NOPE (2022)

Jordan Peele is playing a dangerous game. He is combining popular genre entertainment with DEEP emotional subtext. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS did it. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD did it. The classic monsters: FRANKENSTEIN (and yeah, he was the monster, “from a certain point of view”) DRACULA, etc.

And that means touching the level of theater Aristotle spoke of, where a community can come together, discuss the elements, and perform a critical social function: that of asking who we are, what the world is, what society should be. Shakespeare worked the same vineyard, with insanely complex plot/character/thematic structures that wind around each other like a Mozartic composition.

To say he is playing the same game would not be an exaggeration. That risks, of course, real failure on multiple levels. But the thematic core he has chosen is his own journey as a human being and artist. I can see it more clearly now. The discussion is partially about the plot success: will the audience enjoy the spectacle? Is there enough raw meat for the groundlings?

And more the question: what piece of himself is he offering? And to what degree is he offering a single thing which can be misinterpreted, or is he asking us to find our “thing” within his images, asking questions without suggesting an answer?

Half-way through NOPE I realized I was in trouble: that he offered us, blatantly and clearly, a thematic thread at the very beginning of the film that was so disturbing and powerful that unless I could connect it with David’s Kaluuya’s…