Get the F*** Out

[Ben]

I take it you guys have probably heard of and maybe have already seen Get Out, that trendy horror flick all the critics are just gushing over, mainly because it's also about--*gasp*--RACISM.

Dun dun DUUUUUUN.

Against my better judgment I decided to sit down and give it a try the other day after Kong. My mistake, pals. I knew better.

The damnedest part about Get Out is that it isn't a bad movie. I actually thought it was really well-acted and built a commendable amount of suspense in spite of its flaws. Check out some more of my spoiler-free thoughts here:

www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2ZR4DRNUQ3HWJ?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl

So what's my beef? (Some) Spoilers ahead.

It's being lauded as a genius commentary on American racism. Like... Why? As I mentioned in my review, it does a great job of showing the world from the perspective of the black lead, who is subjected to what I would call a lot of awkward conversation. But all the awkward conversation is portrayed as racist. In reality, white people don't say things like "I just love Obama so much I would've voted for him a third time" around black people because they ARE racists; they say things like that because they're afraid of being CALLED racists. A lot of white people are so hypersensitive about not being big 'ol fuckin' racists that they've completely forgotten how to act around brown-skinned humans. This is the phenomenon that Get Out captured, not the alleged subtle, persistent racism of the suburban white American elite.

My take on this seems to be confirmed by the big reveal, in which we learn that the white characters really aren't motivated by anything so heinous as eugenics or the desire to subjugate the American black, but rather they're merely interested in living vicariously through "bigger, faster, stronger" bodies, which is a racist view of a different sort. And really, if those characters ARE supposed to be viewed as big 'ol fuckin' racists, then the film's racial statement is something more like "We've come so far even the bad racists aren't THAT bad." At least outside of their surgical dungeons.

Part of the reason I think Jordan Peele is really just trolling white liberals with this movie is that the character responsible for comic relief is the quintessential Hollywood-funny-black-guy character, similar to what you would see in Transformers movie, or Snakes on a Plane. Why include such a stereotype in a movie trying to make a serious statement about racism? Seems self-defeating to me. Or is part of the message that filmmakers HAVE to make their black characters stereotypical to fill theater seats? Is there some double psychology shit going on here? Get out of my head, Jordan Peele, damn you!

What do you guys think? Have you even heard of this movie?

[trashcanman]

I'll have to see it for myself so I'm avoiding your spoiler section. Hopefully it turns out better than Crash. What a condescending pile of shit that was. At least, the the twenty minutes of it I watched was. There's plenty of history to work with in terms of creating a horror movie about racism, but given the utter stupidity of our current political climate, I wonder if it's even possible to do it effectively. I mean, how hard is it to see another person and then treat them with respect and kindness? I get that some people are assholes and will use any excuse to act like it, but I refuse to treat somebody else differently or tiptoe around them based on their skin color because some assholes with a skin color like mine have been dicks to people with a skin color like theirs or vice versa. Just....who gives a fuck? Besides, you know, the president of the United States and many of the people who voted for him. Also, the people who voted against him. God, people are dumb.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah I'm avoiding the spoilers in your post as well, Ben. Yours is actually the only negative thing I've seen about it so far, but I take on board comments here more than most reviews so that is.. disappointing. Going by the reviews it was a genuine horror classic.

[trashcanman]

Honestly, with a topic this loaded there's no possible way to trust anyone else's opinion. Some people will feel the need to praise it no matter what to avoid people thinking they are racist (although I've always believed that if you feel the need to prove you aren't racist, it's probably because you are) and some people will trash it no matter what because they don't like being preached to about racism or are otherwise uncomfortable or just tired of it. Either way, I'm in.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, me too. Hey, any horror movie that actually gets people talking about the subject matter rather than the monster or how the teens get killed can't be a bad thing. I'll definitely give it a look.

[Ben]

You boys see this one yet? I only ask because it's stuck with me a lot longer than just about any other movie I've ever given a bad review. I've been meaning to rewatch it because I feel like I may have been too harsh in my first take. I'd be interested to hear some Fortress thoughts.

[trashcanman]

It'll be out for me to rent on Netflix next month. Looking forward to it. Some really great stories seem like bullshit at first, but can stick with you and evolve in your own mind. Related topic: seen Dear White People? The movie was alright, but had too much to say and too little time to really illustrate its points. The new Netflix series is a lot better since it has time to be as complex as this topic needs to be to work. That shit kept my brain working to the point where I lost sleep. Contrary to belief, it's not "white people = dumb" at all. More like "every person has their own ideas about race and they are all both wrong and right in different ways". Whether by accident or by design, the characters and issues are given crazy depth in pretty subtle ways. Like most of the black kids on campus end up coming off as privileged as the rich white kids they are so entrenched against and they all scorn the one that has truly suffered in the ghetto and is just trying to make her own life better. Interesting stuff.

[trashcanman]

Finally saw it. Really enjoyed it. Definitely a very interesting Rosemary's Baby-esque look at modern racism. And your opinion isn't completely unfounded, Ben, but do bear in mind that it's just a fucking horror movie and it's not meant to be an indictment of all white people. And yeah, older white people definitely do say shit like that. I can confirm it. My mom does it, for one. I've known a lot of older ladies who when forced to be around black people at work or whatever, try to force conversations by talking about how they heard a rap song on the radio the other day and it wasn't that bad or how COOL they think that Beyonce is, or yeah, how they voted for Obama. This is definitely a real thing and I heard some pretty funny stories from a girl I used to know who married into a white family with what we might call "Southern proclivities".

Gonna get into some spoiler shit now, if anybody cares.

The brain swap thing is kind of brilliant because it reflects the anxiety that the black community has for their identity being taken away from them. We as white American people don't get this because our culture had always been the proverbial melting pot. I mean, a bunch of different cultures get together in one community and it's natural that they bleed together. That's how society works and evolves. But black culture was segregated for so long and evolved so separate from the rest of America that now that it's mainstream, they are afraid of black identity being swallowed completely by the larger culture, leaving them with nothing to call their own. Asians, Europeans, Indians, Muslims, and other cultures will always have their homelands to preserve their culture, but for American black people, this is all they got. Black culture invented jazz, blues, rock n roll, hip hop, and a ton of sports culture as well, and all of this has become integrated over the last several decades and become a white thing.

I love the foreshadowing in the movie with the white people saying things about how "fashionable" it is to be black and the story about the girl's grandfather being beaten by Jesse Owens for the Olympic berth. And it's not about racism in the Klan sense, but I think there is (or at least could be) a feeling of wanting to be part of a culture that has really become a dominant part of American life. Who wouldn't want to play golf like Tiger Woods? Shoot hoops like Lebron? Play guitar like Hendrix? Tennis like Serena? Box like Ali? Sing like Aretha? I mean, you look at the best of the best in a lot of our favorite things to do and there's always a black person up there right at the top. This is not a coincidence. Coupled with the country's shitty history of racism, I think this stuff adds up to a lot discomfort and Get Out captured that really well without being as cartoonishly blunt as Crash was. Modern American race relations isn't about burning crosses or segregation or even skin color anymore. It's about coming to terms with that history and the anxiety of integration. That said, maybe this would be too obvious, but I felt like the only proper way to end that story was to go for the horrific irony of Night of the Living Dead with a Black Lives Matter twist. A happy ending just seemed too contrived.