Reflections on ‘Get Out': The Shock of Racial Truth Served Up Till It Hurts
A thriller that makes us think about race because it places the viewer at the center of a racial conspiracy. That’s new
Sharon Waxman | March 19, 2017 @ 7:30 PM
Last Updated: March 20, 2017 @ 7:34 AM
I am probably the last person in the country to see “Get Out,” except for the 50 or so other people in the theater with me last night.
My lame excuse: I’m scared of horror movies.
But there are so many notable things about this film that I’m compelled to point them out, even though I’m late. The movie sticks with me, and is going to stick in the culture, too.
Consider this: A thriller that makes us think about race because it places the viewer at the center of a racial conspiracy. That’s new.
“Get Out” grabs us with the shock of truth, cloaked in the thriller genre. The audience recognizes the danger for our hero, Chris, before he feels it himself, and roots for him to, well, get woke.
Early in his weekend visit to the wealthy parents of his white girlfriend, we know there’s something terribly wrong about the black folks that work for them. Chris’ (Daniel Kaluuya) wide eyes are wary from experience, but we want to warn him — “It’s way worse than you think!”
The Dad (Bradley Whitford) can be pegged as a racist right off, and the menacing son Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) might have stepped out of the plantation dinner scene of Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.” But girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) and the open-minded Mom (Catherine Keener) reveal themselves more slowly.
The movie grabs us with the shock of the new. I can’t recall a movie told from the point of view of a young African-American man as he navigates a white-dominated world. That’s really different.
In doing so, writer-director Jordan Peele makes us feel what he — as an African-America man — has felt. All while entertaining us with the sinister beats of a classic thriller.
That’s what Peele is saying, I think: This is what it feels like to be me. In the age of Black Lives Matter, in the age of Trayvon Martin, in the wake of a two-term black president, Peele has created a vehicle that allows us to empathize fully with that experience — the constant measuring of oneself against expectations of others, the dull daily impact of small insults, little indignities, the wearing down of a person’s internal barometer of self-worth.
So much so that when our hero gets to turn the tables, the audience is fully on board with a black man (SPOILER ALERT) wreaking his revenge on an upper class white family using bats, balls and a well-placed set of antler horns.
I heard Peele call the movie a “social thriller,” and I understand that take. I heard him say that the idea has been percolating for years, and that it’s a direct result of the election of Obama. OK.
It hurts because the truth hurts. The film is an indictment of where we hoped we were in a supposedly post-racial society. It’s a statement on behalf of Trayvon Martin, whose hoodie gets a nod. It’s that opening scene when a twenty-something black man is walking down the street and he feels a car following him. “Oh, hell no,” he blurts out to himself, turning on his heel to walk quickly away from the confrontation. (Or so he thought.)
“Get Out” gives the lie to the belief that we are past vanquishing racial awareness, much less prejudice. Peele tells us that he’s not past it, and the millions of Americans who have gone to see the film validate his view.
For that matter, neither is Ava Duvernay, who tells us her truth with “13th,” her documentary about mass incarceration of black men. Barry Jenkins tells us his truth with “Moonlight,” the story that dared us to sympathize with a young man growing up in the crack-infested ‘hood.
To be fair, we are not nowhere on this path. We did elect Barack Obama, twice. As a country we did love him, and we loved his wife Michelle.
But it seems we are destined to struggle with our desire to become a society of equals. And the message of “Get Out” tells us how far we still have to go.
17 Movies With 100-Percent Fresh Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (Photos)
It's harder to hold onto than you think: Rotten Tomatoes' 100-Percent Fresh rating. A movie that wins it needs to garner only positive reviews from the aggregate site, and that's no easy thing to accomplish. Even some of the best movies in history don't have a 100 percent rating. Here are 17 that do, with a few that might be unexpected.
"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) A silent, creepy German horror film, "Dr. Caligari" is full of strange expressionist imagery. The story of a hypnotist who uses his gift to force a man to commit murders is considered a classic.
"Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) Frankenstein's monster needs a mate. That means murdering people and doing mad scientist in 1935 horror movie. It also invented some of the coolest hair ever on its way to becoming a monster movie classic.
"Pinocchio" (1940) "Pinocchio" was produced in the early days before Walt Disney's name became synonymous with an animation empire. It's still counted as a classic in animation, and its major influence on pop culture seems fitting given how well-regarded it is by critics.
"Citizen Kane" (1941) It makes sense that Orson Welles' opus would be sitting atop the heap with a 100-Percent Fresh rating. It's largely considered possibly the best film that's ever been made.
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) The classic Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds musical still captivates audiences. It was also one of the first films chosen for induction in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
"Rear Window" (1954) Another Hitchcock classic thriller that enjoys the perfect percentage. Jimmy Stewart's paranoid panic about believing his neighbor murder his wife remains as unsettling today as it was in 1954.
"Seven Samurai" (1956) Akira Kurosawa's classic movie about heroes coming together to defend a town inspired quite a few films after it. All that critical love and influence has caused it to consistently rank on lists cataloging the best movies ever made.
"12 Angry Men" (1957) Set almost entirely in one room full of guys yelling at each other about the trial they're adjudicating is one of those movies that reminds you how the justice system is supposed to work. Its 100-Percent Fresh rating is just one of its accolades, and the American Film Institute considers it the second-best courtroom drama ever made -- after "To Kill a Mockingbird."
"North by Northwest" (1959) Who wouldn't love a movie where Cary Grant almost falls off Mount Rushmore? "North By Northwest" isn't the only Alfred Hitchcock thriller that enjoys a 100-Percent Fresh rating, but it is the one with the most giant president heads.
"The Lord of the Flies" (1963) A film adaptation of a novel about kids who get stranded on an island, "The Lord of the Flies" is upsetting. That's mostly because of the eventual child murders (and child murderers) that grow out of the lack of adult supervision.
"Mary Poppins" (1964) The beloved musical starring Julie Andrews mixes animation with live-action performances, which is why it's still a huge favorite with kids and adults. It was acclaimed when it was released, snagging 13 Academy Award nominations and five wins, and is highly regarded enough today that Disney is working on a sequel, coming in 2018.
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967) Nobody's as cool as Paul Newman was in "Cool Hand Luke." Fighting prisoners and testing the guards in a Florida prison, Newman's performance nabbed him a Best Actor Academy Award nomination.
"Blade Runner (Final Cut)" (1982) Ridley Scott's sci-fi cult classic has several versions floating around in the world. It's the 2007 definitive that grabbed the 100-Percent Fresh rating, although Rotten Tomatoes only tallied nine reviews.
"The Witches" (1990) Anjelica Huston and her witch coven friends really hate children. That's why they're planning to turn them all into mice in "The Witches," which still holds up as a funny children's movie -- especially thanks to its over-the-top, still-gross witch makeup effects.
"Toy Story" (1995) Pixar ushered in a phenomenal era of animation with "Toy Story." It also showed off the possibilities of high-quality computer-generated imaging as an animation medium.
"Toy Story 2" (1999) Landing one movie with a 100-percent Fresh rating is impressive, but Pixar did it again with its follow-up to "Toy Story." And it came extremely close once more with "Toy Story 3," missing the coveted pile of positive reviews by just 1 percent.
Off the list: "Get Out" (2017) Jordan Peele's horror film is one of the highest-rated movies of the year so far, and carried its 100-Percent Fresh rating through 143 reviews. It only takes one bad review to lose it, though. It came from notoriously contrarian critic Armond White, whose 144th review brought "Get Out" down to (still-great) 99-Percent Fresh.
1 of 19
Greta Gerwin’s “Lady Bird” is now the best-reviewed movie in Rotten Tomatoes history — here are the movies that share its company
It's harder to hold onto than you think: Rotten Tomatoes' 100-Percent Fresh rating. A movie that wins it needs to garner only positive reviews from the aggregate site, and that's no easy thing to accomplish. Even some of the best movies in history don't have a 100 percent rating. Here are 17 that do, with a few that might be unexpected.
It hurts because the truth hurts. The film is an indictment of where we hoped we were in a supposedly post-racial society. It’s a statement on behalf of Trayvon Martin, whose hoodie gets a nod. It’s that opening scene when a twenty-something black man is walking down the street and he feels a car following him. “Oh, hell no,” he blurts out to himself, turning on his heel to walk quickly away from the confrontation. (Or so he thought.)
