"Us" Movie Poster
Photo courtesy of Google.
Jordan Peele, one-half of the comedic duo Key and Peele with Keegan-Michael Key, has now made a name of himself as a genius director of thriller movies.
Peele debuted his talents in February 2017 with the very detailed “Get Out,” which touched on the topic of what it feels like being Black in America.
This film enjoyed great reviews and many different analytical theories on the very detailed scenes and how literally everything represented the underlying theme aside from the Black boyfriend with a white woman meeting her family for the first time.
On Friday, March 22, his highly anticipated movie “Us” debuted in theaters all across America.
This movie explores the possibilities of having an evil doppelganger.
Since its debut trailer with the popular ’90s song “I Got Five On It” by Luniz remixed to a thrilling score, fans began theories on how this movie may relate to social injustice issues similar to “Get Out.” However, Peele dispelled rumors with a tweet:
The movie begins with a television screen showcasing several commercials. The promo, “Hands Across America,” to stop hunger with a faint silhouette of a young girl watching. The movie then introduces a family on the boardwalk of a beach where the same young girl who was watching the television walks off into a maze of mirrors where she comes face to face with her doppelganger. The little girl is gone for exactly 15 minutes, and then she reappears with her family. After the incident, the family is concerned because the girl is different from how she was before.
The movie fast forwards to the little girl being a mother named Adelaide, played by Lupita Nyongo, of a boy, Jason, a girl, Zora with her husband, Gabe, played by Winston Duke. The family is on vacation near the same beach Adelaide experienced her incident. The mother is hesitant about going to the beach because of what happened, but Gabe convinces her everything will be fine. The family finally goes to the beach where they meet another family who seem to be longtime friends and appear to be richer.
That’s when the doppelganger effect takes full effect.
Being a Jordan Peele movie, fans all have theories on the symbolism within the movie. The most common theory is that the movie was an example of classism and privilege. The tethered represents the lower class and the above represents the upper class. Also, the white family in the movie is evidently richer than the Black family.
Some also believe that the movie represents childhood trauma and the lack of acknowledgement of mental health in the Black community.
In addition, some believe the son, Jason, was switched as well since there is indication that his behavior changed in events that were not presented in the movie.
Although Peele obviously did not want fans to expect “Us” to be like “Get Out,” I am guilty of expecting the same themes. My first impression was negative and I left the theater quite confused, but after many conversations with other viewers, watching conspiracy theories and seeing the movie again, I say Peele has continued to uphold his reputation as a “genius” director of thriller films.
I would like an explanation of the film from Peele himself, because I am still unsure of the significance of the rabbits.
Overall, I am not only excited for his future projects, but I am also excited that Peele is finally paving the way for Black actors and actresses to be cast in roles that more likely than not are assumed to be given to white actors and actresses. As a Black woman, I appreciate finally being represented in mainstream media.