All thrillers seem to clothe themselves in a pretentious cloth of unoriginal uniformity so much so that we have a handle on what will happen as soon as the heart-thumping cinematic music starts. They all follow the theme of a few ready-made American fetishes: demonic activity, psychopath killer, a ghost of the past, and corny revenge stories. But we have never seen a satirical social horror film. A social horror is a film genre that uses the elements of suspense, horror, and symbolism to augment instances of oppression in society. John S. Nelson, a professor at the University of Iowa, wrote in his book ‘Horror Films Face Political Evils in Everyday Life’: “The gist of horror is facing evils in everyday life. This is to say that the genius of horror is subtext: symbolism that creeps beneath surface meanings to assault our dreams and awaken our minds”. Jordan Peele’s film ‘Get Out’ (2017) is the perfect model of a satirical social horror film. Throughout the film, Peele uses the same elements that coincide with the term social thriller. In Jordan Peele’s film ‘Get Out’, Peele unveils the racial climate of America through distinct sounds, hypnosis, and the flash of a camera.
The initial step to conquer Chris’s body was by putting him in that state of hypnosis, which is an instrument to suppress his consciousness. Missy is hypnotherapist which makes it easier to summon Chris into a hypnotic daze without her real motive being detected. She is able to successfully do this by gradually stirring her tea in the teacup without Chris noticing that he is progressively being submerged into the ‘Sunken Place’. Hypnosis and the sunken place were not just a cool horror element to add to the film it is very symbolic to the current climate of America. The sunken place represents the system that suppresses black people. Jordan Peele exclaims via Twitter on March 16, 2017, “The Sunken Place means we're marginalized. No matter how hard we scream, the system silences us”. The Sunken Place can represent so many things but particularly in this film, it represents the marginalization of black people. Black Americans often feel they cannot say what they want to say because in return it may cost them something. They then began to feel stuck in their own life because they want to express themselves. Instead, they internalize and suppress their true feelings. Therefore, black people often struggle living with two conscious. W.E.B. Du Bois talked about double consciousness in his first publication ‘The Souls of Black Folk’. Du Bois noted: “One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder”. Black Americans have lived in a society that has devalued them, causing them to struggle with viewing oneself through their own eyes and through the perception of the other – white Americans. Viewers see this happening to Chris after the hypnosis. He begins to second guess everything that he sees and starts to feel trapped.
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Peele also uses distinct sounds to unveil some truth about America during the slavery era. The continuous sound of the spoon tainting the tea cup functions as the perfect tool to keep Chris under the Armitage family’s control. This is not done just to create terror within the movie, but it also has a symbolic meaning. The teacup is a reference to the slavery era in the United States. White wives would send a strike to their teacup to convene house slaves. In the film, this is displayed by the interactions Missy has with her black house servants. This mostly happens with the house maid Georgina. Missy frequently commands for house chores and numerous of other domestic labor. ‘Get Out’ viewers specifically see this in the scene where Missy clinks her spoon in her ice tea glass to call Georgina to serve Rose and Chris ice for their ice tea.
The silver spoon represents an English idiom, ‘Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’. The phrase is used to describe the privilege and advantages that a rich person received through previous generations. This is the same for the Armitage family. They are protected by their wealth and whiteness. Dean and Missy’s wicked behavior have gone unnoticed because they are protected by their financial and social status. The spoon figuratively and physically has allowed Dean and Missy to control black victims at their will without any repercussions. There have been many times where the media disregards a crime a white American has committed and try to maintain their image to the public. However, minorities are not given that same treatment and is criticized harshly. Ultimately, the spoon represents the white privilege that white Americans receive daily. The ending scene shows what is expected to happen when it is a black person in a conflict with a white person. At the end of the film, Rose and Chris is in a scuffle, and a police officer’s car arrives. Rose calls out for help with a smile expecting it to be a white officer. Meanwhile, Chris surrenders with an unsettled face because he too assumes the cop is going to be white. Peele purposely does this to show white privilege looks like in real world situations. He finished the scene on a lighter note by allowing the officer to be Chris’s best friend.
Jordan Peele also uses Chris’s camera to depict the racial climate of America. Throughout the film, sight and photography became very important to the protagonist. Chris’s camera is an extension of his eye and what he sees is happening. Chris realized that something was off about the Armitage family. He was relieved to see other black people, but he soon realizes something was not right with them as well. In the film the flash of the camera is the only tool that has the ability to cause the bodies that are being captured to realize their true selves, which means they will realize their blackness. For example, the flash from Chris’s camera phone startled Logan back to reality. Logan’s nose began to bleed and proceeds to warn Chris to ‘get out’. This also happened at the end of the film when flashes his camera phone on Walter who is choking him. He then snaps out of it and shoots Rose and himself. This is a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement. The movie was created in the midst of the post-Obama era and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Over the years, police brutality has been recorded more frequently by cell phone cameras. The videos are being shared globally via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram reaching millions of people. The recording of violence has helped bring awareness to the unjust violence against black people in America. That has evoked a conversation about the climate of racial issues in America. Just like in the film the flash has awakened the victims back to reality, the recording of the videos allowed people realize racism is still a problem in America.
‘Get Out’ is a satirical social horror movie that defies the typical horror movie notions. It dives deep into numerous techniques to address social issues such as; marginalization of minorities, white privilege, the Black Lives Matter movement, and many more. The film sparked an important conversation that we need to have about race in America. Peele did not create this movie to bash white Americans. However, he wanted them to see what being black in America feels like and to ultimately make everyone more conscious about the effects of racism. Throughout the film, Peele achieves that by using various elements as symbols to represent racial topics that are previously and currently happening throughout America. Jordan Peele ended the movie on a positive note to ensure viewers that he is optimistic about people being more aware of the climate of racial issues. The film was raved about for months and received numerous great reviews from critics and casual movie-goers. ‘Get Out’ received numerous award nominations and even won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
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