I generally don’t make reaction posts to movie trailers. I haven’t made any for quite a while, but this needs to be talked about. When you’re dealing with serious topics in movies, you really can’t afford to hit people over the head with a sledgehammer and expect to be taken seriously. The Karen trailer has the subtlety of a nuclear bomb. The movie is supposed be about a black couple that moves into an affluent neighborhood, but they move next door to a racist neighbor named…Karen. Oooooh. Let’s ignore the fact that the movie looks like dogshit. It really does. Let’s ignore the fact that the acting looks terrible. Let’s also ignore the fact that the movie is clearly trying to compete against better movies. Everything about this movie is on the nose. From the line “Look who’s slaving away in the kitchen,” to the soap dispenser with a Confederate flag on it, there is not an ounce of subtlety to be found here. Making a thriller about Karens is the wrong approach to begin with. This is the kind of topic that has so much potential for comedies and satires. That would work much better than a horror, especially since we already have movies like Get Out, which handles topics like this a lot better with more nuance and subtlety. I’ve seen reactions on YouTube from both the left AND the right. Nobody likes this trailer.
Racism is a serious problem in this country. It’s been a problem since the country was founded. You’re not going to solve the problem with a sledgehammer to the face. All you’re going to do is piss everybody off. You’re going to piss off white folks who, for the most, aren’t racist, but you’re also going to piss off the minorities for not being sensitive enough to their situations. Now, I’m not saying that Karen is going to be a problem movie. I highly doubt it. It’s so on the nose that nobody’s going to take it seriously, and rightfully so. It seems to me that the intent of this movie is just to get a reaction. You would think that this would be a parody, but it isn’t. It’s supposed to be a legitimate thriller, but the director clearly lacks the tact and talent to make it work. Can we also acknowledge the fact that very few people actually use the term Karen these days anymore? It was a meme about idiotic people that ran its course a couple of years ago. What’s next? Kevin? There is no doubt in my mind that this movie is going to tank. Big time. While I still check it out? Sure. I want to see how much of a train-wreck this is really going to be, but we don’t even have a release date yet. Makes sense.