Perez 1

Renata Perez

A.Granillo

English 103

17 May 2019

Perspective

Ed S. Tan wrote an article on the psychology of the film and states “since the earliest

beginnings of film, psychologists have examined the particular experience that motion pictures

provide to the film audience and the mechanisms that explain the perception and comprehension

of film, and how movies move viewers and to what effect” (1). The story told in a film is

supposed to engage an audience and allow the overall plot to have meaning to them and possibly

relate to their own personal life. Jordan Peele’s movie ​Get Out s​ heds light on white privilege and

the perceived “helplessness” of black people. Through deconstruction and african american

criticism,​ Get Out ​depicts a different viewpoint than what is apparent to the audience; it expands

on the idea of empowering and appreciating african american’s for all their stereotypical

affirmations. For this reason, society must become aware of their assumptions about race and

own implicit biases.

The film ​Get Out​, tells the story of an african american male, Chris, who is going away

for the weekend to meet his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. From a start he is unstable

with himself because he believes his skin color will spark a sense of shock to her family. Once

there, he is introduced to the family which happen to be very polite and nice although, he notices

a few things that appear to be a bit off about this family and their friends. The way the all speak

on his race is with such a high honor and interest. After a string of events and observations it
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becomes apparent that the family has a secret agenda that specifically targets African americans.

As a team, the girlfriend Rose lures in the victims, the mother hypnotizes them against their will

and the father auctions them off to rich white people who want to own the body. With the help of

his son the father then perform a brain transplant surgery to allow the buyer a new body, while

suppressing the existence of the person that once lived in that body with hypnosis. This film is an

original spin on a continuous problem in society; although it may not have been intended to have

oppression as the main focus of the film.

In that manner, this film depicts the issue of white privilege and the perceived notion that

African Americans are seen as helpless. As stated in ​Critical Theory Today, ​“Common examples

of everyday racist behavior exhibited by white people include; being patronizing, talking down,

and assuming lack of confidence”(Tyson 353). White privilege influences those to feel superior

to all other races and treat people of color as less than themselves. In correlation, the film

displays the factor of white diminishing black in a scene between the psychiatrist mother and

Chris.

In this scene the mother is seen stirring her spoon in a teacup, while asking Chris

questions about his late mother’s death (Get Out MovieClips 1/10 00:00:01-00:00:35). The

music playing during this scene is ominous all while adding to the mood and emotion intended

for the audience. In this scene the main three shots in focus are the mother, the teacup, and Chris.

The mother has a grim look on her face as she is stirring the teacup, this is a sign of the

beginning of hypnosis. Chris’ face explains the stunned position he has been put in and he is

helpless during this conversation. This scene makes it apparent that there are intentions aimed

towards Chris, but whether or not they are malicious are just assumptions.
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On the other hand, this movie provides an alternative point of view from the side of the

white population’s true intentions. “Human beings are fragmented battlefields for competing

ideologies whose only “identities” are the ones we invent and choose to believe”(Tyson 244).

Although the plot may seem to revolve around racism and white privilege; those ideas are

subjective due to the perspective of how the movie can be interpreted. The movie never speaks

down on the race of the protagonist Chris, but rather uplifts the fact that he’s African American.

In the various scenes where Chris is being introduced to several family friends, who all happen

to be white, instead of having any negative comments towards Chris, they all compliment and

uplift him for his ethnicity.

Starting with the girlfriend’s family, everyone seems eager to learn about Chris and to get

to know him better. Rose’s mother and father seem to be very interested in Chris from the

moment he steps in the house. The dad keeps calling him “my man” which surprises Rose

because this is a new thing she notices from her father. Rose’s brother also seems intrigued to

know about Chris’ lifestyle. He’s curious to know about Chris’ physical capabilities which make

Chris question the brothers intentions toward him. Everyone seems to be very nice and polite

although he is uneasy when he learned that there would be many family friends coming over the

next day and now has more people to face.

Moreover, the first couple who are introduced to Chris instantly compliment his looks

and call him handsome. Then the woman begins to feel his arm and his muscles and examine his

figure and looks back at her husband as though looking to see what he thinks about his body.

(Get Out MovieClips 00:00:03-00:026). When she looks back at her husband for approval,

Chris’ girlfriend Rose gives her a look as though if she were telling her that she needs to lay off.
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This look is misinterpreted because the audience does not know what the endgame is here. The

girlfriend and family friends are in on the plot that Chris will later realize. In the article ​Film as

​ ritten by Valerie Muller, she

Film: Using Movies to Help Students Visualize Literary Theory, w

states, “The potential of camera angles, framing, close-ups and other cinematic devices is to

visualize stages in the archetypal journey. Such cinematic techniques are always open to

interpretation in which the audience can discover new meanings”. The close-up shot of Rose

giving this woman that “what are you doing” look (Get Out MovieClips 00:00:17-00:00:19) is

fear that the woman was being too forward and making it too obvious that they were observing

Chris’ body because he is going to be auctioned off later. Rose continues to introduce Chris to a

few more family friends throughout the evening and they just get more interesting.

Next, Chris is faced with a new couple of family friends and once again, he is the topic of

the hour. This man took a daring strike at the conversation by bringing up skin color as he states,

“Fair skin has been in favor for what? The past couple of hundred years? But now the pendulum

has swung back, Black is in fashion” (Get Out MovieClips 2/10 00:00:27-00:38). An audience

would see this and assume it is a derogatory comment but, the intentions of these people were

not malicious in the way many believe. They were simply observing the aspects of Chris that

were appealing to them and the most similar to recent trends. Each person was trying to find a

way to compliment Chris instead of trying to relate.

By that same token, one guest Chris happens to stumble across on his own is the one he

gets most personal with. Mr. Jim Hudson is a blind art dealer that admittedly knows who Chris is

and is a fan of his work. He states that the rest of the people are “all of them are ignorant, they

mean well but, they have no idea what real people go through” (Get Out Party Scene
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00:04:20-00:04:45). As Mr. Hudson has purchased Chris’ photographs in the past, he has a bit of

an incentive as to what Chris feels or sees. Mr. Hudson believes to identify with Chris’ work and

feels like he can relate best to him over any of the other guests. He is foreshadowing when he

speaks to Chris about wanting to see the world through his eyes, because later in the film he is

the man that ends up purchasing Chris’ body. The main idea of film has been misconstrued due

to what is already embedded in society minds when both these races are put together in a story.

Through the execution of the film there are many factors than contribute to the storyline other

than the words.

Moreover, the manner in which a scene in a movie is filmed and portrayed tells more

about the story than the actors speaking do. Applying the deconstruction theory to a scene allows

the viewers a wide range of interpretations. For example, in this scene, Chris notices another

African American man at this white dominant gathering, which brings a sense of relieve and

more comfortable to his being there. As Chris walks over to this man the music volume begins to

raise and an eerie sounds starts to play. Chris approaches the man and says “It’s good to see

another brother around here” (Get Out MovieClips 00:01:27-00:00:1:54). Chris feels like there is

finally a person in this entire party that he can relate to. The twist in this scenario was how the

man responded; he states, “ Yes, of course it is” (Get Out MovieClips 00:01:53-00:01:57) in a

very proper tone. His manner of speaking was not intact with the stereotypes adjacent to his

background but rather “white washed” as many would call it.

In addition, this scene would apply to Gloria Abernathy-Lear’s article ​African Americans'

​ hen she speaks on

criticisms concerning African American representation on daytime serials, w

the desire for realistic perspective. She states that “The lack of characters with African American
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culture traits challenges the facade of reality in a show” (Abernathy-Lear 832). It’s true that this

character does not portray the stereotypical characteristics of what a person of color is known to

appear. This provides an outlook on how African Americans should not be held to talk or act a

certain way. This film provides a perspective that people misinterpret to mean that he must not

be okay because he is acting “white”.

Furthermore, in the scene where Chris approaches the other African American man he

spots at the party he senses that something is wrong with this man because of the way he is

dressed and the manner in which he speaks are very similar to a white person. The man’s wife

introduces herself to Chris and then he does; the man then turns to his wife and says “Chris was

just telling me that he feels much more comfortable with my being here” (Get Out MovieClips

00:02:26-00:02:30). Following this line, Chris went in for a fist bump when they were parting

ways and he expected the man to fist bump him back but the man reaches for his hand and

shakes the fist like a handshake (Get Out MovieClips 00:02:45-00:02:50). This adds perspective

as to how a different interpretation of African Americans can be viewed by society.

The ideology behind African American Criticism is that their persona is wrongly

interpreted or poorly portrayed in movies, show or books. Viewers want “realistic” portrayals of

African Americans to make them more relatable to the audience although that may not be the

right approach. An example would be this character in ​Get Out,​ he portrays a proper gentleman

and has no bad connotation following him because of the way the directors chose to uphold his

persona.

Although, the way the director upheld this character was in very high regards. He was

uplifting the African American demographic instead of putting it in a negative connotation like
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most filmmakers would. Further into the scene where Chris meets this man, the man steps away

from his conversation with Chris to talk to other friends. In this scene he is pictured approaching

a group of friends and giving them a twirl as though showing off his new “look”; in this case, his

new body (Get Out MovieClips 00:02:57-00:03:07). This man is the third successful transplant

patient from the family’s secret operation. The way he shows off his new form to his friends

shows the sense of appreciation people have for African Americans. This main idea is spread out

throughout the entire film, although there are specific scenes that show the side effects of these

transplants than may lead the audience to feel the sense of oppression for African Americans.

By that note, one of the families house workers is an African American women who

happens to live with the family. The family swears that she is a worker by choice but more like

family. This woman dresses, acts and speaks very proper and “white washed”; Chris takes in

interest in this woman from the very beginning. She is seen roaming around the house in the

middle of night interaction is strange activities and Chris continues to keep an eye on her. It isn’t

until he begins to become suspicious of her that her real personality comes out. Chris had

mentioned to Rose that his phone had become unplugged and he knew that the house worker was

the one at fault. Well this woman confront Chris alone in his bedroom to explain herself and

Chris tells her it’s no problem and he didn’t mean to start a conflict or try to get her in trouble.

As she is an African American woman, Chris felt as though he couldn’t relate to her because of

the way she acted. He tries to find common ground with her when he confides in her and tells her

that he does not feel comfortable and get nervous if there are too many white people around. Her

wholesome spirit completely flips and she is speechless, and begins crying with a big smile on

her face (Get Out MovieClips 00:01:08-00:01:50). Her facial expression states that she is not
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able to speak what is really on her mind and something is holding her back. The tears rolling

down her face while she has a big smile on her face is a sense of denial. She is one of the three

transplant patients and is having an inner battle within her sense of self. Her real self wanting to

get out but she is unable. The film allows for so many characters to express their inner conflicts

without stating them out loud.

The way the film has been directed with the addition of the music adds so much to the

scenario that is displayed. There is a lot of different ways to deconstruct this film in its entirety

and endless possibilities to all the scenarios. Each character presented can be dissected in each

scene and read a different way. The father is surgeon, the mother is mastermind psychiatrist, the

brother is the braun and the sister, Rose, is the beauty that lures in all the victims. Furthermore,

the two house workers happen to be the grandmother and grandfather of Rose, whom began this

whole scheme. The final twist of this movie was the victim outsmarting the villains at the end of

this film. In a stereotypical horror movie that included an African American man, they are

typically killed off first and the white people end up surviving. Not in Chris’ case, he catches on

to the situation he has been put in and figures out a way to escape. This is yet another perspective

to add to the view of this story that is uplifting the African American culture rather than

diminishing it.

Social issues that have gone on in the world have caused society to have these

assumptions on race and privileges and has made them to be blind to a new perspective.

Allowing one to interpret something than the majority of society will help with having bias

connotations. Through the deconstruction theory and African American criticism, ​Get Out

depicts a new perspective that has become an empowering message for African Americans
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which makes them seem desirable and hold a higher demand in society in comparison to white

people. Delivering this explanation to Jordan Peele’s film, ​Get Out​, will hopefully open up the

minds of many to think about all aspects and perspectives of a storyline before making

assumptions.
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Work Cited

Abernathy-Lear, Gloria. "African Americans' Criticisms Concerning African American

Representation on Daytime Serials."​ Journalism Quarterly,​ vol. 71, no. 4, 1994, pp. 830​.
ProQuest​,
http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2
16923017?accountid=38295.
Cahill, James L., and Timothy Holland. "Double Exposures: Derrida and Cinema, an
Introductory Séance."​ Discourse​, vol. 37, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3-21,169-170​. ProQuest,​
http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/1
781844873?accountid=38295​.
Peele, Jordan “Get Out.”, MovieClips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBwVWrBk_uo&list=PLZbXA4lyCtqoxOILCWye9
cuElChrNh2Y9&index=1
GET OUT 2017 party scene
https://youtu.be/Nma-y59bV5A
Muller, Valerie. "Film as Film: Using Movies to Help Students Visualize Literary Theory."
English Journal,​ vol. 95, no. 3, 2006, pp. 32-38​. ProQuest​,
http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2
37308102?accountid=38295.
Tan, Ed S. "A Psychology of the Film."​ Palgrave Communications,​ vol. 4, no. 1, 2018​.
ProQuest​,
http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2
090653029?accountid=38295,
doi:​http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2069/10.1057/s41599-018-0111-y​.
Tyson, Lois. ​Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide​. Routledge, 2015.