Home » Get Out

Get Out

Awakening from the Sunken Place
Get Out and Equality

               By Dafne Adıgüzel, Belce Bilgici and Fatma Pulat 

Get Out Gallery Art, Once- off Archival print artwork commissioned by Universal Pictures in collaboration with LAssociates

Directed by Jordan Peele, Get Out revolves around Chris, an African American man who finds himself surrounded by middle-class white liberals trying to take control over his body. Racial equality is a recurring value throughout the movie as Peele creates a fiction that deals with the issue of racism. By taking advantage of many cliched horror tropes such as an uncanny suburban setting, medical experiments, mind control, Peele reflects what everyday life with non-black others might feel like for black people. From the very first moment Chris enters the Armitage house, the feeling of uneasiness starts to linger as every conversation feels forced. The father’s eagerness to emphasize his “supportive,” non-judgmental side to Chris as well as his unnatural kindness foreshadows the uncanny events that will happen later in the movie. As we watch events unroll at the Armitage house, we sense the obvious wall between the two races. Chris’s discomfort starts with observing the African American servants working in the house, which causes him to feel confused about which side to stand on. Does he have the symbolic status of a servant or a guest? In the cocktail scene, we see each guest disguise their racist assumption as a compliment as they awkwardly interact with Chris. Not only do they generalize about his race but they also blatantly objectify him. One of the guests claims that being black is “in fashion” while another guest fetishizes him by asking Rose, his white girlfriend, about their presumably exciting private/sexual life. They violate his privacy by constantly touching him without permission. They seem to treat him like a product on sale by emphasizing his specific attributes and observing him from up close. While the guests’ micro-aggressions masquerade as clueless innocent pleasantries, they also work as a cover for the dehumanization Chris undergoes. It is no wonder that Chris feels completely alienated as a result of the discriminatory atmosphere at the party. At first sight, this might be deemed a fictional exaggeration; yet, the scene effectively points out the covertly ongoing racism in Chris’ world. His feelings of alienation, his being left out and othered are no exaggerations; it is the reality that many minority people still have to endure in the presence of a frequently prejudiced majority. Peele reflects a world where racial discrimination is still very much an issue. Through displaying an obvious case of discrimination in the movie, Peele attempts to wake people up and open their eyes to the reality around them.

Van Orton Design. Published at Behance web-site in 2018