Nope's connection between Gordy and Jean Jacket has finally been explained by producer Ian Cooper. A sketch comedian-turned-filmmaker, Jordan Peele unexpectedly burst onto the horror scene with Get Out in 2017 and followed that up with Us two years later. His third directorial outing, the enigmatically titled Nope, released in theaters earlier this summer and was another resounding critical success and a decent hit at the box office with a $166 worldwide gross to date.
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Nope primarily follows the horse-wrangling siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood (played by Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) who attempt to capture video evidence of an unidentified flying object hovering over their ranch, a creature they later dub "Jean Jacket." Nope also includes a memorable subplot involving Gordy the Chimp who, after being startled by a popping balloon, has a violent outburst on a television set. This is witnessed by child actor Ricky "Jupe" Park who later becomes the theme park owner played by The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun. However, many viewers were puzzled by the exact connection between the rampaging chimpanzee and the main UFO storyline.
Now, in a behind-the-scenes clip included on Nope's Digital/DVD/Blu-ray Collector's Edition (via a Collider exclusive), Ian Cooper has finally explained the connection between Gordy and Jean Jacket. The Nope producer explains how the Gordy's Home! attack is a "potent metaphor" for the film's primary message about exploitation. Similar to how Gordy "lashes out," against his co-stars on set, Jean Jacket's behavior is a response to being tracked as an animal on the Haywood ranch. Read his full explanation below:
The sequence is a potent metaphor. The layers of exploitation are so myriad, it's wild. For example, the first time the audience is going to be watching Jean Jacket's Behavior, it's tracking it as an animal's behavior. Much like Gordy, it lashes out.
Long before audiences knew the plot of the film, Peele made it clear that Nope would be all about spectacle. The film opens with Gordy, and as Cooper explains, this scene is a metaphor for the entire rest of the film. From Gordy's rampage to Jupe's circus show and the Haywood's struggle to get the "Oprah shot," these are all instances of the characters' self-indulgent pursuit of spectacle in defiance of the natural world. One of Nope's key themes is that you can't tame a predator, as OJ even states at one point, and Gordy and Jean Jacket are both living examples of that.
The fact many viewers were still wondering about the exact connection between Gordy and Jean Jacket months after the film's release is a real testament to how multifaceted Peele's films are. There is surface-level entertainment, of course, yet there is also a lot going on beneath the surface that leaves the viewer thinking long after the credits roll and hyper-fixated on finding the deeper meaning on each rewatch. Audiences can uncover the bonus features included with Nope's Collector's Edition when it arrives September 20 on Digital, followed by October 25 on Blu-ray and DVD.