JORDAN PEELE & THE AUTEUR THEORY 1

Jordan Peele & the Auteur Theory

TyAnn Dixon

Ashford University

ENG225: Introduction to Film

Instructor Young

January 11, 2021

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Jordan Peele & Auteur Theory

Like an author of a book, directors are also considered authors, with the Auteur theory

(French for an author). "When applied to film directing, auteur theory posits that the director is

indeed the author of the film, imprinting it with her or his personal vision." (Goodykoonts &

Jacobs, 2019). The auteur theory helps viewers determine how successful or unsuccessful the

director and film will be. Jordan Peele's films Get out (2016) and US (2017) shows first-hand

auteur through his cinematography, the incorporation of black culture, and the editing to create a

psychological and social thriller with metaphors the African- American community faces. Jordan

Peele's auteur reflects his experiences as a black man in white spaces. With a black cast, culture,

and music folded into the narrative, it contributes to the minority representation needed in a

predominantly white industry.

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Technical Compentence

What is technical competence? Technical competence is whether a film is made well; it is

also the auteur's style, artfulness, craft, or aesthetic. Some directors like Michael Bay like to

blow things up in their films; that's his style. However, Jordan Peel's technical competence is

different, and his style comes from experiences that he has faced or a familiar situation or

experience that the black community can relate to. In Peele's 2016 film Get Out, Peele reflects on

his experiences as a black man; throughout the movie, Peele shows a young black man's

perspective, such as when Chris asked his white girlfriend if her parents know that he is black.

Even going to the girlfriend's family house, a police officer only asked for Chris's driver's license

even though he was not the one driving the vehicle. Get out had many layers of subtextual

meanings. Peele created a thriller where he turned a simple thing like a weekend meeting the

parents of a significant other into a micro-aggression experience where the white character turns

out to be evil and is on a mission to remove parts of Chris's brain. Peel's cinematography use

created a lot of conversation and controversy about race, limbo, the Sunken place, and include

black culture as a metaphor.

With Peele's film, US created a double meaning for the tile. For one instance, it can sand

for us and in you and me while the other purpose of the title is the United States. It takes a

different turn from his first thriller movie Get Out; US is more of a jump scare. It is about a

family who faces-off with their creepy and unsettling doppelgangers known as the tethered. The

tethered lived underground in the movie and were the shadows of those who lived above ground,

mimicking their above-ground counterparts' motions: getting surgery, having babies, and even

eating. However, it's not that pleasant for those living as the tethered they eat rabbit raw and have
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gone mad from living underground. Peele got his inspiration for this film from monster

mythology such as Frankenstein/Dracula/Wolfman. The tone and cinematography of US

compared to Get out is different. In the movie, US director Peele used more cultural reflectance

and was able to turn pop music into a skin-crawling masterpiece. While directing his films, Peele

uses different cinematographers and editors for Get Out and US, the two different tones of the

movie, to change the audience's views on how they see scary movies.

Distinguishable Personality

Jordan Peele is a well-known comedian with appearances on MADD TV and his show

Key and Peele, so it was a surprise he had such talent in horror when he started working in the

genre of horror and thrillers. Usually, when you watch a Jordan Peele film, it is a rollercoaster

filled with horror metaphors and "easter eggs." His films push boundaries on how we view

horror movies; he can turn a political statement into an unsettling horror movie designed to make

the viewers uneasy about ordinary things like shadows, mirrors at night, and even something as

simple as rabbits. Just like in the film US where you are left wondering, "what if." While Get out

was crafted to make the audience more uncomfortable and squirm in discomfort about how black

and white Americans interact with one another.

Interior Meaning

The last aspect of analyzing a film using the auteur theory is the interior meaning.

According to our textbook, it is the "distinguishable personality spread over a director's collected

works. What is she or he trying to accomplish? What is he or she trying to say?" (Goodykoonts

& Jacobs, 2019). As for Jordan Peele, his work has something in common, he stays true to

himself, and his movies are usually connected to something he or the black community have

faced just in a twisted way. In both of his films, Get Out, and US Peele has hidden double
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meanings and easter eggs to his movies. Peele creates movies with many layers to them;

something as simple as scissors or a deer getting hit by a car can hold so many different

meanings. Peele plays on our inquisitive side. He also gives the audience just enough to let their

imagination run wild without providing any concrete answers and makes us ask questions, like

what could this mean? Why is this moment so important for the storyline? For example, in the

movie Us, the film's tag line is "we are our own worst enemy," the film's goal was based on self-

reflection instead of pointing fingers. Jordan Peele also has this way of getting a very close shot

at the victim or perpetrator's face. He wants you to truly see the emotion in their eyes, whether

fear, anger, pain, etc. For example, in the movie Get Out, Chris (a young black man) staring

straight into the camera wide-eyed with tears falling down his face in the film Get Out. You get

this uneasy sense of fear right before he is forced into the sunken place because you can see that

he is frozen with fear.

Conclusion

Auteur theory is an excellent way to gain a more profound knowledge of the film's

importance and what goes into making a film. Using the auteur theory criteria is a beautiful way

to determine how successful a director will be and if their movie will be profitable or not. While

using this theory, I took a microscope to director Jordan Peele to determine if he passed the

auteur theory, consisting of three sections. First is technical competence, which is when the film

is made well, and the directing styles are suitable. Next is distinguishable personality; this is

where we can see how his character, style, and attitude spills into his work—finally, the interior

meaning. The film shows the director's worldly outlook. As for Peele, he offers these in his

films, especially with double meanings of objects, characters, and metaphors throughout the film.
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Using auteur theory, you can deliberate the technical competency displayed throughout the

director's work. Also, aspects of the film should be considered that convey deeper meanings of a

message or character.
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References

Goodykoontz, B., Jacobs, C. P., Meetze, J., & Pritts, N. (2019) Film: From watching to seeing

(3rd ed.). https://content.ashford.edu/

Renee, V. (2015, March 12).Auteur Theory: What Does it Mean and How You Can 'Author'

Your Films.Retrieved from nofilmschool.com

Sharma, R. & Ghaisas, S. (2018). About Auteuring Requirements – Lessons From Filmmaking.

Retrieved from https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/document/8595130?

arnumber=8595130&SID=EBSCO:edseee
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