‘Get Out’ Tackles Blackness and Racism in a Horror Movie Scene – TeenVogue.com

If you love horror films or films that provide insightful social commentary about what it means to be black in America, youre going to want to watch comedian Jordan Peeles new movie Get Out. Because this is a film that does it all.

The film, which is Jordans directorial debut (he cowrote 2015s Keanu) has scored a rare 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And critics are heralding it as a timely yet familiar story, soon to be an instant cult classic.

Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a photographer in an interracial relationship who sets off to meet his girlfriend Roses family in their white suburban utopia. Chris worries about whether or not Roses parents will be comfortable with their daughter dating a black man, but the dynamic switches as he becomes more and more uncomfortable with their behavior toward him. Chriss light apprehension about joining their world transforms into pure terror once he learns just how that world works; the film shifts into an unhinged, hair-raising story of paranoia, discovery, and some dark truths on race, class, and power.

The film has an overarching message that cannot be understated: Jordan used Chriss interaction with white people to delve into how black people can be paralyzed by fear as we maneuver through racism. So many aspects of the film from the awkward, racist microaggressions that Chris encounters to his life-threatening interactions with white America are representations of the daunting daily reality for black people a reality that often seems like a never-ending horror movie.

Jordan's positioning of this social commentary in the crux of a comedy-horror is fitting. After all, what horror terrorizes the black subconscious more than racism? Both the hard-hitting blows and the subtle jabs of racism affect every facet of black life whether its anticipated or unexpected, it leaves an indelible mark. But when the weight of that realization gets understandably heavy, the film also uses comedic relief as a brief escape.

And its Jordans insight as a director and writer that is singular here. The comedian is ushering in another level of representation by stepping behind the camera. Though black creators and other creators of color have helmed horror movies before Spike Lee released Da Sweet Blood of Jesus in 2014 with the help of Kickstarter the filmmakers behind many of the biggest scary-movie titles are both white and male. Its a frustrating bubble, not least because the genre is often one of the most bankable genres in Hollywood.

This lack of inclusion extends to the screen, too. Because while the stereotype that black characters die first is about as big an urban myth as the premise of many horror movies, the fact that it has become a pretty recognizable trope to begin with is telling. That is if black characters even appear at all. And while 2000s cult-classic spoof Scary Movie launched a small wave of black representation in horror by skewering that, not much has changed since then.

Jordans film rightfully challenges the lack of inclusion in the horror space. And in addition to flipping the literal script when it comes to casting, Jordan also refuses to be confined to a single genre namely the weighty films to which black creators are often relegated. Hollywood often places an unfair expectation on creatives of color, holding them to a certain standard that requires them to make heavy, poignant legacy films in order to even be considered in the same vein as other mainstream, mostly white films. For years, Hollywood was severely lacking a portrayal of ordinary black life Moonlight and Hidden Figures are notable recent exceptions and navigating racism, both as microaggressions and in life-threatening situations, is unfortunately very much a facet of black life.

Yet despite this reality, the Academy and by extension, Hollywood often values a particular type of performance from black creators, while white-centric films from any genre can be nominated for any and every award and actually win. Its rare that a black film that isnt a drama receives a similar accolade or is even coded as anything other than black cinema when it hits theaters. The importance of the cinematic masterpieces that feature heart-wrenching performances, dense scripts, and unforgettable characters cannot be understated, but these are by no means the only stories that we can or should tell.

Blackness isnt a monolith, and Get Out is as multidimensional as blackness itself.

On film, blackness is often visualized through a white lens. Black characters are made to be one-dimensional archetypes or stereotypes; they are what white people want them to be or what white people are committed to seeing them as. Jordan's decision to cast a black lead a dark-skinned black actor, at that while centering his narrative on navigating a white world is a far cry from that myopic lens. In Get Out, the black characters arent carried by a white savior who rescues them from their plight. Instead, Chris steers his own journey and survives the horror of racismfor another day, at least.

Get Out explores certain race themes that weve seen on screen before, but presents them through a fresh lens. Its a pitch-perfect blend of wit, satire, and horror; just the right medium to explore race and culture without being too dreary or dense; light at times but heavy when it needs to be. The acting is strong, the storyline is solid, and the visuals are well executed, with both spine-tingling and laugh-out-loud moments.

A lot is resting on Get Out, which is a shame. It will never be just another horror movie, in part because of its director and star. But it also doesnt want to be and its more than up to the task of helping rewrite the narrative of black people in scary movies. Because the fact of the matter is that we need more of our stories told the horrors, the joys, the losses, and the triumphs, the history and the future of black life. The big screen could always use a little more black.

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'Get Out' Tackles Blackness and Racism in a Horror Movie Scene - TeenVogue.com