Hey there! Looks like it’s another Monday in this endless cycle of weeks leading up to our respective ends. This Monday happens to be July 25th, 2022, and it is the last Monday before CHROMOPHOBIA becomes available for retail. And, we would add, that CHROMOPHOBIA is very imminent… like, in a few days prior to August 1st.
We will, of course, make a formal announcement when the much-hyped anthology is ready.
If you get a chance to see Jordan Peele’s NOPE, we would heartily recommend the movie. If you don’t want spoilers, then skip this article. You can circle back once you’ve seen the film.
Again, jump ship if you do not want spoilers, because we will be doing some spoiling.
Now, it isn’t entirely important to us whether or not you, personally, enjoyed the film or did not enjoy the film. We are not here for that kind of dialogue (that said, we thoroughly enjoyed NOPE). However, if you’ve seen the movie, then you know about the story, the characters, and the central antagonist. What concerns us, here, is the antagonist. Let’s talk about…
SPECTACLE
In the film, the name given to the antagonist is “Jean Jacket.” But, thematically, the character Jean Jacket is a stand in for (literal) “Spectacle.” And, as an antagonist, Spectacle is every bit as terrifying and destructive as Jean Jacket. Much of the film concerns itself with how people will sacrifice themselves and the people around them for Spectacle, and the film speaks to the cyclical nature of these sacrifices. And, it is pretty firmly established that the one way to avoid this fate is to… look away. Not be indifferent or ignorant, mind you, but simply look away and refuse to feed. On the flip side, you know, you can overfeed Spectacle and let it destroy itself.
Surely, in the day and age of 24-hour news cycles and social-media platforms, this metaphor resonates loud and clear.
We see people feeding Spectacle every day. We see people happily sacrificing themselves and taking others right along with them. You see it, too. Whether or not you recognize it as the horror show it is, I suppose, depends on the content of your character. We all have our own lenses through which we view the world.
Further, NOPE specifically addresses the idea of “entering into contracts with wild animals” and while that is explicitly addressed, narratively, within the film, thematically, these conversations are keyed into day-to-day engagement with the unknowable. You may not believe it, but folks engage with the unknowable every single day, from morning till night. Routines are built to shield oneself from this reality. This is, in its own way, a form of looking away, an attempt to evade Spectacle, to avoid fate. These are the very ingredients of existential, cosmic horror.
You feed what you want. Your level of engagement is self-imposed. Routines are created and destroyed. And, whether or not you get eaten is not always up to you. We bring all this up, of course, apropos of nothing.
Now, please, enjoy the cyclical nightmare of our collective existence.
And, while you’re at it…
