Nope

13 Aug 2022

Hello my darlings, as you may have guessed I watched Nope the other day! And I wanna talk about it a bunch! But first lemme do a quick life update. Did a terrible week at work, a kid peed his pants at me, it’s officially so hot we’re in a drought right now and I think I’m about to break up with my girlfriend. But despite all outside influences I’m having a pretty great morning! It’s also results day next Thursday, so expect an update about that then. Until then… beware spoilers…

I have no idea where I’m going to start so I’ll just go for the most striking part to me. The creature design. Peele took the stereotypical UFO design and ran with it, turning it into something I’ve never seen before. Yes, living ships are well-trodden ground, but never in the typical flying saucer format. But to me, what made it truly unique is the textile feel. I have never seen a typical alien designed to look like fabric, let alone a whole ship. Later in the movie when we see Jean Jacket moving around more, it really gives the impression of air being blown over fabric, skydancer style. Parallels! I think this is a truly excellent decision plotwise as well, because we get to see Jean Jacket’s insides before it’s revealed that JJ is a living being. And because fabric is man-made, the audience doesn’t even consider the possibility of JJ being organic despite the extremely intestinal imagery. It just comes across as unsettling and mysterious.

The way that JJ unfolds at the end of the movie is another incredible extension of the flying saucer design. It’s giving biblically accurate angel… but also peacock. And I say that for a reason - it’s a threat display. The coloured square reminds me of the sort of thing aquatic creatures (cuttlefish, squid etc) do when they want to tell others to back off. And of course the obvious parallel between the big draping wings of fabric and birds (peacocks, birds of paradise) as they do threat displays or mating rituals… The speculative biology of this creature is an incredible wormhole. You could presume the aperture is a cloaca of sorts - an octopus-like all-purpose hole - but it also seems to be an eye? And at the end of the day, first of all it doesn’t matter, and second of all it really adds to the aliennness of it all. When a creature’s biology is completely incomprehensible it does add to the unsettling aura.

Lots of people have talked about how this movie condemns spectacle, and the exploitation it requires. I think it’s a truly important message for a movie to say, and specifically I am glad it’s talking about animals in showbiz. I’m completely unqualified to talk about the parallels with racism that this movie absolutely does not shy away from, but I think it’s important to say they’re there and they’re amazing. Jupe is a fascinating look into this aspect of the movie as a character. He clearly has a bond to Gordy the chimpanzee and relates to him as they are both lumped into the same category by their adult costars. When Gordy goes on a rampage, Jupe never finds out if the chimp would have killed him too, and as such gains kind of a ‘chosen one’ complex where he believes Gordy chose to save him. Functionally he’s a horse girl. But when he gets the chance to meet Jean Jacket, he falls into the same illusion of having some kind of special bond. He becomes the exploiter, continuing the cycle of violence, and of course Jean Jacket rebels. Animals (and people) exploited in show business will eventually rebel, and they will cause damage, and by the very nature of spectacle it will be public. Jupe is a victim of his childhood, in the end.

There are other characters who provide a great look into how obsession with spectacle can bring ruin. Holst is so obsessed with getting the perfect shot that he is willing to throw himself to his certain death for the chance to get the inside scoop - literally. His sacrifice is pointless, but it mirrors so many heroic sacrifices in film that it really makes a statement - Holst thinks he has finally become the hero of the story, a martyr, too wrapped up in his own obsession to realise that his death was not worth the footage. The TMZ reporter who rides in at the end is so obsessed with fame and fortune that he pushes past Em to gain access to JJ, which isn’t so out of the ordinary. But when he is thrown from his bike, so badly hurt he is unable to move, all he does is beg OJ to find his camera, to take photos, to record every moment. And that’s all he does. In his last moments, all he thinks of is potential fame, with just the last few seconds of his life remaining to plead for mercy. And poor OJ is forced to listen to the screams of the guy he had to leave for dead.

I really like OJ’s character. He is quiet and simple, a real cowboy. This movie is a western, a horse girl movie, an alien invasion movie and Scooby Doo all at once. And OJ fits in perfectly, bringing a breath of fresh air from the character stereotypes we get in horror. In fact, none of the main cast are stereotypical at all. Em is a cheerful lesbian with a deep love for her family and unending faith in her brother. (Just to interject, I think it’s great that this film spends absolutely no time on convincing people the UFO is real. They trust each other.) And Angel is absolutely the bored tech support kid who wants desperately to be a part of something bigger, and is actually willing to back up that spunk instead of running off like the stereotype. They’re all just very loveable and I’m super glad they all lived.

The horror of this movie is incredible. There are two scenes specifically that stick with me. The Gordy flashback scenes are viscerally terrifying. You’re in the perspective of a helpless hiding child, and you can see people being ripped to shreds. The chimp is unpredictable. Horrifying. At the start of the film when it shows up we all laughed, but as the context is slowly revealed, it becomes more and more disturbing. And I appreciate that! The callbacks! Scenes that get better as the film goes on! It’s all about the build. The other scene I liked was the blood rain scene. First of all, the imagery is absolutely bloody incredible. Second of all, the soundtrack. The bassy music from the van makes a wonderful change to the typical silence, and the slowed speed unsettling from an instinctive point of view as well as contextual - JJ is close. I spent the whole scene aware they were building up for a jumpscare, but the horse still got me. Also, OJ leaning out of the car and going ‘nope’ was a perfectly placed piece of levity. OJ is actually on point here. He works out that JJ is an animal. This movie does a great job of avoiding the horror trope of all the characters being stupid. They are smart and play to their strengths, and therefore they win!

So yeah, I think that’s pretty much it for my thoughts spewed out on the keyboard. I liked the movie, by the way. In case you couldn’t tell. Have a great weekend guys.

Blue