[COMMENTARY] ‘KAREN’ Movie Dragged for Being a Jordan Peele Rip-Off

“Karen” was trending on Twitter late Monday and into Tuesday not because of a real-life incident in Central Park or Costco, but because BET has gone ahead and made a movie called KAREN inspired by those kinds of encounters that have gone viral in the last couple of years as racial tensions continue to grow.

Starring “Orange is the New Black” actress and Trump supporter Taryn Manning in the title role (which also caused “Pennsatucky”, her character’s nickname on the hit Netflix show, to trend), the trailer made the rounds on social media to almost instant and widespread mockery.

The trailer has also drawn comparisons to Jordan Peele’s breakout hit film “Get Out”, which has already seen several knock-offs produced in an attempt to copy Peele’s success (see the controversial Hulu series “Them”, which has also been criticized for heavily borrowing from Peele’s body of work, including “Us”).

You know what? I changed my mind; all respect to whoever got KAREN (a movie about a Karen) greenlit, shot and released during a pandemic. That’s some good exploitation hustle.

You know the “respectable” version (called KAREN: ORIGINS or some shit) was on its way from somewhere pic.twitter.com/Sjd6DPFtVW

— Phil Nobile Jr. (@PhilNobileJr) June 22, 2021

BET’s “Karen” tells the story of a racist white woman who seeks to terrorize her black neighbors. Many people went straight to social media to take aim at what they said is a blatant attempt to imitate “Get Out”, the story of a young Black man visiting his white girlfriend’s family for the weekend. After his girlfriend’s family force niceties initially, secrets begin to unravel and he finds out the true extent of the family’s obsession with targeting Black people.

Me when that Karen movie gets nominated for an Oscar pic.twitter.com/ldpb8vfBRr

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 22, 2021

Taryn “Rhymes with Karen” Manning has used her Instagram account to not only defend Trump, but to also push QAnon conspiracy theories, so the casting seems spot-on.

Nah I mean theres a reason Taryn Manning "plays" these types so well pic.twitter.com/NoyDQAG2sr

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— Aoi | Belive in Bojji | Momiji's Real Mom (@Aoikun) June 22, 2021

There are some actors that are just good at playing themselves on film. And then there are some that use Black art for clout but are actually anti-Black.

Much like Michael Rapaport before her, Taryn Manning manages to do both. https://t.co/hf04gUxCEC

— Dr. Chesya Burke (@ChesyaBurkePhD) June 22, 2021

Watch the controversial trailer for “KAREN”, below.