THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
With his third feature Nope, Jordan Peele continues his personal brand of “horror comedies” and proves to be one of the most inventive directors working in Hollywood right now.
As is the case with his two previous films, Nope is charged with symbolism and easter eggs, so let’s lose no time and dig into those.
THE NATURE OF SPECTACLE & NAHUM 3:6
Nope tells the story of the Haywood siblings, O.J. and Emerald, who have a ranch in Hollywood and provide horses for movies and commercials.
Peele makes a case for Hollywood as a money-making machine that has corrupted art and exploits the people who make it. In fact, the movie opens with the following quote from the Bible:
“I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.”
Much as the UFO in the movie will eat people up and then discard them, Hollywood uses people up and kicks them under the bus when they are no longer profitable.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HAYWOOD SIBLINGS AND THEIR FATHER
After the death of their father in a freak accident, O.J. starts taking care of the family business, while disliking all along the “spectacle” part that it involves. He’s quiet, taciturn, and better at ease with horses than people.
Emerald, on the other hand, wants to make it big in Hollywood and appears to be much more extroverted than O.J.
A conversation between O.J. and Emerald reveals that when they were younger, their father had promised to give Emerald a horse named Jean Jacket. It would have been the first horse Emerald would have ridden, but her father changed his mind.
Instead of giving Jean Jacket to Emerald, Otis father decided to have O.J. tame the horse for a movie production – specifically, The Scorpion King (2002).
We are told that Emerald never actually got to ride the horse, and Jean Jacket wasn’t even in the movie, as the producers decided to use camels instead. Also, O.J. was never able to tame that horse either.
Emerald has always felt that her father relegated her over O.J., and is undertandably bitter about it. She is, in fact, better gifted than Ottis for the commercial part of the business.
In one scene when she introduces the Haywood ranch to some producers, she delivers a speech she has memorized by watching old tapes of her father. That’s why, when she mentions her ancestor, she misses one “great”. She’s quoting her father word by word.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? O.J AND EMERALD
O.J. is short for Otis Junior, but the name is also a reference O.J. Simpson, whose trial for murder in 1995 was a highly publicized affair.
The case was so high-profile at the time that it was broadcasted in place of soap operas, and viewers soon found themselves addicted to it – a true spectable indeed.
Emerald, on the other hand, seems to be a reference to Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz (1939), a movie where its main actress, Judie Garland, was notoriously abused.
THE MUYBRIDGE HORSE CLIP
Nope‘s Haywood siblings are supposedly descendants of the black jockey that can be seen in the very first set of photographs that were animated to create an illusion of movement.
In 1878, Edward Muybridge set up 12 cameras that would be later tripped by wires, one by one, when a jockey on a horse rode past them.
The name of the horse was Sallie Gardner, but nobody remembers the name of the jockey. He was another victim of “spectable”, used up and discarded after fulfilling his function.
OTIS SENIOR’S DEATH AND THE UFO’S ANIMAL NATURE
In one early scene of Nope, Otis senior dies after being misteriously hit by a coin fallen from the sky – the number 1979 can be seen on the coin, a likely reference to the movie Alien, which was released in 1979.
The authorities explain to O.J. and Emerald that the coin probably fell from an airplane in an unlikely accident, but O.J. doesn’t believe that’s the case – and he’s right too.
In fact, there’s a UFO living around their property. The thing is, the UFO is not a spaceship but some sort of alien animal who considers the ranch its territory.
The UFO flies around the area, eating up people and animals that look at it, which it finds threatening – in the same way that many animals find direct eye contact a threat.
After eating, the UFO discards inorganic matter, such as coins and keys, and it is during one such process that Otis senior happens to be hit.
It is also worth noting that, at the beginning of the movie, O.J. hears a news anchor talking about how two hikers have gone missing in the area. It is very possible that the coin that killed Otis senior belonged to either one of them.
GORKI’S SHOW AND THE STANDING SHOE
Ricky “Jupe” Park is a business man who operates a theme park called Jupiter’s Claim nearby the Haywood ranch.
Jupe had also been a child actor in a show that ended tragically when an ape acting in it lost its grip and went on a violent rampage, attacking and killing many of the people working in the show.
During the attack, Jupe hid himself under a table and focused his gaze on a shoe that was standing in the midst of all that chaos.
The likelyhood that a shoe could stand like that without falling is probably one in a million – yet it did, and by focusing his gaze on it, Jupe saved his life, avoiding direct contact with Gorki the ape. The shoe is what O.J. will later refer to as a “bad miracle”.
(A small digression here: the shoe moment has become so iconic that people are actually making cakes inspired by it.)
When Gorki finally notices Jupe, they are still seeing each other through a veil (the mantelpiece of the table Jupe is hiding under). Gorki approaches Jupe and tries to do a fist bump with him seconds before being shot to death.
JUPITER’S CLAIM
Jupe should have learned a lesson – that exploitation for the sake of spectacle is not a good thing. However, his takeaway from the whole ordeal is quite different. At some point, he is actually heard saying that he’s “special”.
Thus, Jupe is the opposite of O.J. in his relation to show business and animals. Whereas O.J. treats his horses with respect, Jupe sees everything as a means to an end.
Jupe has collected memorabilia from the incident and is now exploiting it for financial gain.
He has also seen the UFO feeding on horses in the desert, and believes that, since he’s special and can tame animals, he can tame the UFO as well.
Jupe starts buying horses from O.J., whose business is in straits. When O.J. asks about an option to buy his horses back in the future, Jupe tries to dodge the subject.
This is because he has been feeding the horses to the UFO, and therefore, the horses are no longer around.
The jacket that he’s seeing wearing at a later scene in Nope represents a UFO, which is a nice detail by Peele.
THE VEILED LADY
During Jupe’s final show, a severily deformed lady wearing a veil can be seen among the public. She is supposed to be Jupe’s child co-star in Gorki’s Show, who survived the ape’s attack in dire condition.
Her character is based on the actual story of Charla Nash, who was likewise attacked by her chimpanzee Travis and appeared in Oprah’s show wearing a very similar veil.
Another small easter egg: O.J. visits Jupiter’s Claim after the UFO eats up all the spectators in the show and finds it deserted except for a pig on the roof of a building. The pig was able to survive because it is impossible for pigs to look up.
THE ORANGE HOODIE & THE NEW JEAN JACKET
When the Haywood siblings, Angel and Antler decide to confront the UFO in order to get “the shot”, O.J. wears an orange hoodie that he got from working on the set of The Scorpion King.
He also gives the UFO a name – Jean Jacket, after the horse that Emerald wanted to have and that he was unable to tame. It is a nice way to resolve their issues with their father, as well as being a very visible item of clothing that is sure to attract the UFO’s attention.
THE TMZ REPORTER’S AND ANTLER’S SACRIFICE
During the final confrontation with the UFO, a man in a motorcycle appears. He is a reporter from TMZ and, moments before being eaten up by the UFO, he is more worried about his camera than about his own wellbeing. He is willing to sacrifice for spectable.
Cinematographer Antler, on the other hand, sacrifices himself to get a perfect shot of the UFO, that is, he sacrifices himself for the sake of art.
EMERALD’S MOTORCYCLE MOVES
Lastly, let’s talk about this very cool moment by Emerald. This is inspired by a very iconic scene from the Japanese anime Akira (1988), a remake of which Peele declined to direct – even though, and precisely because he likes the original movie so much.
Is there something that you feel is missing? Let me know below!
All images belong to their corresponding owners.