Why 'Get Out' Has Everyone Raving

(Spoiler Alert!) With the current box office grossing  about $75 million, the comedian director Jordan Peele has established himself as a director to keep an eye out for. When given the 99% by Rotten Tomatoes, I knew his movie was the real deal and I was not disappointed. Like me, many others raved and praised the movie for its eclectic approach while pointing out the cultural significance of such a movie today.

What “Get Out” offered moviegoers was a new story that defied cliche tropes of romance. Instead, it offered audience members a refreshing plot integrated with horror, thriller, comedy, and satire. All in one movie Peele is able to create a dynamic movie experience that has recently been unheard of.

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Any moviegoer will find themselves cringing then laughing then rooting for the survival of the main character, Chris.

When the movie starts off as a typical romance plot with an interracial couple who visit the white girlfriend’s family for the weekend, what initially looks like excessive attempts to accommodate the boyfriend turns gradually more sinister as the movie goes on. Part of the movie’s success relies on how the plot employs many complex aspects regarding how racism looks like today at the same time that it focuses on how the black body is received by others.

The allusions to hypnosis and the later brain surgery that Chris almost undergoes are not without reference. The historical significance of these plot points contain an enormous amount of meaning regarding the black body, which has historically been brutalized by the medical sciences and also has been subjected to medical procedures without consent.

Many examples of this include the experience of Henrietta Lacks and unethical studies such the Tuskegee experiment that was conducted for over 40 years without the proper consent of the black men who participated. With this barely recent history, the movie’s allusion to the medicalization of the black body is a purposeful indictment of not only the history that has preceded our generation but meditates on the residual effects this has on black individuals today.

This was the most poignant with the continuous references to the sunken place, where Chris, in an almost dissociative state, continues to go into a trance where he becomes disjointed from his actual body. The psychological aspect of Chris’s experience is not unwarranted; it speaks to the continued psychological scars that continue into present day.

Before it is later unveiled of the family’s true intentions for Chris, the family party scene reflects on the notions of white privilege. The scene is littered with typical microaggressions and misconceptions.

In a comedic manner, the comments that exoticised Chris or treated Chris’s blackness as a fashion trend became conflated with each other; the juxtaposition of each moment tie into the bias that still pervades most social life. In a similar fashion, the accumulation of the comments begin to take an emotional toll on Chris who later admits to Rose that he would like to leave.

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Even more notable was how the scene still resisted the cliche of ignorant white racists when an asian character questioned Chris on the African American experience. The tokenism which Chris deflected onto another black character (whose mind was already gone, unknowing to the audience) showed just how much others can benefit off the oppression of others, regardless if they are white or not.

 The thought-provoking social commentary is reflective of Peele’s ability to be a detailed visual director, who placed important emphasis on shots being symbolic. The recurring motifs of the deer’s head and of the infamous shot of Rose drinking her milk separate from her Fruit Loops had the audience on the edge of their seats. It is immediate and eerie; it is uncomfortable and effective.

In an almost cathartic gesture, the movie plays into this speculative hypothetical mode when Chris immediately puts his hands up when he sees the oncoming cop cruiser lights. It is an image we have seen too many times but when it is revealed that it is his friend to the rescue, the audience sighs in relief.

After watching Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, I look forward to what other stories he will soon bring to the big screen. Part of this film’s power is its power in storytelling; it is the ability to make other empathize and to be able to step into the shoes of another individual. The story we tell ourselves is just as important to consider. When Chris survives, what is it that we feel?