeing the film.
“Us” is more disorienting than
Peele’s first film, “Get Out.” Al-
though I found that film very
scary, I identified the fear specif-
ically with racism. “Us” is more
subtle.
It’s also more truly a horror
film. Although “Get Out” very
consciously makes use of horror
tropes, the term “social thriller,”
which Peele himself has used,
feels more accurate. It’s scary in
the way racism is scary. “Us” is
scary in a way that I would identi-
fy as more typical of horror films.
And yet, in so many significant
ways, it isn’t typical. When do you
see a horror film centering a dark-
skinned black family? Where that
family is relatively well off? When
do you see a film depicting a dark-
skinned black family at the beach?
Buying a boat? When do you see
a horror film (or any film) starring
a black actress in two powerful
roles? When do you see the great
Lupita Nyong’o as the lead in a
film? When do you see a film that
depicts the humor and occasional
fruitlessness of code-switching, as
Winston Duke does here?
It’s the first time or one of the
first times for all of these and
many other things--and the film
is not really about race, at least
not as directly as was “Get Out.”
Representation matters and Peele
is conscientious about depicting a
broader range of black experience
without calling it out or making it
the whole point of the movie.
I also especially appreciate the
extraordinarily high quality of in-
tention that Peele puts into every
moment of his films. “Us” like
“Get Out” is built for multiple
viewings--and though that may
make his films a smart financial
investment, I am inclined to be-
lieve that money is not the driv-
er. Peele has things to say, about
things we most definitely do NOT
want to think about. I suspect that
part of what is happening--per-
photo Courtesy
u niversal p iCtures
Lupita Nyong’o stars in Jordan Peele’s new thriller “Us.”
haps quite consciously--is that he
hopes to break past our barriers
to thinking about this important
content by putting out lots of bait
for us to come back for again and
again.
So once again, even if you don’t
like horror films, my strong advice
is to make another exception for
“Us.” Peele’s work continues to
be ground-breaking and import-
ant. He is doing things no one else
is doing and showcasing work
(including, here, from a uniform-
ly amazing cast) that we don’t get
other opportunities to see.
And now let me venture into
spoiler territory. Other important
reasons to see this film have to
do with the important ideas Peele
wants us to wrestle with. They
include the idea of privilege, our
fear of the “other,” the ways in
which the comfort of some is inti-
mately connected to the suffering
of others, and how even margin-
alized people frequently respond
to success by simply grabbing for
what they can with little real con-
cern for who is left behind.
The film depicts a relatively
privileged family, the Wilsons,
who encounter a family of scary
doppelgangers who want to kill
them. It’s an inherently fright-
ening idea, and we are quickly
gripped by their literal fight for
their lives. The only doppelganger
who speaks--the double of Addie,
the mother--keeps alluding to the
ways the “real” people and the
red-clad doppelgangers are con-
nected, “tethered,” and how the
doppelgangers are doomed to live
a life underground that fruitlessly
mimics the lives of the “real” peo-
ple. When asked who the red-clad
people are, she answers, “We’re
Americans.”
Much of the collective imag-
C ontinueD on p age 12