Peele held the mirror up to a showboating society. He went as far as opening the film with a Bible scripture to set things off:

“And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a spectacle.” – Nahum 3:6

Social media has made it easy to observe other people’s lives, especially our favorite celebrities. Even voyeurism is at an all-time high due to the easy accessibility into others’ bedrooms. Content creators can make a living by allowing strangers to peek into their worlds.

The character OJ Haywood, played by Daniel Kaluuya, was the most detached from everyday speculation. He owns a flip phone in the 2020s for goodness sake. OJ couldn’t care less about Instagram, or felt the need to watch the trailer for a film that used one of his father’s horses during production. He just needed to make calls and maybe text from time to time.

Compared to his younger sister, Emerald Haywood, played by Keke Palmer, her main hustle was aiming to be a spectacle (i.e. acting, singing, dancing, etc). Emerald’s obsession with showcasing to the world intensified when a UFO (or UAP, rather) made its appearance. The extraterrestrial sighting prompted her to convince her brother to head to the local Fry’s and purchase a surveillance kit in hopes of catching the entity on camera — the “Oprah Winfrey” worthy shot.

During the camera testing scene, a slouching OJ appeared to be frightened by the ogling eyes staring at him, when beginning the safety meeting with the crew, keeping eye contact at a minimum. It was only right to have OJ figure out that direct eye contact with the UFO he and Emerald nicknamed Jean Jacket, would seal any spectator’s horrific fate.

OJ’s name alone brought back horrid memories for Bonnie Clayton, an actress he met on a film set. (The Haywoods own horses that are used in TV and film projects.) “Your name is … OJ?” Clayton shivered at the mention of the cursed initials.

The OJ Simpson case was the most, if not the top, speculated pop culture event of the ‘90s. The chase alone was something for the books and hard to take your eyes off of. Peele even went as far as to remake the infamous car chase scene later on in the film during the Jean Jacket vs. OJ showdown. Everyone involved in that case monetized off it being entertainment’s main spectacle for nearly a year.

Society as a whole has an obsession with monetizing spectacles or becoming spectacles for monetary gain, no matter what the observation’s root may be. Jean Jacket was everyone’s spectacle project. The Ricky “Jupe” Park character, played by Steven Yeun, was an excellent embodiment of how capitalism can and often has forced those that have endured trauma to gain something for their troubles. With money and fame comes power and control. This leads me to my second theory.

theory

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