I love thriller movies. Theyāre literally the best genre, in my humble opinion. They have the opportunity to provide everything — action, horror, humor, romance, and even some indie vibes — all in one two hour package.
I had seen the trailer for Get Out in early November on a friendās Facebook page. I was immediately intrigued; I was taking a racial and ethnic relations course and figured the content would be relevant to the course. I was pretty sad when it came out that the movie wouldnāt be released until I was done with the course; however, I put it on my āwatch eventuallyā list and moved on.
And then the movie came out.
Boasting a 99% from Rotten Tomatoes, my roommates immediately wanted to go see it when we were in Orlando for Spring Break (thank you Groupon!). In a packed theater in Universal Studios, the seven of us settled in to watch it.
I had heard a short run down from a co-worker a few days before break had started, so I knew what to expect. Regardless, it has been one of the BEST MOVES OF 2017 SO FAR I PROMISE YOU GO SEE IT.
No, but literally. I loved it so much that Iām going to give you 5 reasons you need to go see it.
Itās satirical.
The entire movie you get strange vibes from Roseās family. From her whole āNaw, I didnāt tell me white parents from rural-nowhere-land that my new boyfriend is blackā before leaving on this trip to the dadās āAnd thatās the basement, we keep the door locked, donāt go down thereā trip, itās just a weird feeling from the beginning, and you know it was done to mock horror movies. Chris has plenty of opportunitiesĀ to āget outā but never takes them, or threatens to, and ends up stuck in a bad situation.
Itās humorous.
Every horror movie has that funny character who seems dumb but is actually smart as hell and has all the answers. Get Out casted Milton Rowery (The Carmichael Show, Friends of the People) as this character, the ultimate hero of the film, swooping in at the last minute to save Chris from being killed by Rose.
You get an emotional surge of anger towards the characters.
From Rose being the worst actor in the world, to her brother just being a weirdo-KKK guy thatās obsessed with brutality, to these random white people buying black people to transplant their brains into, you just get angry. Literally, our entire theater was yelling and clapping and interacting with the movie like we were there or something.
The symbolism is on point.
From the Greek letters on the outside of Roseās familyās house to the remorse Rose doesnāt feel to the deer that she hits driving there, the symbolism is everywhere. And itās glorious. Iām not even going to get into the whole scene where Rose keeps her fruit loops separate from her milk.
Yet.
And, of course, the racial implications.
Thereās literally so much I could do with this. Literally SO MUCH. Buzzfeed does a great job talking about them in this article, but Iām going to just highlight a few of my thoughts.
First, thereās a slight possibility that the movie argues that blacks are the superior race. Roseās grandfather was beat by a black man in the Olympic finals in the 1930s, maintaining that blacks are superior athletically. And, before the brain transplantās supposed to happen, Chris asks the man who bought his body as a vessel āWhy black people?ā and the man responds something similar to (paraphrased in Royall’s signature explanation voice)Ā āIdk man, yaālls bodies are just best for it.ā Their bodies are better than other white peoples or Asians (the stereotypical smart ones). Roseās brother remarks early on in the movie āWith you genetic makeup and my medical expertise, you could be a beast,ā showing his admiration and fascination at the superiority of the black race.
But is it? Because all of this could be skewed the opposite way. Roseās grandfather was beat by a black man, and her dad remarks āAnd he almost forgot about it.ā Almost, but not enough to want to use black people to transplant white peopleās brains into them. Theyāre only seen as vessels; the man who bought Chris said that the entire motor functions would be his and not Chrisā. Chris was just the body. Roseās brother — who Iāve decided is just a lunatic that deserved everything coming to him — calls Chris a beast. He doesnāt think heās human — similar to all the white people at the āpartyā *cough* slave auction *cough* Chris was at. They objectified him — āBlack is in nowā and that weird white lady asking Rose if āit was trueā (and I know all yaāll know what Iām talking about here) — in uncomfortable and demeaning ways that insinuate Chris not being a human being or capable of being affected by their words.
GO SEE Get Out. Jordan Peele is the first black writer AND director combo to have a $100 million debut movie at the box office. The FIRST ONE. His movie, and his success, is a milestone thatās long overdue for the black community, and the film he did it with is extraordinary.
GO. SEE. IT.