She is initially presumed to be a Tethered, a doppelganger of protagonist Adelaide Thomas Wilson, created by the United States government. However, in a tragic twist, it is later revealed that she is the original Adelaide, whose life was usurped by the actual Red when she replaced her.
Adelaide Thomas, also known as Red, is the real counterpart of Adelaide Wilson as well as the somewhat main antagonist and leader of The Tethered in and out of her group in the 2019 film 'Us'.
This reveal is quite good, especially since the seed is planted at the very start of the film, but it can be a little confusing. As it turns out, Red is actually the original non-Tethered Adelaide, and the Adelaide we've been following the entire movie, and thought was the hero, is actually the Tether.
Warning: Spoilers for the film Us. “How you could have taken me with you,” Red wistfully states to the Adelaide that has taken over her life. All that you have, all that you are, all that you've become — you took from me.
Known as the Tethered, Adelaide had a run-in with these shadows as a child in 1986, which left her traumatized but also gave her the strength to lead her family through the horror. Us ends with a shocking twist and big reveals about the Tethered and their place in society, giving the movie a much deeper meaning.
Adelaide was really Red all along. She shares a glance with her son with him seemingly understanding who his mother actually is. After all, he saw the brutal, tether-like behavior she displayed underground.
Another, clearer explanation is that Jason knows about Adelaide's true nature, as he heard the final fight between her and Red. He knows that she's still his mom, but also knows that she may have done something terrible in her past.
Adelaide is not a tethered, the ending is just her coping with what happened and a play on how oppressors like to tell themselves they are the victims. They are just made up memories as a coping mechanism. Which is why she is shown making a weird smile as an 8 year old in the made up memory and also in the car.
In the film's climax, Adelaide has fatally wounded Red; Red uses her final moments to do something unexpected: She whistles. The tune she's whistling is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” — the last song she had stuck in her head before she was kidnapped.
In the process, some Tethered are killed but in the final shot of Us, it's revealed that many survived the night and joined hands to create a human chain that runs for quite some distance - perhaps even from coast to coast.
But aboveground, the many Tethers have joined hands together in a mirror of Hands Across America, the 1986 event meant to raise money and awareness of hunger, which stretched a 6.5 million-person chain (almost all the way) across the Lower 48.
Pluto wears a mask to cover up the burns of the accident. This would explain why Jason is often wearing a mask throughout the film. Pluto's death is by self-immolation, which reinforces this as well. Several other small details speak to Jason's potential swap.
Since the clones are purposefully tied to their above-ground counterparts — they share a soul, so to speak — the Tethered are forever linked to their originals. Forced to mindlessly mimic their counterparts, the Tethered live empty lives.
In Us, Jeremiah 11:11 reads as, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them." Narratively this is represented through Adelaide's duplicate, Red, who represents the evil she and the other ...
In the movie "Us," the Tethered use scissors as their main weapons, symbolizing the severing of parts of life and the connection between the Tethered and their originals.
However, the rabbits hold a deeper meaning too. Rabbits commonly symbolize rebirth in human culture as explained by their usage around Easter to signify the rebirth of Jesus Christ. In the case of Us, the rabbits symbolize the rebirth of the Tethered who are now rising up to take their place in society.
Was Jason Actually One Of The Tethered? On that note, a popular fan theory exists that Jason, like his mother, was originally one of the Tethered and at some point made the switch to living above ground. This theory is used to explain Jason's knowing look toward's Red at the end of the film.
Adelaide could simply be upset because she feels a connection to Pluto and/or is remembering that she is a tethered but there's a chance that she has realised that Pluto is Jason.
JASON EXPLAINED: It's clear that Jason's language issues and want to hide in small places is because he's half Tethered. His sister just takes more after dad. And it didn't matter if Zora's clone was good at running or not, she had to practice just as much as the original.
So, rather than having been told about his mothers identity or been switched with a Tethered himself, it seems that Jason is smart enough to just see through all of that. According to Peele's explanation, Jason is simply picking up on the subtleties that give away his mother's true identity.
They offer some more insight into the psychology of the Tethered, who either share or imitate the characteristics of their aboveground counterparts. Kitty Tyler is insecure, so her doppelgänger cuts her own face in an imitation of plastic surgery.
The iconic handwear debuted during a 1983 television performance of "Billy Jean" for Motown's 25th anniversary celebration. The lone white glove would become synonymous with Jackson throughout his career — and ultimately, provide a cryptic image for the Tethered to incorporate during their exodus from the underworld.
The Tethered in Jordan Peele's "Us" are the result of a failed government cloning experiment, meant to control the above-ground population. The Tethered are tied to their above-ground counterparts and live in underground tunnels, forced to mimic their counterparts' lives.
She knew what she was missing. Her revolution even seems to have begun the day of Adelaide's tour de force ballet recital (hence why Adelaide stopped dancing at 14, having “felt” Red getting closer).
