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Keke Palmer says Jordan Peele’s new horror film ‘Nope’ is a 'social commentary'


Keke Palmer says Jordan Peele’s new horror film ‘Nope’ is a “social commentary”.
The star of the scary flick - which is helmed by the former ‘Key Peele; funnyman and also includes the acting talent of Daniel Kaluuya - says it is a multi-faceted story that contains stereotypes “that don’t usually exist together”.
The 28-year-old actress told GQ Hype in a joint interview with the 43-year-old director: "It gives me chills. We all know the archetypes: the jester, the orphan, the hero, the list goes on. But what does it look like when you put all the ones that don't usually exist together? This is really a character driven piece about two siblings. But at the same time, it's a social commentary, outré film that's saying a bigger message–and also a blockbuster, something that is commercial."
Jordan was influenced to write the movie during 2020 when the world was “going through so much” such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement that was sparked by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.
He said: "We were going through so much. So much of what this world was experiencing was this overload of spectacle, and kind of a low point of our addiction to spectacle."
Jordan - who also helmed ‘Get Out’ and ‘Us’ - spoke about his dedication to alternatives to “the Black perspective” across the genre.
He said: "I've been somebody who's dedicated so much time to try and reintroduce what the Black perspective can be in a horror film. That puts me in very dark places in my imagination and we were in a very dark place and are [still] in a very dark place...It became a very important thing to figure out how to bring joy into it because, well, I felt like I've hit the other things."
Jordan touched upon the “importance” of making a Black-focused UFO movie that commands mainstream appeal.
He said: "We got to do that big original blockbuster movie, and that in itself is part of what the movie's about. It's about taking up that space. It's about existing. It's about acknowledging the people who were erased in the journey to get here."
Read the full story "Jordan Peele and Keke Palmer Look to the Sky" by Gerrick Kennedy on GQ.com.