I wanted to wait a few days to give people an opportunity to see the movie (and shame on you if you didn’t see it opening weekend!), but if you haven’t seen Jordan Peele’s Us and still plan on seeing it – stop reading because I’m giving away all of the story line today!
First, let me start by saying I was not a fan of the cliché horror movie tricks. I was tired of saying “go”, “get in the car”, or “why the hell did you get out of the car”. Second….can we say Lupita absolutely deserves to be an Oscar contender for her dual portrayal.
Now, while I was not a fan of the cliché movie scenes I was here all day for Jordan’s symbolism, messaging, and the ultimate plot twist. So here’s a little unpacking of my thoughts, and I hope you will comment with your reactions to the movie.
- Gabe absolutely drove me nuts….like really man, you’re letting your wife do the heavy lifting. What’s up with that?!?!
- Us vs. Them = Haves vs. Have Nots
- Nature vs. Nurture….Which Adelaide was the “bad” one? The one who was born good but switched out to be left with “them” or the one who was born “them” and switched out to be raised with opportunities. I mean the one we thought was bad actually got the raw end of the stick – like damn girl she just left your ass behind. (Once you realized the switch happened, did it click with you that’s the only reason why Adelaide was the only “them” who could talk)
- I’m with “bad” older Adelaide – “you could have taken me with you, you didn’t have to leave me”….there is room at the top for all of Us!
- Once I realized the switch happened, I realized that’s what Adelaide meant by in so many terms saying she was forced to marry Abraham and have them bad ass kids….she was supposed to have the good kids by the way.
- I think “bad” Adelaide should have been able to live to tell her story….I mean after all, she wasn’t really bad – she just wanted her damn life back.
- How much does the son learn from being down there when the Adelaide’s battled it out (sure he was in hiding, but did he overhear what happened)
- As someone else pointed out, the reason I probably kept yelling at Adelaide to get her ass in the car was because she wasn’t scared – she knew what was happening, because she had already done a bait and switch.
- I hate that I’ve reverted to referring to the characters as “bad” or “good”, because that doesn’t accurately reflect the Us and Them – they really were separated by opportunity, vision, hope as shown by the transformations of the two Adelaides.
- Anyhoo, there’s still so much to unpack. Mr. Peele – great job on getting us talking! What did you think of the movie?
Diva Attorney I couldn’t agree more that it has taken me some days to “unpack” all of the messages Jordan Peele attempted to deliver in his lastest film Us. Speaking with a coworker today I realized it I understood more of his messaging than I thought and was able to shed some light on my interpretations for her.
1)Hands Across America symbolizing what is seen on the surface while those “tethered” underground symbolizing the struggles of people who are forgotten. Hence the year 1986. The sumbolism that Peele used for the underground tethered people can be compared to the crack epidemic in the 80s and the opioid epidemic today. Haves and Have Nots. The opioid epidemic spilled over into the homes and lives of the Haves (Suburban) with increased IVDU which has sparked national attention and the need for needle exchange programs throughout the country. Where was this sort of National attention when crack cocaine was at it’s peak and destroying families both from addiction and unjust prison sentences? He definitely brought much needed attention to privilege and class in the US(s)
2). Like you, once we realized that Adelaide was tethered underground and Red had switched places, it all made sense. This explains why after the girl (we now know was Red) returned to her family didn’t speak. She couldn’t. She had to learn how to communicate. This also explains why Adelaide’s voice was so raspy (who we thought was Red) No one whom she could communicate with in the underground therefore her vocal cords didn’t fully develop.
3). I am still puzzled about the son. Why was the magic trick he kept trying to get to work something that would include a spark? It reminded me of a lighter but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
4). The husband’s character could be a blog entry all by itself. Our preconceived motion of the husband being the leader/protector of the family
is confronted with a female who has to play this role for her family. The symbolism in this to me is the increased role of black women or women in general having to be leaders of their families. This character being a big black male was all he was. It was for imaging purposes only.
I could go on but it’s late. Work in the morning. I’m sure I will have more to say in days to come as things I saw start to resurface in my memory. The main thing I took away from this movie is that we need more empathy towards others. We need to realize we are all one decision away of being in someone else’s shoe.
Yes all of this!!! And thanks for giving me the idea to refer to them as Adelaide and Red – the good and bad was really messing with me because it wasn’t an accurate description. I still haven’t figured the son out…for a minute I thought maybe he was switched out (and burned in the process so he couldn’t speak) but then I remembered him saying “look” when the clock read 11:11 – so there went that theory.