A trailer for the forthcoming BET original movie Karen was recently released, but Twitter users are decrying the plot as a hit-and-miss replication of Jordan Peele’s film Get Out. The actor-turned-award-winning director is well known for his social commentary thrillers, which inspired conversations about Karen on social media Tuesday morning (June 22).
Karen stars “Orange Is The New Black” actress Taryn Manning in the titular role as a white woman who goes out of her way to terrorize her new Black neighbors. The trailer follows her attacks, both passive-aggressive and violent, as she tries to force her neighbors out of their home. However, on Twitter, users said the film lacked the nuances of Peele’s Get Out while seemingly trying to copy its concept.
“Everyone’s been doing their best Jordan Peele impression and I absolutely hate it. See the magic of Get Out was that it wasn’t so on the nose like this,” one person said. “It generated discussion and, depending on who you asked, generated very different experiences for different folks.”
“All of these Jordan Peele recreation attempts assume the core of Get Out was ‘haha white people scary’ and try to recycle that over and over. They miss the nuanced message about liberal performative activism, about the obsession with black culture,” another wrote. “The imitations don’t have anything new to say, they just take a well-known image of racism and expect that to do the work.”
Peele’s Get Out was released in 2017. The film starred Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington, a Black man whose weekend visit with his white girlfriend’s family turns into a horror story. The movie won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards and several other accolades.
Karen was written and directed by Coke Daniels, who directed His, Hers & the Truth. The movie also stars Cory Hardrict and Jasmine Burke as Malik and Imani, the new neighbors who are targeted by Karen. The film has not been given a release date yet.
Watch the full Karen trailer and see reactions on Twitter below.