{"id":3925,"date":"2019-03-28T20:01:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T20:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=3925"},"modified":"2019-04-17T02:36:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T02:36:22","slug":"we-need-to-talk-about-that-glaringly-huge-plot-hole-at-the-end-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/we-need-to-talk-about-that-glaringly-huge-plot-hole-at-the-end-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"We Need To Talk About That Glaringly Huge Plot Hole At The End Of \u2018Us\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Lupita Nyong’o stars in Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Jordan Peele, a new filmmaker, creates what is often referred to as a masterpiece on his first try, the stakes became nearly impossible to surpass for his next project. Therefore, like Get Out<\/em>,\u00a0<\/b>Us <\/i><\/b>was expected to be yet another mind-bending film that resonated with the audience and allowed us to ponder on all of its hidden messages and symbolism. <\/b><\/p>\n

After all, this is the high standard that Peele has set. And while <\/b>Us<\/i><\/b> had its fair share of thought-provoking moments, critical thinkers will find unavoidable issues within the film\u2019s storyline as a whole, which in turn pulls the audience away from what otherwise is a brilliant concept.<\/b><\/p>\n

There are many plot holes that can be forgiven in movies, or perhaps even go unnoticed by the typical moviegoer. With Jordan Peele\u2019s <\/b>Us<\/i><\/b>, while there were an exceptional amount of untied ends, it appears that the majority of the audience and critics alike have decided to be quite lenient with Peele. <\/b><\/p>\n

While critical conversations surrounding the film discuss its shortcomings, many of the questions brought up aren\u2019t necessarily plot holes, but rather pertain to the ambiguity regarding Peele\u2019s world building. For instance, they ask: If the cloning experiment was abandoned decades ago, where did the clones get their red jumpsuits and scissors? Or, how are the tunnels so clean, with working electricity and zero waste? If their bodies are assumed to work in the same fashion as humans, how did they survive off of raw rabbit meat without contracting diseases and ultimately dying? And, my favorite: <\/b>WHERE ARE THE GUNS? THIS IS AMERICA!<\/i><\/b> The list goes on, but if Peele were to have answered these specific questions within the film, it wouldn\u2019t have made much of a difference. Although it may have been preferred to know the backstory behind the failed government experiment and why this version of America lacked any sort of military personnel or guns, these questions being left unanswered do not take away from the overall story\u2013but they do make you raise an eyebrow or two at the film\u2019s logic. <\/b><\/p>\n

However, there is a gigantic plot hole in <\/b>Us <\/i><\/b>that contradicts the entire storyline and, quite frankly, feels unforgivable. It deals with just how connected the tethered are to their human counterparts, and why the mirroring only seems to happen when it is convenient for the film. When the \u201ctwist\u201d is revealed, <\/b>Us<\/i><\/b> loses all of its credibility. During the mirror maze incident in the beginning of the film, Adelaide switched places with Red, meaning that our main character Adelaide is exposed as non-human, while Red was somehow forced to grow up underground as the only human among the tethered.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Still with me? Okay, so here\u2019s that glaringly huge plot hole that the title speaks of: If Red has been human all along, why has she been mirroring her clone for decades rather than the opposite happening? She wasn\u2019t mirroring her clone before, as she obviously wasn\u2019t aware of Adelaide\u2019s existence. None of the humans knew about the tethered, so life went on as normal. But somehow, now that Red is part of the underground, she has been forced to mimic the actions of Adelaide, from dancing to having children. And yet, she\u2019s human and has free will, just like <\/b>every other human<\/i><\/b> in the film. Then there\u2019s Adelaide, who, as a clone, should still be mimicking Red\u2013regardless of the fact that they\u2019ve switched lives. Adelaide shouldn\u2019t have been able to function as a normal human at all, because she would still be mirroring everything that Red does underground. But instead, Red appears to become a clone while Adelaide is now a human. This in itself is an intriguing idea, but no other human in the film except for Red mirrored the actions of their clone.<\/b><\/p>\n

Certainly, the parents of Adelaide would have noticed something was off about their child, and not just the fact that she no longer spoke. She would have behaved in the same way as the other mindless clones, at least at first. Yet she appeared to be transformed from a simple change in her environment, while Red has suddenly forgotten that she\u2019s human and has a mind of her own. Why are these two an exception to how the entire experiment works? Even if we can argue that Adelaide was eventually able to learn how to be human by being raised among them, it still doesn\u2019t dismiss the plot hole that Red, an actual human, was mirroring her clone\u2019s actions. God, it makes my head spin.<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, there are many ways that<\/b> Us<\/i><\/b> succeeds. Certain moments stay with you, such as the initial meeting of the <\/b>doppelg\u00e4nger<\/b> family on the driveway, when we\u2019re filled with the most apprehension. Lupita Nyong\u2019o is a gem, and her performance will reasonably earn her all of the awards, and then some. The cinematography and the film\u2019s score were brilliantly executed, making <\/b>Us<\/i><\/b> an absolute pleasure to watch if you aren\u2019t thinking about it too much. And lastly, the concept as a whole was refreshingly original, which is to be expected from Peele. <\/b><\/p>\n

To be clear, this review isn\u2019t meant to take away from the genius that is Jordan Peele, but rather to encourage a thoughtful discussion about the film and ask legitimate questions about its script. The ideas in <\/b>Us<\/i><\/b> appeared to be rather underdeveloped, as if we were viewing an early-stage draft. Perhaps it would have worked better as a novel, or even as an episode in Peele\u2019s upcoming <\/b>Twilight Zone<\/i><\/b> reboot. Overall, Jordan Peele\u2019s second effort serves as a reminder that even if you somehow manage to create a classic on your first attempt, it doesn\u2019t mean that every succeeding project will live up to that standard\u2013and that\u2019s perfectly okay. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Rating: 3\/5<\/b><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Jordan Peele, a new filmmaker, creates what is often referred to as a masterpiece on his first try, the stakes became nearly impossible to surpass for his next project. Therefore, like Get Out,\u00a0Us was expected to be yet another mind-bending film that resonated with the audience and allowed us to ponder on all of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,178,179],"tags":[31,76,621,622,51,620],"class_list":["post-3925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-tv","category-opinion","category-reviews","tag-featured","tag-jordan-peele","tag-lupita-nyongo","tag-movie-review","tag-trending","tag-us-movie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}