The Allegory of Opus
Unpacking the allegory of A24's Opus characters.
Opus is a social satire that criticizes aspects of American culture and society, including:
- the unrestrained power of rich, famous white men
- Alfred Moretti = Epstein/Maxwell, Weinstein, Dan Schneider, the Subway Guy, and more...
- the extreme ends of holistic healing and wellness culture (that lends itself easily to indoctrination + cult creation, ideology, and the influencer economy)
- The Levelists = RFK Jr. + supporters
- cultural appropriation and whitewashing/erasure of genocide
- I will always plug for Tommy Orange's novel, Wandering Stars - as an amazing illustration of the history of Native/Indigenous American genocide, the Indian Boarding Schools, and the ongoing erasure and appropriation of Indigenous American cultures and identity
- Notice this in the way Moretti's enclave might be insinuating "land back" and the roles played by Indigenous American actors, Amber Midthunder and Tatanka Means
- the commodification of the individual self/brand
- Emily Katz = influencer!
- the narcissism of white supremacy and its intersection with neoliberal virtue signaling and the intellectualizing of race, class, gender, and more
- I see this moreso in other scenes, but just think about whether Ariel even seems to have/show any reaction to anything that sounds like virtue signaling, racism, or sexism
- sexism, misogyny, feminism, and feminist power dynamics
- I also see this more in other scenes, but we can think about the way Stan treats Ariel
The film takes a simultaneously subtle yet upfront approach, creating many uncanny moments while offering us rather blunt confrontations with the absurdity of all of the above, and showing how society just rolls with it even when people are literally murdered.
If you're uncomfortable and burnt out trying to navigate society and social media today because of all of the above, then the film will only push your discomfort further. But for those that don't readily understand what the film is doing, to me this is the beauty of film and literature – they offer us fictional examples to unpack and process, so that we can better understand the world around us.
The "Ensemble of Vessels" Sequence offers us a clear foundation from which we can build our understanding of allegory and Green's satire.
Unpacking Satire in Film
Put simply, you can imagine that all of these characters are symbolic of something in contemporary American society.
- Who does Stan represent? Moretti? Emily Katz? Clara (talkshow host)? Bianca (paparazzo)? Bill Lotto? Ariel?
Then, you can think about how each of these characters is portrayed throughout the film, and ask yourself what the film suggests about each of the different *things* each character represents.
Social Satire Vocabulary Bank:
Symbol
An object, character, or costume element that stands for something larger.
Allegory
A narrative in which characters, events, or settings symbolically represent abstract ideas or real-world entities.
Caricature
A portrayal of someone/something that exaggerates certain traits for comic or critical effect.
Satirical Archetype
A character that exaggerates qualities of a real-world figure or group for the purpose of critique.
Social Satire
The use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize society, particularly politics or culture.
Ensemble as Microcosm
A group of characters representing a cross-section of society in a small setting.
Dive Into the Scene With Me:
SOUND – we really want to start identifying and defining the little "sound accents" or motifs that are used to create Moretti's mystique. What are these motifs? Describe them. (Strings... harp... but be more specific).
What do you make of the way Ariel and Stan are dressed? What do they each look like? What do they look like together?