Like most of Jordan Peele’s movies, after watching ‘Nope’ you are probably left with a few questions. His movies always find ways to create a deeper meaning to what you might be originally seeing. Like his previous two movies ‘Us’ and ‘Get Out’ there are a bunch of hidden meanings and symbolism that went into making his new movie ‘Nope’, and I’m here today to try and help you understand the movie just a little bit better than before.
After watching the movie myself, my first impression was that the movie was a huge symbol for exploitation in the entertainment industry. We see this in ‘Nope’ by how OJ and his sister Emerald try to get the ‘Oprah Shot’ of the alien so they can sell it and make thousands of dollars off of it. We also see this in the flashback of Jupe as a child on the set of an old sit-com that tells the story of a family who has adopted an ape. When a balloon pops on set, the ape goes crazy and ends up killing two cast members while disfiguring another one.
With further research, I realized that I wasn’t too far off. According to Inverse, ‘Nope’ is about “this battle of attrition for the sake of art that director Jordan Peele metaphorically explores.”
Whether it’s a small film or a Hollywood blockbuster, the goal is always the same: to get the perfect shot. And there are multiple directors and people out there that will do whatever it takes to get that perfect shot, the shot a director desires.
The two obvious ways that this message is portrayed in the film is when Antlers, a famous director who is trying to help OJ and Emerald get the alien on film, breaks from the group’s plan and is sucked up by Jean Jacket (the alien) while trying to get that perfect shot. It appears the self-absorbed artist can’t resist getting one more shot. Antlers points his camera at the creature, and then it swallows him.
The other instance is when the TMZ guy pulls up to the ranch to try and get on camera evidence as to what has been happening in the area. Jean Jacket uses his powers to stop the TMZ guy from running away on his motorcycle and sends him flying. He’s alive but in bad shape, and OJ approaches him to help. However the whole time, all the TMZ guy wants is to get a video/picture of what is happening. When the alien starts to suck him up, one of the few things that he says is “where’s my camera?”
That’s just the basics to understanding this movie. Obviously there is a lot more to try and take a part and understand, but we would be here for days if we did that. Plus, everyone has a different interpretation of the movie, and it all depends on how you saw the movie and what you thought it was trying to say.
‘Nope’ is now playing in theaters everywhere!
