Jordan Peele: Comedy-Horror Mix Master

By Cidney Atcherson
Spectrum Staff Writer

Film director Jordan Peele is well-known in the movie industry for his acting, comedy sketches and directing.

In recent years, Peele has dropped movies that have shocked the world: “Get Out,” “Us,” “NOPE,” and “Candyman” have hit groundbreaking levels at the box office. His twist endings, suspenseful concepts, comedy and symbolism merge for a movie that family and friends would want to see.

His recent release, “NOPE,” hit the theatres and shocked nation. From the trailer, the audience is hit with a happy feeling. The trailer shows the main characters, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer) Haywood, talking about the history of their horse ranch.

On-screen, we are seeing an older motion film of a Black man on a horse. That man happens to be their great-great-great grandfather. As the trailer progresses, viewers cannot help but experience a heavy, eerie feeling as the trailer takes a dark turn. We are shown the main characters on their ranch enjoying music and outside with the horses when the power slowly turns off.

Suddenly, in bold white text and stuck on a shot of the house, we see the “From Jordan Peele” slowly descend down while the music in the back builds to a crescendo. From the sight of OJ, viewers see lights further down and suddenly slowly turn off. From there, the audience sees clips of characters running, horses, alien merchandise and a quick glimpse at the spacecraft. After watching the trailer, theatergoers are left with many questions and are drawn to watch the movie so your questions can have answers.

The movie is filled with double-meanings and hidden symbolism. This isn’t new in Jordan Peele films. (Spoiler alert) Throughout the film, viewers are told the same rules: Don’t look in its eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul. From OJ, we get to see the hurt and love that he has for the horses. From Ricky “Jupe,” (Steven Yeun) we get to see the relationship he had with the chimp and the alien. We also got the sense that no matter how hard you train an animal, at the end of the day, it is still an animal.

There are many theories you can get from this film: that is the hallmark of Jordan Peele films. You get to sit back and chat with fellow viewers about your thoughts and opinions. So, stream “NOPE” and see what theories you come up with.