Jordan Peele, known from his 2017 psychological thriller, Get Out, just released a movie titled Us that you probably already know about. The trailer alone was enough to stir up conversations, but with the full movie finally being out, Us has been a constant hot topic. However, there is a certain kind of conversation Us has evoked that very few people are talking about, and it pertains to others’ expectations of movies with black leads.
All of the theories and YouTube videos explaining the symbolism in the movie are important and thought-provoking, but there is a much broader and extremely relevant lesson behind Us: Black people are allowed to be leads without the theme revolving around their blackness.
It is no secret that the majority of movies or television shows starring black leads are centered around crime, racism, or just blatant stereotypes associated with blackness. This isn’t to say all movies with these themes are invalid or problematic (though some of them are), but it does create the narrative that black people couldn’t possibly be leads in movies that don’t revolve around their race.
Most people expected Peele’s new movie to be similar to Get Out in the way that it commentated on racism, but Us just happens to be a horror movie/psychological thriller with black people as the lead. Simple as that.
Ultimately, Jordan Peele’s Us taught us a few valuable things: