I don’t know about y’all, but Jordan Peele’s “Us” had me in deep thought hours, even days after seeing the film. The many debates and theories about the film that flooded timelines added another “ah-ha” moment, or a “you’re big trippin’” to the debate of the film’s underlying meaning and or purpose. Jordan Peele FINALLY opens up about the film — if you haven’t seen the film yet and hate spoilers, this article isn’t for you!
When speaking about the film’s ending, he told The Empire Podcast, “This movie’s about maybe the monster is you. It’s about us, looking at ourselves as individuals and as a group. The protagonist in the movie is the surrogate for the audience, so it felt like at the end of the day, I wasn’t doing my core theme any justice if I wasn’t revealing that we have been the bad guy in this movie,” he said. “We’ve been following the villain. I say villain lightly because I think there are many experiences of the film, and I think a lot of people go through a question of what is good and evil? Does that even exist? Both characters are lovable and terrifying, based on the lives they’ve led they’ve just sort of inverted the paths.”
Do y’all remember that look Jason gave Adelaide at the end of the film? There have been countless theories about the truth behind the look, and Jordan says, “Adelaide and Jason sharing that moment at the end, I’m purposefully leaving it a bit vague as to what exactly he knows or how far he’s come in figuring out what, if anything, he’s figured out. I think the little smile she gives him is a lot of things. I think it’s a connection to the evil smile she once had as a little girl, but also a sort of understanding that her family unit was stronger from this experience.”
He also touched on the “nature vs. nurture” debate:
“I think one of the questions that’s raised is privilege, and the neglect that sort of presumption of deserved privilege requires. And when people are on the other side of it, when people have received the rough end of the nurture argument, and they rebel or act in violence or commit crimes on that side, is that evil or is that circumstance?”
Lastly, if you saw the film, you know it is packed with puzzles from the very beginning. He reflects on the opening scene, mentioning the girl with scissors, cutting the paper dolls and how it ties in with the ending:
“That was an intentional reflection, seeing the girl with her scissors cutting the paper dolls while watching—everything that she’s gonna use in her expression and her journey at the end of the film is kind of in there, in that scene somewhere… The muzak that’s playing over the Hands Across America commercial is “Le Fleurs”, the song that we kick in full in our final Hands Across America.”
“Us” raked up a whopping $70 million during its opening weekend — more than double what Get Out brought in during its opening weekend. If you had to vote, would you say Jordan is two for two with his films?! Let’s chat, Roomies!
TSR STAFF: Chantel Kelli! @_popchanny!
