Johanne Franklin
I am not a fan of horror movies but I can say after watching Get Out by director-writer Jordan Peele that I have been thrilled by this movie and that I would welcome watching it again. I am not alone enjoying Get Out. This movie with a budget of $4,500,000 has surpassed expectations and it is a real box office hit. It is now on its 5th week since its release and it has accumulated estimated total gross sales of $147,499,045 as of March 26, 2017, in comparison, the critically acclaimed La La Land movie has reached estimated total gross sales of $150,233,867 after 16 weeks in the theaters.
I can explain my enthusiasm for Get Out by how the movie is carefully planned. From the moment, we meet Chris, a young and handsome black man, played by British actor Daniel Kaluuya and his white girlfriend Rose, played by Allison Williams, we are seduced. What a charming interracial couple! He is a successful photographer and his girlfriend seems to be really into him. They are getting ready to leave for the weekend to meet her parents for the first time. He asked her if her parents know that he is black and she said no. Color does not matter to her parents, in fact, she said, her father would have voted for Obama for a third term if this would have been possible. What could possibly go wrong? When we embark with Chris in his journey to the countryside and we meet his girlfriend’s parents, we start to witness some odd events or are we just being too hypersensitive?
I do not want to spoil the movie but we get fused with the lead character Chris as we get to experience with him things that are way too familiar to a black person, and in fact, to any person of color when they are meeting someone new for the first time. We want to assess if this person genuinely likes us, we pay attention to the way they speak to us and to the other persons in the room, we look for signs of acceptance or rejection, and we register all non-verbal cues. The director-writer Jordan Peele is quite astute and he makes us feel these experiences through Chris with great mastery. He even manages to infuse the movie with real funny and colorful moments.
Get Out brings to the forefront each of our pre-conceived ideas and racial biases and unfortunately, in some instances, it also reinforces some misconceptions and racial stereotypes. This movie will not improve race relations but it will definitively start a lively conversation about race. Now, get out and go enjoy this entertaining social commentary thriller that you do not want to miss.
16 BLawyerisH/March, 2017