With 2017’s Get Out, Jordan Peele burst out of the confines of sketch comedy and announced himself as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema. Part and parcel of Peele’s success was his undeniable mastery of–and facility with–generic conventions. Get Out has been ascribed a range of genre labels, from psychological thriller to political horror, black comedy to sci-fi, zombie movie to horror verité. Peele himself has added fuel to the fire by musing that his film is a “social thriller” and a “documentary” that “subverts the idea of all genres.” Since the success of his first film, Peele has released a pair of even more generically ambitious and ambiguous films: Us (2019) and Nope (2022). 

This panel invites scholars to engage critically with Peele’s films by theorizing their relationship to and reimagining of genre. Possible topics include: How is Peele using genre to comment on contemporary race relations? How does the social critique of his films mutate when examined in different generic registers? How is Peele renovating earlier iterations of genre? Are the politics of his films enabled or limited by his infatuation with genre? What is the relationship between generic form and the political in general?

Scholars are invited to submit proposals using ACCUTE's online form: https://accute.ca/accute-2023-2024-online-submission-form/

Under "Proposal Type," please select "Member-Organized Panel" and under "Panel Title," enter "Jordan Peele's Generic Renovations."