Get Out (February 2017) Directed by Jordan Peele: Analysis

Synopsis

The film follows the character of Chris Washington as he meets his white girlfriends parents for the
first time. The first act/half of the film explores white liberals awkward attempts to engage with the
black community, the second act/half turns much darker - after we find out the party Chriss
girlfriends parents throw for him is some form of slave auction, we learn a more terrifying truth, this
being that an old white man wants his brain implanted inside Chriss body. With your natural gifts
and our determination, we could be part of something greater. Something perfect.

Themes

Negrophilia

Throughout the film, Chris is confronted with totally not racist white people who have supposedly
moved beyond racism. Within the first act we see that the interactions the white family have with
Chris attempting to prove how not-racist they are, only further alienates him i.e. the Armitage
family consistently bring up black people stuff as although this solidifies that they are not racist.
(By the way, I wouldve voted for Obama for a third term if I couldve, best president of my lifetime,
hands down). This behaviour overall makes Chris more and more uncomfortable, as he just wants
to get through the weekend by taking some photos yet is consistently reminded by the people
around him that he is black, thus only making him feel more different. Overall this film explores the
ideology of Negrophilia - this term emerged from 1920s Paris to describe the craze and
fascination of the black culture amongst white people. This however resulted in a negative
representation of African Americans, it meant that black people were either lionised or demonised -
there was no opportunity for one of the black culture to be viewed as normal or to live within
normality, they could only exist within the eyes and view of a white individual, ultimately rendering
the ideology that this premise isnt racist, false. They were viewed to exist as one of two
stereotypes: a brilliant artist, or an uncultured animal. It is the white perspective that determines the
fate and identity of a black individual. This negrophilia also isnt just the desire to explore the black
culture, it can also be the desire of the physical form of a black individual - whether that be sexually
or athletically (stereotypically). The question posed with this ideology is - is it so bad to be desired
because you are sexy and strong? And the answer is, yes. Negrophilia isnt about actually
understanding black people and their culture, its about a white individual using them to fulfil their
own personal desires - this is not understanding humans, it is collecting them. Whilst Get Out
portrays the psychological aspect of negrophilia that is seen in day-to-day life primarily by hipster
culture, the film also portrays physical negrophilia. i.e. within the film the Armitage family own an
organisation in which they capture strong, good-looking black people with likeable attributes to sell
on to liberalist white people in which the whites have their brain transplanted into the body of the
black individual, this affirms the statement that negrophilia only allows the white individual to fulfil
their own desires, as the white liberalists in the film only purchase the bodies of the black
individuals in order to make themselves better. For example, in the film we see that the
grandfather of Chriss girlfriend was an athlete who was beaten by a black man at the Berlin
Olympics in 1936 for running, therefore in order to fulfil his desires he has his brain transplanted
into the body of a strong, fast-paced black individual so he can have the body of a naturally,
improved athlete. The blind white individual who purchases Chris, wishes to be put into his body
for his award-winning photography eyes - yet the individual later claims that the fact he bought
Chris was nothing to do with race and simply eyesight.

Psychological experience of Black People exploring White American culture (The Sunken Place)

Before the title sequence of the film, we see a black person lost within a stereotypical white suburb
- a metaphor for what is to come. The physical maze of white suburbia sets a clear parallel for the
emotional maze that Chris will have to venture through. The majority of Chriss reactions within the
film seem to be altered to please the white people he interacts with. For example, when Chris and
his girlfriend are stopped by the police, the police officer asks Chris for identification despite the
fact he wasnt driving the car. Rather than making a scene and questioning why he is being asked
to give I.D, he simply presents his I.D. to the officer in order to avoid any form of conflict - despite
his girlfriend making a scene over the request of the officer. Or when Chris suspects someone has
been tampering with his phone, he quickly drops the issue to not make a scene with Roses family.
Forget it manIm sorry its all good, alright? Even something as simple as Chris meeting his
girlfriends parents makes him uncontrollably nervous. When Chris attends the supposed party
thrown for him, he struggles to navigate through this discomforting white space. If theres too
many white people - I get nervous. Philosopher Frantz Fanon described his own similar
experience as a black man living in 20th century France; Fanon described meeting the white
mans eyes as placing a burdensome weight upon him, one that left him feeling uncomfortable in
his own body, and out of place in a world dominated by whiteness. Like Fanon, Chris is burdened
by the weight of trying to fit into a world in which he is fundamentally excluded. He is caught
attempting to integrate into Roses world, yet trying to retain his identity. This forces Chris to be two
separate individuals at the same time; a black man with his own identity, and also Roses black
boyfriend who is nice to everyone. In order to exist as these two individuals, Chris has to silence
his own identity, this being a process that is made literal a late night chat with Roses mother in
which he eventually is found viewing his reality through a small scene and is trapped in a location
referred to as the sunken place - this is a name for a state in which ones mind is separated from
their body, and they are left to passively view their own experiences from a screen. When the
director Jordan Peele was questioned on the pure definition of the sunken place, he described it as
such;

The sunken place means we are marginalised. No matter how hard we scream, the system
silences us

According to this logic, any society built upon inequality will inevitably leave those on the outside
without a voice, or at best, with a tempered version of their voice. Ones true identity must remain
in the background for the sake of going with the flow. Sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois allows us to gain
a greater understanding of said sunken place - this sociologist was the one to coin the term
double consciousness. According to Du Bois, double consciousness is the internal conflict
experienced by African Americans living in a structurally racist society. These societal conditions
lead black people to view themselves through the perspective of the dominant societal force, in this
case, White people. Within the text Chris is consistently compared to the metaphorical measuring
tape of white society, and in particular, certain forms of white desire. The experience of being
constantly examined supposedly creates a two-ness to the black soul according to Du Bois;

One 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.

This imposition leads to confusion of the authenticity of ones experiences, and for Chris this
double-consciousness has left him feeling like a helpless spectator. In other words the sunken
place seems to not only be a hypnosis technique, but also a metaphor for his own life as a helpless
spectator. This fear of losing oneself is made literal in the Coagula procedure (where the white
brain is transplanted to the black body) in which black consciousness is literally pushed to the
background to make room for the white mind; thus he risks being permanently cast into the sunken
place. As Chris manages to escape the horror that is the Coagula Procedure, and avoid being kept
as a slave can be viewed as a representation for Chris radically asserting his black identity.

Conclusion

The text itself explores many complex and intriguing themes linked to the treatment and almost
false acceptance of African American culture within a modern society. However, overall the films
director exaggerates the mistreatment of African Americans in todays world by almost enforcing an
attitude of segregating the African Americans by putting the attributes of black people on a pedi
stool and viewing them as a superior species. Whilst this may seem beneficial to the black
community, it in fact creates a feeling of discomfort and disassociation for the black community and
almost acts as patronising attitude to hold towards said community by white society. Although it
appears to be bridging the gap between white and black individuals, it is in setting alight set bridge
and widening the gap between white and black people.