The Star of the Movie 'Karen' Might Be One Herself

It's safe to say that one thing we didn't expect out of 2021 was a movie about racist white women named Karen, but that's exactly what we got thanks to BET. The film is literally called Karen and follows the story of a Black couple that moves to a middle-class neighborhood in the South. But their lives are made to be a living hell when their racist neighbor, obviously named Karen, shows her true nature.

Well before the movie came out in August of 2021, it's started to get some hate online. Many are comparing it to movies by Jordan Peele and saying it looks like an SNL skit. But it turns out that some people are curious enough to watch it and see how they feel about it for themselves. If you're one of them, here's info about the release date and more.

Karen is being released on August 13, but after its online reception, it's kind of a wonder that it's being released at all. After the trailer for Karen was dropped in June 2021, Twitter made it clear that it didn't like the movie and that, at best, it was a ripoff of Jordan Peele's 2017 hit film Get Out.

"What Jordan Peele Get Out SNL skit nonsense is this," said one tweet. "No one asked for a movie about a murderous Karen."

Another tweet said, "Its unbelievably cringe! It's like someone took every woke stereotype and fear mongering about race relations and put it into a blender without nuance or subtlety. No surprise it's from BET."

Taryn Manning, who plays the titular character in the film, may be best known for her role as "Pennsatucky" in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black. But she took on this role as a "Karen" because she's sick of those same entitled people in the world. "It felt like a social responsibility," she said in an interview with TMZ.

"Even though I’m playing the opposing side, if I have to sort of play the villain and do all that to help make change, I was more than willing to step into the role. If you don’t like me in the role, perfect, I did my job just great."

But Taryn has her own history with racism that has caused some people to think she may be a Karen herself.

Last year, Taryn took to Instagram to defend former president Donald Trump's infamous Bible photo op where Black Lives Matter protesters were tear-gassed in order for him to get the shot he wanted. "I never pop political but I want to start by saying if I was being attacked the way everyone attacks him I would hold the HOLY BIBLE too," she said in the long caption of a now-deleted post, per Vulture. "People can feel scared right now. Donald can feel scared too."

After Taryn was called out for the post, she deleted it but then apparently posted a picture of her as a child with two Black kids. The caption for this one read, "Far from a racist." This post was also deleted as Black people also called her out for this, pointing out that having Black friends doesn't mean she can't be a racist.