#it was a valley full of death that the government hid on google maps!

[angelsaxis]

jupe's been chasing the fame he got from the Gordy Show despite the absolute tragedy it ended in. he's made it his life's goal to profit off spectacle even if he can't speak directly about the trauma that's foundational to both that event and his current behavior (notice he talks about the SNL sketch about the gordy show rather than the gordy show incident itself). he's tried to recreate what he could from the gordy show--he was an asian kid (in the show) with a white (im assuming) adoptive family and he's gone on to marry a white woman. the one member of the cast that was untouched and possibly even spared violence. he thought he'd be safe from the alien the same way he was "safe" from gordy.

and look at how he drags other people into it, too. he has the memorbilia room and charges people to look at it. he has the shoe. he's brought his former co star and first crush along with countless other people to witness This Great Spectacle. He even involved horses. Spectacle is at the center of Nope the same way its at the center of modern life, and in both real life and this movie, people forget that chasing that fame and chasing/trying to profit from that spectacle causes real harm to people who may not be directly involved.

contrast him with OJ--even for his initial attempts with Em and Angel to get that "Oprah" moment, one of the first scenes he's in is him trying to shy away from everyone. he won't make eye contact, he's not forward or bold and he's physically turned away from everyone. he has nothing to show off (he's not praising the horse or talking up the ranch, he's just there to do his job and leave) but he's mindful of how the current center of attention (the horse) can turn into a real danger when too many people flock to it (don't look it in the eye, keep that thing out of its eye, they're territorial, stay away from the back of the horse). obviously em comes in and tries to draw attention anyways, but that contrast between Jupe and OJ is still there.

#angel posts #nope #nope movie #nope 2022 #this movie makes my head spin i love it so much #someone in a server im in said even the name is important ie agua dulce and walking in the shadow of the valley of death #it was a valley full of death that the government hid on google maps! #look at how everyone who tried to chase the spectacle died! #well almost everyone #nope spoilers