A new movie featuring a title character called Karen who harasses her Black neighbours has caused a stir online – because people can’t tell whether it’s a parody or it’s just plain bad.
The film, which is simply called
Karen,
is clearly inspired by the term which is sometimes used to refer to entitled white women who use that entitlement for their benefit in situations.
And when the trailer hit the web on Tuesday, it caused a true stir – with many asking the same question: Is that ... real?
“Is that Karen movie preview… an SNL (Saturday Night Live) thing or is it real?” asked American author
Roxane Gay
on Twitter.
It is. The film is directed by Coke Daniels and stars
Orange Is the New Black
’s Taryn Manning as Karen White, a racist woman who does everything she can to terrorize a Black couple (played by Cory Hardrict and Jasmine Burke) in an aesthetically pleasing American suburb.
Reactions to the trailer have ranged from disbelief to amusement, and many compared it disparagingly to highly acclaimed films such as
Get Out
from Jordan Peele.
“Convince me this isn’t an elaborate prank,” someone said.
“Taryn Manning’s wig had me thinking this had to be an SNL-type “preview,” said someone else.
“The ‘Karen’ trailer looks like an SNL parody of a Jordan Peele movie that doesn’t exist. Will this be ‘The Room’ of ‘Grizzly?’” wrote another person.
People also pointed out Manning’s alleged real-life support of conspiracy group QAnon and former President Donald Trump after she took to Instagram to write a post saying, “If I was being attacked the way everyone attacks him [Trump] I would hold the HOLY BIBLE too” and ‘I don’t listen to fake news—#q.”
On the other hand, others seemed to jokingly find the potential in this film even going as far as to say they want to watch it when it’s released.
Check out more reactions below to the newest trailer.
Karen
currently doesn’t have a release date.
