I wanted to highlight the weight of the beginning quote and how much it ties into nearly every scene, or chapter, at least.

Firstly!! I feel like nobody is talking about the connection between the kid actor and the chimp and the horses/UAP.

The movie was acknowledging the toxicity of hollywood culture/limelight/social media etc.. It was definitely attempting IMO to acknowledge the way that we chase fame and recognition at any cost and by any means. Peele shows this by telling the story of Jupe as a kid, the chimp in the sitcom, the UAP being taunted for the perfect shot. I feel like the spectacle is a reference to the trauma and violence that results from putting our recognition behind even our own well being (or using others).

I thought that this was even evident in the relationship between Emerald and OJ, how she was obsessed with the attention because she never got it, was upstairs in the window watching when her horse was sold for a movie appearance and OJ in her mind took that from her. So she’s always chasing the attention (OJ even tells her she needs to chill, but ends up doing the SAME thing. He went from being angry at this alien for hurting his family to “i’m gonna be famous for this” and he towed the line really close.

At the end, you can see Em give up that desire for fame, literally turning herself away from the cameras/police/etc when they arrive even though that was her MOMENT to shine.

Summary of spectacles:

I dont think that chimp would have been pushed to the kind of violence it committed (that ended up getting it killed). Humans pushed him to that.

I think Jupe could have been a normal person, but actually brought his own end in his desire for attention. Also! He literally made a spectacle of his own nightmare (the hidden room and the way he talks about it like it was a glory days type thing, and the alien masks he made for his kids that are an exact replica of the cameras from the sitcoms).

I don’t think the UAP would have died if Jupe weren’t feeding it horses every single day to rile it up. It likely would not have gotten territorial over it’s feeding grounds either if not for the constant source of food. This guy was paying upwards of $12,000/day to feed an alien so that he could have an audience of like 20-50 people. I loved every scene with him in it. It was so poignant and pathetic and perfectly done.

Obviously, the weirdo filmmaker would not have died had he not been completely obsessed with the perfect shot. Even knowing he would never get that film to anyone. He gave his life for his art and obsession with watching one thing kill another. Spectacle!

The horses and the chimp and the alien Jean Jacket all had a chapter named after them in the film and the connection shouldn’t be ignored. All pawned for the best shot/scene/etc and all brought hell down on them (ie filth, remember the bloody house)

Peele is not just talking about the end product of film with references to Jaws or Akira or etc. Hes talking about cost and what people willingly pay to be recognized and achieve a status of fame.

I definitely do think Peele was highlighting timeless works of cinematography, but was maybe intentionally doing so to distract from the suffering/cost/disposable lives destroyed for the art. Chimp, Jupe, Horses, TMZ guy, UAP.

OJ was not trying to kill this thing, but by the end, he got totally caught up in the capture of a spectacle. He poked the bear with all his little aggressions. They lost sight of how serious it was because maybe they could get on Oprah and he lost absolutely everything but his sister and his own life.

Humans are creating the spectacle, and thus the filth and violence. Theyre asking for it, paying the price for a shot at something more. The quote from the beginning stuck with me the whole time and I think there is a lot more connectedness between ideas than just old film references. Rather a nod to hollywood culture itself.