White People....am I right?

Get Out

 

 Going into this movie I knew very little about what it means to be an African American in a white world. Let’s face it, I’m mayonnaise. White, fatty and found disgusting by 45 percent of the population.  The movie, written and directed by Jordan Peele is a masterful, suspense filled delight (for a horror fan). It is also a political film and an appropriate film for our nation at this moment when white nationalism is on the rise and our rhubarb in chief sitting in the oval office blaming the darker races daily. I’m not going to get too political and just stick with the plot of the movie which is good enough. Yet you should keep in mind what this film says about our country and the very real racial divide in the country. I know, from my side, as mayonnaise, I never understood the general uncomfortable and annoying way we talk to each other. I would’ve voted for Obama for a third term (I’d have voted for a third grader with developmental issues over Trump) but that may not be the first thing I should say to a black man to show how not racist I am. Trying that hard may just mean that there is something in you that is as uncomfortable with a black man as he is with having that awkward forced contact with you.

Get Out opens with a black man walking in an upscale neighborhood talking on the phone with his girlfriend. A white car appears and pulls up beside him. Oh, they are going to ask for directions you might ask? Nope…a masked man appears and chokes the man out and throws him into his car.  Immediately I am drawn into the film and told that I need to be aware of everything. We meet Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a young up and coming African American photographer who is dating Rose (Allison Williams) and they are going upstate to her parents house. Chris is understandably nervous about meeting her parents (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) and is quite aware the problems a black man might have with meeting his girlfriends two upper class white WASP parents. Williams and Kaluuya are great together and you can see the chemistry between the two is electric. Chris is played as a wise man who grew up too early in life and has the sense to worry what her parents will think but you can also see Rose's side. There is no need to be worried and yet Chris is right. It wouldn't be because of racism but because they are unaware.   

Get Out is the type of horror movie where atmosphere is everything. All of the actors are smart, capable people and no one doesn’t belong. Chris is as smart and charming as anyone in the film. And yet there is just a presence of menace surrounding the private and massive estate. Missy and Dean are nice and accepting but are they too nice or too accepting. Nothing seems out of place in this house or this trip but it keeps you squirming in your seat and constantly wanting to just get Chris out of this situation although you really never know why.  From the opening moment Jordan Peele creates a mood, constantly pushing you further and more uncomfortably towards the knowledge that not everything is kosher in the Armitage household. It reminds me a lot of The Blair Witch Project and I know what you are thinking but that movie is scary…the first time you see it. After repeated viewings and multiple spoofs, it is less so but I  remember that first time. When I left the theater I just felt numb and drained.  As though I spent the last hour and a half wandering the woods being chased by an unseen witch.

I felt the same way with Get Out. The film builds the fear in you as Chris feels it. You are so a part of Chris that you feel everything he does. Somewhere along the way you put yourself in his shoes and it opens your eyes. The fear in meeting Rose’s parents, the trauma of his early life, being stuck at a party where you know no one and everyone is very nice but slightly off putting. Wanting to leave but not wanting to ruin this romance based on nothing but your own fear. Innocent moments fill you with dread.  You follow this man into the horror as though you were threatened. 

I don’t want to make this in an “all white people are the devil” movie but these specific white people are evil and we need to be aware that this is a fantastical story but the emotions and feelings aren't fantastical. People like this (maybe not exactly like this) exist and this casual racism is just as insidious (in this case very insidious) as overt racism. The movie doesn’t make decisions for you but let’s you follow. It doesn’t preach to you but delivers the story and lets you feel what you feel. It’s a superb and smart film that does the very best of what horror can do. It reframes a message through the horror seen on the screen. There is not one sour note in Get Out.  It is real…and uses the horror of everyday life play with your mind. Stephen King once wrote that there are two types of horror. The deep, emotional menace from creating an atmosphere of menace or the gross out. You can make an effective movie of the gross out (Saw, Hostel, Cabin Fever or Last House on The Left) but true horror is always scarier. Slow building terror will always affect the viewer/reader more. The best bogeyman is the one you never see coming but feel. Get Out is this latter type. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling and the best horror movie in years. So in conclusion….

Mr. Unhappy sez: See Get Out if you have the chance. It may be a horror movie but it’s also just a great film.

Streaming Movie of the Week

They Live

John Carpenter is a master of horror. I love all of his movies and like the above film you can feel the movie. The Thing, Halloween, Escape From New York…they all show our world but twisted. His films are the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. They Live is the story of a drifter who finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy to keep the human race asleep through subliminal messages. Nada is an every man who works hard and keeps his head down. Aliens have infected our world and are keeping everyone in the dark as they steal our freedom and keep us down. As Nada learns the truth he decides to fight back and open the eyes of the world. They Live is a movie with far reaching notions about the ruling class and government as a whole. It gives you a look at a world where we stop holding our leaders responsible and just allow injustice after injustice because it isn't our problem. A relevant movie for our current world. Donald Trump may not be an alien in disguise but he is potentially very dangerous. We as a society must fight back against him and his like.  We must fight back even if it is inconvenient. Nada says at one point that he has “come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m alllllll out of bubblegum.” Republicans and our orange Fuhrer should beware. The American people are  running out of bubblegum.

Stream it on Amazon or Comcast On Demand.