‘Nope’ and the Legacy of Race-Based Horror

*Puts on fake pretentious academic film Blerd hat* Nope feels like Jordan Peele’s departure from referential Black symbolism and entry into contemporary Black existentialism. Or a precise mix of both. Or neither. *Removes fake pretentious element* It gives us another layer of Peele’s view of the world. Where Get Out was a story about how racism plays out and where Us examines what the Black condition is in relation to trauma; Nope puts a lens on the role of Black erasure. Not just the historical machinations behind said erasure, but the role knowing the erasure happened plays in motivating non-whites to persevere and make a name for themselves against all odds. *Takes film Blerd hat off and replaces with sad boy Blerd hat* It’s a jarring and sober reminder to remember that the United States is a broken country built on broken promises and sustained by selling broken dreams. Especially when there are so many creature comforts to hold our attention from those very real conditions. The divide in this country is so intense that it feels physical. There has never been a reconciliation for the dissonance that the ‘land of the free’ has never been that. At all. Ever. You can see it in all aspects of American society. That lingering feeling of dread is why race-based horror has always been a hit. For reference, movies like Tales From The Hood, Bones, His House, Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight, Vampires Vs. The Bronx and the first and last entries of Candyman all fall under the umb…