Get Out: Whats in a Black Body?

A Critical Reaction

The overall horror in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, is rooted in the objectification of black bodies that is present throughout the movie. Following Chris’ story, we can see both the pervasive and hateful manners in which the Armitage’s and their cohorts perceive and exploit black bodies.

While watching the movie, I couldn’t help but cringe at the scene where Chris meets the Armitage’s guests. He is spoken at rather than to, and asked a series of invasive questions that would make anyone squirm. I quickly realized none of the guests were interested in Chris as an individual, but rather a commodity of interest, to be passed around and fawned over. The pervasive nature of this was not lost on me. For the Coagula members, Black bodies are almost a form of pornography, something to look at, enamor yourself with and leave it plainly at that.

Black bodies are presented as an object of utmost desire, as “stronger, faster, cooler” (1:25). The horror comes into play when we understand that this is real; that these stereotypes used to justify the bodysnatching are stereotypes that are ever-present in our world, taught and passed along generations and still widely believed today. While other horror films can be dismissed for their outlandish plots, Get Out strikes harder because it hits familiar nerves, it extrapolates our current reality, creating a sense of discomfort and vast unease, making the audience examine not what could be, but what is.

Almost more unnerving is objectification fueled by the need for control. Several times during the movie, I was struck by Dean Armitage’s blatant calls for control, most explicitly, his hatred of deer, for whom he expresses a vast disdain. After the class discussion, I realized that his violent language is the same rhetoric used to speak about minority groups in our present world, making it all the more eerie. Dehumanization is a long-used practice to justify the objectification and oppression of minority groups, an active way to make sure they are perceived as sub-human and primitive, less deserving of mourning and less capable of feeling. Once you strip people of their humanity, you effectively control the rhetoric around how they are perceived and can shape it to your whims. The Sunken Place itself is an extended metaphor for forced servitude, your body is yours, yet not. Living only to be controlled by others and “your existence will be as a passenger... an audience” (1:23). A stranger in your own life. Fear started to brew when I realized that I do not have control either. That I do not control the narrative about myself, that it had been predetermined for me long ago. Fear boils over when I realize that in a different life, I very well could have been Chris.

Get Out is terrifying because it is hits so close to home. Chris struggles with the everyday occurrences of being a Black individual. Namely, fighting to be seen as an individual and not a stock character. Basing the antagonism in the reality of living in a black body makes it real, because no one can deny or brush off the obvious undertones of Chris’ situation. Peele forces the audience to sit with themselves, regardless of race, and see their complacency in the story mirrored with their complacency in life.

Works Cited

Peele, Jordan. Get Out. Universal Pictures, 2017.