Warning: Spoilers
Warning: I have only seen this movie once and the opinions below are subject to be off track.
Warning: This is not a poem.
Thoughts on the Movie Nope
I’ve been thinking about the movie Nope. I was confused about the connection between the main plot of a declining Hollywood horse wrangling business that is threatened by a flying saucer-like creature and the sub-plot of Gordy, the TV show chimpanzee who goes berserk on the set and kills most of the cast and company apart from a young Korean co-star who witnessed the whole thing. Of course, there is also the cryptic title “Nope,” a term repeated by the taciturn main character, OJ, several times. The more I thought of it, the more it seems to be an amazingly structured piece of cinema reflecting a dominant view of humanity and hierarchy.
Traditionally, humanity is considered the apex of creation, the top of the totem pole, and the only priests of the hierarchy of creation. Lately, this view has been challenged by the communication of trees, the rational characteristics of insects, not to mention the increased understanding of sentient beings such as dolphins, dogs, and, as in the case of Nope, horses. Let’s start with a look at the horses of Nope.
I would need to watch the movie again to get a better sense of the particular horses, but it is clear that OJ has a better understanding of horses than the other characters in the movie. He recognizes that the mirrored surface placed in front of the horse, Sparkle, will bring about trouble. Likewise, he is able to deal with Ghost in the midst of an alien approach, as well as other horses in other scenes. He is, in a sense, a horse whisperer, but he seems more intent on caring for what the horses want than what he wants of the horses. In this sense, he is more of a horse listener. It is this factor which sets him apart. Rather than maintain the hierarchical roles of trainer and trained, OJ works with the horses to their mutual advantage. He breaks down the hierarchy.
The movie shows the effects of hierarchy when it is allowed to go on. In the case of Gordy, the chimpanzee star is placed in a happy American middle class family sitcom. The younger of the two child stars, Jupe, is a bit of an anomaly, since he appears to be Asian, possibly an adoptee. If this is the case, it helps establish the relationship between Gordy, who has also been adopted into the white middle class family. One sign of their camaraderie is the first interspecies fistbump ever portrayed on TV. In fact, after Gordy goes on his rampage, it is his willingness to fistbump again with Jupe that shows his nonaggressive attitude to his fellow adoptee.
So, backing up for a long view. There is a situation in which the hierarchical white, male, position has taken a chimpanzee and forced it to follow the ways of the species, including dressing as a human and maintaining a human disposition. This imposition creates a setting in which Gordy is not allowed to follow his own nature. The dominant culture is imposed on him, and he must behave according to the rules of the dominant culture. When a balloon pops with a bang, possibly reminiscent of hunters in the jungle (or slave hunters), Gordy casts off the cultural chains that have bound him. This is the result of humanity considering itself the dominant culture over chimpanzees. It is much the same with horses. It also parallels the premise of a dominant white culture over black persons. This seems to be a theme carried through in Jordan Peele’s two other movies.
This brings us to the “alien.” In the first place, although it initially appears as a flying saucer, but it is an organic creature. As such, it is not necessarily an alien. The scholar, Donna Hollaway, writes about the Chthulecene, a time in which humanity is awakening monsters from within. Unlike aliens, they are part of our world, often coming from the hidden depths of our own world. From an ecological viewpoint, this Chthulic creature is quite possibly a fellow earth creature with enormous power. In fact, from a power viewpoint, the creature has enough power to dominate, putting it at the top of the hierarchy. This flips the tables on formerly dominant humanity. The creature's power is demonstrated most clearly when it hoovers up a whole stadium of white people at an exhibition under the guidance of Jupe, who has sought to monetize the phenomenon of the creature. As I think back on it, Jupe has Sparkle, OJ’s last star horse, in a cage-like fixture as the time approaches for the “alien” to appear. Was he intending on offering it to the monster/deity as a sacrifice?
So here is the new scenario. Humans dominate other creatures, chimpanzees and horses. Within this hierarchy, whites dominate people of color, blacks in particular, Asians to a lesser degree. However, in Nope, there is another layer of dominance, and humanity, like the chimp and horse is now in the middle of the power structure rather than on the top.
So why the title, Nope. OJ says it. I don’t think anyone else says it. OJ does not consent to the myth of white dominance. Nope. He doesn’t treat the horses like unintelligent creatures. Nope. And he doesn’t accept the hierarchy of the greater force that has ravaged his ranch, and ultimately, with the help of his sister Emerald, they destroy the creature, a warning to those who might put themselves over another.
From an ecological point of view, too further points may be drawn. First, in its voracious, blind appetite, the creature often takes in objects that make it sick, such as plastic flag-streamers, horses, quarters and keys. These cause it to puke, and ultimately, one large piece of plastic causes its demise. The second point goes back to Hollaway; in writing about the Chthulecene, she promotes the idea of “making kin” with the monsters we have awaken from their dwellings. It may be that this was OJ’s approach, learning how to tame the creature rather than destroying it. Emerald, however, in her more aggressive approach wants to end it once and for all. In the movie, this works. In real life, I have never heard of a single entity species. Mr. Peele, is there a Nope II in the offing?