Manifest Destiny and US
The film US created and directed by Jordan Peele, is certainly a movie that dwells deep into the idea of racism, class, and the idea that those deemed below the elite of society can rise up and fight for something they believe in. Taking a look at the film as a whole and remembering our United States history lesson from back when we were in high school, it’s no surprise that the theme of Manifest Destiny is a constant and recurring thought that the tethered have towards their counterparts.
For those who may not recall what Manifest Destiny in United States history was, it was a period of movement going west from the original thirteen colonies that made people believe that God intended for them to own and thrive on whatever they came into contact with regardless for those who would be affected by the outcome. The term manifest destiny was coined in 1845 directly following the Louisiana Purchase and gaining of Texas as a state from Mexico. The idea that God has made the citizens of the newly created United States the rightful owners of everything on the continent of North America caused numerous indigenous people to be pushed away from their homelands and eventually become eradicated due to their being different than what was considered the average American.
Of course, Manifest Destiny was met with backlash from not only Native Americans, slaves, and Mexicans, but also the citizens of the United States as well. Slavery brought forth the problem of whether the new territories gained from manifest destiny would be free or slave states, slaves revolted against being tied down to their masters as slaves, and the mistreatment of Native Americans were the main biggest problems and they also are points that are common in the film.
So how does the concept of Manifest Destiny in terms of the treatment of minority people tie into the tethered and Red’s plan in the film? The tethered are the exact same people as Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans. The tether are forced into poverty and slavery like living conditions and lifestyles, they aren’t allowed to be on equal terms as their above ground partners, they’re beginning to revolt against their partners, and so on just as these minority groups during the start and end of Manifest Destiny did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z94mLlvbQN0
When Red tells Adelaide her plan of killing off their above ground doubles and using her family as an example, it gives the audience a view into the mindset that the tethered are tired of being treated like slaves and are ready to begin their revenge and revolt against the ones responsible for putting the tethered in this situation to begin with. Red’s statement to Adelaide that “we’re Americans too” is an exact replica of the thoughts and opinions those minority groups during Manifest Destiny had towards the Americans pushing them to the brink of extinction and causing them to lose their human qualities in favor of becoming property, ready to be thrown away at any given moment.
The tethered and Red specifically, tie in the idea of Hands Across America, to be the example being set as setting the stage for the plan to be put in motion. Hands Across America was a concept created in 1986 where people would create a chain line of holding hands to raise awareness and money for the homeless and hungry in the United States. However, in this case, Hands Across America is a decoy plot used by Red and the tethered to rise up against their counterparts. It’s a sign that the tethered are willing and prepared to do whatever is necessary in revolting and it covers up the violent aspects that must be dealt with in order to achieve this goal.
Speaking of the violence being covered up by the Hands Across America example, it really makes the whole ordeal of the plan ironic. Here we have the above ground doubles to the tethered, the ones who are in the same position as the slave owners and instigators of Manifest Destiny, being brutally murdered in every shape and form; stabbed to death with scissors and essentially cut away from the rest of the world the tethered are trying to take over, as they are believed to be entitled to it just the same as their counterparts are. In retrospect to the violence that occurred during and after Manifest Destiny, the two are very similar. Both resulted in the loss of so many people on both sides and both ended up with more problems than was probably accounted for.
What’s interesting, then, is the different ideals of both Red and Adelaide when it comes to the plan. Red is concerned with completely severing the ties with her counterparts by any means possible, regardless of who lives and who doesn’t live. To Red, what is more important is taking by force the land and rights that as a tethered she doesn’t get the luxury of having because, afterall, the tethered are not really people because they lack a soul. Whereas Adelaide sees why Red and the tethered are frustrated with their status as citizens of the United States, but doesn’t agree with how Red is dealing with the issue at hand. This is especially clear when she has a hard time killing off the tethered versions of her children. To Adelaide, it would be better for the tethered and their counterparts to act as one nation and live peacefully together, rather than resorting to violence.
Between the two ideas, neither one are necessarily wrong or right. Both Adelaide and Red bring up valid viewpoints on how each other is being treated in the United States. They both believe in certain things and the problem that comes up with the two of them is the fact that neither of them will ever see eye to eye. This again, is the exact same feelings that minority groups and the instigators in Manifest Destiny had towards one another. No one would bother to sit down and actually learn about how similar they actually are because they are too focussed on their own plans and livelihood.
That being said, it is inevitable that the violence and destruction of both the tethered and their counterparts would happen. The tethered would’ve eventually revolted against their better off counterparts later on, even if Red and Adelaide never met. There is only so much someone can take of being treated like a slave, to be removed of what makes them a person, and to be robbed on what should be theirs as well since they too belong as citizens under the constitution. African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and so many groups have and are still fighting for their rights just as the tethered as doing and things will only continue to go on violently if society doesn’t come together and solve the issues at hand in a peaceful matter. Afterall, Red is completely correct in saying that they too are Americans and all Americans, regardless of race and identity, are entitled to whatever they want according to the constitution.