#i have successfully gaslighted myself into believing he won

[kuppikahvia]

I stared at these tags for a full minute like "but cha cha cha is his song though??"

[blackhorrorfilmhistory]

Get Out

Jordan Peele directed and wrote, Get Out, the American horror film which included the experience of a black person dating a white person, and how they are affected by meeting the parents. Specifically, how concerned Chris was on his way with Rose to meet her white family, who did not know he was black—-so he thought. Not being black myself, I did not catch on to how obviously absurd some of the many behaviors of Rose’s family were (in fact, many white people adopt these behaviors in order to earn acceptance from black people, or so they assume).  Such as, making it a point to bring up black celebrities, and emphasizing how wonderful they were. Almost as if they, Rose’s family, were trying to show approval towards black people. As mentioned before, as a white person, I never noticed how odd this behavior was until watching the movie. Also, many of my classmates were able to point out some very important details that I also viewed as strange and helped me piece together some very important themes. Ultimately, Peele’s film explores themes such as slavery, the behavior of white people seeking acceptance and/or relatability to black people, and betrayal.

To begin, betrayal is one theme that came about throughout the film, however it was subtle up until Chris being placed in hypnosis forcibly when he was trying to leave. Rose very obviously gaslights Chris throughout the entire movie. She knowingly makes him feel crazy, allowing Chris to believe that he was simply imagining many of the strange behaviors of her family. For example, Chris seemed to be concerned with the fact that the Armitage’s had black people working for them, who were behaving awfully strange. Without getting too ahead of myself here, but, these employees seemed to be behaving like the complete opposite of how they would normally act. It was almost as if their bodies were not their own; this was very obvious to Chris since these black people were not behaving like Chris was used to, rather they were behaving just like Rose’s family, down to their choice of vocabulary and bodily movements. Instead of assuring Chris that perhaps, Georgina and Walter, the employees were indeed possessed by other people, she acted as though nothing was wrong. Eventually in the film, it becomes clear Rose had a fetish, or some what of an obsession with black men, and Chris was just another victim that was successfully lured to her home. Rose did not only have an obsession with black men, but was apart of the ploy her family was planning the entire time. I thought it was great how Peele inserted scenes that made Rose seem as though she was an ally, such as arguing with the police office about Chris’ license, or when she is venting to Chris while brushing her teeth. I was almost convinced Rose was going to help Chris, and that she was not apart of the entire ploy, Peele did an amazing job incorporating the gaslighting to add to the imagining/feeling crazy aspects of Chris’ experience. One last point, is that Rose’s father brought up Obama, and later a man at the party mentioned Tiger woods, as if to make Chris feel comfort or relatability. This is one of those behaviors that white people do that is incredibly offensive as I have gathered, Peele did a great job of how absurd it really is.

The other theme I caught on to immediately was the silent auction scene, which was very clearly an auction for a slave! The photo display, the set up of the chairs, and the mannerisms, it was very clear that it was an auction for Chris. Not as a slave, rather as a host for one of the willing people in the auction itself. In the scene, the person that won the auction was Nelson, the blind art critic which had a great interest in Chris’ photography abilities. Later on in the movie, when Nelson is about to undergo surgery to be placed into Chris’ body, he specifically mentions that he wanted Chris for his eyes. Which I viewed as both literally and symbolically, of course, as Peele more than likely implied. Nelson wanted Chris’ eyes literally so he could capture art as Chris did naturally, but he also wanted them symbolically to see through Chris’ eyes. Moreover, he wanted to see what life was like for Chris, perhaps what inspired his artistic eye. I think it was great how Peele set the auction scene, especially having it entirely silent because there was great symbolism of Chris’ emotions. Throughout the scene of the auction, there were glimpses of Chris’ face, which I viewed as the silence Chris was experiencing himself. When he was trying to tell Rose something odd was happening with her family, she did not believe him (purposefully ignored him), an instance of him experiencing silence of Rose’s support. Chris also experienced that same silence when he would relieve the memories of the night his mother died. In those memories, he was paralyzed, like he soon would be after falling into a forced hypnosis by Rose’s mother, and in many other instances of the film. He experienced that same paralyzing feeling when Walter came charging at him when he went to smoke a cigarette in the middle of the night. Walter eventually apologized for his “exercise” and his strange behavior left Chris paralyzed for a moment before he made his way back to Rose’s room. Chris also experienced both the paralyzing feeling and silence within the Sunken Place, where he would go when he was hypnotized. It was completely silent, Chris’ cries for help could not be heard, just like they were not heard earlier in the film.

This film was a masterpiece from start to finish, especially being very educational for myself since I did not notice certain behaviors of white people before. With the help of my classmates, I came to understand that bringing up black celebrities is perhaps offensive at times, and quite unnecessary when having a discussion with a black person. It does not help relate, rather comes off incredibly absurd. Peele made it very obvious in the film how absurd it was by showing Chris’ unfiltered emotions and the obliviousness of the Armitage’s whenever they would reference a black celebrity. They thought they were relating with Chris, but were rather putting him off, allowing him to see right through their fake kindness. Furthermore, the symbolism of silence and the feeling of being paralyzed throughout the movie expressed the feelings that Chris may have experienced throughout his time at the Armitage’s (or really any rational being place in this situation). I enjoyed Peele’s comedic relief here and there, the character Ron, who was a great friend to Chris and heard his cries for help. Ron was a breath of fresh air from the insane Armitage’s, and brought me solace knowing that Chris had someone who cared about him, something the Armitage’s did not know about. Ultimately, the film was incredibly interesting and educational for myself, since I do not know much about the subject of Black Horror.