Adoration For Whiteness

reverence for the wealth and power the family possessed. This symbolises the quest that many minorities face as they strive to enter the middle class. Leonardo would argue that Chris, like many minorities’, navigates a society that saturates them with loving images of Whiteness. In this reality two key consequences arises: an adoration for whiteness or a “turning of the necrophiliac gaze on themselves through self-hatred” (Leonardo, 2013). It is Chris’ transition through these stages that is such a pivotal part of the movie. It is this admiration for whiteness that leads to deprivation that traps Chris in a symbolic sunken place. In the movie, Chris’ “sunken state” is triggered by the silver spoon. A metaphor for how the quest for the materialization

of wealth, power, and prestige- attributes of perceived whiteness- can caused many minorities to lose themselves. Thus, Peele teaches his audience to question the need to be accepted and a participate in the domains of whiteness.
It also teaches us that people fear what they do not understand and also what they envy. Peele illustrates this point through his symbolic use of the deer to represent minorities in America. Depending on the context, deer are often portrayed differently. Many people view deer as gentle and kind animals; nonetheless, in other environments deer are seen as violent and dangerous. Throughout the movie, three key references of deer are made: Chris and Rose hit a deer as they are driving to upstate New York; the father complains about their town being overpopulated with deer; the family has a mounted head of a deer on the estate. Each of these images show both an admiration for and a hatred towards the deer. Obviously, complexity of the deer’s relationship to humans mirrors the complexity that exist between whiteness and blackness in America. It also highlights the origins of white fear in America. Does white fear stem from an ignorance of blackness or an envy of it? Without providing too many details about the ending,