Daniels’ “Karen” is trending on social media, and not for a good reason.
A few days ago, a trailer for Coke Daniels’ suspense thriller “Karen” was released on social media. The hype was unbelievable. Unfortunately, the hype has nothing to do with anticipation for Daniels’ film. Things turned nasty as social media enthusiasts tore the movie to shreds. The masses detest “Karen.” And this seems to be a concurrent sentiment.
“…let me know if there’s a petition or GoFundMe to stop Karen from actually releasing. I got five on it.”
One primary reason for the uproar is the claim that Daniels rips off Peele’s formula. And Daniel does not outright deny the allegations. He rather digs the publicity. In fact, he sees the comparison as a compliment and urges the social media warriors to keep it coming. After all, no publicity is bad publicity.
Karen is a BET original film with a simple plot.
A white woman, known as “Karen,” is terrorizing her Black neighbors. That’s it in a nutshell. Peele’s Get Out is more substantive, offering an in-depth exploration into interracial relationships, privilege, and fears of organ harvesting in the Black community. There are the themes of prejudice and race relations in both, but a plethora of films covers those themes.
The ire over Daniel’s film raises so many questions!
PC: https://dnyuz.com/
Is Daniels stealing Peele’s formula? Or did he use Peele’s formula as inspiration? If it is a knockoff, is it okay that another black director creatively drives the film? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Peele once made this comment about Get Out, that
“He set out to make a movie that exposed “the lie” of a post-racial America, one that grew after the election of Mr. Obama.”
Coke Daniels had this to say about his film Karen.
“With the cold hearted murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery (to name a few) I felt it necessary at this point to use my voice to speak truth to power and move conversations forward as it relates to social injustices, racism, and other inequalities people of color face daily in this country.
Now, given the two statements, we must be our own judges in this matter.
Peele is yet to comment on the new film. The verdict on whether “Karen” is theft of Peele’s formula is still out. However, there is no shortage of poorly written or imagined films. Whether this falls in one of those categories is in the eye of the beholder. There is no release date yet. Until then, you can watch the trailer and draw your own conclusions.
Renae Richardson| Facebook @Renae
If you haven’t seen it, check out the retrospective trailer of Peele’s upcoming horror film remake Candyman.