The Internet Can't Stop Over-Analyzing 'Us'
NOTE: Spoilers for Us below ...
Jordan Peele's Us is currently breaking all kinds of box office records -- biggest opening for an original horror movie, biggest opening for an original R-rated movie, and of course, biggest opening for a movie starring murder-happy scissor-wielding doppelgangers. Since Us is dense with lore, open-ended political allegories, and pop culture references, the internet is naturally working overtime to generate insanely elaborate theories, some of which are strangely convincing, and some of which are rabbit-shit crazy.
The most prevalent theory to surface in the past week has to do with Jason, the young boy with a penchant for monster masks and tuxedo T-shirts. At the end, we learn that his mom Adelaide is actually a doppelganger, having switched places with her counterpart when they were kids. The theory purports that Jason similarly swapped with his doppelganger Pluto before the events of the film. Why? Well, when Jason was on the beach, instead of building sand castles, he constructed tunnels, not unlike those where the Tethered live. Also, the original point of the Tethered was apparently to magically control the surface dwellers, which Jason is somehow able to do with Pluto.
Some interpretations are even more out there, such as the theory that Us takes place in the Get Out universe, albeit inside the Sunken Place -- meaning that the events of the film are "a metaphysical war within the subconscious." Which is interesting, but also as nuts as suggesting that the entirety of Jurassic Park takes place in Quint's imagination as he's eaten alive at the end of Jaws. Another fan argues that Adelaide/Red is basically Satan, cast out of paradise to become the leader of a literal underworld.
As for the film's political messages, people seem to hold a whole host of opinions. One critic suggested that the Tethered are a stand-in for the modern Republican Party, albeit with a less nightmarish leader. For starters, they love the color red. Secondly, the Tethered saw themselves as disenfranchised, so they hatched an insane plan to achieve power. And in the end, they form a human wall across America. On the flip side, conservative website Breitbart sees the film as a warning of the "horrors of socialism." Again, because of the color red. Stellar semiotics at work there.
You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter!
Support our site with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.
For more, check out Beware The Dumb Clickbait Scam Of 'Poor' Rich People and We Have A Crazy 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Theory.
Also, we'd love to know more about you and your interesting lives, dear readers. If you spend your days doing cool stuff, drop us a line at iDoCoolStuff at Cracked dot com, and maybe we can share your story with the entire internet.
Follow us on Facebook. And we'll follow you everywhere.
