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Jordan Peele Helping “Us” Become Quotidian
As I’m slowly getting closer to writing my AP Literature senior project paper on James Baldwin, I’m reminded often how he portrayed black people. They were powerful, shy, alert, and reserved. They were simply human, characters that at times, you would think they could be of any complexion or ethnicity. He wrote his characters in such a way that anyone could relate to aspects of their own challenges navigating through the human experience.
When I watched Jordan Peele’s latest film Us this afternoon, I felt as though Baldwin’s vision of telling the stories of black people has reached the big screen. From 12 Years a Slave, The Help, Selma, and so many others, the stories of black people overcoming adversity have been the only films with black protagonists. For decades, there has been slow but sure progression towards just embracing black leads in the cinema world. When Get Out released two years ago, its both clear and hidden social commentary made it a compelling film worth watching again and again.
But Us is different. And in some ways, it is better.
On it’s surface, it presents the narrative of a simple, straightforward slasher horror film. Placing a black family at the forefront of this, something that has not been done yet on this level of film, is a welcome addition to this genre. But as I investigate as I always do…
