Imperialism. What if … imperialism weren’t always a White Supremacist thing? Well, today it isn’t. Or should I say “tomorrow it isn’t?” cuz that’s when the Vuvv take over. And lemme tell ya, all humans look alike to these jerks; ain’t nobody got time for racism when we’re all inferior life forms.
The Vuvv appear to be a sentient form of Spam. They’re boxy, moist, four-legged, semi-mobile ham-like creatures. But don’t let appearance fool you; these guys brought Earth to its knees. In the name of cultural improvement, the Vuvv have remade the planet. Now, we all consume food cubes and enjoy 80% unemployment. Thanks, Vuvv.
The Campbell family is better off than most. Sure, dad left, and mom (Tiffany Haddish) is unemployed. [Tiffany Haddish is in a good film. I know. I’m still trying to get used to that idea.] Mom was once a kick-ass lawyer, but oppressed cultures don’t need lawyers. In fact, many of the most superlative humans now work for the sentient Spam as menial laborers. Ask the world-class neurosurgeon who is now a chauffeur on one of the hovering Vuvv cities. However, the Campbells still own a house, and though the swimming pool is now a half-assed farm, the Campbells still endure a grudging existence often depicted in the paintings by teenage son, Adam (Asante Blackk).
In art class, Adam discovers Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers) quietly depicting the human model as a giant dick. Adam and Chloe become fast friends which leads Adam to invite the Marsh trio to come live in their basement. The homeless Marshes can’t really say “no.” And this seems like a reasonable idea for at least five minutes.
To earn money, Chloe suggests she turn her relationship with Adam into reality TV. The Vuvv reproduce a-sexually and thus have no cultural understanding of courtship or love. The plan succeeds until a huge disagreement between the families living in the Campbell house causes the couple’s lovey-dovey to become grumpy-wumpy. At this point, the Vuvv sue Chloe and Adam for false representation; their channel “Chloe and Adam in Love” shows anything but and the Vuvv are pissed … which they express in a series of hand-slapping motions that this vocally-challenged species uses to communicate.
Screen metaphors are often imperfect or hard to pick out. In Landscape with Invisible Hand, the exact opposite is 
true; you cannot miss the metaphor and it is a brilliant skewering of imperialist culture. Take the moments where the Vuvv takeover classrooms: the kids watch videos where their Spam overlords are depicted as delightful generous cartoon blobs, always happy to improve culture. Oh, and by the way, human history is stupid; you’re all learning Vuvv history from now on. Is this not exactly how European -and then American- conquerors treated the Native Americans or the Africans they enslaved? And look at how instantly stratified society becomes. The Vuvv live decadent lives in the clouds. Lucky humans get to labor for them. The rest of you? Go fuck yourselves; be glad you’re not slaves. Freedom means something much different when you have money and opportunity.
As of this writing, the state of Florida under the direction of White Supremacist Ron DeSantis has officially re-imagined and re-written American history to downplay the bad parts of slavery and emphasize the “good parts.” Why yes, apparently there were good parts to slavery: among other things, slaves were given job training skills. Isn’t that nice? This film is a pointed “FUCK YOU!” to DeSantis and any other MAGA moron trying to gaslight the American public. It sucks being oppressed. A lot. And you assholes need to know the difference between true oppression (where you’re so deeply involved that you can pretend that slavery “wasn’t that bad”) and fake oppression, where a desired rise in minimum wage and diversity are suddenly considered “communism.” This film is a brilliant exploration of the difference between the two and one of my favorite films of 2023. I hope you all get to see it; even those it’s clearly ridiculing. Maybe you’ll learn something.
There once was a race made of spam
Who turned the Earth into a raging bedlam
But all was made sunny
Cuz without any money
We’re now all as happy as a clam
Rated R, 105 Minutes
Director: Cory Finley
Writer: Cory Finley, M.T. Anderson
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Historians
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: MAGA Historians
