One thing you can definitely say about Jordan Peele, no matter how you might feel about him, is that he is original in his storytelling and has been one of the real bastions of creativity in an industry that is growing increasingly stale. Ryan Scott of MovieWeb has remarked about how this seems to be the biggest draw and what has kept him in demand thus far and it’s easy enough to say that it’s been seen to be entirely true. Thus far he’s been celebrated and he’s been seen as controversial for a couple of statements here and there that have been argued down quite a bit, but overall Peele is at this point one of the only voices in show business that’s really been coming forth with something that’s not beholden to the normal, overused formulas that have been recycled over and over again. His 5-year deal with Universal is bound to give him a great deal of freedom as he’ll be able to write, direct, and produce his movies, and at this point there’s not a lot of downside that can be seen. In fact the only real negative seems to be that he’ll be entirely selective about who he casts and what parts he’ll offer them.
That’s not a big deal really, as the movies are his, he has the control over what goes, and that’s just how things are going to be. Candice Williams of ABC News is just one of many that has pointed out that he’s already stated that he can’t see himself casting a white male as a lead in one of his movies. The idea that “I’ve seen that movie” is how he justified it did manage to rub a lot of people the wrong way even after he stated that he had nothing against white people. It might have been possible to say this in a different way so as not to upset those that are uniquely thin-skinned, but the meaning behind his words are pretty easy to grasp. He’s in a great position at this point to tell the story the way he wants to with the people that he wants. Obviously he wants to use a diverse cast, but it could be that a lot of people are thinking that he might be trying to tell a story from the point of view of black folks in order to set things right or overcome the supposed idea that black people have been insanely marginalized in film. Honestly that sounds like a very shady and even paranoid theory so I’m very glad it’s not mine. It might seem as though Peele is trying to bring black folks into the forefront more often, but so what? He’s writing, directing, and producing the movie, it’s his decision on who he gets to act out the parts and ultimately who’s going to survive.
Those individuals that think he’s showcasing white people in a negative light aren’t entirely wrong since Get Out and Us have shown examples that are anything but complimentary when all is said and done. Lanre Bakare of The Guardian has talked about this at length since it’s pretty obvious to notice in both movies how white people have been showcased by Peele. It’s been interesting enough to get the attention of many upon many people and in truth, you can’t argue with it that effectively since he hasn’t pushed the envelope so far that it would seem that he has a serious bias, but it is presented in a way that calls out the very idea of racism by stating that it’s not just one well-defined group that’s responsible for the majority of such a hateful ideal. Given how popular Get Out and Us have been seen to be it’s a wonder as to what’s coming next since we already know that a Candyman reboot is coming. Anything after that however is up in the air at the moment since he’s had projects suggested to him that might seem like good ideas to many people but might seem less than effective to others. At this point anything he’s set to do won’t be that surprising since the expectation is that he’s going to be looking to surprise and even shock people with every instant he can get.
Is it enough to say that Jordan Peele is a fresh voice in a business that continues to push the same ideas time and time again? Well, given that he’s doing a new version of Candyman you can’t be 100 percent accurate when it comes to stating that he’s as original as they come, but he’s definitely shown that he can come up with new ideas and get them pushed through in order to deliver something the people haven’t seen before, or at least in a while.
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