Analyzing the spectacle: Self-Reflexivity, the Backstudio Picture and the Society of the Spectacle in Nope (2022)

Abstract

This thesis examines how the film Nope uses the backstudio picture genre in its self-reflexive moments to critique the entertainment industry. While Jordan Peele has already solidified himself as a horror auteur with his other two films, Get Out and Us, there seem to be different opinions on what Peele wants to tell the audience with his newest movie, Nope. As such, during the movie there are out-of-place moments that seemingly don’t fit within the main alien-catching storyline. In this thesis, I argue that these are self-reflexive moments of Nope, where the movie critiques its own entertainment industry. Employing the semantic/syntactic approach from Rick Altman, this study finds that Nope uses a different genre to express this critique: the backstudio picture. By using theories from genre authors like Steven Cohan, Laurence Soroka, Winfried Nöth and Nina Bishara, I recognize elements of Nope, including its common themes about power and success, recurring cliché character types, and a self-reflexive mode of representation, which match with semantic and syntactic elements from the backstudio picture. By reflecting on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, the thesis comes to the conclusion that Nope’s critique of the industry is based on it being obsessed with the spectacle, which leads to exploitation, power imbalance, and failure. By analyzing the movie's meaning, structure, and self-reflective moments, this thesis aims to help understand Nope's critique of the entertainment industry and contribute to research around the backstudio picture genre.