Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/17/funny-holy-shit.html
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Yeah, I’m for it.
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I loved “Get Out” and am eagerly awaiting anything Jordan Peele is involved in in the future.
This seems right up his alley – using horror/Lovecraft tropes to tell stories of real societal horrors.
That said, I think it’s also quite possible to enjoy and tell stories in the Lovecraft genre without the use of any racism whatsoever. Though the man himself was undoubtably racist as all heck, it doesn’t permeate all of his stories.
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I haven’t seen much of Key & Peele aside from the rather delightful take on Family Matters. It came readily to mind when watching Get Out.
Did they do that sort of thing particularly often?
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All? Perhaps not. But he’s pretty blatant about it rather often. Care to find a positive Arab reference, as an easy example?
And man, he HATED Picts… Wow.
Yeah, sounds good, I agree.
The link to the Noles Shame essay is 404.
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Really a fantastic - in the literal and figurative sense - collection of stories. The book can be treated as a novel, but can also be read in dribs and drabs if you’re so inclined.
You don’t need to be a Lovecraft fan to enjoy this book, though if you’re at least passingly familiar with the genre, you can better enjoy it.
If the show manages to capture a portion of the written work, it should be a fun ride.
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This needs to happen
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Oh, he used Arabs as an easy target, definitely. Just like modern day America! rimshot
But no, seriously, I’m not defending his racism or the casual ethnic stereotypes he always used as evil bad guys. I’m just saying that the Lovecraft horror genre isn’t inherently a racist one, as this story suggests. Updating the timeframe from the 30s to the 50s is an especially interesting idea for this show. I’m intrigued to see what they come up with.
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The book is a good time.
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Are you sure you’re not thinking about Robert E. Howard, instead of Lovecraft? Picts were a REH thing, not HPL’s, and while they’re squarely on the enemy side in the Conan stories, the Picts were good guys in the King Kull stories, and in some of his historical fantasy stories.
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Yes, I’m quite sure. Try reading “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” sometime, as an easy example (it’s worth a read, anyhow). His short stories are riddled, as well.
Huh. I have read the Dream-Quest, it should even be in my bookshelf somewhere. I don’t remember any Picts in it, but it’s been a while… A re-read is definitely in order, then, but not quite now, as I’ve got a bunch of Hugo nominees to get through first. 
It’s not the main theme at all but it happens a lot in descriptions/smaller
plotlines. His short stories have it quite often. Picts and Arabs both
catch a lot of flak.
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