Racism In Get Out (Essay Example)

Get Out is a satirical thriller film directed by comedian Jordan Peele and released in 2017. The movie is a direct and continuous reference to racism and the subtle yet ongoing horrors of black oppression. Peele exaggerates and puts an extreme twist on the racial prejudice that is experienced by people of other ethnic groups, giving the viewer an opportunity to see what racial anxiety feels like in the eyes of a black person. In Get Out, the audience is quickly introduced to Chris Washington, an African American photographer, who is hesitant about meeting the parents of Rose Armitage, his Caucasian girlfriend. Upon meeting her family, Chris is met with gaslighting, code-switching, micro-aggression, and manipulation by the people around him. The film depicts the tenuous, though harmful racism that black people endure on an everyday basis through symbolic, auditory, and visual imagery. With these tools, Get Out examines, criticises, and illustrates the reality of discriminated racial groups through a disturbing and harsh format.

Get Out not only criticises the discrimination toward coloured people in the modern world, but the film also alludes to slavery and the slave trade of that era. The most memorable scene that involves this topic is the silent auction scene. In the scene, elitist Caucasian friends of the family are seemingly playing a silent game of bingo. As the game continues, the camera pans out and a picture of Chris can be observed in the background. The whole segment creates an uncomfortable, eery and uncanny ambience, the audience understanding that this is a direct reference to slave markets and the disturbing problems of the way black people were and still are treated. The silence creates an even more uncomfortable scenario where the white people merely look at Chris as an object, something to be sold and owned, rather than an actual human being. The crowd shows no emotions, no distress, or any sort of opposing opinions on what is going on, they are solely there for the entertainment and business. Everything from the silence, the people and the visuals of the clip create a sinister and enthralling scene that significantly affects the way the audience sees the white people in Get Out. The segment ultimately reflects on the superiority that white people feel they have over black people, making the world that African Americans live in even more jarring.