Get Out Themes

The movie Get Out, released in 2017, is a very tense film that addresses some of the concerns of modern times. An interracial couple, Chris Washington and Rose Armitage, go to meet Rose’s parents. The Armitages are a well-off family, living in a large, well-maintained lakeside house. They also have two colored servants working for them, allegedly hired to take care of Rose's grandparents in their old age. As the weekend progresses, there is a large party, and Chris begins to suspect that something is going on. Though he tells his friend Rod about it, he does not leave, and is eventually hypnotized, and overcome by the family. He was then prepped for a procedure called Coagula, in which another person's brain would be implanted into his body. An old blind man who wished to have Chris’s sight and photography talents purchased him in an auction. In the end, Chris resists the hypnotism by putting cotton in his ears. He then fights his way out of the house and Rod rescues him from the pursuing family members.

Thus, at a first glance, some may declare that this movie does not have themes of racism at all. Upon deeper inspection, however, it becomes clear that this is not the case. While the racism depicted is not the crude racism of the past, more modern, subtle racism is abundant. Many people point out that racism must be dead in America, because Barack Obama was president. Exclaiming their support, they say they gladly would have elected him for a third term if they could have. This supports the idea that there may be less racism towards skin color alone, but more towards the culture and