The 95th Academy Awards Ceremony goes live on March 12, 2023. A couple months following the announcement of the Oscar Nominations, a still-shocking snub is Jordan Peele’s NOPE (2022). Still shocking is that Jordan Peele is a critically-acclaimed Oscar Award winner.
In confronting the trajectory of the Academy’s eventual snubbing of Jordan Peele, a few thoughts come to mind about social justice, personal morality, and a higher calling to change.
Triumphant Beginnings
“I stopped writing this movie about twenty times because I thought it was impossible…I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie.” Jordan Peele walked away from the 2018 Academy Awards with an Oscar for Writing (Original Screenplay), a triumphant feat for his first directorial effort, Get Out (2017).
When Jordan Peele took a shot at America’s history of racism, the Academy awarded it. When he turned the barrel toward Hollywood, they sought to bury his voice.
Five years and two films later, Hollywood has been oddly silent on the subject of Jordan Peele’s impeccable filmography. Though the people who “raised his voice” have continued to promote his work, Hollywood seems to want to lower his voice. Get Out was a horror-thriller which rebuked racism in a most original way. It featured impressive acting and, of course, high-class storytelling. It’s one of the 18 horror films to win an Oscar in Academy history.
When Jordan Peele took a shot at America’s history of racism, the Academy applauded—even awarded—it. When he turned the barrel toward Hollywood, they did not so much as give a second glance at the box-office hit, NOPE. They sought to bury his once-praised voice. For all the glory Get Out received, it seems that Hollywood embodied the temperament of Christians concerning social justice issues. We applaud far-away justice, but scoff at the same justice as it affects our own moral misgivings.
“Get Out,” They Say
The Academy has a long, frustrating history of neglecting the horror genre. Whether in Psycho’s losing fight to The Apartment in 1961, or more recent snubbing such as Hereditary (2018), it’s clear that the Oscars aren’t a place for the gruesome artform.
However, a welcome surprise was Get Out’s Oscar nomination and eventual win for Original Screenplay. Even more welcome was the return to the frightening “summer blockbuster” feeling that NOPE brought, reminiscent of Jaws (1975). Yet the adventurous film, which opens with the Bible verse Nahum 3:6, must have hit too close to home in its pertinent message that Hollywood’s history is about elevating something “beautiful” while exploiting people along the way. The spectacle of danger makes abuse and disregard for human life negotiable.
Perhaps the reason NOPE wasn’t nominated isn’t distinctly racially motivated, Chris O’Falt writes:
As we saw with Peele’s Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay for “Get Out,” the Academy will begrudgingly (and sparingly) recognize a “serious” horror film when delivered in digestible fashion.
Sure, horror’s recent history may be chalked up as “B-Movie” level, but Peele’s latest is far from that. O’Falt continues his defense:
Peele had created enormous filmmaking challenges, recruited a hand-picked A-team, and gave them the time, direction, and studio resources to not only solve, but deliver one of the most tightly wound, elegantly crafted Hollywood films in years.
Indeed, with Get Out, horror was “digestible,” but NOPE was perhaps the most tangible the horror genre has been in a long time. Peele’s messaging, humor, and larger-than-life goals made NOPE a phenomenal movie that garnered widespread success. The resounding message from the Academy is that they’ll praise the far-off good, but when good confronts them—indeed, even as it challenges them to change—they respond with a hearty, “get out.”
Our Own “Get Out” to Justice
In the digital age, this sentiment is easier than ever regarding social justice. We can praise or condemn worldwide events without them ever having a tangible impact on our day-to-day lives. We post thoughts or re-post those of others, without giving time (no more than the 10 seconds and tap tap taps it took to share), money, or any substance beyond that.
We have become those first-step Christians who, against James’s words, say, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” yet we do not give “the things needed for the body. What good is that?” (James 2:16–17). But the Gospel requires a social justice that looks inward first. The difficult—nearly impossible without the Holy Spirit—task is asking oneself, “in what ways have I used people and cared for things? How have I exploited friends and relationships just to make money on the next best thing?” That’s what NOPE is all about.
The Academy praises Jordan Peele’s work when he campaigns against racism, but when he denounces Hollywood’s historical obsession with “spectacle” and the abuse—indeed the outright rejection—of Black History, the film is suddenly too scary, or off-brand, or “B-level.”
To campaign for real change, we have to learn from the Academy’s mistakes. We must champion justice, even—perhaps especially—if it requires us to make changes, confess, and be honest about our own contribution to (or complacency in) injustice.
If we ask that “justice roll down like waters” (Amos 5:21–23), we should expect the waters to soak us as well.