It takes a movie to wake America up

Stephanie Starks

Chronicle Reporter

 Get Out, a film by Jordan Peele, touches on the “sensitive” subject of racism in a satirical and metaphorical way, reaching new heights in box offices and even gaining $133 million world wide

Get Out is about a black man, Chris, who is going with his white girlfriend, Rose, out of town to meet her parents. While he is there, he notices strange instances that put him on edge. All of the black people he comes in contact with act strangely and “white” and all the white people he comes in contact with seem to only be interested in him for his physical attributes. Jordan Peele intended for the movie to be a façade for the actual issues occurring in twenty-first century America. Get Out shows the unintended racism and Caucasian prejudice against black people (i.e. quotes from the movie include, “I would have voted for Obama again if I could”, “Black is the new fashion” and “Is it true what they say…?”) and the obvious change of tone when it comes to race (i.e. This journalist’s way of describing the movie: “British actor Daniel Kaluuya is Chris, the black boyfriend of Rose, a beautiful young white woman played by Allison Williams (from Lena Dunham’s series Girls)”-The Guardian).

While the movie intended to educate as well as entertain, some critics were not amused (most of whom are Caucasian might I add) with the portrayal of white people as villains. This is outrageous, truly! It’s a terrible thing to single out one race to a bad attribute. It isn’t like black people are shown as bad guys most of the time on T.V. shows. “In Get Out, just as Obama did, Peele exploits racial discomfort, irresponsibly playing racial grief and racist relief off against each other, subjecting imagination and identification to political sway” Journalist for the National Review, Armond White(ironic.), explains his discomfort with the film. “Chris and his ghetto friend Rod, who works for the TSA, are attitudes and not complex beings. The other blacks Chris encounters as servants on Rose’s family estate are no better that Trayvon Martin-type effigies– zombie-like when not sorrowful and tearful.”

Get Out originally had a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, along with two other films that date back to the 50s and 20s, but due to this critics critique, it dropped to a 99% and people were outraged. With an overall 8.3 rating, Get Out continues to rise in charts and educate people on the modern issues that need to be addressed.

 

 

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