The final twist in Us – that Red and Adelaide switched places as children and have effectively been living each other’s lives – forces a reassessment of everything you’ve seen so far, inspiring new sympathy for ‘Red’, and bringing an uncomfortable new dimension of humanity to the Tethered. It’s a reframing that brings the whole notion of villainy into question. “The protagonist in the movie is the surrogate for the audience. I wasn’t doing my core theme any justice if I wasn’t revealing that ‘we’ have been the bad guy in this movie, we’ve been following the villain,” Peele elaborates. “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 loveable and terrifying based on the lives they’ve led. They’ve inverted their paths.”
Us (2019), dir. Jordan Peele
Tag: us
“I always thought of the family in terms of a certain archetypal foursome. Adelaide is the leader, the captain. Zora is the warrior. She acts before she thinks and she kicks ass. Gabe is the fool, even though on the surface he looks like he might be the leader or the warrior. And Jason is the wizard. He’s the magician. I have this kinda concept of Jason that he can sorta see through the veil. You can see these moments where he’s observing his mother and he’s meant to be a little step ahead of us, the most clever of us that’s sorta figuring out there’s something more to Adelaide’s story than we see.”
– Jordan Peele’s commentary on Jason and Adelaide’s relationship in Us (2019)
“I always thought of the family in terms of a certain archetypal foursome. Adelaide is the leader, the captain. Zora is the warrior. She acts before she thinks and she kicks ass. Gabe is the fool, even though on the surface he looks like he might be the leader or the warrior. And Jason is the wizard. He’s the magician. I have this kinda concept of Jason that he can sorta see through the veil. You can see these moments where he’s observing his mother and he’s meant to be a little step ahead of us, the most clever of us that’s sorta figuring out there’s something more to Adelaide’s story than we see.”
– Jordan Peele’s commentary on Jason and Adelaide’s relationship in Us (2019)
New Fiction 2019 – March
Alita: Battle Angel dir. Robert Rodriguez (2019)
An artificial person like Alita is going to exist, I reckon. I’m going to fall into an armchair of the future and fail to recognize where I am, who I am. A person with a brain? A soldier or a daughter. I don’t think it would be so bad to dream of electric sheep.
Captain Marvel dir. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2019)
I’ve wanted to fly since 1990. A big, garish plane, capable of landing on water or land or ice and snow. All ports as home and no home at all. Danvers, denied the opportunity, breaks free of her roles to fly in the most amazing way. Her spirit is infectious, if well-familiar.
Us dir. Jordan Peele (2019)
The shadow of the shadow is the person. Somehow, the shadow wants to kill, and so it is suppressed and buried. A living burial is a horrifying, the most terrible thing you can do. Please don’t bury me, or anyone. Leave us out in the sun.
The Grand Budapest Hotel dir. Wes Anderson (2014)
A little window in the middle of the wall is the clearest view. Peer through it and see inside, then see inside, then see inside. The care of each of us is up to all of us, and yet you are remembered fondly, even as you live, even as you die.
Dragged Across Concrete dir. S. Craig Zahler (2018)
The long draw is an invention of the American Western. It’s the kind of story where a man is left standing, top of the heap. Knowledge of the law is, after all, the best way to break it.
New Fiction 2019 – March
Alita: Battle Angel dir. Robert Rodriguez (2019)
An artificial person like Alita is going to exist, I reckon. I’m going to fall into an armchair of the future and fail to recognize where I am, who I am. A person with a brain? A soldier or a daughter. I don’t think it would be so bad to dream of electric sheep.
Captain Marvel dir. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2019)
I’ve wanted to fly since 1990. A big, garish plane, capable of landing on water or land or ice and snow. All ports as home and no home at all. Danvers, denied the opportunity, breaks free of her roles to fly in the most amazing way. Her spirit is infectious, if well-familiar.
Us dir. Jordan Peele (2019)
The shadow of the shadow is the person. Somehow, the shadow wants to kill, and so it is suppressed and buried. A living burial is a horrifying, the most terrible thing you can do. Please don’t bury me, or anyone. Leave us out in the sun.
The Grand Budapest Hotel dir. Wes Anderson (2014)
A little window in the middle of the wall is the clearest view. Peer through it and see inside, then see inside, then see inside. The care of each of us is up to all of us, and yet you are remembered fondly, even as you live, even as you die.
Dragged Across Concrete dir. S. Craig Zahler (2018)
The long draw is an invention of the American Western. It’s the kind of story where a man is left standing, top of the heap. Knowledge of the law is, after all, the best way to break it.