Feminine Without Objectification in “Nope”
This October, Citizen Jane is premiering a host of new content in a new series, This One's For the Ghouls: Women, the "Other" and Horror. Focusing exclusively on the horror genre, this month will contain spine-tingling essays and reviews discussing our Stephens students' favorite horror films. We'll dig deep (six feet deep, in fact) into the roles and portrayals of women in horror, as well as the abject -- the "other" -- and how those elements interact in some of the most well-known (and/or gruesomest) films in the canon. Check back here soon for more!
The latest film directed, written, and co-produced by Jordan Peele is a neo-Western sci-fi horror titled Nope. The film was released in the summer of 2022 and grossed $171 million worldwide. Set in northern L.A. County—which was also where filming took place—the narrative focuses on two siblings, Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr. (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald "Em" Haywood (Keke Palmer) as they live on a ranch they inherited from their recently passed father. OJ is struggling to keep their family business of horse trainers afloat, while Em dreams of being successful and famous in Hollywood. As weird things start happening (sudden power outages, resounding screaming from the sky, and disappearing horses) the siblings question the presence of an alien life force above them, and undertake capturing footage of the extraterrestrial. Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) is an employee at an electronics store where OJ and Em buy a camera to capture footage of aliens. He becomes interested in the investigation and invites himself into it. Joining them in the film as a subplot is Kolton “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), a theme park owner who had a traumatic experience as a child actor when a chimpanzee on a film set attacked the cast and crew. Jupe also has suspicions of an alien presence in the sky, and attempts to harness their attention for a theme park attraction (that man is crazy). Meanwhile, OJ, Em, and Angel team up as they simultaneously avoid imminent death and attempt to capture definitive proof of the existence of alien life forces.
Nope has striking visuals. Shooting on Kodak film for IMAX, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema creates vast landscapes and vibrant images that make the film’s aesthetic artful. The high production value complements the narrative and the image of the characters within it. What drives the narrative of Nope and makes it entertaining is its protagonists and their fleshed out characterization. The character choice is familiar, yet unique enough to remain interesting. The character of Angel is a typical tech-savvy employee, yet he is friendly and more interested in alien conspiracy theories than anything else. OJ is reserved and cynical, holding onto his family’s legacy, but he throws himself into danger without a second thought and seems to take the role of hero in the film. However, the main heroine of the film is his sister Em, who defeats the threat to save their lives (too late spoiler alert, but sadly, of course the aliens had to be evil). Em is an intriguing character, not only because she is talkative, bold, independent, and driven, but also because she is not depicted as a typical female. Beyond her characterization, Em is depicted through the film’s cinematography, costume and set design, and narrative without the “male gaze,” or a gaze of objectification. As the only female lead in the film, and one of the few female cast members, Em does not bring with her the typical feminine objectification that so commonly accompanies women in cinema. In Nope Emerald is the protagonist and hero of the film, yet she is not viewed through a lens of objectification and is instead given significance through a gaze that both protects and invalidates her femininity.
Throughout the film, Em is depicted in ways that go against traditional “male gaze” representations of women. At the beginning of the film, Em is introduced as she arrives haphazardly late, walking with a boyish gait and sporting the ugliest pair of Adam Sandler shorts ever seen in current cinema. The character’s mannerisms, paired with her appearance and the angles that the camera chooses to show her at, continue the theme throughout the film of depicting her as tomboyish and not the feminine object of attraction in the film. Em’s wardrobe in the film reflects a lack of sexualization and objectification. She wears clothes that can be considered gendered towards males or androgenous, including shorts and pants that are baggy and boxy on her, and t-shirts that look more masculine. Em’s androgenous look establishes her as a character who has important contributions to the film other than being a female object of sexual appeal.
Em’s mannerisms are also not reduced under a gaze of objectification. She is a developed character who is spirited and still maintains an edge to her personality. When she is walking around the theme park and photobombs tourists, she is bold and playful with her nonchalant reaction. Throughout the film she is diligent in her quest to gain prominence and fame, not minding how others see her throughout the process. She demonstrates this when she gives her opening spiel of self-promotion when working as a horse-wrangler on a set, or calls Antlers Host (Micheal Wincott) and insists he take interest in what she wants to film. Keke Palmer in her performance is energetic and charming to watch as well as being less-than-ladylike, indicated by how she converses with others as an equal, and how she appears relaxed and informal while she carries herself and sits. These traits are mannerisms that build her character as independent from the female objectification and stereotypes that women have been confined to throughout cinema history.
Em is shown through the camera lens as no different from the male characters in the film. The shots and angles view her the same as her brother and the other men in the film. She is not filmed from different angles to objectify her body, or to emphasize her presence as a female within the film. Both dialogue scenes and action scenes respect her as a character, and not a female character. Most noticeable is the filming during the final battle scene. Em is filmed when she rides the motorcycle, fights the aliens, and even when she is lying injured after she has won with a disregard to her sex, and an emphasis on her as the hero of the film.
Despite these ways in which Em’s femininity is not used as degradation and objectification, Em still maintains a femininity of her own. Despite being boyish she presents as female visually. While her mannerisms are boyish, she does not try to duplicate a man’s behavior. The film is not stripping Em of womanhood, only reframing the view of womanhood on screen. Em’s character reflects this even in her clothing, for example when she, OJ, and Angel flee the ranch and she changes clothes. She uses a belt to maintain a fashionable feminine image while wearing male-gendered clothing.
The role of Em is revolutionary in how she is portrayed without a lens of objectification, however, in an attempt to keep her free of the “male gaze”, she loses a gaze of relevance. Em is given the same treatment as her accompanying male leads. While in ways this is exceptional because of the fairness in the view, it is also detrimental because it denies Em of her individualized gaze as a woman. While the film is viewing her as another “male” character, it fails to thoroughly represent her as a leading female heroine, and instead she emerges as a hero who happens to be female. Some may argue that this indecipherability between genders in the protagonists of the plot is a positive occurrence. However, this simultaneously denies a woman of being feminine. It omits promoting Em as a feminine influence. Where men are celebrated for their masculine strength and victory, Em is celebrated for the same thing, and not the strengths she has in herself as a woman as she overcomes the adversary. The fine line of representing women appropriately in film is complicated with a mix of masculine power while maintaining femininity. Nope executes many things well with its female protagonist, making her an admirable heroine while forgoing her objectification. Visually she opposes stereotypes and overcomes ingrained objectification of women, even if some of her individuality as a woman is not shown. While Em’s femininity goes a little unseen by lack of acknowledgment, she still remains an exceptional representation of a female protagonist, and makes the film Nope memorable as she comes out victorious.