The shoe is a bad miracle. The shoe stands up by random chance. It’s a beautiful thing. A wonderful thing. Surrounded by the horrific incident around it. Jean Jacket is a beautiful creature. A beautiful animal. She causes uncontrollable death and destruction. The shoe stands up and Steven Yeun’s character stares at it because it’s there. Because it’s better than looking at his co-star being brutalized. Because it’s better than looking at a chimp he thought was his friend covered in another person’s blood. The shoe is a miracle in the middle of a horrific incident. Steven Yeun’s character waits for the “other shoe” to drop. It never does. Not until years and years and years later. Not until he believes himself special, and thinks of that shoe as some kind of blessing. He’s the chosen one. He wasn’t. He’s eaten, just like everyone else.
I think what I adored most about nope is how jeanjacket, as a predator animal, functions in a way that makes sense for a creature designed the way she is. She spends most of her time dormant in a cloud, only leaving her camouflage to hunt, and she doesn’t ever attack without reason, and I think the most brilliant thing about the eye contact being what makes her go berserk is that that makes a shit ton of sense for a creature like her.
With her being shaped the way she is, the only way she Can attack someone is while making eye contact— and if another one of her species was to do that? That would be a declaration of all out war. That’s a clear sign of aggression, and the fact that the movie plays into that— the fact that the stadium Jupe built is shaped like an eye, the fact that she flares up at the balloon at first in a clear show of aggression, of fear, trying to scare off what she presumes to be a threat…
And of course, the fact that it just plays into the theme that not everything is a spectacle to be stared at, that people can be destroyed by seeking fame or fortune, that tragedy can’t be tamed and that the past will eat you alive if you’re not careful— and that it all fucking fits flawlessly into her design as a creature. It just. Nope is The Movie Ever.
The best part of Nope was OJ’s dedication to his horses. There was nothing heroic about him staying at the house or going back after Jean Jacket hovered over the property to intimidate them. He was simply a man who “had mouths to feed” and “work to do.” He was a cowboy who loved his horses enough to risk his own life in order to take care of them.
Nope (2022) is such a brilliant movie in so many ways. It’s about the inherent evil of spectacle. It’s about Hollywood’s abuse of animals. It’s about stealing and erasing black history. It’s about how personification is ultimately a bad thing. It’s about trauma. It’s about the never ending cycle of abuse that comes from exploitation. It’s about predator and prey. It’s about looking up to the heavens in awe. It’s about averting your gaze lest you be punished. It’s about respecting animals. It’s about the way poc are treated in media. It’s about how far some people will go for money. It’s an alien movie but it’s a monster movie but it’s a western but it’s a si-fi and it’s the best movie I’ve ever seen.
